Holiday Classic Tip-Off Night: Best Bigs

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Holiday Classic Tip-Off Night has rapidly become an institution in San Diego, giving some of the region's top teams a stage of their own before the main event after the Christmas break.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Friday night's installation was one of the most memorable, as the three games yielded two Top-5 upsets and a near third that was decided by a single basket.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This report will go over the top 5 "big man" performances from the night that was.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Charlie Hutchison, Mission Bay</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We've discussed Hutchison's versatility in previous reports. In this game, however, the thing he did best was use his size to impact the game defensively. Hutchison used his length to alter and block shots around the rim, and he collected double-digit rebounds, cleaning up the defensive glass and springing the Buccaneers transition attack. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='994912' first='Christian' last='Brown'], La Costa Canyon</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brown got going after the first quarter, scoring 9 of his 14 points in the second quarter. A very fundamentally sound swingman who plays an undersized four for his high-school team, Brown is a rugged rebounding presence and gives excellent effort in position defense in the paint. Offensively, he exploits mismatches against team's bigs with his ability to hit shots from the perimeter and attack closeouts and get to the basket in two dribbles. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>[player_tooltip player_id='1502808' first='Andrei' last='Tovar'], San Ysidro</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A massive presence in the paint for the Cougars, the 6-8, 230-lb junior post does a good job of finishing around the basket with either hand. He's never going to be a rim protector per se, but Tovar's understanding of positioning and how to use his size allows him to alter shots and force players out of good post position. Plus, he gives solid effort on the boards. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Trevor Ladd, La Costa Canyon</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ladd's physicality and athleticism in the paint was evident early on for the Mavs, as he scored multiple times off of movement without the ball and finishing through contact. The 6-4 junior forward's activity level and motor is on full display when he rebounds, as he pursues balls out of his area with vigor. A football prospect, Ladd continues to impress on the basketball court. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>[player_tooltip player_id='1502888' first='Zach' last='Jackson'], Torrey Pines</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jackson has become more comfortable in the paint, and has made a big leap scoring the ball with his back to the basket. As the de facto big in the Falcons offense, the 6-5 junior does a good job establishing and holding post position, and has developed a nice jump hook over his left shoulder. Jackson still can hit shots from the perimeter off the catch, but by staying in the paint, he limits his driving opportunities, where he's still loose with the ball. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->