Ironwood and Sunrise Mountain: Freshman/JV standouts

Gregg Rosenberg February 8, 2022 @ 06:26 PM

On Monday, January 31st I attended the 5A contest between Ironwood and Sunrise Mountain at Sunrise Mountain HS in Peoria, AZ. I watched all three games with Freshman, Junior Varsity and Varsity. A lot of new players were discovered and I wrote about some of the players who stood out.   Here were the standouts from the Freshman and JV games: Freshman game: [player_tooltip player_id="1377951" first="Kenneth" last="Hill"] Sunrise Mountain A downhill guard scores it very easily using his stronger body. He changes speeds and bursts to cup. He can hit the 3 off the catch with success and gets hot. He can power up or step through and score it through contact. He uses his length to defend on the perimeter and could get some minutes next year on varsity. He also played good minutes on JV. [player_tooltip player_id="1377952" first="Caden" last="Hammond"] Sunrise Mountain A long and lean scoring guard. He has big feet for possible future growth and rebounds fairly well despite his thinner frame. He can drive and kick or score it in traffic. He knows how to spin off his man and go to work. He can hit the 3 off the catch and once he warms up, he can rattle them off. A sneaky good passer too. Gunner Thomas PF 6’1 2025 Sunrise Mountain A strong forward who plays really hard the entire game. Moves without the ball well showing off his high IQ, and he is tough and skilled. He is very crafty and a good passer as he anticipates his teammates well. He can shoot it from mid to the 3pt line. Landon Brownstein PG 5’9 2025 Ironwood A scoring lead guard with a high feel for the game. The lefty is a gunner from the 3pt line. He is a good passer but is mostly looking to score it. He has deep range and a quick release and loves using the euro step to the cup. He had near 25 points in the game and also played on JV.   JV game: Jayden Crawford SG 6'0 2023 Ironwood A deadly shooter with deep 3pt range. He has pretty ball rotation and a quick trigger. He is crafty to give a hard shot fake and drive by his man for a layup in traffic. [player_tooltip player_id="1135513" first="Nathan" last="Wanjohi"] Ironwood A long forward with skill. He is a strong two-handed rebounder high above the crowd. It looks like he has stick em on his hands to grab it. He has a nice drop step move and will score it in the paint. He keeps the ball high and will score on put backs. He will block shots and closes out well to shooters. Lee Bradley PF 6’2 2024 Ironwood A high motored power forward is efficient around the basket. He is a quick second jumper to rebound at a high level and runs the floor and plays with a motor. Henry Bako PG 5’11 2024 Ironwood A slick lefty PG is a good passer inside and can hit 3’s. He has a nice crossover to get his opponents off of him. The ball gets out of his hands quickly and he is fast with the ball. Armani Sanchez PG 5’9 2024 Ironwood A high IQ guard with nice court vision. He is a catch-3pt shooter who makes the extra pass. A pure team player that will space the floor. [player_tooltip player_id="1128216" first="Connor" last="Thornton"] Sunrise Mountain A consistent wing forward is a three level scorer. He has the floater, he can hit the catch-3 and score with either hand through contact. His floater in the lane seems to be his favorite go-to move.