Central at Pinnacle Standouts

On Friday, January 17th I attended the match-up of 6A Pinnacle hosting 5A Central. Central is proving that they are one of the better 5A teams in the state despite their AIA open rankings. Pinnacle is just getting back some older pieces who were injured or sick recently to make a 6A playoff push.   I checked out all three levels with Freshman, JV and Varsity.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Here were the standouts on the night </h2>   Freshman Game (55-21 Pinnacle won)   [player_tooltip player_id='2548083' first='Austin' last='Starr'] Pinnacle   A lefty scoring guard who grew a little since my last viewing. He is a good passer but wants to score it. He has a nice looking deep ball and will euro down the lane, get to the free throw line and rebounds fairly well despite his frame to score on put backs.     [player_tooltip player_id='2735455' first='Tarik' last='Slaughter'] Pinnacle   A long forward who moves gracefully from end to end. He is a good passer and is super active on defense. He scores with layups, drop step counter moves and takes long strides to get downhill. He is active in the passing lanes and plays with a motor.    Junior Varsity Game (95-51 Pinnacle won)   [player_tooltip player_id='2423061' first='King' last='Fields'] Pinnacle    One of the stars on the night was definitely Fields. He poured in 29 points with 6 made triples. He has a pretty looking stoke from deep and was obviously on fire. He can also score it from mid-range, use the floater game and ball fake into a jumper. The lean scoring guard has impressive range on his shots.    [player_tooltip player_id='2423049' first='Ben' last='Petrick'] Pinnacle    A scoring point guard who is scrappy on defense. He will collect steals in bunches with some toughness and score. He likes getting to the basket with layups or utilizing the floater game. He is one of those that will consistently make the extra pass.    [player_tooltip player_id='2735456' first='David' last='Kinsey'] Pinnacle    A freshman combo guard is a little undersized but skilled and tough. He will hit the three off the catch and get past his defenders. He is a good passer up the court to running teammates and plays a cerebral brand of ball.    [player_tooltip player_id='2735690' first='Tyrone' last='Kelley'] Central    A quick on quick pure point guard with a tighter handle. He is a good passer as he sees the court well and will slip it into the paint to find a teammate. He will burst past his defenders and he is hard to take the ball from.    [player_tooltip player_id='2735683' first='Jayden' last='Thomas'] Central    A long and athletic freshman forward is a great rebounder in and out of his area. He is a very fluid athlete and he will get downhill to score it near the basket. He plays and defends multiple positions and has just started to figure it out it seems.     Varsity Game (75-52 Central won)   [player_tooltip player_id='1873639' first='Grant' last='Mattingly'] Central (Pictured)   A scoring lead guard plays on and off the ball perfectly. He scores with tough contested layups, floaters, euro steps, pull-ups from mid-range, fall aways and will hesitate to get downhill with long strides then dime a teammate. He has next level court vision and will take the reigns when John graduates. He also is a plus rebounder for a guard. He scored 19 points.   [player_tooltip player_id='1150901' first='John' last='Mattingly'] Central    One of the most controlled players in the AIA from the guard position. He is always playing at his own pace and he he is a bucket but makes players around him better. He is a very good live dribble passer and will drive and kick it or thread it in. He will score with deep threes with a quick release, spins with either hand and smartly cuts off the ball. He scored 19 points.   [player_tooltip player_id='2223458' first='Anthony' last='Maciel'] Central   A strong showing from the senior forward. He had a lot of energy to match his skill on this night. He collected steals, grabbed rebounds and moves his feet well on defense. He scores with cuts off the ball, fall aways in the paint and and-1's in traffic. He has some much needed size and skill to play with the bigger teams.   [player_tooltip player_id='1759332' first='Dom' last='Rojas'] Central   A tough minded undersized scoring point guard. There are not many tougher juniors his size in the entire AIA. He has grit and a huge motor to defend on the ball. He rips pockets of his opponents and will facilitate to his teammates. He scores with contested layups and floaters.   [player_tooltip player_id='2466744' first='Eric' last='Butler'] Central   A physical undersized power forward brings his lunch pail to man the painted area. He takes up space and carves out room to rebound and score with tough layups. He is a sneaky good passer and play hard throughout a game.   [player_tooltip player_id='1736170' first='Kareem' last='Alkhalifa'] Pinnacle   In a loss the team obviously usually struggles but Kareem showed what he could do in this game. He scores it with mid-range pull-ups, threes off the catch, drive by's and will steal the ball and go coast to coast. He plays and defends multiple positions for the Pioneers.   [player_tooltip player_id='1286020' first='Connor' last='Corey'] Pinnacle   A highly skilled power forward will score and rebound. He will score with fall aways, rip thrus to the basket and get to the free throw line. He rebounds well in his area and is finally looking fully healthy. As we get closer to the playoffs, I am guessing he will get better and better.   [player_tooltip player_id='2407206' first='Cameron' last='Hurt'] Pinnacle   The pure point guard of the team will facilitate and score. He sees the court well and the ball is on a string for him. He will drive and kick to a teammate and pass it up the court. He has incredible speed with the ball in his hands and will score with the catch three.     [player_tooltip player_id='2407207' first='Malachi' last='Mims'] Pinnacle   Another very good sophomore for the Pioneers is Mims. He is a physical on-ball defender and has made steady strides with his three point shooting off the catch. He will a big piece to the puzzle moving forward.

On Friday, January 17th I attended the match-up of 6A Pinnacle hosting 5A Central. Central is proving that they are one of the better 5A teams in the state despite their AIA open rankings. Pinnacle is just getting back some older pieces who were injured or sick recently to make a 6A playoff push.