Fall Hoop League: Saturday Standouts (10/2)

<p>Fall League has been in effect at the Beaverton YMCA and on Saturday we dropped by in the morning to watch a few games. Here are some of the top performers of the day.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1085791" first="Blake" last="Thune"], OBC HS "White" (2023 Mountainside)</strong></p> <p>Thune was wet from long range, which came as no surprise as he knocked down nine threes in two games. But the 6-foot-3 was getting it done in way that didn’t force the action, and he also averaged about four dimes a contest with a number of nice drive-and-kick passes to teammates for open shots.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1085793" first="Jaylin" last="Ormond"], OBD HS "White" (2023 Mountainside)</strong></p> <p>Ormond and Thune made a good one-two, inside-outside combo as the 6-foot-4 forward was a beast down low. He converted probably 75 percent of his shots inside and his physicality was too much for individual defenders to handle. Ormond even stepped out and hit a key 15-footer in OBC’s first win of the day.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1110914" first="Carter" last="Fortune"], OBC HS "White" (2024 Southridge)</strong></p> <p>We’ve been impressed with Fortune’s ability to get to the basket in previous viewings but today he showed off a part of his game that was new to us - his perimeter jumper. The 6-foot-2 sophomore was hitting open threes consistently off the catch-and-shoot and had a good balance between shooting those and getting to the hoop.</p> <p><strong>Aidan McGuire, OBC HS "White" (2022 Jesuit)</strong></p> <p>McGuire’s game grew on us by the time the end of the second game rolled around. The 6-foot-5 forward was extremely active on both ends of the floor, in particular with his hard forays to the hoop where he often was able to draw the foul. There will be opportunities this year in Jesuit and our bet is McGuire is one of the guys that steps up.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1256624" first="Sawyer" last="Wolf"], NW Reign (2023 Tigard)</strong></p> <p>Wolf showed some good offensive versatility during the action we watched. The 6-foot-2 guard has a sweet looking jumper that was really falling in game one, and when there wasn’t as much success in game two he was able to get to the basket and convert. Wolf moved well without the basketball to get himself in position for touches.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1256718" first="Aidan" last="Cooney"], NW Reign (2023 Jesuit)</strong></p> <p>Cooney strikes us as a classic Jesuit Crusader. The 6-foot-3 guard is simply solid - can knock down open jumpers, move well without the basketball, keep the ball moving with his passing, and play tough on the defensive end. Like McGuire, Cooney will have plenty of chances this upcoming season to be a key contributor.</p> <p><strong>Matthew Verkamp, NW Reign (2023 Sherwood)</strong></p> <p>Verkamp was one of those guys that after the second game we watched, we simply had to know who he was. The Sherwood junior was a consistent threat both from the outside and around the hoop and never seemed to take a play off on either end of the floor. He finished plays through contact and was an all-around tough customer.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1268432" first="Chance" last="Lavallee"], OBC HS "Maize" (2024 Glencoe)</strong></p> <p>LaVallee is a very long and lean 6-foot-9 and as you might expect, made his biggest mark on the defensive end of the floor with a number of blocked shots. He’s still raw offensively but appears to have improved since the last time we saw him and he was good with finishing on a number of putbacks.</p>