10 observations from Ironwood at Sunnyslope

On Friday night I attended the 5A Ironwood Eagles at 5A Sunnyslope Vikings.   Here were 10 observations from the three games I viewed: #1 Ironwood freshman class may be the best in the state. #2 One freshman from Sunnyslope stood out in the freshman game. [player_tooltip player_id="937195" first="Benjamin" last="Maloney"] SF 6’2 2023 Sunnyslope -A long and lean scoring wing. He has a pretty jumper and a nice floater. He is a very good passer and can rebound plus block shots. #3 One soph stood out from Sunnyslope in the JV game. [player_tooltip player_id="936383" first="Quinn" last="Thompson"] SF 6’5 2022 Sunnyslope -Arguably the most unique prospect I have scouted in awhile. Super long and gets downhill with ease. He handles it decently and uses his freaky wingspan to set up his layups. He rebounds at a high level and is very disruptive with blocks and steals. He made one mid-range jumper but 95% of his work is getting to the rim with his unique layup package. #4 Three freshman stood out from Ironwood in the freshman game. [player_tooltip player_id="937197" first="Jordan" last="Jones"] SG 6’0 2023 Ironwood -Thicker wing who can score it from inside and out. He has a nice floater game and can score it in a variety of ways. He can shoot it plus get into the lane with speed. strength and quickness. Jayden Crawford SG 5’11 2023 Ironwood -Skilled shooter who can handle it. He has a really clean 3pt stroke and plays the game with a high IQ. [player_tooltip player_id="937201" first="Nael" last="Al-Masari"] SF 6’2 2023 Ironwood -A physical wing forward who rebounds the ball. He scores it efficiently inside and can shoot it to the 3pt line and has a nice handle to get where he wants. #5 Four freshman and one soph stood out from Ironwood in the JV game. <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/ringo-aguek/">[player_tooltip player_id="827019" first="Ringo" last="Aguek"]</a> SF 6’5 2022 Ironwood -A long and gifted wing. The younger brother of Ajang Aguek (NAU) has a real chance to be just as good. He is taller then Ajang at the same stage of his career and is more skilled. He still has great length and moves fluidly up the court with a nice handle. He can hit from the 3pt line plus get into the lane with one long stride and use the floater or lay it in. [player_tooltip player_id="814510" first="Jamaal" last="Dean"] PG 5’8 2023 Ironwood -A physical scoring lead guard is a bulldog. He is a good play-maker and will defend his man up the court. He also has great speed and can get to the rim with a nice burst. His pull-up game is polished and high confidence in himself. <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/adonis-thomas/">[player_tooltip player_id="814531" first="Adonis" last="Thomas"]</a> SG 6’2 2023 Ironwood -A smooth scoring wing with a nice shooting stroke. He is very long and lean and moves quickly with the ball. He will have to get stronger like a typical freshman but has just as much upside as anyone in the class. [player_tooltip player_id="936910" first="Jordan" last="Kuac"] PF 6’3 2023 Ironwood -Bouncy forward who is super active on the glass. He has some serious springs to explode off the ground to rebound the ball and block shots. He will score it only in the paint but he is new to the game and will only improve. Another high upside freshman in the program. [player_tooltip player_id="936905" first="Julius" last="Williams"] SF 6’3 2023 Ironwood -A thick and talented wing forward is only 14 years old. He has an unreal body and can get downhill scoring through contact. He can hit the deep 3 and is a good passer. He also is already an above the rim dunker at a young age, he has top-20 talent written all over him.   Varsity game: #6 Sunnyslope’s Ray Portela and Ironwood’s Jordan Augustine can coach. Two of the best in the state. It was personally fun seeing them play chess back and forth with their line ups! #7 <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/trent-hudgens/">[player_tooltip player_id="804759" first="Trent" last="Hudgens"]</a> and Dom Gonzalez of Ironwood are arguably the best senior back court in the state. #8 If Slope wants to win it all, they will need to find their go-to guy down the stretch of games. #9 Ironwood seemed to figure out if Hudgens and Gonzalez have the ball in their hands, they have a chance to win every game.   #10 Here were the Varsity standouts: Ironwood 71 Sunnyslope 64 OT <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/trent-hudgens/">[player_tooltip player_id="804759" first="Trent" last="Hudgens"]</a> PG 6’1 2020 Ironwood -A quick scoring PG with unreal speed. He has elite on-ball defense, which is probably the best in the class. He created three 5-second calls in the game. He has deep range on his jumper and his burst is one of the best in the AIA. Once he gets into the lane he finishes off tough layups and also uses the floater to his advantage. <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/dominic-gonzalez/">[player_tooltip player_id="804761" first="Dominic" last="Gonzalez"]</a> SG 6’3 2020 Ironwood -An efficient, effective and highly skilled guard with a great feel for the game. He uses his high IQ and craftiness to score the ball. He has deep shooting range and can freeze a defender to get his shot off. He hesitates smartly and takes angles to score it inside. He is deceptive, smart and is a hard cover despite him not being an above the rim scorer or explosive. He is easily one of the top natural scorers in the state. <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/xzavier-lino/">[player_tooltip player_id="804763" first="Xzavier" last="Lino"]</a> SF 6’5 2020 Sunnyslope -A catch and shoot gunner. He has a pure stroke from the 3pt line and is a good rebounder. He has nice bounce and is a very good passer. <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/carson-basham/">[player_tooltip player_id="703797" first="Carson" last="Basham"]</a> C 6’11 2021 Sunnyslope -A skilled big man who has many traits to like. He can shoot it from the 3pt line and in plus post up and score it. He is blocking shots and moving swifter to close out and rebounds the ball well. He has good hands to catch passes and handles the ball better than most bigs on the West Coast. He is a good passer out of double teams. <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/oakland-fort/">[player_tooltip player_id="827007" first="Oakland" last="Fort"]</a> PG 5’9 2022 Sunnyslope -An explosive athletic lead guard can score it from all 3 levels. He is arguably the fastest and most athletic PG in the class. He can throw it down, hit the 3pt shot plus has a nasty pull-up from mid-range. He is smart off the pick and roll and if he has a small crease, he will blow by you. https://twitter.com/EVisionAZ/status/1218636050332995584