Battle at the Lakes: Scotty B's Saturday Notebook

What a jam packed day of basketball at Wayzata High School in Minnesota for day 2 of the Battle at the Lakes. We saw a ton of action in the 17U bracket from Illinois and surrounding states. Check out Battle at the Lakes: Scotty B’s Saturday Notebook for the scoop!   Young & Reckless Denard Wins Opener It was a tough day overall for Young & Reckless Denard, but they opened the morning with a 54-48 win against BBA Force – Bartlett. Elijah Watson was outstanding. The TF South 6’7” combo forward was excellent getting on the glass with his bounce along with slicing through the defense for scores at the rim. Curie’s Armond Williams showed flashes with his toughness and defense. For BBA Sam Fawcett is a standout point guard that shot the lights out early in the day. Mason Steele is an intriguing post. The big bodied center used both hands around the basket and is an old school post player.   Full Package – Dmitry Edges Out TS Wolverines This was a fun game early in the day! Full Package features Von Steuben shooting guard CJ Nwosu who is one of the bigger wing stock risers of the spring. Super athletic slashing wing that has proven he can score from three as well with consistency. Inside unsigned senior Luke Rekasius provided a soft touch around the hoop and fundamental post moves. TS Wolverines were a squad that rebounded well as a team and shot it well from three. Tristen Phillips and Joseph Niesman were draining threes. Lawrence Taylor played bully ball inside on physical drives.   3-0 Day for Fundamental U The UA Rise Fundamental U squad racked up three wins on the day to advance to the quarterfinals. It was a well-balanced effort throughout the day in the two games we caught. Luke Scheffers from St. Charles North was excellent at running the ship. He got everyone involved with his crisp passing while scoring on runners and threes. On the wings Jayden Johnson (Batavia) and Connor Kochera (St. Viator) continue to prove they are no doubt D1 talents. Both have positional size and really shoot it well from three. Inside the combination of Michael Huene (St. Viator), Joshua Preston (Geneva), and Connor Linke (St. Charles North) brought rebounding and rim protection. Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley) is the ultimate glue guy that brings everything together.   Team Rose 17U Shows Well Across the Board We caught two full games of the Team Rose 17U group and it is hard to single out just a couple of guys because they all had solid days. Their top 10 ranked prospect Ramean Hinton (Curie) was fighting through broken finger, but still contributed with his never ending motor and burst off the dribble. Darius Burford (Bolingbrook) was super impressive showing he can play both on and off the ball as well as use his freak athleticism at the rim. Speaking of freak show athletes Damontae Taylor (Zion Benton) is a 6’7” forward to track. Long and lanky with the “prospect” look. Jimarius Sneed (Crane) is a thicker wing that plays with power getting downhill with force. Justin Harmon (Curie) made an impact as the lone unsigned senior with his leadership and shot making. Johnny Close (Rockford Boylan) knocked in some threes as he is one of the premier shooters in the state of Illinois. Justin Cross (OPRF) played with the highest activity level we can remember. He has always had the physical tools, but he is starting to put it all together on both ends. Elijah Pickens (Curie) ran the show at the point pushing the tempo, getting everyone involved, and picking his spots to score.   Battle of the Big Men at “Battle at the Lakes” In today’s game it is rare to evaluate legit post prospects against each other. We were able to do that when the Iowa Barnstormers played Team Factory. The Barnstormers feature Sterling Newman’s Devon House along with stud center Even Brauns. Team Factory countered with size of their own in Max Murrell and John Shanklin. We caught a really good game for House as he went to work on the block. Not the most athletic kid he knows how to use his body positioning and footwork to his advantage. Also stepped out to hit a pair of threes on his way to 16 points. Even Brauns was quiet most of the night, but he definitely flashed in the second half on a couple skilled moves on the block and hit the game winner as the buzzer sounded. Max Murrell has legit size to play the five at the next level along with a fluid game which saw him step out to knock down threes along with score with athleticism at the rim. John Shanklin compliments Murrell well with his toughness and rim protection inside.   In-State Clash as All-In Athletics Tops Young & Reckless Boateng These two programs actually used to combine not that long ago, but they were on different sides Saturday. All-In Athletics picked up the win 77-67. Kaleim Taylor out of Wisconsin carried the heaviest scoring load with 22 points. A pair of Illinois prospects played well for the second day in a row. Bogan 2020 small forward Kyndall Davis knocked down pull up threes like they were going out of style! Plus athlete on the wing that is starting to be more consistent from the outside. Davis scored 21 points. Homewood Flossmoor’s RJ Ogom has had a huge weekend. Power player that just plays harder than everyone else and mauls on the glass. Ogom went for 21 points as well. On the Young & Reckless side Bloom 2020 guard Keshawn Williams made his case to move into the top 5 in our next update. Athletic guard who displayed more point guard skills this weekend than we had seen in the past. Also does that while scoring at a high clip on explosive slashes with acrobatic layups. He had 20 points. His high school teammates at Bloom Dante Maddox (12 points) and Martice Mitchell (10 points) also showed flashes of why they are no brainer D1 talents. De La Salle’s Josh Holmes had a big game with his sweet jumper on his way to 16 points.   Deja Vu for Team RWA at Battle Last year this same RWA squad defeated a highly ranked Sizzle group out of Minnesota with five star talent. Sizzle didn’t have the stars this weekend, but RWA did exactly what they did a year ago getting a win over the Minnesota squad. Once again it was Home School 2020 point guard Davis Walker who shined. Physical combo guard who has become a legit factor at the point. Scored with jumpers from all around the court all game long. He had 15 points. Cary Grove 2020 point guard Beau Frericks can really shoot the basketball. Plus plus shooter from three and on crisp pull ups. More to his game as he is a true floor general and has crafty handles. The forward duo of Aaron Tims (Hinsdale South) and Connor Webb (Lisle) also left an impact on the game. Tims is a bouncy four man that gets on the offensive boards. Webb is a three and D wing with positional size. Team RWA won 63-56.       Quick Notes We mentioned Full Package earlier, but later in the day we caught the second half of Full Package Walker’s contest. It was a fun win as they came back to send it to OT on a three by Jonah Ogunsayna. The Rolling Meadows point guard came up clutch with his shooting. Zach Miller (Hyde Park) is a slick lefty guard that makes plays in the lane and is a good rebounder for a guard. Naqi Shaheed-Owens (St. Joseph’s) is a stronger guard who rebounds well.   Taurean Holtam continues to scorch the nets in Minnesota! The QC Ballers 17U 6’5” wing from Rock Island continued what we saw on Friday night with a pair of monster outings dropping 48 points and 37 points in back to back games on Saturday!   Jonathan Davis from Wisconsin Playground had the dunk of the day with a baseline take that he stuffed home from the other side. Elite level athlete that is like a pogo stick dunking the ball. Easy to see why high-majors are knocking down his door.   We caught a glimpse of Pure Prep’s blow out win on Saturday. The Iowa squad is led by national top 50 2020 recruit Xavier Foster. The post has excellent size and athleticism. Rebounded very well and plays above the rim both dunking along with blocking shots. Niles North shooting guard Aquan Smart plays with this Iowa squad. He had a nasty drive down the lane for a finish along with showing he is a big time transition player.   Irvin Select lost to Team Rose, but it was close throughout as they would ultimately fall 75-66. Wisconsin native Kevin Cook is a throwback post player with hook shots and fundamentals with his back to the basket. Joseph Owens out of DeKalb has size at the combo forward spot along with a sweet jumper from mid-range.