Queen City Clash- All Tournament 1st Team 14U

The Queen City Clash became an open playground for the best players in the Midwest. These star players showed why they're a part of the All Tournament 1st Team.    Camarii has all the makings of a great combo guard. This young man does it all on the basketball court. He's the primary ball handler and facilitator of the Unit 14U offense. Camarii was an unstoppable force in the game. Whether it was slashing to the basket, knocking down perimeter jumpers or nailing long distance threes, Camarii could not be stopped regardless of who guarded him. There was a sequence in the game where Camarii made four consecutive shots for his team. One of those shots came when Camarii had a defender isolated on the wing of the floor. He used a great in-and-out hesitation move to blow by the Kentucky Select player and score a lay-up. The move was sweet because the defender was off balanced and had no chance of recovering. The score led to a three-point play opportunity from the free-throw line, which Camarii calmly converted. Defensively, he blocked a few shots and forced turnovers by playing the pass lanes. Camarii has the talent to be an elite player in the near future. Keep it up Camarii!!     This young man has the ability to be a great small forward at the high school level and beyond. Mason found numerous ways of putting the ball through the basket. He showed the ability to post up defenders and knock down fade-a-ways. Mason showed great footwork by using pump-fakes or up-and-under moves to score around the basket. He's an athletic player who runs the court and finishes strong during fast-break opportunities. A couple of his transition baskets were dunks. This young man is the total package offensively. Whether it was slashing to the basket, knocking down threes or connecting on perimeter jumpers, Mason found a way to be a threat on the basketball court. He's a great rebounder who attacked the glass on both ends of the floor. He used his leaping ability to snatch every board in his vicinity. His rebounds on the offensive side, led to second chance scoring opportunities for his teammates. Some he scored on easy put-backs around the rim. On defense, he blocked shots in the paint and played great man-to-man defense. Keep it up Mason!!     Mekyal and his twin brother are both great players. There are a few similarities between the two. I viewed Mekyal as more of a scorer. He plays an aggressive style of basketball at the shooting guard position. Mekyal is very competitive and has a fierce attitude on the court. I've always appreciated the kind of player who's competitive on every play. Well, this is Mekyal. He's a great ball handler who attacked the basket throughout the tournament. Whenever he had one-on-one match-ups, this young man took full advantage of the situation. I remember a particular play on offense, where Mekyal broke down his opponent off the dribble. He drove to the basket and scored over two opponents while drawing contact. This led to him being fouled and converting a three-point play from the foul-line. Mekyal scored from every level of the court. He slashed to the rim, knocked down threes and nailed mid-range jumpers. On defense, he used his length to be a nuisance for offensive players. Mekyal forced numerous turnovers and caused his opponents to make plenty of mistakes. Keep balling Mekyal!!     After watching Gage play, I noticed a tough hard-nosed player who could score the basketball. He excelled at all facets of the game during his team's match-up against All Red 14U. Gage was great at getting to the rim off the dribble. He scored tough baskets in the paint and fought for offensive rebounds. Many of his boards led to easy makes around the rim. Gage made a number of plays with his precise passing ability. Many of his assists were to teammates cutting down the lane. He's a great passer who always found open players for high percentage shots. As I said, Gage does it all! I watched him knock down countless shots on the perimeter. He often used step-back dribbles to create enough space for clean looks at the basket. If an open three-pointer was available, he calmly nailed it. Defensively, he took charges, forced turnovers and used his physicality to make scoring difficult for his opponent. Keep working Gage!!     This young man is a "walking bucket!" During the first game of the day, Kentucky Future Elite players had no answers for Michael defensively. I watched him do whatever he wanted on the basketball court. Whether it was getting to the rim, knocking down perimeter shots or sticking long-range threes, Michael was un-guard-able in this particular game. He showed the ability to beat his opponent to the basket by using great hesitation or cross-over dribble moves. On a number of occasions, I watched Michael use these moves to free himself up for easy shots on the perimeter. If the Ohio Red 14U squad created scoring opportunities by running the floor, Micheal easily scored transition baskets. On defense, he fought through every screen to stick with his opponent. He excelled at applying great on-ball pressure and forcing turnovers. Michael has elite basketball skills! I believe he will make an easy transition into high school basketball next season. Keep balling Michael!!     Carter was one of the most talented players I watched over the weekend. He showcased his ability to do everything on the court. This young man can score in a variety of ways. Carter was dominant in the post. He caught he ball and bullied his defender inside the paint. This led to multiple scores around the basket. Carter is a great rebounding small forward who attacked the glass with as much ferociousness as he did offensively. He showed a great handle of the basketball. Carter was able to bring the ball up court and under control as a facilitator of the offense. He attacked defenders off the dribble and scored on lay-ups at the rim. He seamlessly worked great within the offense by getting to his spots for high percentage shots. Carter's a good interior post defender who had no issues boxing out and grabbing defensive rebounds. Whenever he needed to guard on the perimeter, Carter showed the ability to pressure the opposition into mistakes and turnovers. I believe Carter has a bright future in the game of basketball. Keep it up Carter!!

The Queen City Clash became an open playground for the best players in the Midwest. These star players showed why they're a part of the All Tournament 1st Team.