Paragon Supreme Goes 2-1 at Halloween Hoopfest

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Paragon Supreme National team went 2-1 at the Halloween Hoopfest. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Their first game was against "The Griffins" and they got the win, 47-41. Although the score looks close, Paragon handled them fairly easily. Much of their offense was facilitated by the guards, [player_tooltip player_id='1945207' first='Dominic' last='Rudd'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1638176' first='Jayden' last='Thompson'].Their post players [player_tooltip player_id='2147726' first='Payton' last='Fowler'] and Ziare Smith did a a great job scoring in the paint and getting to the line.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Game 2 for Paragon was against "Houdini's All Stars", who were led by Solo Bailey. Although it was a difficult match-up, Paragon really hung with them until the halfway point of the second half. If Paragon could have handled the press better, they likely would have kept it close until the end. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Paragon's third game was an absolute barn burner. Junior guard, [player_tooltip player_id='1945207' first='Dominic' last='Rudd'] caught fire early and never cooled off. It was very back and fourth the last 10 minutes of the game. Each team couldn't miss, with two minutes to go it was just a one score game, and Paragon was down 1. [player_tooltip player_id='1638176' first='Jayden' last='Thompson'] then hit a 3,and "The Land" responded with their own. Christian Baltierrez then hit a jumper, and "The Land" then responded again with a 2 with only 4 seconds left. It looked like the game was over, but [player_tooltip player_id='2147726' first='Payton' last='Fowler'] threw a good inbounds pass to [player_tooltip player_id='1945207' first='Dominic' last='Rudd'], who then sped to the corner and drained a 3 for the win. Rudd finished the game with 40 points and connected on seven 3-pointers. Thompson had 16 points, and Fowler contributed 8 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Overall, Paragon played better than they did in their last outing against Impact Academy. With [player_tooltip player_id='1945207' first='Dominic' last='Rudd'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1638176' first='Jayden' last='Thompson'] at the guard spots, they looked more dynamic on offense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1945207"],"_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":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67211ddbe9688"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">[player_tooltip player_id='1945207' first='Dominic' last='Rudd'] played like a Division I guard all weekend long. I was very impressed by both his shot-making and drives to the rim. He appeared incredibly confident every time he shot the ball and some of his lay-up finishes were out of an And 1 mixtape. In his 40 point game against "The Land" he showed why he's one of the best unranked guys on the national level. When there was only 3.6 seconds on the clock, he came up in the clutch and knocked down a corner 3 for the win. His athleticism and 3-point shooting are truly elite.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Averages From The Weekend:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>22 PPG 4 Assists 4 Rebounds</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1330084"],"_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":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67211ddbe971d"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Christian Baltierrez came of the bench for Paragon this weekend and really gave the team some juice. On offense, his shot was on and he connected on some nice jumpers and 3's. On defense, he battled for rebounds and came up with some timely ones in all 3 games. Baltierrez also hit a timely 2 in the last minute of the game against "The Land". After seeing him play in crunch time, I think he may deserve some more PT. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1638176"],"_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":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67211ddbe979a"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">I liked what I saw from [player_tooltip player_id='1638176' first='Jayden' last='Thompson'] at the Halloween Hoopfest. He seemed to handle the defensive pressure well when the other teams were in their full court press. I was also a fan of the defense that he played. He used his long wingspan on a few occasions to snatch up some steals. Which led to some transition points for Paragon. Thompson was also Paragon's second leading scorer in their game against "The Land", putting up 16 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->