Grit Region Finals: Steve’s Sunday Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are my standouts from Sunday's action at The Grit Region Finals!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Anthony Rubio El Paso Aztecs 6'3</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Anthony is a big guard who plays with some wiggle to his game. He uses a tight crossover to get to the rack. Rubio has good vision for a passer when getting downhill. Once teams started to play the drive he made a couple of threes to keep the defense honest.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Zahir Haqq The Academy Blue 2026&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Haqq is an explosive guard who plays with speed and very good anticipation when guarding the ball. His blow-by-speed was maybe the best in the tournament scoring around the rim while playing off two feet made a big difference in the results. When spacing on the perimeter he made shots using a slight fadeaway to get some separation.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Zeke Sawall Pro Lane 2026&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sawall is a very effective point guard who shoots the rock at a high percentage. He looked good playing out of high ball screens and coming out of it looking to shoot. When off the ball he was effective in catch-and-shoot moments. Zeke hit 6 threes in the Sunday contest against the El Paso Aztecs to finish with 22 points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Braylon Johnson The Academy Blue 2025</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Johnson was back in today's best because of his effort and energy in the quarterfinal game against INB Elite. His handle was crisp and his moves to the basket were just as good. He plays with pop off two feet around the basket and he usually intimidates players from contesting. Braylon skill level is high and I'm surprised he hasn't committed to a school yet.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Keefe Braziel VIP Kings 2026&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Braziel has been a very good role guy for the Kings but in the semi final he stepped up and made plays early to put the game away. Keefe is an undersized forward who hit two shots from the perimeter that were wide-open. After that he could do no wrong. Braziel drove to the basket a couple of times scoring over bigger defenders. His efforts cleared the way for a spot in the Grit Region championship game.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Bryson Flood El Paso Aztecs 2026&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Flood is a speedy guard who scored a lot of his transition points. He uses his defense to convert steals into points. Bryson would show how well he shoots it as he knocked down a trio of 3's while pulling away from Pro Lane as he ended with 19 points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Austin Ford Indy Nets Basketball Club 2026&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ford is a guard who played with poise early Sunday. He is a slender guard who gets to his spots with a slick handle. He was at his best getting downhill and scoring in the paint. Did a good job of getting attention to set up teammates. Austin led his team in scoring with 18 points.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Harold Frye ABC Young Lions 2026&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Frye is a bulky guard who is very aggressive with the rock. He was relentless at getting to the bucket. He's used his body to take the bump and continues to put pressure on by getting to his spot. Harold was fouled many times as he touched the paint. He finished the game with 15 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Blake Gray Indy Nets Basketball Club 2026</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gray had somewhat of a slow start to the game. He missed a couple of easy fast break layups before he picked up his energy. I think it took seeing the ball go through the net on a transition three-pointer before he started to make an impact. Blake would go on to hit a few more shots to trim the Academy lead. He finished with 11 points in the loss.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->