The Renaissance at Westlake HS: Standout Guard/Wings

This past Saturday, I attended The Renaissance Showcase at Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks, which featured a 7-game schedule starting at 10:30 a.m. and going until 7:30 p.m., the start of the final game. The showcase featured some of the nation's top players, as well as some known names on the West and some up-and-comers that are making statements early in their high school careers. This article looks at 8 standout lead guard/wings from Saturday's event, which will be followed by a final article from this event on wing/forwards. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not in ranked order. We begin this article with the intriguing junior [player_tooltip player_id='2895483' first='Ean' last='Britt'] of Campbell Hall.    Britt is a lengthy and active player that is a versatile perimeter defender, can stretch the floor with the 3-ball, and earns trips to the line by attacking the defense relentlessly. The 6-foot-5 wing/guard has solid handles, uses the hesitation and crossover to create space from his defender, uses his long strides to get into the paint, and makes nice use of the Euro-step and reverse lay-ups to evade length at the basket. Britt moves well off the ball to get open looks off the catch, can space the floor with the 3-ball, and draws fouls routinely, as was evident with his 13 foul shots in the loss to DNA Prep. Britt has active hands, the lateral quickness to stay in front of his opponent, uses his wingspan to deflect passes and jump passing lanes, and has good timing for chase-down blocks in the open court. Britt had a team high 15 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 4 steals, showing off his ability to impact both ends of the court.     Durrough is a physical and skilled player that can space the floor with the 3-ball, as well as score in the paint with good size and strength. The 6-foot-5 wing has solid handles, uses the crossover and hard-pound dribble to get his defender off balance, uses his solid frame to score at the basket through contact, and moves fluidly off the ball to get open looks off the catch, with accuracy beyond the arc. Durrough crashes the boards, has nice touch on putbacks, has the handle to push the ball up the court off the glass, and draws fouls to get to the line on the regular, as was evident with his 11 trips to the charity stripe. Durrough finished with 14 points in the loss to Sierra Canyon.     Lowery is a lengthy and shifty sniper from beyond the arc that can score in volume, excels in the open court, and is emerging as a player that needs to be in the national conversation for the sophomore class. The 6-foot-5 combo guard moves fluidly off the ball to get to his shot spots, has a smooth release with accuracy on the 3-ball with range, uses the pump-fake, crossover, hesitation, and behind cross to get by his initial defender, gets good lift on the mid-range jumper, has nice touch on the floater, and good feel on finishes around the basket, using the Euro-step or up-and-under lay-up to evade height at the basket. Lowery has good court vision to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass, as defenses over pursue on the perimeter, is solid on the glass with the handle to push the pace of play or get the ball up the court, and continues to gain confidence as one of the premier shooters on the West. Lowery led the Trailblazers in scoring with 19 points, to go along with 5 rebounds and 5 assists, and connected on 5 threes to show off the efficiency with the 3-ball.     McCoy is an athletic, bouncy, and physical player that leaves his imprint on multiple facets of the game, is an elite defender, and looks to throw down anything near the basket with authority. The 6-foot-4 guard keeps the dribble alive to survey the defense, uses the crossover, hesitation, and toss-cross to split the defense or get his opponent of balance, gets good lift on the mid-range jumper with the length to shoot over most defenders, uses the Euro-step to evade defenders at the basket, and has the physical strength to bully through players en route to the basket, where he uses his wingspan and bounce to dunk the ball in traffic. McCoy has great lateral quickness to stay in front of his opponent, active hands with good timing to poke the ball out, the power to rip the ball from his opponent, the timing and quick leaping ability to block shots in the paint, as well as the perimeter, and can space the floor with the 3-ball off the dribble or the catch. McCoy finished with 14 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists,and 2 steals to highlight his elite two-way play.     Mize is a lengthy and skilled player that can make plays for others, is a versatile defender that can guard the 1 through 4 positions, and has sneaky bounce, which was evident on his down the lane tomahawk dunk that got the crowd out of their seats. The 6-foot-7 combo guard has smooth handles, keeps the ball on a string to survey the court, has the court vision to make timely passes off the give and go action, accurate with the lob pass in the half court setting, and is a good positional rebounder to push the ball off the glass and find teammates up the court in stride. Mize moves well off the ball, gets to the open spot, is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch, and uses the pump-fake well to get his defender off balance and attack the key, with touch on the floater or the ability to hammer it down. Mize finished with 10 points, 5 assists and 2 steals and will be a key piece for the Trailblazers for the next three seasons, as his role will expand over that time.     Mosley is a physical and crafty player that can spray shots from various spots on the floor, plays a physical style with skill, and has range from deep. The 6-foot-3 combo guard has a strong handle on the ball, uses the crossover, hesitation, and between cross to get his defender off balance, attacks the lane to get paint touches with good footwork to connect on the mid-range jumper, using the fadeaway or the routine pull-up shot, and has the strength to score through contact down the lane, with the use of the reverse or up-and-under lay-up to evade height at the basket. Mosley is lights out with the 3-ball off the bounce or the catch, with the ability to connect on the step-back, and draws fouls at a high clip with numerous and-one plays at the Showcase. Mosley had one of the top scoring outputs of the day, going for 35 points and knocking down 6 threes in the process. 3-level scorer that stays in attack mode and is a good positional rebounder to push the pace of play.     White is a physical player that can catch fire from beyond the arc, score in volume, and gets to his shot spots to be ready for catch and shoot opportunities. The 6-foot-1 shooting guard moves fluidly off the ball to get to his shot spots, has a quick but smooth release on the jump shot, and can light it up from the 3-point line off the catch, as was evident with his 6 threes in Inglewood's win over Cleveland. White's shooting ability forces defenders to over pursue on closeouts, where he uses the pump-fake to get by his opponent, has nice touch on the floater, and the court vision to find players off the drive and kick pass to open players. White finished with 20 points.     Williams is a shifty and skilled player that can score the ball from 3-levels, is a solid on-ball defender, and plays with good pace and feel for the game. The 6-foot-4 combo guard keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense, has the court vision to make tough reads off the dribble drive, is solid on the glass to push the ball up the court, and has active hands and good footwork to stay in front of opposing guards. Offensively, Williams uses the hesitation, the crossover, and the between cross to create space from his defender, has a quick burst of speed off the bounce to get into the paint, has great footwork to spin off the pivot to get space from his defender around the basket, as well as the physical build to bully through contact at the rim, is accurate with the jumper off the dribble from the mid-range to the 3-point line, and has nice touch and body control with creativity on finishes at the basket. Williams led the Celts with 20 points in a tough loss to Santa Margarita.

This past Saturday, I attended The Renaissance Showcase at Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks, which featured a 7-game schedule starting at 10:30 a.m. and going until 7:30 p.m., the start of the final game. The showcase featured some of the nation's top players, as well as some known names on the West and some up-and-comers that are making statements early in their high school careers. This article looks at 8 standout lead guard/wings from Saturday's event, which will be followed by a final article from this event on wing/forwards. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not in ranked order. We begin this article with the intriguing junior Ean Britt Ean Britt CA-S of Campbell Hall.