Round-1 6A Playoffs notes

On Thursday, February 17th I attended the first half of Queen Creek at Perry and the second half of Maricopa at Basha.   Some quick notes: Queen Creek spread them out in the 1st quarter and fired away from deep taking a 17-13 lead. The second quarter was all Perry. Their superior strength, size and length was felt on the defensive end, which led to easy transition scores. QC 4-point lead evaporated into a 12-point lead for the Pumas at 35-23. (Perry ended up winning 70-37.) I then drove over to Basha and arrived right at the start of the second half and Basha had a comfortable lead of 31-8. Maricopa scored 17 points in the third quarter, but Basha couldn’t be stopped and scored 24. The Bears led 56-25 heading into the 4th. The Warren and Bosch wing duo plus their PG Johnson all played well in the half giving the Bears an eventual 67-33 win to advance to play Perry in the Elite-8. Patton Jr and Lee played well in the second half for Copa.   Here were some standouts of the four teams: Joseph LaFountain PF 6’4 2023 Queen Creek A thick and stronger face-up four man. He can take the defense out to give his teammates space as he launches away from beyond the 3pt line. He has a pretty stroke from the stripe and has one of those shots that look good on every attempt. He can improve laterally but his strength, skill and girth will help the Bulldogs next year. [player_tooltip player_id="1127081" first="Liam" last="Bunker"] Queen Creek A thick soph pure point guard has a high feel for the game with good size for position. He is a very unselfish player and a next level passer. He gets the ball out of his hands quickly and he can shoot the 3. He uses his sturdy frame to get to the basket or will drive and kick to a shooter. [player_tooltip player_id="1390041" first="Sedrick" last="Nari"] Queen Creek An athletic guard has those thicker jumper legs. He can defend his position and hit the catch-3. His handle is solid and he can get to the rim. He rebounds well in his area for a guard and is young for his age. Look for him to make a leap up next year. [player_tooltip player_id="973579" first="Keegan" last="Bunker"] Queen Creek A long and skinny PG is a good ball handler and plays a smart floor game. He has deep 3pt range with a quick trigger and wasn’t afraid versus the bigger Pumas. [player_tooltip player_id="814513" first="Ben" last="Egbo"] Perry An athletic wing jump started the Pumas offense as he played the passing lanes and got out on the break. He collected two quick steals which led to transition scores. He rebounds out of his area and does a lot of their dirty work. [player_tooltip player_id="1129193" first="Koa" last="Peat"] Perry A super strong freshman forward scores it inside the paint efficiently. He has soft hands and a nice touch. He is a quick second jumper to keep plays alive on the glass and lightly puts it in. He can bully his way to the basket a little and play above the rim with a quick burst up. He is a top-tier rebounder and once he gets more and more comfortable shooting it from the perimeter, he will be extremely difficult to stop. He had 12 points in the 1st half. [player_tooltip player_id="831114" first="Cody" last="Williams"] Perry Williams had some real nice moments the first half with his 10 points. He hit two 3’s off the catch with his high release and good arc on the ball. He had a difficult left hand layup in traffic and made two-dribbles in traffic and had an eye-popping dunk above the rim, which got the crowd into the game. [player_tooltip player_id="1150848" first="Nolan" last="Brown"] Perry A fast ball handler is that pure PG that they don’t start. He was inserted into the game and he immediately found his freshman counterpart [player_tooltip player_id="996172" first="D’Andre" last="Harrison"] for an and-1 in traffic. He has a tight handle, speed and real court vision. [player_tooltip player_id="1064158" first="Christian" last="Warren"] Basha A steady two-way wing hits catch-3’s and will makes plays for his teammates. He can collect steals with his tough on-ball defense and is a well-rounded sophomore that keeps catching your eye each game. [player_tooltip player_id="1120889" first="Torin" last="Bosch"] Basha An improved shooter from distance was on in the half with three triples. He squares to the basket and lets it go. He rebounds for his position, defends and takes care of the ball. He has steadily improved since he arrived last year. [player_tooltip player_id="1131993" first="Izaih" last="Johnson"] Basha A tough lead guard with good upper body strength. He can hit the deep-3 and is best driving the lane with his toughness. He has a tighter handle and will defend on the ball. [player_tooltip player_id="1389644" first="RJ" last="Lee"] Maricopa A new player for me played well in the second half. He has a strong upper body with good strength mixed in with some athleticism. He is a good passer and he can pull-up from mid-range. He can get downhill by using a hesi and scoring in traffic with his frame. [player_tooltip player_id="831115" first="Kevin" last="Patton Jr"] Maricopa A talented point forward showed his talents off in the second half. He scored 7 of his 9 points. He hit a contested step back from mid-range, he hit a deep-3 and had a nice jab step and ripped through and dunked it quickly. He has college length and size and he will be one to track in the live periods. (He also had 9 rebounds, 5 blocks, 4 assists and 2 steals overall.) [caption id="attachment_1390072" align="alignnone" width="300"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/02/IMG_E2646-crop-2986x1961-1645305711.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1390072 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/02/IMG_E2646-crop-2986x1961-1645305711-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="831115" first="Kevin" last="Patton Jr"]. being defended by [player_tooltip player_id="1120889" first="Torin" last="Bosch"].[/caption]