Grind Region Kick Off 17U All Tourney 1st Team

<p><em><strong>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</strong></em></p> <p>The Prep Hoops Circuit got started over the weekend all across the country. In the Oklahoma City area, the Grind Region Kick Off took place and we had some great basketball across the OKC metro. I was set up in Edmond at Solid Rock for the 17U action from start to finish and we saw some great individual performances throughout. In this post, we take a look at the very best individuals from the weekend. Forwards highlight our 17U All Tourney 1st Team. Stay tuned to Prep Hoops for more coverage from the Grind Region Kick Off!</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1079009" first="Carter" last="Hjelmstad"] - 2023 Forward - Edmond Memorial</strong><br /> <strong>(Played With ROGUE)</strong></p> <p>Our first All Tourney 1st Team selection is 2023 forward [player_tooltip player_id="1079009" first="Carter" last="Hjelmstad"]. For the second straight weekend, ROGUE was absolutely dominant and is proving that they are going to be one of the best grassroots teams in Oklahoma this offseason. They went 4-0 this weekend after winning a tournament last week. Leading ROUGE was Hjelmstad, who was incredibly impressive in the game that we saw him from start to finish. Hjelmstad averaged 17 points per game during the event. His top output came in their game on Sunday when he went for 23 points and was an offensive weapon all over the floor. He knocked down shots from all three levels and when he was in the paint, he did a great job finishing with both hands and cleaning up the glass with rebounds. ROGUE is a pretty balanced team but Hjelmstad stood out. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1160826" first="Jacob" last="Lafferty"] - 2024 Forward - Sparta</strong><br /> <strong>(Played With All Missouri Attack)</strong></p> <p>The only 2024 prospect to make this breakdown is [player_tooltip player_id="1160826" first="Jacob" last="Lafferty"] out of Sparta, Missouri. While helping lead All Missouri Attack to a perfect 4-0 weekend, Lafferty was dominant in the paint. He averaged nearly 20 points per game in the first three games of the tournament. We don’t have the score sheet for the final game, in which they won by 20, we’ll assume that Lafferty probably had another stellar performance. He was incredibly consistent for his team throughout the weekend and continues the trend here of dominating big men. Lafferty lived in the paint and was a walking double double with points and rebounds. Lafferty made plenty of buckets at the basket and also got points on put backs and at the foul line, where he showed nice touch on his shot. We warned you that this was going to be fairly one-sided towards the forwards as they were dominant this weekend. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1036989" first="Jawan" last="Mukes"] - 2022 Guard - OKC Storm</strong><br /> <strong>(Played With 405 BadBoyz)</strong></p> <p>The only 2022 prospect and the only guard to make this list is [player_tooltip player_id="1036989" first="Jawan" last="Mukes"], who spent the weekend with the 405 BadBoyz, another team that went 4-0 on the weekend. Mukes was without a doubt the best point guard that I got a chance to see up close for an entire game. Not only was he scoring at will throughout the weekend, he was getting others involved with impressive passes, sparking transition buckets with forcing turnovers and he was also a vocal leader every time we had our eyes on him. Overall, Mukes averaged 21 points per game and was consistently right there throughout the three games that they played. He scored 21, 18 and 24 points respectively. Their last scheduled game on Sunday was forfeited by their opponent. If you’re looking for an available point guard in the 2022 class, you won’t find many in Oklahoma as skilled as Mukes.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="969431" first="Kadyn" last="Betts"] - 2023 Forward - Pueblo Central</strong><br /> <strong>(Played With P.L.U.T.O. Prospects)</strong></p> <p>Prep Hoops recently updated our national rankings for the 2023 class and one of the prospects in the Top 100 was forward [player_tooltip player_id="969431" first="Kadyn" last="Betts"] out of Colorado. Betts showed why he’s considered one of the top 2023 prospects, not only in this part of the country, but nationwide. Betts was one of the more dominant prospects throughout the weekend while playing with P.L.U.T.O. Prospects and they were arguably the most dominant team throughout the weekend. Betts led them in scoring with nearly 19 points per game and was a massive problem for any teams that ran against them. The only thing we wish we could have seen was P.L.U.T.O. and ROGUE face off because they were in the same pool, but did not go head to head this weekend. That would have made for arguably the best game of the weekend. Watching Betts and Hjelmstad going head to head could have been an instant classic. </p> <p><strong>Nathan Vachon - 2023 Forward - Siloam Springs</strong><br /> <strong>(Played With KSR Elite) </strong></p> <p>We haven’t gone through every single score sheet from the 100+ games in Edmond over the weekend but we’ll go out on a limb and say that nobody put up more points than Siloam Springs 2023 forward Nathan Vachon while playing with KSR Elite, who finished 3-1 on the weekend. Vachon averaged 24 points per game and was one of only a handful of players who reached the 30 point mark in one game. He nearly did it again in the following game when he dropped 28 points. The best an opponent could do was hold Vachon to 15 points as he scored 23 points in the other game. Like we mentioned, we didn’t go over every score sheet, but nearly all of them. So apologies if someone else filled it up more than Vachon. But the Arkansas big man was about as unstoppable as you could ask for throughout the weekend in Edmond. </p>