Boulder Creek at Basha: Varsity Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wednesday January 3rd I attended the 6A matchup of the&nbsp;<strong>Boulder Creek Jaguars&nbsp;</strong>traveling to Chandler to take on the&nbsp;<strong>Basha Bears</strong>.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A close contest thru the 1st quarter led by [player_tooltip player_id='1323290' first='Mason' last='Magee'] gave the Bears a slim lead and [player_tooltip player_id='1064158' first='Christian' last='Warren'] cashed in the 2nd quarter with a 26-24 lead at halftime. [player_tooltip player_id='1490241' first='Elijah' last='Summers-Livingston'] had a huge 3rd quarter to extend the Bears lead 42-34 heading into the 4th. [player_tooltip player_id='1150843' first='Andrew' last='Bhesania'] and the return of [player_tooltip player_id='1150940' first='Rowan' last='McKenzie'] kept the game close throughout but [player_tooltip player_id='1323290' first='Mason' last='Magee'] closed the game out with 8 big points in the 4th to give the <strong>Basha Bears a 64-55 win</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='1323290' first='Mason' last='Magee'] Basha</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A pure point guard with big hands and quick feet. He can score on speed drives with his blazing fast first step and tight crossover. He can hit off balanced floaters and is tough inside. He loves his left hand drives and he is a very quick second jumper to rebound and score on put backs. He had multiple steals with elite on-ball defense. He threw a bunch of assists to his teammates in stride. He scored 17 points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1490241' first='Elijah' last='Summers-Livingston'] Basha&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A high flying power forward scores on offensive rebound put backs and he explodes up to dunk it off of two feet. He is a shot blocker and gobbles up all rebounds in his area. He can score on tough moves inside with heavy traffic. He scored 13 points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1064158' first='Christian' last='Warren'] Basha</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The senior wing forward had a good showing. He can hit the catch-3 with a quick release and rebounds in traffic versus bigger players using his strength and sneaky bounce. He will often post up his defenders and crab dribble to score. He was very aggressive tonight getting to the basket and shooting it. He scored 17 points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1131993' first='Izaih' last='Johnson'] Basha</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A tough scoring point guard can drive the lane. He is a tough getting downhill thru contact. He can score on mid-range pull-ups and plays aggressive on the ball defensively.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1337025' first='Drew' last='Hall'] Basha</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A bigger combo guard scores it in transition, burst to the basket and he can step back and stop on a dime from mid-range. He takes pressure off of Magee from the guard standpoint.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1679291' first='Drew' last='Alexander'] Basha&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A defensive minded guard can drive by in traffic with a quick first step. He had multiple counter moves to score in the post and shows off his athleticism. He hustles on defense with quick hands and feet and he should breakout next year.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1150843' first='Andrew' last='Bhesania'] Boulder Creek</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A unique face-up four-man is long and fluid. He is very unselfish to make plays for teammates and he scores it a variety of ways. He hits the catch three, offensive rebound tip-ins, fall-aways in the post and deep jumpers. He rebounded the ball really well and handles the ball unusually well for position. He scored 15 points with close to 10 rebounds.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1150940' first='Rowan' last='McKenzie'] Boulder Creek</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rowan's first game of the year was a better showing than I personally expected. He went downhill well to score or got fouled. More importantly he shot the ball well with range. He hit three deep triples and threw a few incredible passes showing what he truly means to the team. He rebounded and guided the team. He scored 13 points<strong>.</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1323296' first='Matt' last='Delgado'] Boulder Creek&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A bigger sized shooting guard who can score multiple ways. He can hit the catch three, he has the mid-range J, he will burst to the rim to score or get to the free throw line. He moves his feet well in space on opposing guards and will drive and kick it to a shooter.<strong> </strong>He scored 11 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1483886' first='Landon' last='Brewer'] Boulder Creek</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A senior guard can shoot the three off the catch with a super quick release. He can rip thru to score plus post up inside with his size and footwork.&nbsp;He uses his size to rebound and play inside. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1464983' first='Mick' last='Riordan'] Boulder Creek&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A highly skilled freshman guard rebounded and defended. He can fall away off of his defender and hesitates well to get the defenders off of him. He moves his feet well on defense.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1591738' first='Jeehzus' last='Pagan'] Boulder Creek</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A pure point guard with speed and quickness. He is very quick laterally to keep his opponents in front of him. He can score in the lane with his left or right hand with speed dribble drives.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1494764' first='Brayden' last='Newton'] Boulder Creek</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A combo guard with quick feet to stay with his defender. He is quick with the ball in his hands and brings big energy off the bench.&nbsp;He is a natural slasher to the basket. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->