Crush In The Valley Prep School Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 10th Annual Crush In The Valley was held Saturday at Contra Costa College. 9 games played, two prep school games which means we saw 4 prep teams on Saturday. Albuquerque Prep, took on Rosemary Anderson from Oregon. The host Prolific Prep played Dream City Christian, from Arizona. It was our first look at the prep schoolers this season. We did see high level prospects, and plays on the court. PH NorCal doesn't include the prep schools with regular high school player rankings, Prolific Prep is the only high level prep school NorCal. These were the standouts. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Christian Gilliland </strong>6'2 2025 Guard from Albuquerque Prep: A quality ball handler with speed. He has that burst to get by defenders, he uses crossovers, change of direction, and other twisting moves to create shot opportunities for himself and others, on his way to the basket. He's an athletic guard that generated 35 points in different ways including a couple of 3's.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Brandon Mason Jr.</strong> 6'6 2027 Shooting Guard from Albuquerque Prep: He has size and length, and a frame to fill. He can fill the nets putting up 3-pointers all around the perimeter. He uses a quick dribble, or two to free himself up along the top, or he'll set him self on ready to drop corner 3's on the catch. 17pts, multiple 3's, one at the buzzer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Hunter Carter </strong>6'6 2025 Point Guard, from Rosemary Anderson in Oregon: He's listed at 6'6, the all purpose guard is headed to Hawaii. He runs the point using quality handles, and vision to spot players often. He's pushing, and looking in transition, and roaming the perimeter mostly up top looking to make quality passes, or finding ways to get by defenders to get a bucket in the paint. He plays under control with a reliable mid-range jump shot. 24pts, 9r, 5a.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Shobal Barksdale </strong>6'6 2025 Forward, from Rosemary Anderson in Oregon: We were pleasantly surprised to see Barksdale a transfer from Sacramento. He has a solid body, along with strength and good hops to finish with authority around the basket. He moves well on the court. He's a good passer, and rebounder, he handles the contact in the paint around the basket going up. He had a couple of transition dunks. He had hustle plays. 15pts, 14r, 4a.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ikenna Alozie </strong>6'4 2026 Guard, for Dream City Christian in Arizona: The first time we saw Alozie was at the Pangos Camp a while ago. He was a fast, hard playing guard that liked to go up and down the court challenging blockers and trying to dunk everything. He's a bit more settled now. He still plays hard, and is aggressive attacking the basket, but at a good pace. He did a lot in this game leading his team in scoring 17pts, and rebounds 13. He's an improving passer with 4 assists. He has a nice lil fade away short jumper, and good lift on the dribble drive mid-range jump shot.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Darryn Peterson</strong> 6'6 2025 Guard, for Prolific Prep: The Kansas commit was selected to play in the McDonalds All-American Game. No surprise after watching him play for the first time. He's one of the top players in the country. In this game he showed off his versatile basketball skills from the guard position. His ball handling, vision, speed, willingness to involve mates were all on display. With ball in hand, he can take over the game down the stretch. The execution of the pick, and roll was impressive. He finished with 27pts, 3r, 3a, 3s. 10/20 FG, 5/7 3FGM.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2703014' first='Obinna' last='Ekezie Jr']. 7'0 2027 Center for Prolific Prep: If there were a player of the day we would have chosen Ekezie. He's arguably the best prospect in the class of 2027. He plays under control with excellent movements for a 7ftr. He's a good passer/ball mover, seeing the court from the high and low post. He'll go after blocks to protect the rim. He can be assertive and look dominate at times. He stepped up his game when needed showing good activity in the paint on both ends. He was Player of the Game with 10pts, 11r, 5b, 1-3ptr.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->