Deer Valley at Arcadia: Freshman/JV Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Friday January 5th I attended the 4A matchup of the&nbsp;<strong>Deer Valley Skyhawks&nbsp;</strong>traveling to North Phoenix near Scottsdale to take on the&nbsp;<strong>Arcadia Titans</strong>.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Before the varsity tipped off I checked out the junior varsity and freshmen games.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Deer Valley won the freshman and JV games. </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Here were the Freshman Standouts:</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2146267' first='Micah' last='Andrews'] Deer Valley&nbsp;(Pictured)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Andrews put on a show in the freshman game scoring from all levels with blow-bys or hesitates and gets to the basket and finishes with floaters and layups. He can crossover and step back on his defender and makes threes with some range. He takes contact well and controls the pace of the game. He can thread the needle and make passes with either hand. He also played 3 quarters on JV. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2315499' first='Haris' last='Heco'] Deer Valley</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A good sized power forward for a freshman has a polished hook shot. He rebounds well and outlets with two hands down the court. He has confidence, big feet and tall family lineage to look out for down the road.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2149101' first='Jose' last='Saucedo'] Deer Valley</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A very tough point guard loves getting downhill. He has a good feel and big IQ. He can shoot it from the perimeter but was best closest to the basket in this contest. He has counter moves he utilizes inside the paint and doesn't mind the contact.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2315500' first='Jesse' last='Capps-Smith'] Arcadia</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A real point guard with a high feel to make plays. He has a nice handle and good court vision to facilitate and can score. He can shoot it off the dribble or pull from mid to the three point line.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Here were the JV Standouts:</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2145741' first='Elias' last='Riley'] Deer Valley</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Like Andrews on freshman ball, Riley had a huge game on JV. He has good size and gets to the basket with a tight handle. He is very shifty and often gets to the free throw line or uses the floater. His first step allows him to gain separation from his defenders. He has good length and is a quick twitch type of athlete. He can also catch and shoot from the three with range and plays with a motor to rebound.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2315528,"width":"287px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media","className":"is-style-default"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized is-style-default"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/IMG_1640-crop-2559x1680-1704525828.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/IMG_1640-crop-2559x1680-1704525828.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-2315528" style="width:287px;height:auto" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Riley scored from all three levels impressively. </figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2315527' first='David' last='Stafford'] Deer Valley</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A lean combo guard handles the ball well and can score in traffic absorbing contact. He can catch and shoot from the three and is very quick in the passing lanes on defense.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2315526' first='Max' last='Weaver'] Deer Valley</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A confident catch three point shooter. He was very consistent from the stripe with a quicker release. He has some shift with the ball to create separation but is clearly best off the catch. He can also score on some off balanced shots in the lane.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2164464' first='William' last='Heinrichs'] Arcadia</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring guard who can score getting downhill but is best as a catch three point shooter with a quicker release. He shows a consistent release and big confidence. He is a good on-ball defender and look for him to play on varsity next season.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2315516' first='Max' last='Straus'] Arcadia&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>An undersized point guard handles it well and can catch and shoot from three point line. He has a deceptively quick handle and burst to get to the paint and float it in. His runner game is polished and plays the game from the neck up.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2315517' first='Julien' last='Olshan'] Arcadia&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A lefty wing forward with decent size can get downhill. He uses his strong frame/build to handle the contact better then most in his class. He will rebound and run the floor for transition points.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->