GAC Conference Tournament Standouts

<p>The Great Atlantic Conference Tournament took place at Scotland Campus in PA on Monday and Tuesday, and it was a great weekend of basketball featuring some of the top high school and post grad teams in mid-atlantic.</p> <p>There were three divisions, the gold division, the silver division and the high school division, and there was tons of talent for all collegiate levels. If you’re interested in watching the conference tournament, you can get the play back on <a href="http://cblivenetwork.com">cbglivenetwork.com</a>.</p> <p>The winners of the three brackets were:</p> <p>Gold: Scotland Red (National)</p> <p>Silver: Phelps School PG</p> <p>High School: Scotland Campus Black</p> <p>Here’s a look at the standouts from the Maryland and New Jersey teams in attendance.</p> <p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">[player_tooltip player_id="1110544" first="Elijah" last="Jones"] | 6’9” PF | Mount Zion 2022</span></strong></p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/01/Elijah-Jones.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1362538" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/01/Elijah-Jones-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">While Mount Zion fell just short of the championship losing a heart breaker to Scotland in the championship, Jones continues to show that he’s one of the top big men in post grad basketball. He continues to show his improved skill set with his ability to knock down shots from deep, he’s tough in the paint with good strength and is an athletic finisher and he’s always productive as he scores it and rebounds extremely well.</span></p> <p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">RJ Luis | 6’6” WF | Mount Zion 2022</span></strong></p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/03/Luis-RJ.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1400199" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/03/Luis-RJ-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Luis is one of the best available scoring wings you’ll come across, as he has the mix of size, athleticism and skill set to go along with a high motor that makes him as productive as anyone you’ll come around. He’s an excellent finisher around the rim and hits the glass on both ends for his team, he can get hot quickly and knock down shots consistently and he can put it on the deck and get to the rim or to spots in the midrange where he can finish and make shots as well.</span></p> <p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">[player_tooltip player_id="1277422" first="Devon" last="Barnes"] | 6’0” PG | Mount Zion 2022</span></strong></p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/03/Barnes-Devin.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1400200" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/03/Barnes-Devin-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">I have watched Mt. Zion multiple times this season, and if there’s one player who is starting to come into his own more and more and is playing his best basketball right now it’s Barnes, who was fantastic for them in their run to the conference title match. He set the tone on both ends of the floor as he guarded the ball well and showed great instincts on both ends of the floor, he lived in the paint and he made shots consistently off the bounce from multiple levels.</span></p> <p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">[player_tooltip player_id="836479" first="Guy" last="Fauntleroy"] | 6’0” PG | Olympus 2022</span></strong></p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/03/Fauntleory-Guy.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1400201" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/03/Fauntleory-Guy-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Fauntleroy was out of this world in his two games, going for 31 points in their win over Spire and going for 38 in their loss to Scotland in the semifinals, scoring 25 of them in the second half. The Austin Peay commit has always been a bucket but you see the way that he’s able to take over games as he gets hot quickly and can can make very tough shots from multiple levels, he has the ability to create space both with a screen and without one and he shows great confidence in his game in a number of different ways.</span></p> <p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">[player_tooltip player_id="1142072" first="Renard" last="Fontes-Jules"] | 6’1” CG | Olympus 2022</span></strong></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">The other guard that was getting busy for Olympus throughout the two days was Fontes-Jules, who played a little bit of both guard positions and showed he can do a little bit of everything to help his team. The 6’1” combo showed good quickness and change of pace in the open floor, he got to spots easily off the bounce and made shots from multiple levels, he defended and rebounded and whenever his team needed a play to be made he did just that.</span></p> <p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">[player_tooltip player_id="900313" first="Mateo" last="Strikker"] | 6’7” PF | Olympus 2022</span></strong></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Strikker is a big man by size and his production level, but it’s hard not to be impressed by the fact that he has some guard skills in his ability to put it on the deck and create shots for himself and score it from multiple levels. At his size he showed the ability to put it on the deck in isolation situations and he changed speeds and directions well, he knocked down shots off the catch and got to spots in the midrange to score it and he showed he can rebound and finish in the post too.</span></p> <p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">[player_tooltip player_id="1265915" first="DJ" last="Smith"] | 6’1” WG | Olympus Blue 2022</span></strong></p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/03/Smith-DJ.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1400202" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/03/Smith-DJ-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">A very talented scoring guard, Smith was great in their first game in a win over Scotland Black and he showed the ability to score it in so many different ways despite not being the biggest guy for his position. He is a knock down shooter from deep who can get hot quickly and make shots in succession, he’s a good finisher in the paint and through contact and he can make tough shots in the midrange area off the bounce too.</span></p> <p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">Jamyier Patton | 5’11” PG | Olympus Blue 2022</span></strong></p> <p><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/03/Patton-Jamyier.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1400203" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/03/Patton-Jamyier-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Patton is another guard for this Olympus Blue team that can flat out fill it up, and he’s a lead guard who can make plays for others and he leads a team with toughness and grit as well. He went right at guys with his ability to create space and make shots from multiple levels, he can get hot quickly and fill it up in bunches and make shots from all over the floor and he brings it on both ends of the floor with his ability to make plays in different ways.</span></p>