Thanksgiving Week Upperclassmen Breakouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This Thanksgiving break was one to celebrate on the hardwood as there was plenty of talent on display all around Houston. For this week's edition, we took a trip to a couple of games to open up the season including Humble/Memorial, Kingwood/Langham Creek, and Kingwood Park/Willis. Let's look at some of the upperclassmen standouts from these contests.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sean Rodriguez- Guard, Memorial High School (2023)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sean was very efficient when it came to leading his Mustang squad's offense against a physical Humble team and he was never afraid to take charge when needed. Rodriguez showed exceptional speed driving to the rim and hitting open teammates on fastbreaks. He also was a marksman from the midrange and was getting everything to fall en route to a blowout 58-31 win. Sean was always vocal on defense and displayed great court awareness at all times on both ends. He will continue to be a leader for this deep Memorial team as the season drags on and their road to playoffs gets tougher once they enter district play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Hollis Stephens- Forward, Kingwood Park High School (2023)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Stephens showed himself to be one of the more dominant 5A forwards in the Houston area in two of Kingwood Park's games against Klein Cain and Willis. Hollis was very effective at cleaning up boards on both ends of the court and always in the right position for an easy putback or layup under the basket. He displayed a wide variety of post moves to shake his defender and score the ball as well as coming up big with clutch blocks on the defensive end. Stephens is one of the vocal leaders on this team coming into his senior season and looking to make a big impact on the hardwood as the year goes on.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Spencer Jordan- Guard, Kingwood High School (2023)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Spencer was one of the lone bright spots for his Kingwood Mustangs squad as they had a tough game against Langham Creek over the break and controlled the offense at his pace. Jordan showed that he can knock down long range jumpers when left open and also was capable of using his ballhandling to drive past his matchup to the rim, often finishing through the contact. Spencer was also a master of the pick and roll as the handler, always directing his big men to the right spot for the pass. Jordan will look to step up to the plate as one of the emotional and vocal directors for his team this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ethan Soares- Forward, Memorial High School (2023)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ethan was the dominant big man in Memorial's contest against Humble over Thanksgiving. Soares showed his ability to stretch the floor from long range, hitting over half of his three pointers he attempted. He was also elite at finishing under the basket, often converting his and 1 opportunities at the line and coming away with an easy couple of points. Ethan was adept at keeping his matchup from scoring under the rim at the defensive end and often came away with a tough defensive rebound for his squad to limit the opponent to just 1 shot per possession. Soares shows exceptional ability to hit from long range for a big man and is also willing to set up his teammates whenever the opportunity arises. He will be a key piece for the Mustangs as the season progresses.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->