Liberty at Mesa Mountain View: Varsity Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thursday December 14th I attended the 6A matchup of the&nbsp;<strong>Liberty Lions&nbsp;</strong>traveling to Mesa to take on the&nbsp;<strong>Mountain View Toros</strong>.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Toros jumped on the Lions early and never looked back. [player_tooltip player_id='1131814' first='Ring' last='Nyeri'] unfortunately didn't play and it obviously made a difference. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Toros were up 8-12 points nearly the entire game and coasted to win <strong>70-56.</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Here were the Varsity Standouts:</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2298362' first='Bradley' last='Dyer'] Mesa Mountain View (Pictured left)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The breakout player of the night was Dyer. He is fast in transition with long strides and can step out and shoot it. He will score down low with hook shots. He threw a couple dunks down with surprisingly easy bounce. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2249609' first='Rashard' last='Cooper'] Mesa Mountain View (Pictured middle)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the best stories in the entire AIA. He scores on offensive rebound put backs and he is a strong two-handed rebounder. His jump hook shot is polished and rebounds well and scores around other bigs well. His free throw stroke looks good and he handles contact well and has good size and length. He blocks shots and will dive on the floor. He is arguably the most improved player in AZ from his class has only played organized ball for 4 years and recently lost 70 lbs.  </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1483891' first='Jackson' last='Woolley'] Mesa Mountain View (Pictured right)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A guard who plays on or off the ball. He can score with mid-range jumpers and can dribble drive with either hand and take the bump to score and convert some and-1's. He plays smart off the pick and roll game and will find teammates in transition. He is good in the passing lanes and made multiple big plays in the 4th to seal the win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cole Baldwin PG 6'0 2024 Mesa Mountain View&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A smart point guard handles a lot of the lead guard duties. He gets to the free throw line after he changes speeds to get downhill. He can hit the open three and plays within the offense.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2249637' first='Bryson' last='Gundry'] Mesa Mountain View</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring guard who can score on offensive rebound put backs, transition scores and quick speed drives right by his opponents.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2134787' first='Levi' last='Tingey'] Mesa Mountain View</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the Toros spot up shooters. He is a catch and shoot specialist from the three. He loves the corners and is always in shot ready mode.&nbsp;He also handles the ball for them. </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>A big game from Hunter despite the defense focusing on him without Ring playing. He can catch and shoot from the three point line with an ultimate quick release. He has a good motor to rebound and he is getting himself to the free throw line more to get some quick points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2279895' first='Stephan' last='Miller'] Liberty&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hunter's partner in crime on this night was Miller. He drove the lane thru contact and can pull-up from mid-range. He rises up quickly to score on his jumpers from mid to the three. He closes out quickly to the opposing shooters.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2282925' first='Jacob' last='Hunter'] Liberty&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The little brother got the nod to start without Ring. He is quick to grab the ball and steal it and go down the court and lay it with his either hand. He is a good passer and has a high feel for the game. His passing clearly stands out and also drives it well in the lane.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2257790' first='Nicholas' last='Topolosek'] Liberty</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The young freshman was another starter. He is a quick to get to the free throw line and has skill to shoot it. He can catch and shoot from the three and pull-up from mid-range.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1736172' first='Keegan' last='Colter'] Liberty</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A good sized lead guard has real length for a guard. He rebounds well and he is a good passer. He plays very unselfishly and looks to move the ball often and can score. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->