15U Friday Night Standouts at NHR State

The NHR State Tournament kicked off Friday night in Minnesota, and 15U teams competed at Maple Grove Middle School. Great shooting, defending, finishing, and high effort was displayed all night. These were the players that impressed me the most on Friday night.    Miller started the game with two buckets to get the scoring started for his team and contributed in many aspects of the game. He added a volleyball spike-esque block and a steal that led to an easy fastbreak. Miller kept playing at a high level the rest of the game by running the floor after a defensive rebound and getting good looks at the basket. With so many looks at the hoop, Miller found himself at the free throw line quite often, and knocked them down each trip.     Pulrang is one confident guy with the ball in his hands. He had 3 deep first-half threes, and his mid-range shot was not one to mess with. What may have impressed me most was after a missed three and an offensive rebound, Pulrang got the ball back and went straight into a dribble pull-up midrange shot. That kind of confidence is not easy to come by, and it is a very valuable trait from this 2027. Pulrang also found himself lurking in the passing lanes, tipping passes and sparking fast breaks with his active hands.     Jackson played great the entire game Friday night, but what made him even better was his effort, especially on defense. Jacksons on-ball defense made the ball handler almost every time down the floor, and he did not shy away from getting a little physical. After going down 10, Jackson had a very tough finish that resulted in a 3-point play, and the very next possession he hit a two dribble pullup from the baseline to bring it within 5. With less than two minutes left, Jackson had two assists that gave his teammates very easy layups, but they could not complete the comeback.     With a smaller Fury team in front of James on Friday, he clearly realized how he could use his size to dominate the paint. He started the first half a little slow, but with around 5 minutes left in the half, he went on a tear, having multiple rim-running attacks in a row to give his team a larger lead. At 6'7, James also had multiple blocks that sent away smaller Fury guards shots. My favorite play from James was a fastbreak where he spun away from the defender to get a wide open layup. It showed that not only does he know how to use his size, but he has skills to go with it.     The 2027 Fury Muir team was not afraid to shoot the ball Friday night, and Depoint impressed me the most. The 5'10 guard was being played tightly by the defense, but he had a tight handle to go along with it. He used his handle to create open looks, and a late first half step back three looked like an everyday shot for Depoint. Although his Fury squad was struggling a little bit offensively at times, he kept his composure the whole game. It was clear that Depoint feels comfortable running an offense and a little more shooting and his team could have come out with a victory on Friday.

The NHR State Tournament kicked off Friday night in Minnesota, and 15U teams competed at Maple Grove Middle School. Great shooting, defending, finishing, and high effort was displayed all night. These were the players that impressed me the most on Friday night.