Fall League Notebook: Great Northern Basketball-Gladstone

Great Northern Basketball is currently holding its annual boys and girls fall league each Sunday throughout October at the Gladstone gym. This round-robin style open gym setup sees some of the best players from all over the Upper Peninsula compete against one another. We set up shop for three of the last four Sundays to check out some of the talent and see what is in store for this upcoming season. We'll be taking a look at 5 boys who have consistently stood out. Open gym-style basketball can be a lot of shooting and not a lot of defense, so we'll be highlighting those kids who bucked the open gym norm and showed up to play with all-out intensity.    [player_tooltip player_id='2435760' first='Lonnie' last='Davey'] is a 2027 that has started to garner quite a bit of attention. I imagine he'll be seeing some varsity time this fall as he is a quick guard who can swing either the main ball handling in the point guard position, or handle the shooting guard capabilities with ease. Lonnie plays excellent one-on-one defense and easily shuts down guards seemingly bigger than him, and he does it consistently. Lonnie also carries a 4.0 GPA and comes highly acclaimed by his coaches. Gladstone is in one of the toughest leagues in the UP--The Great Northern UP Conference--with such teams as Marquette, Menominee, and Kingsford. Last year they finished the regular season at 10-14 and 1-7 in league play. However, with a solid core of young talent like [player_tooltip player_id='2435760' first='Lonnie' last='Davey'], [player_tooltip player_id='2626487' first='Alex' last='Prins'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2758923' first='Will' last='Inghram'], I predict we will be seeing some excellent stuff from the Braves over the next few seasons.     Waylon Sales plays a big in a BIG WAY. He is a solid presence in the paint and has no fear when taking the ball to the hoop. Each game I was thoroughly impressed with his ability to go head-to-head with players at or above his size. Waylon should make a solid place on the All-UP list after this upcoming season and I even would likely have him on my top 25 list in the UP. Gwinn is also in a very tough league--West PAC East--with the likes of Negaunee and Iron Mountain, but with increased play out of Waylon, I expect Gwinn to be a sleeper team.     Taylor Asgaard is a newcomer to my radar, and I wish I had seen a bit more of him last year because he has big-time player written all over him. He plays with a lot of intensity and authority. I listed him as a small forward, but over the past three weeks, he has played the role of point guard very well. He plays exceptional defense and can hang with just about any position on the floor. I also took special note of Taylor's ball handling skills, something that he apparently works on regularly. He should make some solid contributions to an Escanaba team looking to make waves in the highly competitive Upper Peninsula "Middle Belt" region. Escanaba falls in the same league and district as Gladstone, so they will have their wits tested nightly during league play. They do have an excellent size advantage over most teams; with bigs like Javon Stevenson and [player_tooltip player_id='2218003' first='Cody' last='Noel'] packing a pretty big punch in the paint.     I included Hayven on my 2027 players-to-watch list, and for excellent reason, this kid can flat out BALL. He can shoot, attack the basket, sit down and play D, and has the the charisma to be a team's floor general. There are some heavy hitters in this fall league, but I would include Hayven in my league MVP conversation all day long. I'm certain Coach Hanson will be pulling Hayven up to varsity at some point and he should be impactful immediately. Again, Escanaba will look to be competitive this year in league play, and with Hayven's ability to play lock-down defense, he should be a big part of that.     [player_tooltip player_id='2626487' first='Alex' last='Prins'] was included in my 2028's to watch and he has performed well at this fall league. Being a freshman going up against upperclassmen can be quite challenging, but Alex plays this role well. He hustles, drives to the hole well, and is versatile with either hand. Alex will play a big role in Coach Rose's JV program this year for the Gladstone Braves, and I expect he may even see some 5 quarter varsity play as the season goes on. As Alex develops and works at his skillset, I see him as being the leader of the Braves Varsity team in the years to come.

Great Northern Basketball is currently holding its annual boys and girls fall league each Sunday throughout October at the Gladstone gym. This round-robin style open gym setup sees some of the best players from all over the Upper Peninsula compete against one another. We set up shop for three of the last four Sundays to check out some of the talent and see what is in store for this upcoming season. We'll be taking a look at 5 boys who have consistently stood out. Open gym-style basketball can be a lot of shooting and not a lot of defense, so we'll be highlighting those kids who bucked the open gym norm and showed up to play with all-out intensity.