Mid-Season Headlines

<p>We are right around the mid-season point of high school basketball and there are multiple hot topics and headlines that stand out as league play is really starting to ramp up. A range of story lines include player recruitment and teams and players that are separating themselves from the pack. </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Top 2021 will take a trip to Spokane</strong></span></p> <p>O'Dea's <strong>Paolo Banchero</strong> will be making his official visit to Gonzaga University January 18th-20th. Paolo is currently considering 10 schools and Gonzaga has been very active in the recruitment of Banchero. Gonzaga already holds a verbal commitment from the number two junior in the state in <strong>Kaden Perry</strong>. The third ranked player in the state <strong>Jackson Grant </strong>has committed to Washington, so it will be really interesting to follow Paolo's recruitment and see if the home state trend will continue. Banchero is also considering Washington as another in-state possibility. </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Two high performing seniors remain uncommitted</strong></span></p> <p>Two of the best seniors in the state have yet to make decisions with their college plans. 6'3 G <strong>Mutdung Bol </strong>told Prep Hoops that he holds offers from Eastern Washington, Portland State and Cleveland State, but has not announced his commitment just yet. The Edmonds-Woodway star reported to us in November that he plans to make a decision during the high school season.</p> <p>A big time standout from this season has been Union High School's <strong>Tanner Toolson</strong>. He has led Union to a 14-0 start and has put himself in serious contention for 4A player of the year. The 6'4 guard has reported Utah Valley and Portland as his two D1 offers, but with the way he is trending, they could be getting an absolute steal. Toolson plans to go on a two-year church mission following high school, so he has really been in no rush to make a decision. </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Seattle Academy and Zillah setting the stage for a big time 1A state title game</strong></span></p> <p>Two teams have separated themselves from the pack in 1A and that is Seattle Academy and Zillah. The two teams actually played earlier this season with Zillah taking the win 85-72. Despite the loss, Seattle Academy currently ranks number one in the RPI due to having a slightly tougher schedule. Zillah ranks at number two. The point guard matchup between Seattle Academy's <strong>Leo DeBruhl</strong> and Zillah's <strong>Mason Landdeck </strong>is an exciting showdown of talented D1 recruits, but it will ultimately come down to everyone else's contributions to determine who will potentially take home the 1A state title. Fellow 2021 prospect <strong>Joe Cookson </strong>is having a big year for Seattle Academy and 2020 unsigned prospect <strong>Weston Ide </strong>is a tough cover for Zillah. If all goes as planned, Seattle Academy and Zillah could be setting themselves up for a very exciting 1A championship game! </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Two Surprisingly undefeated 4A teams</strong></span></p> <p>Before the season started, not too many folks projected Glacier Peak to be undefeated and rank as the number two 4A team in the state midway through the year. Fresh off of a 60-27 win over Jackson, Glacier Peak is 11-0, red hot and showing no signs of slowing down. 2020 6'6 SF <strong>Pierce Darlington</strong> has been really solid on both sides of the ball and providing versatility on the defensive end, oftentimes covering opposing team's top posts and bigger wings.</p> <p>Chiawana has been more than impressive as well. Ranking as the number 6 team in 4A and holding a 12-0 record, the Riverhawks are on an absolute roll in the MCC. They have done this without D1 recruit <strong>Kobe Young</strong>, which is even more impressive. The star of the team has been 2020 6'5 G <strong>Cooper DeWitt</strong>. He is one of the most versatile players in the state with his ability to handle it at either guard position and score from all three levels. DeWitt is one of the top unsigned seniors in the state. 2021 5'11 G<strong> Jayden Martinez </strong>has also stepped up in a big way, attacking off the bounce and providing a big time threat from deep. </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Mount Si back to their winning ways</strong></span></p> <p>Mt. Si entered the year with high expectations coming off of a runner-up finish from a season ago. Their confidence was running high and rightfully so after a great Winter a year ago and very strong June of summer ball. They were quickly forced refocus after losing two of their first three games, including a 51-68 beat down at home versus Union. Since then, they have multiple big wins over highly competitive California teams like Mayfair and they've kept the momentum rolling by winning 9 of their last 10 games. They have refocused and stepped up their defensive intensity to match what we became accustomed to last season. 2020 D1 signees <strong>Jabe Mullins </strong>and <strong>Tyler Patterson </strong>have both had some extremely impressive performances, but the team is really tough when 2022 5'11 PG <strong>Bennett O'Connor</strong> is getting it done on both sides of the ball from the point. Everyone knows how good Jabe and Tyler are and they have the ability to take the Wildcats to the promised land, but it will be the supporting cast of players like 2022 6'6 <strong>Quin Patterson</strong>, 2021 6'7 <strong>Jack Williams</strong> and 2020 6'9 <strong>Hayden Curtiss</strong> that can take them over the top. </p>