Week One Intriguing Prospects

<p>The 2021 season has begun and this first week, we had the opportunity to attend seven games in six days. It was great just being in the gym and seeing kids compete for their high school teams for the first time in over a year. A number of guys are taking on much bigger roles with their squads this season and here are a few of them we saw last week.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="964546" first="Trevon" last="Hamilton"] (2022 Beaverton)</strong></p> <p>Now running the point for Beaverton is Hamilton, who really flashed some of his immense potential at the position in a win at Southridge. The 6-foot-2 junior is extremely slippery with the basketball and was very active in making plays off the dribble. He effectively found both shooters outside of the arc as well as big man [player_tooltip player_id="855929" first="Dane" last="Erikstrup"] on post feeds. Hamilton drew fouls, converted his free throws (7-for-9), and was a pest on the defensive end.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1005083" first="Benjamin" last="Cheung"] (2022 Valley Catholic)</strong></p> <p>Cheung got incredible experience playing and working on his game while overseas in Taiwan for much of the past year in a fairly pandemic-free society. It shows with the 6-foot-3 wing and while it will take some time to get adjusted to playing with his American teammates again, he showed off a nice lefty shooting stroke and ability to create off the dribble in scoring 13 points in Valley Catholic’s season opener against La Salle. It appears he’ll be the Valiants top offensive weapon this season.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="857368" first="Connor" last="Hills"] (2022 Barlow)</strong></p> <p>Hills played a supporting role last season behind [player_tooltip player_id="796229" first="Jesse" last="White"] and [player_tooltip player_id="625622" first="Evan" last="Inglesby"] but now it’s his show to run at the point and he’s been a calming presence so far. The 5-foot-7 junior handled the pressure against Central Catholic in the season opener and started finding his shooting touch in the games afterward. He’s a heady and smart performer that also isn’t afraid of getting dirty on the defensive end.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="861102" first="Sanborne" last="Melson"] (2023 Jefferson)</strong></p> <p>Melson isn’t going to put up big offensive numbers this season due to the presence of talented teammates such as [player_tooltip player_id="787678" first="Lamar" last="Washington"] and [player_tooltip player_id="861099" first="Marquis" last="Cook"] on the squad. But Demos head coach Pat Strickland has been giving the rugged 5-foot-11 sophomore big minutes and he’s been doing the job with the dirty work especially with perimeter defense and helping out on the boards. Melson is a glue guy right now but don’t be surprised to see his role grow as the season progresses.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="861082" first="Axton" last="Wongsomadi"] (2023 Century)</strong></p> <p>We only got to catch the second half of the game against Liberty, and unfortunately at that point the Falcons were already covering Wongsomadi like a blanket. But the reason why is because the 6-foot-1 soph had hit five threes up to that point in the first half. In fact, he’s Century’s top three-point shooter so far this season averaging 15 ppg and his exploits will certainly be worth watching going forward.</p> <p><strong>Ashton Rose (2022 Tualatin)</strong></p> <p>We watched all three of Tualatin’s streamed games online and Rose stood out with his post play. The 6-foot-7 junior has a rugged build and he isn’t afraid to set up shop and use some solid basic post moves and a soft touch to score in the paint. Rose also can face up and hit open shots out past the three-point line.</p>