Week Seven Top Performers – Class of 2022

<p>Week 7 saw the wrap up of many non-league games and the start of conference play. Like last week with some games being canceled/postponed due to the pandemic, we spent some time watching games livestream in addition to attending a few. Here’s a look at the top seniors we saw from five games - Summit over Mountainside, Mountain View over South Salem, Lincoln over Grant, Sprague over South Salem, and Sunset over South Eugene.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1228279" first="Caden" last="Harris"], Summit</strong></p> <p>Harris is known for his perimeter stroke but he can do other things on the offensive end and that was clearly evident against Mountainside. The 6-foot-4 wing used his physical strength and athleticism to attack the basket and score through the Mavericks defense. If Harris wasn’t converting at the rim, he was drawing contact and getting to the line. At night’s end, he actually didn’t make a single three - barely attempted any in fact - and finished with a game-high 23 points.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1079540" first="Carson" last="Cox"], Summit</strong></p> <p>Offensively, Cox may have only scored six points with the majority of them coming on runouts in transition. But where the 5-foot-10 guard excelled was on the defensive end. Matched up with Mountainside leading scorer [player_tooltip player_id="857364" first="Dimitri" last="Cohen"] for most of the night, Cox did a great job of ball denial and then making it tough for Cohen to get clean looks at the hoop. While he may not have hit a three, the fact he’s a threat to hit from long range helped open things up for teammates getting to the hoop.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="857352" first="Dezman" last="Baker"], Mountainside</strong></p> <p>Baker has emerged as Mountainside’s leading rebounder and he particularly gets it done on the defensive boards, using not only his length and athleticism but by doing a nice job blocking out his assignment. The 6-foot-4 swingman also did a nice job offensively, looking for opportunities to get to the hoop and finish around the rim. With Cohen bottled up most of the night, Baker stepped in to lead the team in scoring with 13 points.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1079534" first="Tane" last="Prictor"], Mountain View</strong></p> <p>If there’s discussion about who the best senior big man in the state is, Prictor must be in the conversation. The 6-foot-11, 270-pound post is probably the biggest guy in Oregon but he’s more than simply size. Against South Salem, he ran the floor well, finished at the rim, owned the glass, and also showed good touch from the free throw line. Playing against smaller guys that swarm you can often frustrate big men, but he kept his composure, picked his spots, and to put it simply, played big. 21 points and 11 rebounds on the night.</p> <p><strong>Sawyer Heald, Lincoln</strong></p> <p>A lot of the buzz has been around the transfers to the Lincoln program but the team wouldn’t have the success they are having without key returnees such as Heald. The 6-foot-1 senior has excelled in particular as a spot-up shooter and that’s exactly what he was able to do against Grant. He spotted up on the wing and hit four threes, a couple during Lincoln’s big run in the third quarter that helped propel them in their comeback. Heald didn’t just shoot but also did a good job of moving the ball to open teammates and had five assists.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="857342" first="Dallon" last="Morgan"], Sprague</strong></p> <p>After hearing Morgan tied a school-record with 40 points, we went to the tape to document the performance. There’s no question the 6-foot-9 senior benefitted from being at least a half-foot of height above any Saxon defender as he easily scored underneath. But Morgan had one of those nights where he was on fire from the outside as he sank five threes and he also ran the floor and was rewarded with some fast break dunks.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1229388" first="Josh" last="Jackson"], Sunset</strong></p> <p>After a few games where his scoring output was low, it was good to see Jackson notch double figures in scoring. He scored all 13 of his points in the first half, using his sweet shooting stroke to hit three catch-and-shoot threes, while also using a quick dribble to hit a pull-up jumper.</p>