Soph Stock Up: 1st Half of Season

<p>As we head into the 2nd half of the season, we look back at who played well the 1st half of the season. </p> <p>My assistant and I went to 2-4 games a week plus many tournaments along the way covering a lot of ground.</p> <p>We finish it off with the sophomores. This is the hardest one since we added 30+ new 2024’s to the database, so most of the players will actually go down in their rankings. </p> <p>But here are some that are improving their games early on. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Soph stock up:</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="996166" first="Braeden" last="Speed"] Brophy Prep</strong></p> <p>I am not sure anyone is playing better in the AIA then Speed for his class. He seems to be super confident every game he plays. He slows down every top scorer each night and scores from all three levels. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1064158" first="Christian" last="Warren"] Basha (Pictured)</strong></p> <p>Another player who is looking sharp early on. Warren has a pure stroke from deep and has a high IQ on defense seemingly always in the correct spot. He is tough, skilled to the 3pt line and has some bounce.   </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1131993" first="Izaih" last="Johnson"] Basha</strong></p> <p>A quick ball handler with some open court speed. He can turn the corner on his defender and get to the rim and dime his teammates off of his penetration to the basket. He will also defend his position with his lateral quickness and quick hands. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1135901" first="Aiden" last="Dunne"] Paradise Honors </strong></p> <p>Dunne showed he belongs on varsity despite a talented upperclassmen roster. He is one of the better shooters in the class and his IQ comes with him every game. He is a low turnover, high assist type and he should breakout even more next season when Blessing graduates. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1124550" first="Cohen" last="Ferguson"] Campo Verde</strong></p> <p>A steady performer has a professional approach for his class. He is tough, skilled and smart. He can shoot it from mid to the 3pt line and will defend his position and make plays. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="996810" first="Preston" last="Lee"] Corona del Sol</strong></p> <p>A physical guard is an all effort player. He works hard on the defensive end of the court and uses his strength to get into the lane to score or facilitate for his teammates.  One of those players that is just a gamer. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1183406" first="EJ" last="Mills"] Shadow Ridge </strong></p> <p>We viewed Mills early on before the HS season started in early November and he is on the rise. He unfortunately is out for the year with an injury in a car accident. He will be ready to go in March and be a big factor next season. He can control games with his tempo and make plays for others as a pure PG. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Watched some video of a few players:</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1178304" first="Isaiah" last="Hill"] Pueblo</strong></p> <p>A three level scorer is making it look easy up in Tucson. He slithers into the lane with his tight handle and speed and throws dimes or will score in the lane. He can euro his way to the cup or hit the catch-3. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1150940" first="Rowan" last="McKenzie"] Boulder Creek</strong></p> <p>BC played a tourney in Texas and the team impressively went 6-0. Rowan was the main reason why as he averaged 17ppg 5rpg and 2apg. His main scoring was from deep. He went 17 from 33 from the 3pt line and knows how to free himself to get open. He is best off the catch, but can give a hard shot fake and drive to the basket and score it in traffic. </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1297427" first="AJ" last="Thomas"] <strong>Eduprize </strong></p> <p>He is not ranked, but he will be at the end of the HS season. He reportedly put up 49 points recently and I viewed the 1st quarter, which I found online. He scored around 16 of their teams 26. He has deep volleyball line range, a nice pull-up from mid and a floater. He knows how to hesitate and get into the lane. He has quick hands and collected steals and got some run out layups for easy transition points. He drove and kicked it too showing his IQ and feel. </p>