Jan 22-26: ’26 Newcomer Guards

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This week I viewed 10 games with varsity and JV games.&nbsp;The varsity games I viewed were on Monday I watched the&nbsp;<strong>Buckeye Hawks&nbsp;</strong>defeat<strong>&nbsp;Washington Rams 82-53.</strong>&nbsp;Tuesday I watched&nbsp;<strong>St. Mary's Knights&nbsp;</strong>defeat&nbsp;<strong>Mesquite Wildcats</strong>&nbsp;<strong>75-73</strong>. Wednesday I watched&nbsp;<strong>Cactus Shadows Falcons&nbsp;</strong>defeat<strong>&nbsp;McClintock Chargers</strong>&nbsp;<strong>55-49</strong>.&nbsp;Thursday I watched&nbsp;<strong>Cesar Chavez Champions</strong>&nbsp;defeat&nbsp;<strong>Shadow Ridge Stallions 84-47</strong>&nbsp;and finally Friday I watched&nbsp;<strong>Valley Christian Trojans</strong>&nbsp;defeat&nbsp;<strong>Ben Franklin Chargers 90-35.</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Here were the sophomore newcomer guards from the week</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2332286' first='Payton' last='Garcia'] Shadow Ridge (Pictured)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring point guard with a quick first step to get downhill. He is a very good on-ball defender with good lateral quickness. He will throw up the court passes and drive and kick. His best skill though is his shooting. He has a pure stroke from the three point line off the catch. He squares up quickly and calmly knocks it down.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2329545' first='Dayvon' last='Standard'] Buckeye</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A long and lean transfer moved in at the end of last year from New Hampshire. He can hit the three and get downhill. He is a fluid ball handler and a sneaky good passer. He will jump stop into a crow hop to score in the lane and is tough in the passing lanes to collect steals.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2332289' first='Omar' last='Wilson'] Cesar Chavez</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A lefty combo guard can score and make plays. He can hit the three and blow by his defender with his right hand for a bucket. He is tough to keep out of the lane with his natural speed and tight handle. He is also a plus on-ball defender.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2333013' first='Kaden' last='Sanchez'] Ben Franklin</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring point guard is a downhill attacker. He is deceptively quick with a tight, shifty handle and has a nice burst to get into the lane. He is smart off of the pick and roll game and works from mid and in most effectively. His mid-range pull-up seems to be his sweet spot, but he still wants to get to the basket.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2333014' first='Brody' last='Hansen'] Ben Franklin</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring guard with deep three point range off the catch. He has a sneaky tight handle to create his own offense, but is clearly best off the catch. He has quicker feet to defend and him and Sanchez will join Speir to have a nice soph trio of guards next year.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2331639' first='Steven' last='Boyson'] Cactus Shadows</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring guard has a nice mixture of shooting the three off the catch and a nice handle to get downhill. He has a quick burst to get past his defender and score it at the rim. Once he gets rolling, he is a tough cover.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2331640' first='Dominic' last='Robidoux'] Cactus Shadows</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring guard is a good passer in traffic and has a nice IQ about him. He can score with the three ball off the catch and moves the ball like you should.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2332287' first='Jalen' last='Harris'] Shadow Ridge</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A shifty combo guard can play on or off the ball. He gets downhill with his quickness to the paint. He scores on floaters, and although he does tend to favor his right, it is still hard to stop him from getting to the basket.  </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2878339' first='Oliver' last='Rogers'] PG 5'8 Mesquite&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>An undersized scoring PG has a tight handle. He is a flashy passer who can rattle in threes. He will dive on the floor for loose balls and plays with energy for the junior varsity team. He hit some clutch threes late in an exciting close game.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->