West Bladen Christmas Tourney Standout Performers

<p><i>The West Bladen HS Christmas Tourney jumped off on Tuesday afternoon and there were some fireworks in the first round. The first game was a lopsided win for Laney while St.Pauls pulled off the upset at the buzzer while missing their starting five players. Pinecrest would dominate their matchup while West Columbus battled with West Bladen to advance to the next round</i>. </p> <p>West Columbus Sophomore Guard <b>[player_tooltip player_id="1317663" first="Unique" last="Kelly"]</b>: Easily the most impressive player that we saw on the day, this young man has a chance to be very special. He’s athletic, skilled, competitive and doesn’t take any plays off which is something that you don’t see often from younger players. He scored the ball at a high level but didn’t get tunnel vision and made some outstanding passes late in the game to help his team hold on to the first round win.</p> <p>Dillon Christian Junior Guard <b>Grayson Singletary</b>: His team was outmatched and struggled to stay competitive but he was one of the bright spots for them. Showed his ability to create space to get his shot off and knocked down shots from outside at a nice rate.</p> <p>Laney HS Sophomore Guard <b>[player_tooltip player_id="1076346" first="Josh" last="Helms"]</b>: We really like the progress he’s made as a Point Guard and he will be a huge part of the success of their team this season. Coming into high school he already had the ability to score from multiple levels but now he’s matched that with his ability to facilitate and lead a team.</p> <p>Pamlico County Sophomore Guard <b>Jayden Williams</b>: It didn’t take long to see what he’s on the court to do. He’s the three point specialist for his team and was not hesitate at all about letting it fly. He knocked down a nice amount of treys throughout the day with a majority of them coming off catch and shoot situations.</p> <p>St. Pauls Senior Guard <b>Elston Powell</b>: With his team missing it’s starting five players, he stepped up and provided some much needed production and leadership for his team. He handled the ball for a high amount of the game and didn’t hesitate to attack the basket whenever the opportunity presented itself.</p> <p>West Bladen Freshman Guard <b>Hezikiah Adams</b>: Has impressive end to end speed, good court awareness and has the tools to be a lock down defender. His team struggled early on but he was able to lead a big time run in the second half that gave his team a chance. Although they would eventually come up short, he showed why he is one to keep an eye on.</p> <p>Pinecrest HS Junior Wing <b>Colby Wallace</b>: His squad used their pressure to force turnovers and moved the ball well on offense to build a lead and not look back. His three point shooting was outstanding and he would go on to lead the team in scoring in the first round. He does a nice job of understanding spacing, moving without the ball and getting his shot off quickly all while being very efficient in his shooting percentage. </p>