Feast Week: 2026 Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thanksgiving Week I ran all around the city to many events. I attended the Sunnyslope&nbsp;<strong>Hoopsgiving Tournament</strong>&nbsp;at Deer Valley,&nbsp;<strong>Hilcrest Prep vs Over Time Elite</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Millennium Nike Tournament, Fear the Hop</strong>&nbsp;at Mesa,&nbsp;<strong>Welcome to the Jungle</strong>&nbsp;at Gilbert and&nbsp;<strong>Black Hawk Thanksgiving Classic</strong>&nbsp;at Williams Field.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2><strong>Here were some of the top freshman standouts:</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1150824' first='Kaden' last='House'] Desert Mountain (Pictured)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A wildly athletic guard who has supreme body control to score around traffic. He finds ways to make difficult shots with defenders all over him. He is an easy elbows above the rim dunker on the break. He can shoot the catch three with space and time. He is a very good passer and ball handler as well. He is patient and sees plays developing quickly and will throw the dime. He has incredible defensive ball pressure and plays the passing lanes about as well as you can. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1150823' first='Kalek' last='House'] Desert Mountain&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A skilled defensive lead guard who can hit the three point shot. He is also very athletic, as he can rise up and rebound the ball at a good rate for a guard. His on-ball defense is stifling, he closes out to shooters quickly and moves the ball with an unselfish nature. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1676630' first='Kristo' last='Jackson'] San Tan Charter&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A strong upper bodied scoring guard is a bucket. He can catch and shoot to the three point line or rise up off the dribble and drill a shot from mid. He is very athletic and fast in the open court. He is a plus on-ball defender with his length and toughness. He can get hot and rattle shots off and he is very competitive. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1676631' first='Niko' last='Velez'] Desert Vista</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A fast pure point guard has incredible speed in the open court. The ball is on a string for him and he has quick hands and feet on defense to pester the opposing guards.&nbsp;He already plays heavy minutes on varsity and he is their future of the program. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1570935' first='Kyler' last='Frye'] McClintock</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A fluid ball handler who can change speeds and get into the lane to score. He rises up high on his mid-range jumpers and can hit from beyond the arc. He has a cerebral game and rarely makes bad decisions with the ball. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1323294' first='Will' last='Gordon'] San Tan Charter&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A good sized point guard has real speed with length and bounce. He can get downhill and take a bump to score. He can take one dribble and rise up from deep from mid to the three. He looks to facilitate then score. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1676641' first='Jared' last='Johnstad'] San Tan Charter</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Yet another freshman on one of the youngest varsity teams in the state. He is a catch and shoot three point shooter. He will give hard ball fakes and score on contested layups. He plays with a huge IQ and is very crafty and tough. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->