Madison Regional Rumble: Event sleepers
It was easy to predict who was going to win the 4th annual Madison Regional Rumble: barring injury, San Diego’s top-seeded team, the St. Augustine Saints, were going to run away with it. And they did, beating a very competitive…
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Continue ReadingIt was easy to predict who was going to win the 4th annual Madison Regional Rumble: barring injury, San Diego’s top-seeded team, the St. Augustine Saints, were going to run away with it. And they did, beating a very competitive Otay Ranch team by 35 points in the title game.
After watching the Saints in the beginning of the season at the San Diego Tip-Off Challenge, I decided to focus on some of the other teams in the field. That decision yielded a number of players who weren’t on my radar.
Here are several of the biggest sleepers.
Tate van der Walt, Westview
Westview is one of those teams that doesn’t have a “star,” but a collective of players that play hard, defend and make opportune buckets. Embodying that the most is their floor general, van der Walt, a 5-10 sawed-off junior who is a physical defender and a quick slasher and a capable catch-and-shoot threat. In the team’s final game, a 57-56 win over Mission Viejo, he hit five threes, including the team’s most critical basket, a triple off the left wing to give the Wolverines a 57-53 lead.
Komari Lewis, Madison
Much of the attention goes to another football guy on the basketball team, 6-5 Jake Jackson. But the 6-3+ Lewis, a transfer from Adelanto, has some game too. Offensively, he’s a slasher who is deceptively strong and can finish through contact around the hoop – with either hand. He’s got very good length and solid athleticism, and rebounds and defends well on the perimeter. He can also hit threes off the catch, but he’s streaky. The junior, who is a quarterback on the football field, actually has a ton of upside on the basketball court if he chose to pursue it.
Quincy Williams, Francis Parker
Francis Parker competes hard for new coach Mason Biddle, but the one player who makes them go is Williams, a speedy 5-10 scoring guard who is capable of putting up huge numbers on any given night. He’s improved dramatically as a shooter this year, and has singlehandedly kept the Lancers in games with his ability to knock down shots from deep. He’s a blur in the open court, and uses his speed to draw the defense and finds shooters with solid passes in their shooting pocket.
Ahkwon White, Helix
White should be discussed when talking about the region’s best shooters. A physically built combo guard, White is an elite jump shooter who can hit shots off the catch (hit six threes in a win over Madison) and attacking closeouts and pulling up from midrange. He’s not the tallest at 6-1 (at best), but he’s the type of player who could find a home at the NAIA level or even higher if he went to junior college.
Hudaifa Osman, Helix
If there’s a late bloomer that screams “best basketball ahead of him” it’s Osman, a 6-4+ wing with a huge wingspan and some emerging ball skills. He can knock down shots off the catch at an improved clip, and has a nice pull-up game from 15 feet. He’s woefully thin, but I think a college weight room would do him wonders. A young 2023 prospect (just turned 17), the right junior college will turn him into a player.
Brad McGlothlin, Mission Hills
McGlothlin, a 6-4 wing forward with a massive wingspan, was a player who was on my radar as a freshman, but knee injuries kept him sidelined for his entire sophomore year and all but one weekend this summer and fall. But he’s back, and quickly showed why he was on radars in his team’s win over Parker. He uses his freakish length to collect deflections at a pretty unreal clip. When he was placed at the top of the Grizzlies 3/4 trapping defense, it turned the tide and gave the Grizzlies the upper hand. He’s an opportunistic offensive player, who can finish in the post with solid footwork and can handle it just enough to get to the basket from the short corners.