Grit Regional Memorial Classic-17U All Tournament First Team

<p>The Grit Region Memorial Classic featured a deep and diverse field. Not surprisingly there are some repeats from my Saturday and Sunday observations. I would encourage you to read those for a more detailed scouting report. </p> <p><strong>First Team </strong></p> <p><strong>PG David Nolen 6-3 Southwest Ohio Prep (pictured at top of article) </strong>Lead guard had an excellent Sunday to earn his spot. Led his Outwork squad to a 4-0 record on the weekend with almost every contest nip and tuck. In each victory wanted the ball in his hands in crunch time. Showed toughness by playing through an injury in a come from behind 90-86 victory against Titans Elite (KY). Finished with 24 points. Not a true point guard but handles it well so the potential is there if he wants to work for it. Good athlete who is hard to stay in front of on the perimeter. </p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/05/BC2C08BC-07DA-4AFA-ADAA-80730E22A88C-rotated-crop-3024x1986-1622521469.jpeg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1205072" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/05/BC2C08BC-07DA-4AFA-ADAA-80730E22A88C-rotated-crop-3024x1986-1622521469-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a></p> <p><strong>SG Donavhan Cain 6-4 Beloit Turner (WI) </strong>Playing for Illinois based Midwest Tarheels Select. Cain caught my attention late in the afternoon on Saturday. Seized it in a big way on Sunday against Hoopsync. Scored 25 points in a close victory in which every point counted. Has good size for a two guard with a lot of bounce in his legs. Good ball handler who gets to his spots easily. Excellent elevation on a traditional jump shot make him difficult to defend. Doesn’t need much room to explode for a dunk. Had a few of them against Hoopsync. Wisconsin has been producing a lot of big time talent of late. Perhaps this is a prospect that could be slipping through the cracks. </p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/05/Elijah-Mattingly1.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1196794" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/05/Elijah-Mattingly1-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a></p> <p><strong>SF [player_tooltip player_id="1168168" first="Elijah" last="Mattingly"] 6-6 Central Christian Academy (IN) </strong>I dubbed him most versatile after his play on Saturday. His play on Sunday furthered this and cemented his spot on the all tournament team. There is not much he can’t do offensively with the basketball. A tall scoring wing who is also an excellent passer and ball handler. Also athletic enough to finish plays above the rim. That’s quite a package. He will need to add strength and improve his defensive intensity to reach his full potential. </p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/05/Gerald-Crawford.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1196814" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/05/Gerald-Crawford-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a></p> <p><strong>PF [player_tooltip player_id="814626" first="Gerald" last="Crawford III"] 6-5 Kalamazoo Central (MI)/Elevation Prep (IN) </strong>Having covered this old school post before at the other tournaments I was prepared to go another direction at the four. But his play this week made it too difficult to leave him off. Absolutely owned the boards all weekend. Standout game was dominant 29 point 12 rebound performance against Athlete Headquarters to wrap up the weekend. Came on the heels of a big week as Crawford reclassified to 2022 and will play at Elevation Prep. If he post lines like this on Elevation’s national schedule he might put college coaches in the same position I was in this weekend. That being, the production might outshine his old school and somewhat ground bound game. </p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/05/B660F85D-5C10-45FD-B786-1C2A38F54504-rotated.jpeg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1203759" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/05/B660F85D-5C10-45FD-B786-1C2A38F54504-225x300.jpeg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /></a></p> <p><strong>C Louie Semona 6-8 Cincinnati St Xavier (OH) </strong>A center only for the purposes of this all tournament team. Semona will be a stretch four at the next level. Like Mattingly I covered him extensively on Saturday. So I’ll briefly summarize. A rare three level scorer in a well put together 6-8 frame.  At the next level defensive development will be key. Will need to get quicker and increase his strength. If he can do this while maintaining his offensive diversity he could make a college coach very happy. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>