Club Opening Weekend: Scoring Guard Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>ORANGE COUNTY — The last weekend of March marked the opening weekend of club basketball and individual showcase events across Southern California. We were in attendance at various events and below we detail the scoring guard standouts we saw.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='2268982' first='Braylon' last='Franklin'] | 2026 | Salesian</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Franklin is reminiscent of all the talented guards who come out of NorCal-based power Salesian College Prep: tough, smart and fundamental. The 6-foot-3 junior is savvy as a mover/cutter off the ball where he finds open space in the defense and uses his crafty finishing at the rim to nullify shot blockers. Franklin can also create with the ball in his hands and knock down perimeter jumpers off the bounce or get into the lane where play off of two feet with smart pivoting and shot fakes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Dario Johnson | 2026 | Great Oak</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Johnson was one of the more vertically explosive guards we saw at the Pangos All-American Preview in Long Beach. The wiry 6-foot-2 lefty is a tough cover in transition because of his speed, willingness to fill wide lanes and aggressiveness when getting downhill and attacking the rim. Johnson also showed he is a shifty driver and finisher in the half-court setting.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1956504' first='Joe' last='Sterling'] | 2026 | Team CPSA/Harvard-Westlake</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There aren't many guards on the west coast who can fill up the scoring column quite like Sterling does. We saw the 6-foot-3 junior with his CPSA club team and he was dialed in from three-point range both off the catch and off the bounce. What makes Sterling so effective is his ability to use ball screens in a variety of ways from stepping behind for a deep three-ball to snaking it into a mid-range pull-up or getting a paint touch and scoring with a floater.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1956528' first='Joseph' last='Riggins'] | 2026 | Fairfax</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Riggins came out firing on all cylinders at the Pangos All-American Preview. The Fairfax High junior was connecting on deep three-point shots in transition and half-court offense and attacked the basket with confidence in straight-line drive opportunities.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='2137372' first='Josiah' last='Johnson'] | 2026 | Mayfair</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Johnson remains one of the more under-the-radar prospects on the west coast and that shouldn't last much longer based on what we have seen from him over the last few months. The 6-foot-3 combo guard is an elite athlete: vertically, laterally and in downhill driving situations with plenty of skill to go along with it. Johnson uses his strong frame to absorb and finish through contact at the rim and can also knock down a stop and pop mid-range jumper with great lift.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='2212733' first='Siincere' last='Hudson'] | 2027 | Inderkum</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hudson is one of the top sophomore guards in California because of his strongly-built frame combined with his toughness and willingness to play through contact around the basket. We are always looking out for growth points in a prospect's skill-set and Hudson showed us Saturday at the Pangos All-American Preview that he has improved the consistency of his catch-and-shoot three-ball.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1956478' first='Ty' last='Ingram'] | 2026 | Westchester </h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If there is one thing that Ingram is built and wired for it is putting the ball in the basket. The 6-foot-2 guard is best when he is attacking the rim in transition or on drives in half-court offense. The junior plays low to the ground, uses his physicality to stay on balance through bumps and can score at the rim going to either hand. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->