Colby's Scouting Notebook 1/11/22

Last night I was able to take in 1.5 games and see a slew of players who left impressions on me. I started off watching the first half of Lake Clifton and Patterson before jetting over to No. 11 Mount Carmel to watch them take on No. 3 Mount St. Joe. Here are some notes on the contests: Lake Clifton vs Patterson In typical Baltimore City fashion, this game was extremely physical throughout the first half. Lake Clifton got out to a double-digit lead shortly after the opening tip, but Patterson manufactured defensive stops and got out in transition offensively to fight back and trail by 7 going into the half. Lake Clifton would end up winning this game by 10. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1364428" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/01/John-Thomas-crop-2949x1936-1642001656-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> [player_tooltip player_id="837955" first="John" last="Thomas"] | 6’3 | Patterson ’22 Thomas was the best overall prospect on the floor. At 6-foot-3, he has good size and plus length as an off-ball guard and is depended on heavily from the Clippers to be the go-to guy offensively. He’d finish this game with 18 points and showed ability to create his own shot despite Lake Clifton’s scrappy defensive play. He has a fluid release and it doesn’t take much for him to get going from beyond the arc. Thomas is now averaging 25 points, seven rebounds, five steals and three assists per game this season. Division II programs should inquire as should prep and JuCo programs. The extra year or two to fill out his frame could develop him into a low Division I prospect. Davon Mosley | 5’10 | Lake Clifton ’22 Lake always seems to have a rough, rugged guards who makes things go as a floor general and Mosely is that guy for them this season. He has quick burst especially when attacking after an in-and-out dribble. He routinely found himself in the paint where he’d force the defense to collapse and made multiple passes that led to easy scores for teammates camping on the baseline. He also attacked the basket and embraced/finished through contact. Kris Mitchell | 6’3 | Lake Clifton ’23 Mitchell plays as an undersized forward but comes with a never-ending motor that is showcased by his willingness to pursue every rebound. Even if he cant secure the ball on the offensive glass, he’s trying to get a hand on it to deflect it to a teammate and create another possession. He was the beneficiary a few times of Mosely getting into the paint and did a nice job of going up strong and finishing tough layups. Caleb Burgess | 6’4 | Patterson ’24 Burgess was the underclassman that I had my eye on coming into this one. He showed flashes, but still is a raw and needs polish to his overall game. What he does have is size, length, decent athleticism and soft touch on his jumper. Khaije Wilson | 6’6 | Patterson ’22 Wilson provided the size and length needed in the frontcourt for the Clippers. He is still slight in frame, but was willing to bang around for position in rebounding. He ran the floor consistently as was rewarded on a couple of possessions for doing so. I could see his size and potential alone catching some attention from Division III or JuCo programs. No. 11 Mt. Carmel vs No. 3 Mt. St. Joe The No. 3 Gaels were without the services of 2023 guard [player_tooltip player_id="957059" first="Austin" last="Abrams"] for this one and when you combine that with the No. 11 Cougars’ focus from the start, it resulted in a 9-point loss for the Gaels. The Cougars controlled the game from the opening tip and despite the Gaels making a late game surge to pull within 2, they were able to separate themselves in crunch time for seal the big win at home. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/11/Amani-hansberry.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1337889" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/11/Amani-hansberry-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="957018" first="Amani" last="Hansberry"] | 6’7 | Mt. St. Joe ’23 Hansberry proved why he still deserves the No. 1 ranking in our 2023 player rankings. The 6-foot-7 forward put together one of the most dominant performances I’ve seen from him as he logged a game-high 23 points, dominated the glass and made several high-level reads as a passer. Hansberry was giving his defender the works on the block and finishing high with soft touch and with either hand. He has some of the best footwork you’ll see out of a big man regardless of class. Where Hansberry was special was in the short roll following a ball-screen where he continuously made instant reads off the catch to locate shooters spotting up in the same or opposite corners. George Mason was in attendance for Hansberry’s performance. [player_tooltip player_id="904628" first="Deon" last="Perry"] | 5’9 | Mt. Carmel ’22 (Loyola MD commit) Perry put on a show of his own in front of his future head coach Tavaras Hardy as he led his team with 16 points. Perry was a tactician in the pick-and-roll where he got into the teeth of the defense with regularity, remained patient while he awaited for rotating defenders to settle and dissected from there. If he wasn’t making skip passes to open shooters or dump off passes to cutting teammates, he was quickly getting to the rim for speed layups. In isolations, Perry used his quick twitch ability to get to his spots in the mid-range, stop on a dime and knock down jumpers. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/11/Bryson-Tucker.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1337242" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/11/Bryson-Tucker-300x168.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="168" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="1127305" first="Bryson" last="Tucker"] | 6’6 | Mt. St. Joe ’24 The Gaels were slim at guard, so Tucker and 2023 [player_tooltip player_id="1049863" first="Ace" last="Valentine"] manned the ball handling duties throughout the game. What’s so impressive about Tucker is his pace. He never lets his defender speed him up and considering the amount of small, quick guards that Mt. Carmel has, it makes it that much more impressive. He used his size to his advantage by getting an edge on his defender and simply rising over top of him for mid-rangers. At one point in the game, Mt. St. Joe trailed by 15, but you couldn’t tell by the body language of both Tucker and Hansberry. It speaks to their leadership and overall character. Tucker finished with 15 points. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/09/Luke-Bamgboye-1.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1290621" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/09/Luke-Bamgboye-1-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a> Luke Bamgboye | 6’9 | Mt. Carmel ’24 Bamgboye had quite the assignment against Hansberry and got taken advantage of when the battle got physical in the paint, but the 6-foot-9 sophomore seems to adjust by utilizing his length late in the game to block two big shots and help seal the win. He glides down the floor and has a great motor that impressed the coaches in attendance. He finished at a respectable rate around the rim, but once he puts on more weight, he’ll be a force. Bamgboye logged 11 points in the win. [player_tooltip player_id="957034" first="Tjay" last="Beckles"] | 5’11 | Mt. Carmel ’23 Beckles has found his niche with his new teams over the past couple of weeks and continues to be the back-breaking three-point shooter next to Perry. He hit a couple last night on his way to 11 points. Beckles has a quick trigger and often baits his defender with a jab step off the catch and gets right into his shot. He also had two nice drives where he finishes with floaters to help keep his defender honest. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/10/Allen-Mordi.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1317473 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/10/Allen-Mordi-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a> Allen Mordi | 6’4 | Mt. Carmel ’23 Mordi is a valuable piece to this Mt. Carmel team because he doesn’t need the ball to be an impact. His size and strength make for a versatile defensive option on both the perimeter and paint area. Offensively he moved well without the ball especially when Perry put his head down on drives. He made himself available with dependable hands and finished challenged layups around the basket. Mordi finished with 11 points. [player_tooltip player_id="1127307" first="Andrew" last="Dixon"] | 5’11 | Mt. Carmel ’24 Dixon was responsible for Tucker most of the game and for much of the first half really limited his offensive production. Dixon is a great on-ball defender who looks for any slight mistake or careless error with the ball to take advantage of. Not only that, he plays the mental game off the ball being physical with his matchup as well. He helped set a tone early with his aggression offensively as he drove hard to the cup for creative finishes with both hands. If he wasn’t finishing layups, he was drawing fouls and converting at the stripe. When Dixon is scoring, this team is hard to beat. He chipped in with 10 points. [player_tooltip player_id="1049863" first="Ace" last="Valentine"] | 6’3 | Mt. St. Joe ’23 Valentine was responsible for much of the ball handling duties and getting his team into half court sets. On a few occurrences, he caught kick-out passes on the perimeter, used a pump fake to make his defender fly by and calmly stepped into the 15-to-17 foot range for smooth jumpers. Valentine finished with 8 points. [player_tooltip player_id="1164830" first="Sean" last="Clark"] | 6’0 | Mt. St. Joe ’24 Clark saw a boost in minutes with Abrams out and as a reward, had the fortune of guarding Perry, who is one of the most difficult players to contain. Even though Perry had 16 points, Clark made him work for his makes. He impressed me with his lateral movement, anticipation and quickness to recover for high-hand contests. Clark also contributed on the other end with a few nice mid-range jumpers attacking the elbow.