Jan 17-19: Soph/Freshman Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This week I watched four games. Three on varsity and one on JV. I watched, via live stream (under the weather),&nbsp;<strong>Coolidge at Gilbert Christian</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Rancho Solano Prep at Arizona Lutheran Academy.</strong>&nbsp;And I attended the JV and varsity games of&nbsp;<strong>ALA Gilbert North at AZ College Prep</strong>&nbsp;live.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Here were the sophomore and freshmen standouts from the week</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2026</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2325982' first='Stetson' last='Rowley'] ALA Gilbert North (Pictured)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A wing forward who is catch three point shooter. He has one of the prettier releases on his shot in the class. He gets hot quickly and will rattle them off one by one. He rebounds well in his area and only takes good shots and plays within the offense. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1323293' first='Tory' last='Gholston'] Coolidge</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A dynamic scoring PG who scores it from all levels. He can hit the three and pull-up from mid-range. He often hesitates and will blow by with the ball on a string and will dime his teammates. He is a good pick and roll passer and plays the passing lanes to collect steals. He scored 30 points with 5+ assists.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1875407' first='Zach' last='Cutler'] AZ College Prep</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A wing forward is one of their future pieces who comes off the bench. He provides instant shooting from the three point line off the catch but is active on defense too. He will steal or deflect many passes with his instincts and length plus rebound and even block some shots. He also hit a huge three the other night to send the game into OT and eventually win. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2039491' first='Kamari' last='Stanbury'] Gilbert Christian</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A defensive minded pure PG with real speed in the open court. He changes speed and will throws darts to his cutters and slips it in downlow. He is very athletic in transition and will surprisingly grab out of area rebounds.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1752763' first='Kaiden' last='Rogers'] AZ College Prep</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A long and skilled power forward with huge feet. Rogers is not done growing it seems and will score with rip thrus in traffic. He will alter or block shots inside and rebound. He is just scratching the surface how good he can be.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2325957' first='Tanner' last='Morris'] ALA Gilbert North</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A physical wing forward with broad shoulders and long arms. He is good down low to score around the basket and will step out and shoot the three with good ball rotation. He keeps plays alive on the glass and defends well in space on opposing guards.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2027</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2325954' first='Isaac' last='Massey'] ALA Gilbert North</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A downhill thicker guard likes to score in traffic. He can handle a bump and score thru contact. His best move is his pull-up off the dribble from mid-range. He is a very good passer and can crow hop to score on tough paint shots. He rebounds well with his football-like frame and is a very physical on-ball defender.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2325972' first='Nash' last='Jensen'] ALA Gilbert North</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A combo guard can hit the catch three with a super quick release. He can euro to the basket and will drive and kick it to a teammate, as he is a sneaky good passer. He hustles on the floor for loose balls. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2149103' first='Kevin' last='Kuang'] AZ College Prep</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring guard is very unselfish to facilitate and almost to a fault he will make the right play. He is quick to the basket for layups after a hesitation and he can create shots for himself off the dribble. He can hit from mid-range and he should play more minutes next year on varsity.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->