Minutemen Fall Varsity Shootout: Standout Seniors

This weekend, September 6th and 7th, Liberty High School was host to the inaugural Minutemen Fall Varsity Shootout in Bakersfield, CA. The event featured teams from Fresno, Clovis, Modesto, Stockton, Oxnard, Arroyo Grande, Porterville, Kerman and Delano, where teams played in a showcase game format with some marque match-ups such as Modesto Christian and Bakersfield Christian on Day 1. This article looks at 8 standout seniors from the two-day showcase, in which I watched all but 3 of the games. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order. I begin with the high powered scorer [player_tooltip player_id='2755801' first='Romello' last='Bruhn'].    Bruhn is a volume scoring combo guard that can light it up from 3-levels, as well as make plays for others when the defense throws the double team at him. Bruhn keeps the dribble alive to survey the floor and find holes to attack the defense, uses the crossover, behind cross, hesitation, and the spin move to create space from his defender, gets good lift on the jumper with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the dribble, uses the pump fake to get his defender off the ground, and has an explosive burst of speed off the bounce, with touch on the floater and body control on tough up and under finishes around the basket. He is a good positional rebounder that looks to push the pace of play, has the court vision to find players up the court, the precision passing to make tough reads in the half court setting, and showed good timing to jump passing lanes and get the chase down block in the open court. Bruhn can catch fire quickly and has great body control on the spin-fade middy, moves fluidly off the ball, and has a quick release on the jumper. Dynamic scorer that can run the show and will be key for the young Cougar roster.     Cartright is a lighting quick combo guard that excels in the open court, and keeps relentless pressure on the defense attacking the basket. Cartwright has active hands on defense, gets into his opponents dribbling space to poke the ball out, and looks to get out in transition, where he has great on court speed with control to finish at the basket. Cartwright has solid handles, uses the crossover to get his defender off balance, and uses his on-court speed to blow by his initial defender, and is crafty on finishes at the basket. Cartwright uses the stop and pop jumper to score in the area of the court that is open, once he gets by his initial defender but before the bigs can close out. The Drillers need him to play this way consistently, as it has a tough schedule, and it takes pressure off of fellow senior [player_tooltip player_id='2700921' first='Kade' last='Johnson'], as well as giving Bakersfield another ball handler while standout sophomore RJ Shehee is on the football field throughout the Fall.     Clark is a lengthy and active wing/forward that crashes the boards and alters shots around the basket. Clark uses his length to collect rebounds, as well as protect the paint, has nice touch on putbacks off the glass, and is effective with the mid-range shot to pull bigger players away from the basket. Clark runs the floor well, gets ahead of the defense to get open for passes up the court, and has the agility to switch off on perimeter players, with the lateral movement to stay in front of his defender. Clark also did a nice job playing in the pick and roll action, with good timing on dives or slips to the basket. Clark will be relied upon to hold down the interior on both ends and could be a pleasant surprise for the relatively young Knights of Bullard.     Coleman is a strong and skilled lead guard that controls the pace of play, can create for others, as well as score in volume with improved accuracy from beyond the arc. After fellow seniors Dalen Felder and Sean Smith-Sharkey departed from Bullard, Coleman was the remaining part of the back court trio, and he displayed the leadership quality needed to guide the young but talented Knights roster. Coleman keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense and survey the floor, the court vision and precision passing to find open teammates cutting off the ball or ahead in the open court, he is a good positional rebounder that likes to push the pace of play in transition, and looks to get downhill routinely with the strength to absorb contact on finishes around the basket. Coleman uses the hesitation, the crossover, and the spin move to evade his defender, is accurate with the jumper off the dribble, from the mid-range to the 3-point line, and has touch on the floater down the lane. Coleman has active hands on defense, looks to jump passing lanes to poke the ball out, and turn defense to offense. He also displayed great off-court leadership, coaching up the young guys in the Knights last game and keeping the energy levels high from start to finish. This could be a blessing in disguise with the roster changes, as Coleman will be relied upon to lead the Knights on and off the court.     Haynes is a skilled and poised lead guard that controls the pace of play, can create his own scoring opportunities, and throws darts in the half court setting or transition. Haynes was sensational this weekend and showed that he is one of the best kept secrets in the Section. Haynes keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, keeps the dribble alive to weave through the defense, has the precision and court vision to find players off the dribble drive and kick, as well as the cross court pass when the defense throws the double team at him. In the pick and roll action, Haynes puts the ball right in the rollers hand for easy lay-ups, with laser sharp accuracy combined with the court awareness to make the read while looking off his defender. Haynes uses the crossover, the spin move, the between cross, and the toss cross to shake his defender, has a smooth release on the jumper, and is accurate from the mid-range to the 3-point line. Defensively, Haynes has the court awareness to jump passing lanes, the bounce to block shots from the weak side, and the lateral footspeed to stay in front of his opponent. There are not many plays that Haynes can't make on the court combined with a high basketball IQ.     Johnson has been on a tear since the Spring club ball season started through our recent Junior/Senior Showcase a few weekends ago, and he continued to show he is one of the best pure scorers in the Section this weekend at the Fall Varsity Showcase at Liberty High School. Johnson is a lengthy and athletic guard/wing that can score in volume, and is a capable 3-level scorer that continues to gain confidence from deep. Johnson has a smooth handle, uses the crossover, the behind the back cross, the between cross, and the toss cross to create space from his defender. He gets great lift on his jumper with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line, has great body control when contacted on the jumper by his defender, the hangtime to square his shoulders in the air, and the ability to stop on a dime and knock down perimeter shots consistently. Johnson uses the pumpfake to get his defender off the ground, the handle and long strides to get into the paint quickly off the bounce, and can finish with creativity around the basket, or throw it down when he gets a good burst off speed off the wing. Johnson plays the passing lanes well to get deflections, is a solid positional rebounder to push the ball up the court, and has good court vision to find open teammates when on the attack. Flat out gets buckets and looks to have an MVP type season.     Kebede is a skilled and shifty lead guard that continues to add to his scoring arsenal to go along with his playmaking ability. The Mustangs have gone through a lot of changes the past year or so, with a new coaching staff now at the helm, but Kebede has kept his head down, blocked out the noise, and continued to evolve his overall skill set. Kebede has a strong handle on the ball, makes great use of the crossover, the hard-pound dribble, and the in-and-out dribble to create space from his defender, is accurate with the mid-range jumper off the bounce with good lift, weaves through the defense to find openings to score the ball in tight windows, and is crafty on finishes around the basket. Kebede is effective with the 3-ball off the dribble or the catch, has the court vision to find open teammates off the drive and kick out pass, and has the physical build to score through traffic at the basket.     Johnson is a wiry and athletic wing/guard that impacts both ends of the court, and really stepped up his level of play on Day 2 of the Shootout. Johnson uses the crossover to get his defender off balance, has a good burst of speed off the bounce to get into the lane, and is a flashy finisher around the basket over height. Johnson has nice touch on shots within 15 feet of the basket, can spread the floor with the 3-ball, and is a good positional rebounder that can push the ball up the court. Johnson is a solid on-ball defender with quick lateral movement and active hands to poke the ball out, as well as jump passing lanes to get out in the open court for transition buckets. Johnson will be a necessary piece for the Drillers, as he has made strides in his skill set over the last 6 months and adds depth for Bakersfield.

This weekend, September 6th and 7th, Liberty High School was host to the inaugural Minutemen Fall Varsity Shootout in Bakersfield, CA. The event featured teams from Fresno, Clovis, Modesto, Stockton, Oxnard, Arroyo Grande, Porterville, Kerman and Delano, where teams played in a showcase game format with some marque match-ups such as Modesto Christian and Bakersfield Christian on Day 1. This article looks at 8 standout seniors from the two-day showcase, in which I watched all but 3 of the games. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order. I begin with the high powered scorer Romello Bruhn Romello Bruhn 6'3" | PG/SG Weston Ranch | 2026 CA-N .