Great Crossing Shootout Standouts

<p>I was able to catch a handful of summer games at Great Crossing. I only saw 3 sets of games so if your team played before after 1:00, I didn’t see them. There are games all day today and tomorrow as well if you’re looking to catch some summer ball.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Evaluations/Notes:</strong></span></p> <p>The first game of the day was Harrison County against Boone County. Boone had about a 12 point win and were led by Senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="926918" first="Cole" last="Shumate"]. </strong>Shumate showed shot making ability and drilled several 3s over the course of 2 games I saw him play in. The prospect who caught my eye was 2023 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1208147" first="Jashaun" last="Pouncy"].</strong> He moves well and seems pretty athletic. At 6’5 or 6’6 he didn’t show much range with his shot but was effective around the rim. </p> <p>Harrison County appears to be relatively young and struggled to score the ball. Their best offense was Sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="939715" first="Kaydon" last="Custard"] </strong>putting his head down and attacking the rim. 2024 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1208151" first="Braylon" last="Hinton"]</strong> is an intriguing prospect on the wing. He passes the eye test but wasn’t super active on either end of the court. He’s an interesting name to track over the next couple of seasons as his game develops.</p> <p>Grant County has a couple of new names to keep an eye on moving forward. Juniors <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1208155" first="Dylan" last="Hammonds"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1208156" first="Micah" last="Wills"]</strong> both have good size. Hammonds is a 6’6 3/4 with the ability to shoot from deep or finish at the rim. He’s already got over 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds in his high school career and looks like a scholarship level player in the future. Wills is the more raw of the two players but he’s legitimately 6’9 and moves well around the rim. He’s got to get stronger and more confident but you can’t teach that size and he should be a nice piece to monitor over the next 2 years.</p> <p>Madison Southern is off to a strong summer ball start and that continued with a win over Grant County. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1126557" first="Jay" last="Rose"]</strong> recently moved to 2024 and showed the ability to knock down shots but wasn’t very active off the bounce. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1208173" first="Brett" last="Erslan"]</strong> was effective around the rim and plays with a mean streak. He was ready to fight the entire Grant roster if needed. Southern rotates a lot of kids right now so not many got a chance to shine but their depth overwhelmed Southern as the game wore on.</p> <p>Great Crossing beat Boone County in the last game of the day that I saw. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="939114" first="Junius" last="Burrell"]</strong> is a really good shooter who settled down after a rough start with a couple of turnovers from the point guard spot. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1130310" first="Malachi" last="Moreno"] </strong>continues to be a defensive presence. Not many can match up with his size at 6’10 and he has good defensive instincts. His offense still has a way to go but that’s not uncommon for a 6’10 14 year old. One of the players who caught my attention was 2025 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1208167" first="Gage" last="Richardson"]</strong>. Richardson hit several 3s against Boone but didn’t show much off the bounce or with the ball in his hands. He’ll be one to watch in the freshman class.</p>