Border League: California Standouts (Part IV)

<p>Last weekend’s Border League event featured many of the top programs on the west coast with state representation from teams in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and more. Games from the highest division, the Top Flight Division, were featured on ESPN 2 Sunday with the title game resulting in IMG Academy defeating Coronado (NV) led by University of Texas-commit Tamar Bates and highly-regarded center Moussa Diabate.</p> <p>The California representation featured two CIF Southern Section Open Division-caliber teams, which were not able to go by official school names due to the event being out of season, including “Big Red” based out of Santa Ana and “Husky Nation” based out of Corona. Other SoCal based programs included “Eagle Select,” “San Diego Falcons,” “MoVal Mustangs,” and “NC Mavs,” among others.</p> <p>In this piece we take a look at some of the California based players who put together strong efforts during the Border League event.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="748757" first="Jaden" last="LeBel"]</strong>, San Diego Select - The class of 2022 shooting guard did a ton of damage from behind the arc in this event. At 6-feet-4, LeBel looks to have improved his overall athleticism quite a bit since we last saw him with Foothills Christian in the 2019-20 high school season. LeBel was active on the offensive and defensive glass and much more confident getting to the rack off the bounce where he rose up and finished over defenders.</p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="680222" first="Thomas" last="Notarainni"]</strong>, San Diego Select - Notarainni is one of the better wing scorers in the San Diego region and had his full arsenal on display at the Border League. The 6-foot-4 senior averaged 19 points per game on the weekend as San Diego Select finished with a 3-1 record. Notarainni can score in a variety of ways whether it’s a catch-and-shoot three-pointer, a strong drive to the rim and finish through contact or a slashing transition bucket.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="747106" first="Brenden" last="Perry"]</strong>, NC Mavs - Perry is a sharpshooting off-guard who has deep and consistent range on his three point shot both off the catch and off the bounce. It was good to see the 6-foot-2 senior attack the basket off the bounce and finish well with both his right and left hands. Perry showed improved confidence with his handle in isolation and speed to get by defenders and into the paint.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="766841" first="Jordan" last="Pope"]</strong>, Prolific Prep - Pope was a steadying force off the bench for Prolific Prep as his consistent perimeter shooting, high IQ decision-making and great feel for passing and distributing allowed the Prolific offense to stay efficient when starter [player_tooltip player_id="706266" first="Isa" last="Silva"] went to the bench. Pope has great instincts as a floor general and plays with great pace and poise under pressure.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="706266" first="Isa" last="Silva"]</strong>, Prolific Prep - Silva looks to still be working on getting comfortable in his new digs and with his new teammates after joining the Prolific Prep squad from Jesuit High, but the talented 6-foot-3 point guard still had a positive impact. Silva, whose bound for Stanford next season, is the ultimate set up man in high school due to his vision, creativity off the bounce and willingness to find and dish to teammates. Silva’s ability to get into the paint, draw multiple defender and keep his dribble alive allows him to extend possessions and open up the best opportunity for his team to score.</span></p>