International Elite/Team Fly Scrimmage: 17U Report

<p>On Tuesday night, International Elite and Team Fly got together for some friendly scrimmages as their 16U and 17U teams were getting ready for tournaments this upcoming weekend.</p> <p>A number of Team Fly players were not available due to various reasons such as Jesse White (2020 Barlow), Jack Chlumak (2020 Newberg), Aidan Clark (2020 South Eugene), Jacob Slifka (2020 Banks), and Fred Harding (2019 Lake Oswego) but the 17U matchup was still very competitive and back and forth the entire night. In the end, Team Fly got a late bucket with under a minute to play and won the game, 51-50. Here's a look at the top performers from the scrimmage.</p> <p><strong>Joe Juhala (2020 West Linn)</strong> - Juhala was arguably the player of the game and put together one of the best offensive performances we've ever seen out of him. The 6-foot-7 forward was money from beyond the three-point arc, hitting four, and he was active around the basket and in transition. On one play, he aggressively attacked the hoop and went up for the dunk and while he didn't convert the hoop, he was able to draw the foul. Juhala was also the recipient of the pass that led to an easy bucket that ended up being the winning points for Team Fly.</p> <p><strong>Andre Best (2020 Oregon City)</strong> - Best had an outstanding game as a true floor general. He dictated the pace for Team Fly and equally scored on his own and found his team for open shots. Best drove to the hoop early for some scores and then knocked down some threes in the second half, but the key play of the game was when under a minute left he made a drive and dish to Juhala for the go-ahead basket.</p> <p><strong>Erik Fraser (2020 Grant)</strong> - Fraser is normally a spot-up, catch-and-shoot kind of guy and he got a couple of those opportunities, but unfortunately his shot wasn't really falling. The 6-foot-3 wing adjusted by taking it to the basket, getting a couple of finishes and also getting it to his teammates for offensive opportunities.</p> <p><strong>Grant Dunn (2020 Silverton)</strong> - Similar to Fraser, Dunn specializes in spot-up three-point shooting but he too couldn't quite find the range on most of his shots. But the very lanky 6-foot-5 junior found himself the recipient of some passes in the mid-range and ended up getting a couple of buckets in transition.</p> <p><strong>Dakota Reber (2020 Wilsonville/International Elite)</strong> - Reber has been focusing on playing on the perimeter this spring and that's what he did in this scrimmage. While his three-point shot wasn't totally hitting, he did drain a couple and had a couple of off-the-dribble drives that resulted in some points as well. International Elite's last possession was to look for him on a lob pass, which he caught and was fouled, but Reber missed the second free throw that would have tied the game.</p> <p><strong>Tucker Pellicci (2020 Franklin/International Elite)</strong> - Pellicci ran the floor well and tried to post up strong but didn't get a lot of touches in the paint. The 6-foot-10 post worked hard on the boards and got a couple of hoops inside as a result of his effort. Pellicci continues to improve on a daily basis as his confidence level continues to rise.</p> <p><strong>Matthew Levis (2020 Jesuit/International Elite)</strong> - Levis did all game long what you would expect him to do - play hard on both ends and focus on the little things. He played both on and off the basketball and while his jumper wasn't really falling, he converted on a couple of drives on the offensive end. Defensively, he stuck with his man and was able to generate a couple of turnovers.</p> <p><strong>Jamison Guerra (2020 Sherwood/International Elite)</strong> - The Guerra/Best matchup was a good point guard battle to watch. While offensively Guerra struggled to find much rhythm, he took fairly good care of the ball and tried to set up his teammates in the offense.</p> <p><strong>Blake Jensen (2020 Sherwood/International Elite)</strong> - Jensen was one of the top performers for International Elite from our estimation. He seemed to be at the right place at the right time on several occasions, whether it was being available for the dump off pass for an easy bucket or grabbing the offensive rebound for a putback. He spent the game largely facing the basket and contributing with things such as screening and working on the boards.</p>