Clarkton Christmas Tournament Friday Night Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the first holiday tournaments to be held in the state is the Clarkton Christmas Tournament in Southeast Missouri. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was a great week for Class 1 Risco as it defeated Malden and Portageville on successive nights to win the championship. Here is look at some of the standouts from Friday night's final day of action at Clarkton.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2357746' first='Sammy' last='Smith'] (Risco): The 6'3" 2025 guard had a tremendous tournament in leading the Tigers to the championship. He scored 28 points in the overtime victory over Malden in the semifinals, then came back with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the championship game against Portageville. He's an excellent athlete and playmaker who dominates the mid-range game. When he gets into the lane, he is tough to stop because he can elevate on his jumper over anybody. He's good enough with the handles to get to his spots on the floor and he can also deliver a nice pass to an open teammate when he draws a defender.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jamarion Smith (Portageville): A 5'11" 2024 guard who did his best to try to will his team to a victory in the championship game. He's a tough, physical guard who does an excellent job of getting downhill and finishing plays through contact. He had a big fourth quarter as he attacked and scored on numerous occasions. He has a quick first step that gets him by a defender before they can react.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eli Rodgers (Risco): A 2026 guard who came through with a big 14 points in the championship game against Portageville. He was one of the stars of the fourth quarter as he took over a key stretch of the game with some clutch shot making. The moment was not to big for this youngster as he wanted to the ball and he delivered buckets on drives and also a key 3-pointer, which gave Risco a one-point lead at one time.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1160840' first='Payton' last='Woodard'] (Malden): A 5'10" 2024 point guard who had a strong week, which earned him a spot on the All-Tournament Team. He's a talented lefty who is very shifty with the way he can change speeds to keep defenders off balance. He's got a nice pull up jumper in the lane and he also dribbled into a walk-up 3-pointer from the head of the key that was very smooth. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1160842' first='Quamareous' last='Farmer'] (Malden): A 6'0" 2024 guard who scored a game-high 20 points in Malden's victory over East Carter in the third-place game. He normally shoots it very well off the catch, but on this night, he was finding his buckets in a variety of ways. He used his strong body on the drive and he also got busy on the offensive boards for putbacks. He also added a few points in the transition game. His passing game was also on point as he found open teammates with a few pinpoint dimes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2717754' first='Will' last='Baugus'] (East Carter, pictured): I was very impressed with what I saw from the beefy 6'5" 2026 power forward in the third place game against Malden. He was battling a Malden team with good size inside and he produced a double-double with 11 points and 18 big rebounds. His positioning around the basket was excellent as he got buckets on post-ups and offensive rebounds. He was also setting solid screens to free up shooters and he showed his mobility on the roll-down to get himself in position for a bucket.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>TJ Smith (Malden): A 2026 wide-body post who was excellent in the third-place game against East Carter. He's a big kid, but he's very nimble and he displayed excellent footwork in the low post. He could drop-step it or spin inside to get a layup as he operated well in traffic. He has soft hands to catch the ball and he has a nice shooting touch off the glass. If you know me, I like the big'uns, so it was fun to watch TJ and Big Will of East Carter battle in the low post on Friday night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->