Liberty at Sunnyslope: Freshman/JV Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On Thursday, January 19th I attended the 6A&nbsp;<strong>Sunnyslope Vikings </strong>hosting the 6A&nbsp;<strong>Liberty Lions</strong>. There were two top-10 teams in 6A. [player_tooltip player_id='1132004' first='Davis' last='Hester'] was unfortunately not available for the varsity game with an injury and it clearly showed up. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Vikings started hot and led 20-12 after the first quarter. The Lions made a mini run and cut the gap. Vikings still led 26-24 at halftime. The 3rd quarter is where the Vikings took control. They led 50-38 heading into the 4th. They coasted most of the fourth as the Lions cut it to only 6 the closest. Sunnyslope won it <strong>61-52.</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Before the big varsity game I checked out the younger players.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Here were the younger standouts</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Freshman Game</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2293075' first='Tommy' last='Reeve'] PG 5'10 2026 Sunnyslope&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A lean and fluid guard can score it and facilitate. He is a good passer and will whip the ball to the open man.&nbsp;The lefty has a clip and he will score on sweeping layups He will take a charge and give up his body and he should be a productive player in HS. The family are from hoop junkies, as they often stay and watch every varsity game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Drakes Arvizu SG 5'10 2026 Sunnyslope</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A long and lean guard can catch and shoot from the three point line. He handles the ball fairly well and plays both guard spots<strong>. </strong>Once he gets some space, he is letting it fly from beyond the three point line. His wingspan bothers his opponents in the passing lanes and shows upside. He has a good family lineage from grandfather to father of all hoopers. He is definitely one to monitor. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Aidan Garcia PG 5'8 2026 Sunnyslope&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A lanky and undersized scoring point guard is feisty on defense and can shoot. He has a quicker first step with nice court vision to make some plays. Once he fills in and just gets stronger, he may be a varsity player down the road. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1736172' first='Keegan' last='Colter'] Liberty&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A good size point guard gets to his spots on the court. He can drive and kick it with a nice handle and good court vision. He has an easy stroke with real range past the three point line. He has a floater and he looks like he will be future varsity contributor.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1736215' first='Joey' last='Orco'] Liberty&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring guard with deep range on his three point shot. He has the floater game and he is very confident with it. He relocates to open spots and gives hard ball fake and will get to the basket with a few strides. He is quick on the ball defensively and is another who the program is high on.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1633026' first='David' last='Onuh'] Liberty&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The thicker wing is a good passer and defender. He will take a charge and clean the glass with his length and strength. He will score on catch triples and put backs with either hand.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1758558' first='Trey' last='Barker'] Liberty&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A live bodied forward loves getting downhill. He can still shoot it from mid to the three point line and will get hot quickly. He takes long strides to get to the rim and plays a physical brand of ball.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1758925' first='Vincent' last='Busalacchi'] Liberty&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A versatile power forward can bang inside and stretch it out to shoot the three. He can whip a pass like a football QB to a teammate up the court with impressive outlets. He will score with either hand in the trenches and bring his hard hat and skill to the court. Another talented freshman the Lions have for the future.   </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>JV Game</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1364929' first='Jackson' last='Hunter'] Liberty&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of their talented sophs is a three level scorer. He had multiple catch triples, he gives hard ball fakes and will get to the basket plus kick it to an open shooter. He uses his stronger build to rebound in the trenches. He is tough on the ball defensively and can rip pockets of his opponents and take it coast to coast in traffic.     </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1364143' first='Landon' last='Wilson'] Liberty</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The JV's teams sharp shooter showed off again with a few from the parking lot. He is easily one of the top shooters in the class. He has a super quick release and volleyball line range. He also proved it on varsity. The varsity were short players and one of their best actually fouled out in the 4th and they inserted him and he cashed in immediately. He hit a three plus got to the FT line and scored in transition. He most likely will start next year on varsity.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1364966' first='Zion' last='Eboru'] Liberty&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A shooting guard is a fluid athlete who is very good defensively. He just got back from a long injury and showed promise like he did last year. He moves the ball, plays some on or off and he can be a lock down defender. He can score it some but he makes his money on defense.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1364930' first='Jarrell' last='Houston'] Liberty&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Their pure point guard handles all the ball pressure and the lefty has deep range on his three with a quicker release. He is quick with the ball in his hands and can find open teammates in stride. Look for him to also get some varsity minutes, since their senior PG will graduate.   </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Justin Patterson SF 6'4 2025 Liberty</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A long and very skinny wing can shoot the three plus board. He will get on the glass and score on put backs. One to watch to see what he develops into.   </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1758975' first='Nash' last='Parmley'] Sunnyslope (Pictured)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A bigger sized wing forward can catch and shoot from the three. He has a super quick release and runs the court well. He plays the passing lanes well and will finish off layups in transition. He may get some playing time next year on varsity with his size and skill. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1758996' first='Ian' last='Waxman'] Sunnyslope&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The engine of the JV team is Waxman. He is tough and fearless. He will throw up the court passes and can get into the teeth of the defense to score or catch and shoot threes. He can pull-up from mid-range and is surveying the scene most of the game. He has an inner drive and is constantly talking to his teammates on the court as a leader. He can spin off of his defender to score and handles pressure well.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1758997' first='Luke' last='Maloney'] Sunnyslope&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A tough scoring point guard is<strong> </strong>a<strong> </strong>smart passer who sees the court. He has adequate open court speed to past his defenders and get to the basket for a bucket. Him and Waxman play smartly off of each other and know where they will be on the court. He can make an open shot and drive it. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1758998' first='Owen' last='Hillis'] Sunnyslope&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A sturdy framed power forward has good hands to catch passes to score. He can rip thru and score in heavy traffic using his size and body. He will block shots and rebound in his area and had many tough in traffic rebounds that helped the team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->