DMV Hoops Madness Recap, part 1

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Teams from DC, DE, VA, and of course MD descended on Bowie last weekend for a series of high level matchups. Here is my recap of the event with a look at some of the prospects who stood out the most:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2364682' first='Kiyen' last='Alexander'] | 5'10 G 2027 Mount Carmel </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Coming back to his home state from Delaware, Alexander played with tenacity in his debut as a Cougar. He made jumpers off the catch and set his teammates up off the bounce. But his biggest impact came on the defensive end. When Alexander wasn't forcing turnovers, he was flustering opposing guards and drawing fouls, which made up for his perceived lack of size. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2715192' first='Nash' last='Avery'] | F 2028 Archbishop Spalding</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Avery's performance versus Patrick School on Sunday morning was surgical. The spot-up and pull-up threes he made were cool, but he showed even more skill inside the arc. From the short corner and elbow, Avery used his quickness and footwork to take advantage of opposing forwards. He turned those touches into two points or trips to the free throw line, where he converted every attempt. Avery competed on defense as well, coming away with three blocks and a number of contests to secure the win. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2352457' first='JayVion' last='Denis'] | 6'5 W 2026 Dover</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Without taking a ton of shots in either of his two games, Denis filled up the stat sheet with his all-around activity, especially his rebounding. His ability to grab-and-go allowed the Senators to instantly have numbers in transition and get easy buckets. He created additional transition opportunities by flying around on defense and racking up steals - 3 vs Springdale Prep &amp; 2 vs St. Mary's Annapolis. From there, Denis showcased his athletic ability with acrobatic layups and dunks. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1782690' first='Silas' last='Devonish'] | 5'9 G 2026 Bishop Ireton</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Defense and shotmaking was the name of the game for Devonish. He utterly terrorized South River's offense with one steal after another and flipped those turnovers in fastbreak points. Against Mt. Zion National, he turned up the heat on offense in what turned out to be a fire fight. Devonish hit multiple catch-and-shoot threes and got to his spots. He also made a ton of crucial free throws down the stretch. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2148602' first='Eric' last='Hillsman'] | 6'8 F 2026 Patrick School </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hillsman stretched the floor vertically and horizontally versus Mount Carmel. Coming off the bench, he made a big splash in the first half with a pair of threes off the catch. In the second, he played above the rim. On a baseline out-of-bounds play and then on a cut to the basket, Hillsman used his size and agility to generate efficient offense for the Celtics. Then, he put the finishing touches on the game with a fastbreak dunk. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->