Battle at the Beach and Boardwalk: 302 Impact Prospects

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This past weekend, programs from around the Mid-Atlantic made their way to Ocean City, MD for the two-day event. It was lowkey, but had some under the radar players who coaches and fans should pay attention to. Here are 7 of them:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2869980' first='Donte' last='Cain'] | 2027 SMM Black 16U </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A lanky athlete, Cain flew around on defense, disrupting shots inside the arc with his closeouts and contests. He played above the rim on offense and spaces the floor too. When Cain wasn't knocking down corner threes, he was leaping over defenders for putbacks. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2461953' first='Elijah' last='Farrington'] | 2026 [program_tooltip program_id='2466804' first='DE' last='Runnin' Rebels'] 17U</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Farrington was in a class of his own as a prospect. His ability to get to his spots off the bounce, then lay the ball up or pull-up for two made for easy offense. Just second to that and his spot-up threes was his secondary playmaking, where he found open teammates as a short-roller or driver. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2371044' first='Geordan' last='Downing'] | 2027 [program_tooltip program_id='2466804' first='DE' last='Runnin' Rebels'] 17U </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A rising junior running with 2026 prospects, Downing extended advantages and moved without the ball well. He took and made the occasional catch-and-shoot three, but he preferred to attack the second level of the defense. From there, he hit mid-range jumpers and got to the cup. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2614928' first='Donovan' last='Griffith'] | 2027 SMM Black 16U</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Griffith is a heralded ballhawk on Friday nights, but he was effective running the show for his squad that went undefeated on the weekend. At times, he didn't even need his strong upper body to explode through contact in the paint. After collapsing the defense, Griffith fed SMM's forwards and/or scored around opposing bigs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2628290' first='Cinese' last='Kamara'] | 2028 AESA 15U</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A sturdy 6'5 forward, Kamara was the backbone of his squad on both ends on their way to the 15U chip. As a roller, he was able to make quick decisions on the move to evade defenders and, when stationary, he bullied smaller players. And despite not being the tallest, Kamara was a brick wall on defense, not allowing any clean looks at the rim or second-chance points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2488689' first='Amere' last='Rhoades'] | 2027 SMM Black 16U</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With graceful movements around the basket, Rhoades repeatedly turned post touches into two points. For example, he didn't need much time or space to operate because he would drop step and get the ball up and into the hoop so quickly. His work on the offensive glass led to similar results thanks to his soft touch inside. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2698355' first='Stephen' last='Sivels'] | 2027 [program_tooltip program_id='2466804' first='DE' last='Runnin' Rebels'] 17U </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Also playing up, Sivels gave whoever was guarding him fits without having to go in his bag. He used his change of pace and well-timed crossovers to out-maneuver help defenders and dart into the lane or get in-rhythm for pull-up jumpers. Inside the arc, he found various angles to finish at the rim, including a few and-one opportunities. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->