Les Schwab Invitational: Top Washington Performers

<p>The Les Schwab Invitational annually invites some of the top teams in the country to participate in the event and that has often included teams from the great state of Washington. In this year's tournament, two teams from the Evergreen State participated as Eastside Catholic out of Sammamish and Battle Ground out of Vancouver made the drive down I-5 to play. Eastside Catholic ended up making the finals before bowing out to Mater Dei and while Battle Ground failed to win a game, it certainly gained valuable experience as they head into GSHL play.</p> <p>Here is a look at the top performers from those two teams in the event.</p> <p><strong>Shane Nowell (2021 Eastside Catholic)</strong></p> <p>Nowell was Eastside Catholic's top player at the Les Schwab Invitational and it was recognized as such when he earned a nod to the All-Tournament Team. The 6-foot-5 lefty showed good motor and athleticism throughout the tournament, relentlessly attacking the basket while absorbing contact and getting to the foul line where he converted his freebies (.850 ft%). Nowell was tough on the glass (a team-high 7.0 rpg) and on defense as well as he led the team in both blocks (4) and steals (8). His jumpshot is still a little streaky (.442 fg%) but Nowell shot it with confidence.</p> <p><strong>Nolan Hickman (2021 Eastside Catholic)</strong></p> <p>Truth be told - and we verified this with a college coach who had seen Hickman play many times over the years - this wasn't the best that Hickman has played. But the 6-foot-3 junior did pick things up at the latter half of the LSI and there's no question Eastside Catholic wouldn't have been in the finals if Hickman hadn't been around. His shot from the outside was a little streaky at times but effective (.385 3pt%) but it did seem as if Hickman seemed to settle for his jumpshot rather than attack the basket.  Nevertheless, he played well enough to earn a new scholarship offer from Oregon State during the tournament.</p> <p><strong>Jaylahn Tuimoloau (2021 Eastside Catholic)</strong></p> <p>The future of "JT" will be in football - he's one of the top gridiron standouts in the nation with scholarship offers from you-name-it - but on the basketball floor, he might have been Eastside Catholic's most unstoppable player. The 6-foot-5 post has a great feel for where he is on the basketball floor, has great hands and footwork, and a soft touch not only around the hoop but facing the basket too and he even made a couple of threes. When he got position down low, there really was no way to prevent him from making a couple of moves and putting the ball in the hoop. Tuimoloau hit the offensive glass hard and given his frame, was a tough guy to get around in the post.</p> <p><strong>Syon Blackmon (2020 Eastside Catholic)</strong></p> <p>One of the senior leaders of the team, Blackmon is a tremendous complimentary player to Eastside Catholic's talented juniors. But the 6-foot combo guard is plenty athletic and skilled and he plays hard to boot. Blackmon's shot wasn't completely on target during the tournament but he gave the team a boost when it was needed and really got after it on defense and getting into transition.</p> <p><strong>Kaden Perry (2021 Battle Ground)</strong></p> <p>Perry won the "Mr. Hustle" award at the Les Schwab Tournament and while it was well-deserved, it may have been the event's way of recognizing him as an All-Tournament selection despite the fact that Battle Ground didn't win a single game. The fact of the matter was, the 6-foot-10 post's performance more than merited a mention. He was a force down low (20.5 ppg), crashed the boards (12.0 rpg), and patrolled the paint defensively (2.0 bpg). As always his athleticism and motor was evident throughout the four days that he played and he had some observers talking about how he was a future pro. Sure there's still some refining with his game that's needed and things will be different at the college level when he's going up against others with similar size and athletic ability. But there are still a couple years before Perry gets to Gonzaga and he's got plenty of time to develop before then.</p> <p><strong>Nate Millspaugh (2021 Battle Ground)</strong></p> <p>Millspaugh is a 6-foot combo guard who can flat out shoot it. He has a quick and compact release and doesn't need a whole lot of room or time to get it off. He spotted up for threes but was almost just as good pulling up off the dribble, sometimes stopping on a dime after going full speed in transition. His shooting percentages weren't great (.328 fg, .281 3pt) and he struggled some with turnovers, but he'll have time to work on those the rest of this season and next to prepare himself as a possible small college basketball prospect.</p> <p><strong>Brendan Beall (2020 Battle Ground)</strong></p> <p>Battle Ground's third option on offense was Beall, who solely generated offense from the outside - in particular outside of the arc where he shot a reasonable percentage (13-for-33, .394). Similar to Millspaugh the 6-foot senior has a very quick release and he seemed to excel better off catch-and-shoot situations rather than creating off of the dribble.</p>