Jan 22-26: Sophomore 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 sophomore standouts from the week</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1900362' first='Colby' last='Jessup'] Valley Christian </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A big showing for the soph PG. He played on JV and varsity. He attacks off the dribble with a nice handle and hustles on defense. He has advanced court vision and can be a flashy passer and look his teammates off and pass the other way. He is a deadeye three point shooter off the catch with a super quick release. He also will hesitate and burst to get a step on his defender and take it to the hoop where he can handle contact despite his leaner frame.&nbsp;Stock up!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1620346' first='Joshua' last='McManaway'] McClintock</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The top scorer for the Chargers is McManaway. He can rise up off the dribble from mid-range and this is becoming his go-to move. He is best when he comes off of a screen and lets it fly with confidence from the three point line. He filled up the stat sheet with rebounds, steals, blocks and took a charge.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1570935' first='Kyler' last='Frye'] McClintock</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The scoring lead guard of the team is Frye. He will drive and kick it to teammates and throws the lob pass almost perfectly. He can create his own offense off the dribble with runners and mid-range jumpers. He makes difficult shots in the lane and loves his floaters.   </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2249646' first='Talan' last='Speir'] Ben Franklin</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>An athletic point guard can score on catch threes and speed drives. He is a plus athlete and has a quicker first step. He rises high for layups or to rebound and can find teammates in stride. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2280453' first='Iyzaya' last='Soto'] McClintock</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A deep shooting combo guard jump started the Chargers with catch threes, run out transition layups and he has quick hands to collect steals. He has an ultra quick shooting release, making it difficult to close out to him.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1629015' first='Drew' last='Dana'] McClintock&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>An undersized scoring point guard is a bucket. He scores on floaters, runners and has the catch three with deep range. He is a good passer and makes smart reads to his teammates.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2136401' first='Gavin' last='Lewis'] Cactus Shadows</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A lefty point guard has a good handle in tight spaces and changes speeds well to get defenders off of him. He can shoot the mid-range jumper off the dribble and get to the basket.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1612468' first='Cameron' last='Williams'] St. Mary's</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the longest players in the state is a defensive menace. His ability to defend in space and then block a shot is impressive. He will score on offensive rebound put backs, mid-range pull-ups and dunks. He is a smart passer and rebounds and blocks a ton of shots. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1591733' first='Nico' last='Wright'] Ben Franklin</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The son of Sharone Wright is a freaky long power forward with a big wingspan. He alters and blocks shots all over the court. He also gobbles up all the balls in his area in the crowd. He can score with a high release on his jump shot, he has a drop step and a jump hook shot with huge hands to catch passes. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1482164' first='Desean' last='Middlebrook'] Mesquite</strong> <strong>(Pictured)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the star sophomores of the week was Middlebrook. He scores it a variety of ways, has plus athleticism and plays about as aggressively as you can. He knows how to shield off the defenders to score versus bigger players. He will rise up and shoot it from mid, which seems to be his sweet spot, he will sprint to the rim after a miss and outruns most. He springs up so quickly to rebound out of his area. The true energy guy scored a team high 28 points.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1633033' first='Jackson' last='Heim'] St. Mary's</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A wing forward is an active player. He rebounds at a good clip in his area and handles it well. He can hit the catch three plus crab dribble and score in the paint. He made some nice passes and defended a few positions.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->