Westside Tip-Off Classic: 2023 Standouts

<p>SANTA MONICA — <span class="s1">With the high school basketball season getting into full swing, there were a plethora of game viewing options across Southern California. We stopped by St. Monica high school last Friday to check out the Westside Tip-Off Classic hosted by Mariners’ new coach Roy Walker. Below we take a closer look at some of the junior class standouts we saw at this event.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="992481" first="Brady" last="Dunlap"]</strong>, Harvard-Westlake - Dunlap is one of the smoothest and smartest all-around players in Southern California. His 6-foot-6 frame, combined with his shooting ability and basketball IQ makes him the perfect shooting guard/wing player at the high school level. Dunlap hit catch-and-shoot three’s, pull-up mid-range jumpers and got a couple of paint buckets when moving without the ball in a big win over L.A. University. </span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="994904" first="Collins" last="Acheampong"]</strong>, Fairmont Prep - The active and high motor big man was a tough cover for a relatively undersized St. Bernard team and the 6-foot-9 center was able to expose those mismatches. Acheampong finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and a couple of blocked shots in a loss to one of the better teams in Southern California. Acheampong has shown improvement to his low-post presence when it comes to hands, positioning and scoring with his back to the basket.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="992482" first="Darius" last="Carr"]</strong>, St. Bernard - Carr has been and remains one of SoCal’s top guards with his ability to put pressure on the defense in transition as an athletic slasher and scorer and his spot-up shooting consistency in the half-court setting. Carr finished with 16 points in a win over Fairmont Prep and pulled down a handful of big time rebounds in traffic and helped make key defensive stops.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="994936" first="Jacob" last="Huggins"]</strong>, Harvard-Westlake - In what could be a breakout year for Huggins, the 6-foot-7, 210-pound forward showed his importance to a talented Wolverines’ team when protecting the rim, hard hedging and recovering in ball screen action and rim-running in transition to get early scoring opportunities. Huggins continues to work on his floor spreading ability with his face-up shot in pick and pop action.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1161971" first="Nils" last="Cooper"]</strong>, Crossroads - Cooper is an intriguing long-term prospect who seems to just be scratching the surface of how good he could be. The 6-foot-4 wing is a long and bouncy athlete who has a knack for rebounding the ball on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. Cooper scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Roadrunners as they defeated St. Anthony 69-57. Offensively, Cooper is kind of an opportunist as a scorer as he cleans up missed shots for second chance opportunities and attacks driving lanes for paint buckets.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="994964" first="Tyler" last="Rolison"]</strong>, St. Bernard - Rolison turned in the performance of this event as he poured in 37 points to help St. Bernard overcome a talented Fairmont Prep team. The 6-foot point guard is a fearless attacker of the basket and gifted shot maker on the perimeter who somehow remains in control though the Vikings play at a breakneck pace. Rolison has shown time and time again that he is a big shot taker and big shot maker.</span></p>