Spring Icebreaker Saturday Dominating Duos

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Earlier this month, we had one of the greatest tournaments to grace the state of Texas to officially begin the AAU season. This can only be known as the Spring Icebreaker, hosted by Jim Hicks and Doug Jones, who represent RCS Sports. This tourney is always full of high-level competition and this year was no different. Let's explore some key pairs of players who helped their teams get important wins on Saturday morning/afternoon. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"[player_tooltip player_id='1359642' first='Howie' last='Keene']/BJ Davis-Ray","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2025/2025","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"null","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Woodlands Christian/Duncanville","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"Houston Hoops 17U EYBL ","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Howie and BJ were easily the most impressive duo I saw on Saturday morning as they helped Hoops EYBL to a huge double digit win over TJ Ford Academy at Sun Auto Sports. Keene is easily one of, if not the best shooter to grace the city of Houston. He has a sweet stroke from the outside and can also use his long wingspan and athleticism to finish plays around the basket with ease. Howie has good lateral quickness on defense and knows how to stay in front of his matchup at all times. BJ Davis-Ray has made his name known in the state all throughout this year, playing a consistently high level of basketball at Duncanville and this has continued into this grassroots season. He can beat opponents from all three levels, scoring the ball effectively and also shows off high level IQ, playmaking for teammates on one end and helping crash the boards on the other. Both of these athletes have tremendous ability, and their stock will continue to increasingly rise. Keene is a 6'6 guard at The Woodlands Christian and Davis-Ray is a 6'6 guard at Duncanville. Both are in the 2025 class.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_1_player_details_player_name":"[player_tooltip player_id='2358582' first='Troy' last='Rice']/[player_tooltip player_id='2396858' first='Davin' last='Cross']","_player_evaluations_1_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_1_player_details_graduating_class":"2025/2025","_player_evaluations_1_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_1_player_details_height":"null","_player_evaluations_1_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_1_player_details_position":"","_player_evaluations_1_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_1_player_details_school":"Silsbee/Furr","_player_evaluations_1_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_1_player_details_club_team":"Team Trae Young TX 17U Adidas Gold","_player_evaluations_1_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_1_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_1_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"Davin and Troy were big time contributors for their Trae Young squad in their Saturday afternoon victory over Ben X Ballers. Troy was a physical presence under the basket, grabbing several clutch rebounds and making precision outlet passes to open shooters for easy dimes. I've been watching Rice all year at Silsbee and his tenacity/hustle has to be the best part of his game as he is not afraid to scrap with anyone for a loose ball and will play hard defense nonstop. Davin showed ability to beat the defense in the midrange, knocking down several pullup jumpers off the dribble and also used some dribble moves to beat his matchup to the basket and hammer home some momentum-changing dunks. Cross is a dynamic athlete who is looking to put his name on the map this summer and his game started off soaring with this strong performance early in the tourney. Both of these hoopers were key pieces for the Adidas Gold squad in crunch time and will continue to be effective throughout this grassroots season.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_2_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_2_player_details_player_name":"Damond Matthews/Jaden Mason","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_2_player_details_graduating_class":"2025/2025 ","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_2_player_details_height":"null","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_2_player_details_position":"","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_2_player_details_school":"Summer Creek/Humble","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_2_player_details_club_team":"Selby Elite 17U ","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_2_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_2_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"Damond and Jaden were the main scorers for their Selby Elite team in a morning win this weekend over Like Mike Ballers. Matthews is effective using a variety of dribble moves to beat his defender to the rim and finish through contact. Mason is at his best when he is facilitating the offense, but showed he can also shoot the rock off the dribble and be one of the main scorers using the pick and roll. Jaden made several tough and-one baskets this game, while also knocking free throws to convert the three-point plays. Damond was rolling with his driving to the basket and converted several floaters as well as midrange and long-range jumpers. Selby Elite looks to be a big-time spoiler squad for any teams that think they have an easy schedule in any tournament, so watch out for some athletic hoopers on this squad as the grassroots summer continues.","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":3,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66071775513ea"} /-->