Jan 22-26: Junior Standouts

<!-- 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 junior standouts from the week</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1449361' first='Caspian' last='Jones'] St. Mary's</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The talented forward just got back after a stress fracture and impressed. He scores it with mid-range jumpers, which is definitely his sweet spot, posts up to score, dribble drives into hook shots, contact scores in traffic and even alley-oops. He rebounds well in his area and scored 18 points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1379909' first='Carson' last='Grier'] Valley Christian</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A unique bigger point guard or the classic point forward type. He rebounds the ball and will take it coast to coast with hesitations to get downhill. He has the floater game and has a pretty stroke with a quick release off the catch from the three point line. He made a few dimes that were impressive bounce passes perfectly in stride. He handles it well in traffic and in tight spaces. He is also a dual sport athlete with baseball.  </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1379910' first='Kyle' last='Grier'] Valley Christian (Pictured)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A face-up forward had it rolling on Friday night. He is a physical forward as he rebounds at a high level boxing out with strength and positioning. He is best off the catch from the three point line and has the floater game. He will freeze the defender and get by with his right hand. He scored a game high 31 points with six triples. Like his brother, he is a dual sport athlete with baseball. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1150846' first='Trey' last='Chemin'] Cactus Shadows&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A strong framed power forward will defend and score. He can dribble drive into a runner, hit the catch three and takes contact well with his strength and length. He is a very quick second jumper to rebound and score and thats where he makes his money, on the glass. He will also block shots in his area. He made multiple FT's to essentially ice it to get the win.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1306027' first='Drayce' last='Crenshaw'] Cesar Chavez</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another glue guy for the Champions should have a bigger role next year. He is their star sixth man and scores with a nice mid-range game. He always seems to be around the ball in the passing lanes and he makes it difficult to score on him with his quick twitch athleticism.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1275632' first='Lex' last='Clontz'] Cesar Chavez&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A highly skilled combo guard makes it look easy in stretches. He has a soft three point stroke with a quick trigger. He also is a better passer than he gets credited with. He had some next level pocket passes and up the court ropes. He scores it on dribble drives and step backs from mid-range. He scored 18 points with multiple assists.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2171184' first='Gage' last='Bartlett'] Shadow Ridge&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A gifted scoring point guard can score it from all three levels. He has a nasty almost unguardable mid-range jumper he often uses, the deep three off the catch and can drive it and score inside with ball fakes or up and unders. He scored 19 points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1986806' first='Gabriel' last='Briones'] Cesar Chavez</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring guard is a tough on-ball defender. He will score on triples, layups in traffic and has a polished floater and runner game. He is a sneaky good passer and uses his size and aggressiveness on defense.&nbsp;He plays perfectly off of Clontz. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1679292' first='Kobe' last='Bradley'] Mesquite</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A quickly improving junior got the start versus St. Mary's. The lefty has a strap from the three point line with a sneaky quick burst to the basket. He is deceptively athletic and will rebound out of his area. He will probably be their second leading scorer next year and have a bigger workload but is a great piece to the puzzle this year. Stock way up!&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2136460' first='Landon' last='Christensen'] Ben Franklin</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A sharp shooting scoring guard with good size. He can dribble drive in heavy traffic and hit his pretty catch three pointer with range. He will rebound in and out of his area with his size.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1312612' first='AJ' last='Muandumba'] St. Mary's</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>An active defensive minded player with real upper body strength. He is the teams glue guy and will defend multiple positions. He collects steals, rebounds and will get out on the break with his plus athleticism.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->