Lonestar State Showdown: 17U Saturday Guards Leading the Charge

The Lonestar State Showdown Guards on Saturday showed out the first day if the tournament! Many guards controlling the pace of their games throughout the day, making a difference for their respective teams. Here in this article, I will be going over five guards that played their roles well Saturday.    [player_tooltip player_id='2817958' first='Mitchell' last='Morgan'] is someone you don't want to leave much room for defensively when he is handling the ball on offense. He is a huge threat offensively capitalizing on getting to his spots on all three levels of the floor resulting in many made shots. In transition he was very efficient in making majority of his layups, going coast to coast. When his team gets a defensive stop Mitchell does a great job coming to his teammates who grabbed the rebound so he can start the offense at times playing the point guard position. Defensively Mitchell really stood out with his on the ball play moving his feet staying right in front of his Team Oklahoma- White assignments. At times Mitchell forces his assignments into turnovers which I really liked about his defense.     Avanta Lyons is a pace setter waiting patiently for his teammates to set the offense up when he has the ball in his possession. He makes very quick reads when getting his teammates involved sharing the ball to off ball teammates. Offensively he has a quick handle using it to run the offense at an elite level for Cenla Hoops. When scoring the ball, he uses his shifty handle to get his defenders off balance on his way to the rim possessing a quick first step. Avanta draws a lot of contact when he goes up for layups getting to the charity strike a lot. When at the charity strike, Avanta has a very fluid free throw form that results in him being very efficient in that area.     Ahmad Clayton is a sharpshooter knocking down multiple shots through both games Saturday when his feet are set. He is not to be left open on the perimeter as he will make you pay for leaving him wide open. His movement without the ball in his hands was very fluid, running the floor well in different offensive situations. Defensively he did a good job of staying in front of opposing players that he had to guard on the ball.     Kade Lockett is a natural scorer on the offensive end that makes a huge impact on that end of the floor. His shot making ability was on point against the [program_tooltip program_id='2824016' first='210' last='Titans'] 17U scoring all over the floor. Whether he is beating his man off the dribble to go to the rim, spotting up from the perimeter or going all the way in transition he will find a way to score. Defensively he grabbed plenty of rebounds and got his hands on a couple of deflections throughout the game.     Offensively [player_tooltip player_id='1953408' first='Jaxon' last='Butler'] really gets in transition a lot, creating layups for himself and getting his teammates involved who are running with him in those situations. He is very capable of making perimeter shots wide open and with a hand in his face as he hit multiple of them throughout the day. He has active hands defensively which turned into steals multiple times. His willingness to hustle really caught my eye showing good anticipation in passing lanes reading where opposing players were going to pass next. His Union 17U team only had five players including him, so for him to play all 32 minutes each game at a high level really shows how good Jaxon is!

The Lonestar State Showdown Guards on Saturday showed out the first day if the tournament! Many guards controlling the pace of their games throughout the day, making a difference for their respective teams. Here in this article, I will be going over five guards that played their roles well Saturday.