Mike’s 15 U Standouts from Queen City Clash

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Queen City Clash brought out some talented teams from across the midwest to Cincinnati for an April Prep Hoops Circuit event. In this article I'll break down five 15 U standouts from the two games I caught at that age group on Sunday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["2385105"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"The best athlete on the floor for his game, Cross was flying around the court. Making a big defensive impact, Cross blocked shots and got steals. There can't be many players who had more defensive stocks (steals + blocks) this weekend than Cross. With his explosiveness, Cross was able to get into the lane and found teammates who were shot ready with kickouts. I really enjoyed watching Kentucky Future Elite's 15 U group as you'll read about more standouts from that team later in this article.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["2333693"],"_player_evaluations_1_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_1_player_featured_image":2412684,"_player_evaluations_1_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"Baird shot the ball extremely efficiently from 3-point range on Sunday. When his teammates drove to the lane and found Baird on kickouts in the corner, you could usually add three points to his teams tally. With the crisp ball movement from his team, Kentucky Future Elite ran some nice sets for their shooters. Once the defense tried stopping Baird from catching the ball, Baird made some nice backdoor cuts for layups. On the rare moments when his team missed a shot, they relied on [player_tooltip player_id='1883193' first='Colton' last='Helton'] to scoop up offensive rebounds. Helton was efficient as a scorer in the paint and even hit a mid-range shot as well.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_player":["2389423"],"_player_evaluations_2_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"Kentucky Rise had a solid weekend across multiple age groups and I was impressed with Thornberry. A small but quick guard, Thornberry was the main guard tasked to beat the full court press. With smart passes and pass fakes, Thornberry helped his team get advantageous situations with the ball in their hands after beating the press. Also knocking down shots from the outside, Thornberry was a threat to knock down 3-pointers.","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_3_player":["2125753"],"_player_evaluations_3_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_3_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_3_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"MR22 Elite had multiple high school teammates on their roster. With two players from Upper Arlington (including Mitchell) and two players from Columbus DeSales playing key roles, the chemistry was easy to see with this group. Mitchell impressed me defensively with smart digs and gambles to force turnovers. On the offensive end, Mitchell hit two huge 3-pointers down the stretch to take the lead which included a big shot off a DHO from the top of the key. Upper Arlington has a lot of young talent in their program and could be an improved team in 2024-25 thanks to guys like Mitchell.","_player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_4_player":["2399153"],"_player_evaluations_4_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_4_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_4_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_4_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_4_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_4_evaluation":"Northern Kentucky Legends was a fun team to watch in their back-and-forth contest with MR22 Elite. Weaver was a shifty guard who had some strong takes to the basket off the bounce. Another guard who handled pressure well, the passing of Weaver helped jumpstart transition opportunities. Weaver himself had a tough coast to coast layup and took contact on drives to draw fouls. Expect to hear more about this group if they stay together over the next few years.","_player_evaluations_4_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":5,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-661c4dc8b6f04"} /-->