State Final Standouts
In this article:
The class 3 and 4 tournaments had two fun and competitive games. Here are the performances that caught my eye. Abraham Taft HEIGHT 6'4" POS PF CLASS 2026 Abraham Taft School: Hampton Abraham Taft impressed me the most in Hampton’s…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThe class 3 and 4 tournaments had two fun and competitive games. Here are the performances that caught my eye.
Abraham Taft
Abraham Taft
Abraham Taft impressed me the most in Hampton’s win over Tuscarora. Abraham does everything for Hampton. He is a Swiss army knife for them, and his fingerprints were all over this game. His defense and rebounding were great, and he gave Hampton a nice game as a scorer. He hit a buzzer-beating three at the end of the third quarter, extending their lead to 11. Abraham finished with 15 points and 7 rebounds.
Gavin Kay
Gavin Kay
Hampton’s size dominated a smaller Tuscarora team for much of this game. Gavin Kay established himself early and had his way in the paint. Gavin had a few dunks at the end of this game that helped Hampton extend their lead. Gavin is only a Sophomore, but he is a player to watch moving forward. He finished with 14 points and 6 rebounds.
Tuscarora’s only chance of winning this game was if they knocked down their threes. TJ and Tusky failed to do that for the first three quarters, which is why they were down by double digits in the middle of the 4th quarter. Late in the 4th, though, TJ and Tusky woke up from range. TJ knocked down a handful of threes this quarter and cut the Hampton lead from 13 to 1 with about 20 seconds left. TJ hit a bunch of tough shots in this quarter, and even though Tusky ended up losing this game, TJ’s 4th quarter was extremely impressive. TJ has been outstanding all year, and even in a loss, he came up big. He finished with 21 points, 18 of which were in the 4th quarter.
Highlights
Jayden Johnson Jayden Johnson 6’1″ | CG Tuscarora | 2024 State VA had to really work for his offense in this game. Again, Tusky couldn’t buy a bucket for a lot of this game. Jayden was a huge reason why Tusky was in this game. He had a monster second quarter, and even though he cooled down in the third and most of the fourth quarters, he was still a big catalyst in their comeback. Jayden finished with a game-high 28 points.
Northside pulled off a bit of an upset against Lake Taylor in the day’s final game. Cy took over this game in the 3rd quarter. He used his quickness to get to the rim and drew a handful of fouls. Northside went as he went early in the second half, and Lake Taylor truly had no answer for him. Unfortunately, Cy dealt with cramps for most of the 4th quarter, but his 13 points in the 3rd quarter gave Northside enough of a cushion to win this game. Cy finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Highlights
Mykell Harvey
Mykell Harvey
Coming into this game, I thought the Lake Taylor bigs would dominate. Instead, the Northside guards took over this game. I mentioned what Cy Hardy Cy Hardy 5’11” | PG Nortide | 2025 State VA did, but the other Northside guard who may have been even better was Mykell Harvey. Mykell had a great start to this game. He showed off his shooting ability, knocking down a few threes. Mykell had an excellent 4th quarter, and he was big in Northside being able to ice the game. He had a great game at the line, making 8 of his 10 attempts, and he finished the game with a game-high 27 points.