Welcome to the Jungle: Top Underclassmen

<p>On Friday November 26th I attended the <strong>Welcome to the Jungle</strong> tournament at Gilbert HS in Gilbert, AZ.  </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Here were the results of the four games I viewed: </p> <p><strong>7th place game:</strong></p> <p><strong>Desert Ridge 50</strong></p> <p>Chandler 37</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>5th place game:</strong></p> <p><strong>Pinnacle 55</strong></p> <p>Mesa Mountain View 50</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>3rd place game:</strong></p> <p><strong>Valley Vista 60</strong></p> <p>Corona del Sol 52</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>1st place game:</strong></p> <p><strong>Gilbert 51</strong></p> <p>Perry 45</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Here were some of the underclassmen that stood out:</p> <p><b>2024’s </b></p> <p><b>[player_tooltip player_id="1336097" first="Braylon" last="Johnson"] Pinnacle (Pictured) </b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A long forward has a nice handle and takes long strides to the basket. He moves well around the court and has that baby face still and looks to be still growing like his two older brothers (Cameron Johnson/Puff Johnson). He can defend a few positions from the 3-5 and has a pretty stroke to the 3pt line. </span></p> <p><b>[player_tooltip player_id="996171" first="Ezias" last="Steffen"] Chandler  </b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A scoring wing forward can score it from all three levels. He can hit the 3-ball and score it inside. He can dribble drive and score with pro hops and euros. He uses his thicker frame to rebound the ball at a nice clip for his size. </span></p> <p><b>[player_tooltip player_id="996810" first="Preston" last="Lee"] Corona del Sol</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A tough on-ball defender and facilitator. His physicality bothers many players and his distributing has really improved in the last year. He loves getting into the lane and he may end up being one of the leaders of the team. </span></p> <p><b>Angelo Jones SG 5’11 2024 Desert Ridge </b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A young scoring guard for the Jaguars can shoot it from mid to the 3pt line plus use the floater. He is quick in the lane using a burst and good laterally on defense. </span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>2025’s</strong></p> <p><b>[player_tooltip player_id="1129193" first="Koa" last="Peat"] Perry</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A highly talented freshman showed off most of his skills. He has a stronger frame to score it inside plus he can hit the catch-3. He creates his own shot and will score it in traffic. He also showed off his athleticism with a poster dunk. What impressed me was how well he moves on the perimeter for his size. The top-rated freshman locally backed it up. </span></p> <p><b>[player_tooltip player_id="1287030" first="Jordan" last="Lee"] Corona del Sol</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The freshman changed the game with his motor and effort. He can hit catch-3’s and score on difficult layups in traffic. He made an impressive pull-up off dribble from the 3pt line to close out the 1st quarter at the buzzer. His main skill is his on-ball defense. He moves his feet so quickly and he is tenacious with his effort.    </span></p> <p><b>[player_tooltip player_id="1150848" first="Nolan" last="Brown"] Perry</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A jet quick pure PG is undersized but he has a tight handle and a burst to get into the lane. He can hit the 3 and he can defend on the ball. He has quick feet and hands to be a pest. </span></p>