Open Gym/Workout Report: West Linn Lions

<p>Our open gym/workout tour took us to West Linn on Thursday morning, where head coach Eric Viuhkola put his team through a number of shooting and ball-handling drills. While a few standouts were absent - notably Bryson Crockett, Parker Durbin, Colton Young, and Zeke Viuhkola - there were plenty of top players in the gym. Here's a look at the top ones we noticed.</p> <p><strong>Micah Garrett (2020)</strong></p> <p>Garrett looked sharp in this workout. With his shooting, he was canning jumpers from all three levels whether it was the catch-and-shoot, dribble pull-ups (which have seemingly become his go-to move), and finishes at the rim. Garrett was effective attacking the basket from the right or the left and in many ways, was sharp with his ball handling, and basically made things look easy. He's primed for a big year.</p> <p><strong>Joe Juhala (2020)</strong></p> <p>Juhala continues to develop as a player before our very own eyes. In the workout he shot the ball well from the perimeter, both on catch-and-shoot and on one-two dribble pull-ups. He attacked the basket and finished - sometimes very hard and on one occasion, dunked so hard the backboard shifted and had to be moved back in place. Juhala struggled a bit with ball-handling drills but you won't be seeing him do that much this season.</p> <p><strong>Kelton Herrick (2020)</strong></p> <p>There may be no better word to describe Herrick than "solid". The 5-foot-11 guard isn't flashy but simply gets the job done and he looked like he's improved his perimeter shooting as he did well knocking down jumpers. Herrick also has a pretty effective floater as well. Herrick will most certainly be a contributor this year, whether he starts or is a part of the second unit.</p> <p><strong>Gus Michelon (2020)</strong></p> <p>Michelon arrived after shooting drills were concluded so we unfortunately didn't get a great look at his perimeter shooting touch. But what we know about the 6-foot-3 senior is that he's long, lanky, and active on defense. In the ball-handling drills he did well and there's no question that he'll be in the playing rotation this season whether it's starting or off the bench.</p> <p><strong>Mason VanBeenen (2022)</strong></p> <p>VanBeenen is going to be a threat this season. The 6-foot-9 sophomore will obviously be counted on for points inside due to his size but his ability to stretch the floor with his shot from the perimeter, which extends out past three-point range. We'll nitpick a bit and say the lefty's release is a little low but the bottom line is at his size, very few will be able to take advantage of that.</p> <p><strong>Jackson Shelstad (2023)</strong></p> <p>We've seen Shelstad enough now to know he's good enough to play at the varsity level this season but the question will remain how good he'll be. If the shooting drills were any indication, he should be just fine. Shelstad was draining threes all morning long and we're pretty convinced he's one of the top shooters in the state at any age. The 5-foot-11 guard looked great with his pull-ups and he was finishing at the rim.</p>