Battle in Seattle: 2024 Standouts

<p>The summer of 2021 is here and AAU basketball will rule practically every weekend in July. Things got off to a fast start the first three days of the month as the NW Sports Hub in Centralia hosted WCE’s Battle in Seattle. We got a chance to catch a number of games on days two and three of the event and it felt good to soak in the first real club basketball action in over a year.</p> <p>Our focus was on Oregon-based teams and some of the best were there. We only had limited time to watch some younger players but we got a good look at many of the top ones from the Portland area by watching the Rose City Rebels 15U squad. Here are some of the top performers from that team:</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="861086" first="Dylan" last="Douangphrachanh"] (2024 Benson)</strong></p> <p>We were familiar with Douangphrachanh after seeing him play at Benson this past season. He’s long and lanky at 6-foot-2 and was silky smooth with his jumper, but also made some plays attacking the basket. We caught up with the rising sophomore and will have an updated posted soon.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1232310" first="Trent" last="Ferguson"] (2024 West Salem)</strong></p> <p>At 6-foot-7 and well built, Ferguson was near impossible to push around in the paint. The lefty set up shop down low and easily scored over smaller opponents and was dominant on the glass. He moved fairly well for his size</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1110568" first="Vashon" last="Hardges"] (2024 Grant)</strong></p> <p>Hardges didn’t play varsity at Grant but that’s because the Generals were deep at guard. At 6-foot-2, he’s got good size and he worked hard, displaying a lot of motor on both ends of the floor for the Rebels.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1110570" first="Chance" last="White"] (2024 Roosevelt)</strong></p> <p>White was originally supposed to be on JV at Roosevelt but due to injuries ended up being a starter in the backcourt. The 6-foot guard showed an incredible quick first step to slice to the hoop and displayed the ability to knock down the open three.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1174265" first="Jaden" last="Steppe"] (2024 Tualatin)</strong></p> <p>It’s hard to believe that at 6-foot-7 and with a mature body for his age, Steppe didn’t play much on varsity for Tualatin. But should change in the future for the chatty rising sophomore as he’s big, skilled, and can finish at the rim.</p>