KBC’s The Journey: 17u Top Performers

<p>Lexington's Kentucky Basketball Commission was host to the first ever The Journey tournament. Here's a look at the top performers of the weekend. They are listed in no particular order. This list only features Kentucky players. </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Top Performers:</strong></span></p> <ul> <li>IAm3rd Ice's <strong>Brayden Sebastian and Neil Baker - </strong>Sebastian is known for his ability to score a ton at the high school level but he did more of the little things this weekend for the Ice. Showing improvement as a facilitator, Brayden played a little more as a facilitator this weekend and helped his team to a pair of wins. Baker was a victim of the Senior depth as Scott County this year but showed well this weekend in Lexington. Neil shot the ball well and scored more than expected. He had a strong weekend for the Ice.</li> <li>Manimal Elite's <strong>Ksuan Casey</strong> <strong>and Tyren Moore - </strong>Only got to see Manimal's 17u in the championship game on Sunday but Ksuan was really good. He threw some great passes to cutters and showed the ability to score off each block. He still has to improve his conditioning but he is a force down low. Moore played in his first event with Manimal after starting with another program and did what he does best, shooting the ball from distance. Tyren can heat up quickly. As he becomes a better floor general, he projects well to the next level as a scoring point guard.</li> <li>Cky Magic's <strong>Amirion Joyce - </strong>Joyce was somewhat limited in his Junior season at Paducah Tilghman after a transfer from Lexington's Frederick Douglass. This weekend, he started to look like he's reaching his potential as a player. Joyce had a big weekend for the Magic, culminating in a 22 point game on Sunday. Amirion is very athletic and could see a big summer coming his way if he can consistently play as well as he did this weekend.</li> <li>M.A.T.T.S. Mustangs <strong>Terrin Hamilton - </strong>Hamilton had a strong weekend for the Mustangs and could see some scholarship offers coming his way this summer. Hamilton had 18 points and 5 rebounds in a win Saturday and 10 points in the loss on Sunday. If Terrin will rebound at a high level in addition to how he has started to shoot the ball, he can be a breakout performer this AAU season.</li> <li>Louisville Prospects' <strong>Sam Bearden - </strong>Bearden nearly averaged a double double over the weekend. He's an undersized post at 6'5 but he battles against bigger players with no fear. With that type of motor, some colleges are going to start taking notice of the Louisville big man soon.</li> <li>Manimal Elite-Eky's <strong>Isaiah Alexander - </strong>The shooting guard from North Laurel led the Eastern Kentucky branch of Manimal Elite in scoring in their first two games with 16 and 19, making 9 threes over the course of the two games. Alexander is part of a really solid returning core for the Jaguars next season and showed his 43% shooting from three as a Junior was no fluke.</li> </ul>