Early San Diego County Top Performers

The first two weeks of the new basketball season in San Diego county have been electric. I got the pleasure to watch some great basketball both at the BorderBoyz showcase and the Madison Regional Rumble and there were some very noteworthy performances. These players have already come out and started setting the tone for the rest of the season as well as their future as prospects   [player_tooltip player_id='1502805' first='Euan' last='Davis'] (2024) | 6-1 G | El Camino (Pictured above on the left)   Davis and the Wildcats started the season strong taking down a highly touted San Ysidro team in a game in which Davis showed why he is one of the best guards in the county. Davis put his playmaking ability on display as he racked up assists to his teammates all game long, and showed his tenacity as he took over in the second half erasing a 16-point deficit with his relentless finishing at the rim and timely jumpers. Davis plays the game at 100% on both ends taking charges, jumping passing lanes, and diving for loose balls. Davis showed why he is a leader for this El Camino team as well as why college coaches should take notice of him   Luke Picha (2023) | 6-5 SG | El Camino   I put down Picha as one of my sleepers when it came to the best shooters in San Diego but after his performance against San Ysidro he's waking people up. Picha came out blistering hot from three and spearheaded the Wildcat's early offensive push. What impressed me the most about his performance was staying disciplined despite having the hot hand, Picha continued to make the extra pass to his teammates and continued to let the offense come to him instead of taking tough heat check shots. As San Ysidro began to face-guard him the game began to open up for his teammates as defenders could not leave him showing the impact his shooting had on the game. When the Wildcats are riding his hot shooting they are easily one of the best teams in the county   Diego Salcido (2023) | 5-11 PG | Helix (Pictured above on the right)   Salcido impressed me with how much of a swiss army knife he is for the Highlanders. Salcido plays the role of floor general well for this Helix team and gets all his teammates involved while running their offense. Salcido was also a very efficient soccer for the Highlanders showing off his ability to score from all three levels, as he was knocking down threes, taking some nice pull-ups from the mid-range off the dribble, as well as getting to the rim finishing with floaters showing off nice touch around the basket. Helix may have lost a great point guard to graduation in Markees Williams but Salcido is looking like a more than capable replacement for the Highlanders and has them surprising a lot of teams. It may be early but Salcido and his Helix team are looking like the favorites to win the Grossmont-Hills league.   Bruck Kifleyesus (2023) | 6-1 G | Helix   Kifleyesus has the type of jumper where you can just look at it and tell that this guy can shoot and he showed why as he was consistently hitting from the three-point line all game, but that isn't the only aspect of his game he excels at. He was slashing at will in transition for the Highlanders and had some athletic finishes at the rim through contact. He plays very smoothly on the offensive end and does a good job of creating good shots for himself both off the dribble and off the ball as scoring looked easy for him all game long. Kifleyesus also was causing havoc on the defensive end by jumping passing lanes and racking up steals for the Highlanders helping them create more offensive opportunities. Kifleyesus gives Helix that scoring punch they need in order to compete with not only teams in their league come league play but gives Helix a chance to make some noise in the CIF playoffs as well.   Tate Van Der Walt (2024) | 5-10 PG | Westview   Van Der Walt was a huge bright spot for the Wolverines and was keeping them in the game for the majority of the contest. Van Der Walt was knock down from three all game long and made some from distance as well. Despite not being the tallest player Van Der Walt was not afraid to take the ball into the paint and finish around the rim with some crafty layups and runners in the lane. He also did a great job of playing the role of point guard for Westview and running their offense as he always made sure to make the extra pass and generated lots of good looks with him running the show for the Wolverines.   Trevor Ladd (2024) | 6-4 F | La Costa Canyon   Ladd comes back to the Mavericks from the gridiron and was a force for them down low. Ladd dominated the boards both on defense and on offense creating lots of second-chance opportunities for LCC that they would cash in on. Ladd wasn't just down low getting rebounds though, he was there for the Mavericks all night playing good help defense and contesting shots at the rim. He also finished in the paint off the offensive boards and dump down passes from his teammates and was constantly moving off the ball. Ladd gives LCC a great glue guy as they continue to make a push to get back to the open division playoffs and battle for a wide-open league title.   Parker Jelsing (2023) | 6-1 G | La Costa Canyon   Jelsing was the spark plug for LCC in their win over Mission Bay and showed off the energy he brings to his squad on both ends of the ball. Jelsing hounded the ballon defense all game long and was constantly putting pressure on the offense. Jelsing also hit lots of timely shots for the Mavericks to keep their momentum alive whether it be from catch-and-shoot jumpers or taking the ball to the rim strong and finishing at the cup. Jelsing has made strides as a player and is now a key piece of the LCC rotation and gives them a second guy along with Hendler who can run the point guard position for them.

The first two weeks of the new basketball season in San Diego county have been electric. I got the pleasure to watch some great basketball both at the BorderBoyz showcase and the Madison Regional Rumble and there were some very noteworthy performances. These players have already come out and started setting the tone for the rest of the season as well as their future as prospects