Central Cali Prospects Junior/Senior Showcase: Top Scorers

This past weekend, on Sunday, August 24th, Central Cali Prospects hosted its 5th Annual Junior/Senior Showcase, an event that has featured some of the top upperclassmen in the Section the past 4 years, and this year's event was the best one yet as far as depth of talent, size, skill, and next level prospects. The showcase was held at Bakersfield High School, in Central California, and featured 60 players from various areas throughout the Section, such as Santa Maria, Atascadero, San Luis Obispo, Arroyo Grande, Bakersfield, Fresno, Hanford, Visalia, Reedley, Kingsburg, and Lemoore. Players were placed on preset rosters and made up five teams, using NBA team names as follows: Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, Suns, and Kings. Each team, or player, played in two showcase games, which was set up in a 5 game format. The event also featured a recruitment discussion with JUCO players, to provide participants with information and knowledge of what the current recruiting environment is like. This article looks at the top 8 scorers from the Junior/Senior Showcase, and provides their scoring statistics, as well as a brief summary of their skill sets. This article will be followed by pieces on wings, bigs, lead guards, and best shooters from the event. The players are listed in order of top scorer to the ninth scorer, and the cut-off was 20 points in at least one game, not total over both games. I begin with the athletic and skilled [player_tooltip player_id='2843567' first='Anthony' last='Smith'].      Smith was the only underclassmen to participate in the showcase, and had played in the Next Up Showcase the day before. He came to the Junior/Senior Showcase on Sunday with some of the players registered for this event, and, given that there were 2 players that were not able to attend, I needed to fill a spot. Smith was an easy choice to add to this event, and he took full advantage of the opportunity. He would be the only player to score over 20 points in both games and was the event's overall leading scorer, as he would go for 25 points in his 1st game, followed by an event scoring high of 27 points in the final game of the event. Smith is a good positional rebounder, has the handle to push the pace of play up the court, has the court vision and precision to throw darts in tight windows to teammates cutting off the ball in the half court setting, as well as finding players up the court in transition. Smith has a strong handle, makes great use of the hesitation, the crossover, and between-cross to get his defender off balance, gets a nice burst of speed off the dribble, combined with long strides, to get by his defender, and is a creative finisher at the basket. Smith gets good lift on the jumper, connects on the perimeter shot with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line, off the dribble or the catch, and has good body control when contacted in the air, with creativity on finishes around the basket. Defensively, he has the bounce to alter shots on the weak side, as well as the perimeter, has active hands to deflect passes that lead to turnovers, and has great footwork to be a lock down on-ball defender. Great weekend of basketball for the sophomore combo guard with big expectations this coming season for Clovis.     Johnson has established himself as one of the top pure scorers in the Central Section, and he had his full scoring arsenal on display out the gate in the opening game of the Junior/Senior Showcase. Johnson scored 25 points in the opening game of the showcase, and highlighted his ability to impact the game on both ends of the court. Johnson has a solid handle on the ball, plays with good pace and flow when sizing up his opponent, has a quick first step off the bounce to get by his defender, gets good lift on the jumper with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line, keeps his dribble alive to weave through the defense, has nice touch on the floater, and is a creative finisher on shots around the basket, with improved body control through contact. Johnson impressed with improved defensive awareness and good timing to use his length to jump passing lanes and get out in the open court. He is doing a better job of using his length to alter shots on the perimeter, as well as deflect shots coming from the weak side. Johnson is tough to defend when he is hunting the mid-range jumper, which he connected on numerous times at the showcase.     Arguably the surprise player of the Junior/Senior Showcase, and one of the biggest stock risers of the weekend was Ayden Walters. Walters had a solid first game, scoring 11 points and showing he had more skill set than I had seen with the Panthers in the month of June. But it was his second game that he got into his bag and showed he is more than a catch and shoot player, as he would score 25 points and connected on 3 threes. Walters is accurate with the 3-ball off the dribble or the catch, moves fluidly off the ball to find openings in the defense for catch and shoot opportunities, uses the crossover effectively to get his defender off balance, has touch on the pull-up mid-range, and is a crafty finisher around the basket. Walters was active on the defensive end, providing ball pressure to create turnovers, and good lateral movement to stay in front of his defender. The balanced scoring over both halves was what impressed me most, as it was not that he just got hot for a stretch, but that he has the skill set and game to score consistently. He will be a welcomed scoring addition for the Panthers, who have a great starting five, but the line-up thins after that.     Jackson played well for the Cougars in the month of June, and he brought his high-level shot making to the Junior/Senior Showcase, as he erupted for 23 points and 11 rebounds in his first game, and knocked down 3 threes after halftime. Jackson has sold handles, makes great use of the toss cross, the behind cross, and the low crossover to get space from his defender, has good body control when in the air to square his shoulders for the jump shot, and has a nice burst of speed off the bounce with good touch on shots around the basket. Jackson is a good positional rebounder, likes to push the pace of play in the open court, and looks to attack his defender in transition, where he can drain the 3-ball or go at the rim. For me, it is when Jackson is hunting the mid-range jumper, that he hits at a high clip from the elbows, he is at his best. He will be relied upon to bring some maturity to the young but talented Clovis roster.     Harbin is one of the more versatile lead guards in the 2027 class in the Central Section, with the ability to create for others, as well as score in volume from 3-levels. That was evident in the opening game of the event, as Harbin would go off in the second half, scoring 19 of his 22 points and hitting 3 threes and showed why he is a tough assignment for opposing defenders. Harbin has quality handles and keeps the ball on a string, with the court vision to make the right reads to open teammates from the top of the key, or off the dribble drive, and is a creative finisher on shots around the basket. Harbin makes nice use of the hesitation, the double crossover, and the in-and-out moves to get his defender off balance, has a smooth stop and pop mid-range jumper, and gets into his defender's body to use the spin move to evade his opponent and get open for the shot. Harbin moves well off the ball to get open looks off the catch, and I think he is poised for a big junior season.     Schalk has been one of the top 3-point shooters in the Section since his freshman year, and the expansion of his skill set was on full display at the Junior/Senior Showcase. Schalk had a solid opening game scoring 13 points and throwing down one of the top plays of the event, with the snatch back that sent his defender staggering backward before he buried the three. Schalk took his game up another level in his second game, where he led his team with 22 points, and 4 threes in the process. Schalk has a smooth handle, uses the crossover and hesitation to free himself from his defender, and is lights out from beyond the arc with limitless range, off the dribble or the catch. Schalk showed improved quickness off the bounce to attack his opponent, has nice touch on the floater down the lane, increased use of the step-back jumper with accuracy when his defender cuts him off, and is crafty on finishes around the basket around size. Schalk is primed for a big junior season, and the Panthers will look to him to be more than a catch and shoot threat.     Cockheran was another player that saw his stock rise with his level of play, and in particular his ability to score the ball from various spots on the court, as well as lock in on the defensive end at the Junior/Senior Showcase. Cockheran had a good opening game with 11 points, but caught fire in his second game, as he would score 21 points, with 18 points coming after halftime. Cockheran has good handles, the moves to create off the dribble, looks to attack the defense and get into the paint, and showed nice touch on the floater, as well as tough finishes around the basket over size. What impressed me most was his accuracy with the 3-ball, off the dribble or the catch. Cockheran has good footspeed and a strong build to stay in front of opposing guards, with active hands to deflect passes and rip the ball to get out in the open court. He will be a welcomed addition for the Guardians this coming season, after spending the last few seasons at Central East.     Baldovinos had a strong showing at last year's event, and he backed that up with another solid shooting display and overall ability to score the ball off the dribble, or the catch at the Junior/Senior Showcase. Baldovinos came out looking to be aggressive early on the offensive end, and he succeeded in that endeavor, ending up with 20 points and 7 rebounds in his team's first game. He added 13 points in the final game of the event and showed he has the ability to lead the Rams in scoring this coming season. Baldovinos can score in volume, especially from the 3-point line, where he lets it fly with confidence. He makes good use of the crossover and the hesitation moves to create space for his jumper, gets into his defender's body for the spin-fade mid-range shot, and has good body control through contact on the jumper, as well as at the basket. Baldovinos moves fluidly off the ball, gets to the corner spot for the three off the catch, and continues to improve as a play maker when attacking the defense off the dribble drive.

This past weekend, on Sunday, August 24th, Central Cali Prospects hosted its 5th Annual Junior/Senior Showcase, an event that has featured some of the top upperclassmen in the Section the past 4 years, and this year's event was the best one yet as far as depth of talent, size, skill, and next level prospects. The showcase was held at Bakersfield High School, in Central California, and featured 60 players from various areas throughout the Section, such as Santa Maria, Atascadero, San Luis Obispo, Arroyo Grande, Bakersfield, Fresno, Hanford, Visalia, Reedley, Kingsburg, and Lemoore. Players were placed on preset rosters and made up five teams, using NBA team names as follows: Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, Suns, and Kings. Each team, or player, played in two showcase games, which was set up in a 5 game format. The event also featured a recruitment discussion with JUCO players, to provide participants with information and knowledge of what the current recruiting environment is like. This article looks at the top 8 scorers from the Junior/Senior Showcase, and provides their scoring statistics, as well as a brief summary of their skill sets. This article will be followed by pieces on wings, bigs, lead guards, and best shooters from the event. The players are listed in order of top scorer to the ninth scorer, and the cut-off was 20 points in at least one game, not total over both games. I begin with the athletic and skilled Anthony Smith Anthony Smith CA-N .