Clovis West Fall Shootout: Standout Juniors Pt. 1

This past weekend, September 13th – 14th, Clovis West hosted its annual Fall Shootout at the Eagles Nest. The event featured teams from Fresno, Santa Maria, Stockton, Elk Grove, Madera, Merced, and Modesto. Teams played in a showcase game format, with led to some intriguing match-ups, none more thrilling than powerhouses St. Joseph and San Joaquin Memorial squaring off. This article is part 1 of a two-part piece that looks at 8 standout juniors, which will be followed by part 2 of juniors, as well as a look at standout underclassmen from the event. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order. I begin this article with lead guard [player_tooltip player_id='2640285' first='Marcus' last='Cephus'].    Cephus is a shifty and physical lead guard that can create his own offense, as well as lock-up on perimeter players. Cephus has a strong handle on the ball, keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense, uses the crossover and hesitation to get by his defenders and into the paint, with the court vision to find players off the drive and kick pass, as well as make tough reads from the top of the key. Cephus uses his shifty movement to get his defender on his heels, gets into his opponent's body to use the spin move to evade his defender, and has the body control to finish with touch at the basket. He moves well off the ball to get open looks off the catch, with accuracy from the 3-point line, and has the footspeed and active hands to stay in front of his opponent and turn defense to offense off steals and easy buckets in transition.     Crawford is a physical and skilled lead guard that can score the ball in a variety of ways, as well as make plays for others. Crawford uses the crossover, the hesitation, and the behind the back cross to create space from his defender, has a good burst off speed off the bounce to get into the teeth of the defense, and the strength to finish through contact at the basket, with touch on the reverse lay-up. Crawford has the moves to get his defender off balance, and is accurate with the mid-range jumper to the 3-point line off the dribble. He is a good positional rebounder that looks to push the pace of play in the open court.     Delong is a strong and athletic forward with great bounce to impact both ends of the court at a high level. DeLong dominates the boards on both ends, keeps the ball at shoulder height to prevent smaller players from poking the ball out, makes the quick outlet, and runs the floor well in the open court with the ability to finish with some dazzling dunks, as was the case on the last play I watched before heading to the other gym. DeLong has a big wingspan, good court awareness, and the timing to block/alter shots in the paint, with the strides to close out on perimeter players, and makes quality passes in stride from the post to open players on the perimeter for catch and shoot looks. The upside is big time and Sanger does a good job developing their bigs.     Eyita is a physically imposing forward that dominates the boards on both ends, and moves more fluidly to get up the court and run the floor in stride. Eyita crashes the boards relentlessly, has the timing and length to block/alter shots around the basket, with the ability to step out and contest shots on the perimeter, has good hands to receive entry passes, a good drop-step or spin move to get space around the basket, and has nice touch on shots, reverse lay-ups, and putbacks at the rim. Eyita has the court vision to make quality reads from the top of the key, can spread the floor with the 3-ball to open up the court, and when he plays with the level of engagement he did at the Fall Shootout, he is arguably the most unstoppable post player in the Section. He finished with 8 points and 8 rebounds in the win over Clovis North.     Franklin is a wing/forward that leaves his mark on the defensive end, but showed improved scoring effectiveness at the Fall Shootout. Franklin has a strong handle on the ball, uses the dribble with purpose to look for holes in the defense, uses the crossover and the hesitation to get the space needed to get by his initial defender, has the physical build to absorb contact down the lane, and is a crafty finisher around the basket. Franklin has active hands, good lateral quickness, and the instincts to rip the ball from his defender, as well as play the passing lanes to get out into the open court. Franklin is able to space the floor with the 3-ball, and plays with great energy and effort on both ends of the court.     Iniguez is a shifty and skilled lead guard that controls the pace of play and makes quality decisions with the ball in his hands. Iniguez keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, uses the crossover and the behind cross to create space from his defender, has the court vision to make the right reads in tight windows to open players when attacking off the dribble drive, using the kick-out pass to open players for the perimeter shot, and is a good positional rebounder that looks to advance the ball up the court to teammates running the floor in transition. He showed good off-ball movement to get open looks for the 3-ball off the catch. Intriguing junior prospect guard to keep an eye on.     Jefferson is a skilled and gifted forward that controls the paint on both ends, as well as being a scoring threat from within 20 feet of the basket. Jefferson has good footwork and back to the basket moves in the post, uses the drop-step in the paint to evade rim protectors, has good hands to receive the entry pass, and has touch on shots around the basket, with use of the hook-floater to score. Jefferson has enough handle to attack from the top of the key to get to the basket, and is effective on the mid-range jumper from the elbows or the short corners. Jefferson crashes the boards consistently, has the timing and wingspan to alter shots around the basket, and is able to switch off on smaller players and alter shots on the perimeter.     Kubit is a sharp shooting combo guard that continues to improve as an on-ball defender and the moves to create his own offense. Kubit moves fluidly off the ball, gets to his shot spots for open looks off the catch, and has limitless range with accuracy from the 3-point line. He uses the crossover and hesitation to get his defender off balance, gets into the paint to put pressure on the defense, has the court vision to make good reads off the drive and kick pass, and has touch on the floater down the lane, and the creativity to score around the basket with the reverse or up and under lay-ups to evade defenders in the post. Kubit has improved his lateral quickness to go with the active hands and timing to poke the ball out, or jump passing lanes to get out into the open court. Kubit is best known for his elite shooting from beyond the arc, which was on display all weekend at the Fall Shootout.

This past weekend, September 13th – 14th, Clovis West hosted its annual Fall Shootout at the Eagles Nest. The event featured teams from Fresno, Santa Maria, Stockton, Elk Grove, Madera, Merced, and Modesto. Teams played in a showcase game format, with led to some intriguing match-ups, none more thrilling than powerhouses St. Joseph and San Joaquin Memorial squaring off. This article is part 1 of a two-part piece that looks at 8 standout juniors, which will be followed by part 2 of juniors, as well as a look at standout underclassmen from the event. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order. I begin this article with lead guard Marcus Cephus Marcus Cephus 5'11" | SG Franklin | 2027 State CA-N .