Brawl for the Ball: Weekend Notebook

<p>As we start to close the book from the weekend in Fort Wayne, Indiana at Brawl for the Ball it is time to dump everything out of the notebook. Here are some random thoughts, additional players that turned heads, and some notes from specific games. Let's dive right in!</p> <h3>Anchor Basketball Academy, Michigan Prospects Shine</h3> <p>A pair of Michigan prospects played very well for Anchor Basketball Academy this weekend. [player_tooltip player_id="863993" first="Ethan" last="Crabtree"] (Coldwater H.S. 2022) might have been the best player that I saw all weekend. A 6'4" guard, Crabtree shot the ball extremely well from beyond the arc and routinely penetrated the defense off of the dribble. Can play either guard position. Crabtree is a great finisher around the basket too. D2/low-major D1s need to be involved.</p> <p>Additionally, 6'8" forward [player_tooltip player_id="986745" first="Kaden" last="Johnson"] (Hartford H.S. 2022) is a very intriguing prospect. He is a good ball handler for his size and can operate out on the perimeter where he attacks closeouts driving it left. Around the basket he is patient with his back to the basket with a nice left-handed baby hook shot. An all-around matchup problem offensively. Defensively, he moves his feet well enough to stay in front of smaller guys on the perimeter.</p> <h3>Bates Fundamentals 17u Red vs. Gym Rats Black</h3> [caption id="attachment_1159823" align="alignright" width="200"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/03/IMG_5878.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1159823 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/03/IMG_5878-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="1063964" first="Raedhyn" last="Foust"] (Northeastern/Gym Rats Black)[/caption] <p>One of a handful of really high-level matches from over the weekend, this was a great game between two teams filled with future college basketball players. Bates Fundamentals came away with a 72-66 victory, but several Indiana natives played great against the super long and athletic team out of Ypsilanti, Michigan. Connersville High School point guard [player_tooltip player_id="1063975" first="Tobey" last="Billups"] was as aggressive off the dribble as I have seen which resulted in a couple of really nice drives and finishes. [player_tooltip player_id="1063964" first="Raedhyn" last="Foust"] (Northeastern H.S. 2022) continues to put together a strong summer as well. The 6'7" forward is rebounding the ball well, especially on the offensive glass, and finished a couple of tough baskets around the rim. Coaches really like his skill set on the offensive end.</p> <p>For Bates Fundamentals, I came away very impressed with 6'0" guard [player_tooltip player_id="863938" first="Juwan" last="Maxey"] (Renaissance H.S. 2022) from Michigan and 6'7" forward [player_tooltip player_id="1211318" first="Sean" last="Craig"] (Sylvania Northview H.S. 2022) out of Ohio. Both have recently picked up their first Division I offer, Maxey from Mississippi Valley State and Craig from St. Francis (PA). Maxey is a big-time scoring guard that can fill it up in a hurry from beyond the arc. Craig is super versatile with his length and athleticism. He rebounds well, defends multiple position well, and is tough to stop around the hoop.</p> <h3>Indy Heat Red vs. Indiana Game Premier</h3> [caption id="attachment_1177496" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/04/Lincoln-Thomae-3.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1177496 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/04/Lincoln-Thomae-3-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="870250" first="Lincoln" last="Thomae"] (Don Bosco/Indiana Game Premier)[/caption] <p>This was the game of the tournament in terms of competitiveness and the interest from college programs in attendance. This would have been a bad game to watch for those people online who like to blame everything on "how bad" AAU basketball is. Both of these programs are well-coached and play the game the right way. In a double-overtime thriller, Indiana Game Premier escaped with a hard fought 72-66 victory.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="870293" first="Drew" last="Adzia"] (Crown Point H.S. 2022) led the way with 21 points including three clutch free throws at the end of regulation with 0.3 seconds on the clock to send the game to overtime. The 5'9" point guard hit four threes in the game. [player_tooltip player_id="870250" first="Lincoln" last="Thomae"] and [player_tooltip player_id="870216" first="Landen" last="Babusiak"] were good as well contributing 13 and 11 points respectively in the win.</p> <p>For Indy Heat Red, Will Young (Okemos H.S. 2022) poured 31 points in arguably his best game of the summer. Young shot it well from deep and was excellent off of the dribble getting by his man consistently and finishing in a variety of ways inside. The 6'3" combo guard from Michigan can flat out score the basket and will be one for college programs to get eyes on during the final evaluation period of July.</p> <h3>A Few 2023's To Keep An Eye On</h3> <p>I've already touch on the weekend's <strong><a href="https://prephoops.com/2021/07/brawl-for-the-ball-top-performers-indiana-class-of-2023/">top Class of 2023 performers</a></strong>, but there were several more players that had impressive weekends at Brawl for the Ball.</p> [caption id="attachment_1197007" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/05/Marcus-Northern-1.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1197007 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/05/Marcus-Northern-1-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="868232" first="Marcus" last="Northern"] (South Bend Washington/Indiana Game Premier)[/caption] <p>For Indiana Game Premier, I liked 6'1" combo guard [player_tooltip player_id="868232" first="Marcus" last="Northern"] (South Bend Washington H.S. 2023) and 6'5" forward [player_tooltip player_id="1049181" first="Kelson" last="Jordan"] (North Judson H.S. 2023). Northern handled the ball well all weekend long showcasing a quick first step and pesky on-ball defense. Jordan bring a bunch of length and bounciness to the table which he used to collect a few really impressive blocked shots.</p> <p>For Indy Heat Red, the tournament champions, [player_tooltip player_id="868260" first="Sincere" last="Germany"] (Cathedral H.S. 2023), [player_tooltip player_id="1042492" first="Brashawn" last="Bassett"] (Fort Wayne North Side H.S. 2023), and [player_tooltip player_id="1160680" first="Gavin" last="Welch"] (New Castle H.S. 2023) all shined at different times throughout the weekend. Germany is a long, lefty guard that can light it up from beyond the arc. He shot it well this weekend. Bassett is a 6'2" combo guard that handles the ball well and showed off a good looking pull-up jumper. Welch has good size on the wing at 6'4" and is a very good three-point shooter. [player_tooltip player_id="1181712" first="Kevin" last="Hamilton"] (St. Vincent St. Mary's H.S. 2023) had a really nice weekend as well. He is a smaller 5'10" point guard out of Ohio that broke his man down off the dribble to consistently get to the basket. Really nice offensive player.</p> <p>Dalman Alexander (Northrop H.S. 2023) deserves a mention as well. The 6'5" forward is super long and athletic and has impressed on consecutive weekends now. He is active on the glass and finishes around the basket. Alexander plays with Summit City Elite.</p>