Grit Region Finals: Indiana 2023 Top Performers

<p>The Friday night slate was pretty light with just three Class of 2023 teams in action and I was able to see each of them live at Mt. Vernon Middle School. Let’s go through each team individually to highlight who played well.</p> <h3>Indiana Game 2023-"3"</h3> <p>Kenneth Grant (Hammond H.S. 2023)- Grant is a small, 5’8" point guard with a lot of strong intangibles. Beginning in warmups you could tell that he was the vocal leader of team. Once it tipped off, Grant shot the ball well from the perimeter and showcased the ability to penetrate the defense off of the dribble. He scored a game-high 27 points.</p> <p>Leon Grimes Jr. (Bowman Academy 2023)- The combo guard found success off of the dribble scoring 25 points primarily via shots inside and getting to the free throw line. Grimes Jr. did knock down a couple of tough pull-up jumpers as well.</p> <h3>Indiana Game 2023-"2"</h3> <p>Darren Weaver (Merrillville H.S. 2023)- The 5’9" guard came out shooting the ball very well Friday night connecting a couple of threes in the opening minutes of their game. Weaver is a three-level scorer with some quickness.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1169167" first="Jeremiah" last="Roberts"] (Merrillville H.S. 2023)- Similar to Weaver, backcourt mate Roberts is also a 5’9" shooter that got it going from beyond the arc Friday night.</p> <h3>Grand Park Premier 2023 Black</h3> [caption id="attachment_1196954" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/05/Kamea-Chandler.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1196954 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/05/Kamea-Chandler-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="1162765" first="Kamea" last="Chandler"] (Fishers/Grand Park Premier 2023 Black)[/caption] <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1162765" first="Kamea" last="Chandler"] (Fishers H.S. 2023)- Chandler is a quick 5’10" point guard that broke the defense down off of the dribble and scored it both via pull-ups and finishes around the basket. Very quick with the ball in his hands with a variety of effective dribble moves.</p> <p>Carson Knox (Brownsburg H.S. 2023)- Knox is a very good offensive player. He is a 5’11" combo guard that can really score it in a variety of ways. He showed off the ability consistently shoot it off of the bounce from the mid-range, has a nice stroke from beyond the arc, and is athletic enough to finish inside against size. Shifty off of the dribble. Good player.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="935744" first="James" last="Stasey"] (Fishers H.S. 2023)- Anytime you see a kid that is a legit 6’9" it is intriguing. Stasey became even more impressive when he started rebounding the ball at a high-level, keeping the ball high to finish a couple of putbacks around the basket, and overall playing with a high motor. Definitely a big man worth keeping tabs on.</p>