Best of the Best – Game 3 Preview (Mt Hood vs. Pacific)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2nd annual Best of the Best Tournament takes place at Reynolds High School this weekend, May 31 and June 1, as many of the state's top seniors will don the uniforms of their respective conferences and battle for league pride. All seven 6A conferences will be represented and a 5A all-star team will round out the field in what should be a very competitive two days of games.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the third contest that will take place at 12:30am on Saturday, May 31, the Mt Hood takes on the Pacific. Here's a look at that matchup.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Mt Hood squad could arguably be considered the favorites to take the trophy with their loaded roster. One of the main reasons why the roster is stacked under Reynolds head coach Terrance Dickens is because the big three from state champs Barlow will be in attendance - state Player of the Year and Biola commit [player_tooltip player_id='1276625' first='Jalen' last='Atkins'], Portland State signee [player_tooltip player_id='1387877' first='Brayden' last='Barron'], and future OIT Hustlin' Owl [player_tooltip player_id='1368245' first='Mason' last='Bierbrauer']. The combination of athleticism and winning mentality should lead the way for all three that played in the Northwest Shootout. Fellow Team Oregon participant [player_tooltip player_id='1751485' first='Jacob' last='Brown'], who signed with Salt Lake CC, will also be there and if that wasn't enough, Weber State signee [player_tooltip player_id='1368247' first='Duce' last='Paschal'] will bring his talents to the fold. Nelson seniors [player_tooltip player_id='2204992' first='Jaiden' last='Pickett'] (unsigned) and [player_tooltip player_id='2244055' first='Ahshua' last='Neal'] (Linn-Benton) add depth on the wings, unsigned David Douglas seniors [player_tooltip player_id='1943663' first='Omar' last='Kassim'] and <strong>G Novelo</strong> bring additional athleticism, Reynolds guard <strong>Delphin Bizimana</strong> some quickness, and Gresham standout and Puget Sound commit [player_tooltip player_id='1368248' first='Khaled' last='Artharee'] should contribute everywhere on the court.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This will be the first year the Pacific Conference will be represented in the Best of the Best and they're hoping to sneak up on some people. Glencoe head coach Pip Bloodsaw has a group of underrated players that could potentially make some noise. The team is guard heavy but they hope to use their quickness to their advantage. Liberty has a trio of guys looking to lead, headed by first team conference honoree [player_tooltip player_id='2348788' first='Tavian' last='Womack'] and teammates <strong>Nathan Holguin</strong> and <strong>Ayaan Ali</strong>. Century's backcourt duo of [player_tooltip player_id='2350672' first='Islam' last='Muzaffarov'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1688315' first='Mikah' last='Phommahasay'] should be able to do damage from multiple perimeter spots, as will McMinnville senior [player_tooltip player_id='2723112' first='Brayden' last='Mix']. One thing the Pacific squad does offer is some size, with 6A's leading shot blocker [player_tooltip player_id='2348785' first='Dillon' last='Moody'] from Glencoe defending the paint while Sherwood's [player_tooltip player_id='1910895' first='Walt' last='Rosenberg'] doing his damage on the offensive end. Forwards <strong>Reed Bosshardt</strong> from Glencoe and <strong>Xzavier Garcia</strong> from Century - who's headed to Western Oregon for football - round out a roster that largely remains unsigned with their college basketball recruitment.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/DImeS8gT_TI/","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"instagram","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.instagram.com/p/DImeS8gT_TI/ </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/DJezRelJfw3/","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"instagram","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.instagram.com/p/DJezRelJfw3/ </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->