Section-7 Qualifier: 2026 Guards

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>June 17th-18th I watched the second ever<strong>&nbsp;Section-7 Qualifier</strong>. There were 96 teams in 12 pools of 8 teams each.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 12 winners advanced to the official&nbsp;<strong>Section-7</strong>&nbsp;June 21st-23rd versus some of the top teams in the West Coast.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I took in a bunch of full games and half of some of the games. Some of the top teams unfortunately for myself (great for the team) were already clearly blowing out their opponent and the bench five were already playing, so I missed them play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Here were the standout guards from the junior class</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1780586' first='Romell' last='Shields'] Centennial&nbsp;(Pictured)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A thicker framed stocky scoring guard can hit the three.. He can handle contact and will post up and go to work. He cuts off the ball and will score in transition. He is really long in the passing lanes and rebounds well with his strong hands. He block shots and his on-ball defense is tough. He is a sneaky good passer and a quickly improving player.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1685490' first='Patrice' last='Mpouli'] Williams Field</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A physical scoring guard is a two-way dynamo. He defends nearly every position for them and is a very good passer. He scores with his left hand drive in traffic thru contact, hits the catch three and is a transition stud. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1875718' first='Melvin' last='Stubbs'] Catalina Foothills</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A long athletic guard can shoot it from the three and get downhill. He takes unusually long strides to get to the basket to score. He will rebound and come over form the weak side and block shots. He is unselfish and will drive and kick it. He seems to improve every month.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2432454' first='Sekou' last='Sackor'] <strong>Centennial</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A super fluid athlete gets downhill and can even dunk it. He is a transition star and a twitchy athlete who is high energy on both ends of the court. He cuts off the ball and is a sneaky good passer. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1629015' first='Drew' last='Dana'] Marcos de Niza</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>An undersized scoring point guard knows how to put up points. He can hesitate and will get into the paint and uses a polished floater game. He can catch and shoot from the three and from off the dribble. He should make a big impact coming from McClintock.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1759332' first='Dom' last='Rojas'] Central</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A tough hard nosed defensive point guard. He will takes charges, makes the extra pass, moves the ball and makes open shots. He has good speed on the break and hits jumpers from both levels of the perimeter.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1780585' first='Aidan' last='Lee Delafield'] Centennial&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A deep three point shooter is a scoring point guard. He is quick in the passing lanes and is getting more athletic and getting taller with some length. He is quick to get to the basket and uses either hand. His deep ball makes his game go but other parts of his game are improving.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1875434' first='George' last='Mihilli'] ALA Queen Creek</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>An athletic combo guard hustles, makes plays, gets to the basket and will rebound. He has broader shoulders and long arms to use on defense and will hit shots from the perimeter.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->