Shane's Top Players from Sunday - Midwest Live

This past weekend, I was in Sandusky, Ohio, for Midwest Live. The best high school basketball teams in Ohio and surrounding states are all in one gym and competing for the last weekend of June. This article will be about my top players from Sunday.    Aldridge had one of the most impressive weekends I have seen. This kid is a hooper and is easy to become a fan of. He controls everything. He seemed to be Cathedral's half-court offense, and this worked out very well. He was able to get to the rim almost every time down the floor. He is a nice lefty finisher, but his recognition of the defense collapse and kicking it out was impressive to watch. This was as simple as the game needed to be for him. He is a strong and physical guard who plays much bigger than he is. My favorite aspect of his game was his talking. You could hear him talking the entire game on the defensive end. It was really refreshing to see.     I really liked the game Dawson put together for Winton Woods. He is a long and wiry guard who can score in many different ways. He can break you down and create a shot for himself in a one-on-one situation. He is a great scorer in transition with his length and athleticism. He also knows how to just get to the rim on a few dribbles and finish. Shows his ability to score no matter the situation. This will translate to the next level. He is a really good on-ball defender. He can apply a ton of pressure and make the offense cough up the ball a couple of times. Then you see his explosive leaping ability as he finishes with a quick and strong dunk.     Pritchett is a player you just want on your team. He is a floor general who controls the game and is a willing passer. When he has the ball in his hands, as his teammate, you should be expecting a pass. He does a great job of passing the ball at the last second and finding creative ways to get it to his teammates. He did a move twice in transition that I had never seen before, but extremely effective. In transition, when he was way ahead of his teammates, he would turn around, with his back to the basket, and then find an open teammate running down the floor for a bucket. This shows the high level of IQ he has. You can see everyone feeds off his energy because they know they could be getting the ball.     Mack-Russell is the best player in the state, and you see this when you go to his games. He is at a new school this year, and he fits like a glove. His size and athleticism will fit perfectly with the Winton Woods team and how they want to play. He seems to be getting bigger and more athletic, but also seems like the game is slowing down for him as well. He can get all the way to the rim whenever he wants, but he does not force it. He knows what spots of the floor to be in off the ball. His IQ for the game is starting to really come through. With more familiarity with his teammates, I expect him to be more aggressive, but I loved how he was able to impact the game without needing the ball in his hands.     Carter is a shifty guard who gets you off balance quickly. He is really good at stabbing his feet with the ball and making the defenders flip their hips. Once he does this a couple of times, he can do whatever he wants. He blew by multiple defenders and finished at the cup often. Also showed off some quick step-back moves with the ball coming off his hand quickly. His offensive skill set put on a show for everyone. Carter is a highly skilled offensive guard.

This past weekend, I was in Sandusky, Ohio, for Midwest Live. The best high school basketball teams in Ohio and surrounding states are all in one gym and competing for the last weekend of June. This article will be about my top players from Sunday.