Sandra Day O’Connor at Hamilton Standouts

On Wednesday, Nov 19th I kicked my season off with attending the 6A match-up of Sandra Day O'Connor traveling about an hour to take on Hamilton. Both teams have OPEN aspirations on their mind and it was a good early test. SDO had one stud forward [player_tooltip player_id='2432574' first='Terrance' last='Byrd'] who wasn't eligible yet with the transfer portal and Hamilton had [player_tooltip player_id='2552773' first='Davis' last='Mason'] sitting.   I checked out all three levels with Freshmen, JV and Varsity.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Here were the standouts on the night </h2>   Freshmen Game (85-63 SDO won)   [player_tooltip player_id='3075517' first='Ethan' last='Kozma'] Sandra Day O'Connor    One of the better shooters on the floor was Ethan. He is a catch three point shooter but he can pull-up from deep too. He can post up a little with fade ways in the paint and has impressive ball fakes and will rise up or step thru to score. He is a good passer and will score with put backs off the glass. He scored 20+ points.    [player_tooltip player_id='2506516' first='Tyshawn' last='Tyler'] Sandra Day O'Connor    An undersized true PG has the ball on a string. He bursts past his defenders and will jump stop and rise up and lay it in. He seems to get to the FT line at will and he has speed to burn in the open court. He can also hit the three and get hot quickly off the catch or pull and he had a couple up the court dimes and live dribble passes. He scored 20 points.   [player_tooltip player_id='3075512' first='Onomena' last='Anighoro'] Sandra Day O'Connor   A strong power forward is a big kid with girth and huge hands. He finishes off layups efficiently and he will set strong picks and roll. He rebounds well in his area and will run the court. He can be a nice piece to the puzzle long term for the program.       [player_tooltip player_id='3075519' first='Hudson' last='Duval'] Sandra Day O'Connor    A cerebral lefty combo guard with advanced court vision and a high feel for the game. He changes speeds really well to get the defender off balance to the basket but he is a shooter from the three point line off the catch with a quick trigger.    [player_tooltip player_id='3075625' first='Connor' last='Ahlvin'] Sandra Day O'Connor   A combo guard who can play some on or off the ball. He is best as catch and shoot three point type and he plays with a plus motor to get on the glass and score with offensive rebounds. He has some toughness he utilizes and he will be a nice floor spacer for the Eagles.    [player_tooltip player_id='3075504' first='Tahj' last='Storey'] Hamilton    A super shifty pure point guard who can score. He will hesitate to get downhill with left or right hand. His first step is impressive to burst past his initial defender and his euro step game is on point. He likes to drive and kick it to a teammate and will throw up the court ropes. He scored 14 points.     [player_tooltip player_id='3075509' first='Isaiah' last='Bronner'] Hamilton   A high motored wing forward with great bounce. He is a top of the food chain rebounder and defender as he springs up in a blink of an eye. He will swat away shots at the rim with his next level bounce and he closes outs to shooters quickly. He scores it inside the paint, he is a stud in transition, as he is faster then most players on the court, and he is a quick second and third jumper. He loves the pull-ups from mid-range, which seems to be his sweet spot. He scored 22 points.       [player_tooltip player_id='3075511' first='Tariq' last='Engram'] Hamilton   An undersized point guard with some speed and a burst. He is a plus defender with quick feet and hands. He will score with the floater game and off the catch or dribble threes. He has nice court vision and rebounds well despite his size. He scored 10 points.    Junior Varsity Game (85-76 SDO won)   [player_tooltip player_id='2641713' first='Jayden' last='Davis'] Sandra Day O'Connor   A two-way guard who plays with a motor. He is a top-tier rebounder for the guard position and he makes his opponents feel uncomfortable. He will score it with catch threes, transition buckets, and-1's absorbing the contact and tough drives in the paint. He scored 18 points.    [player_tooltip player_id='2641719' first='Jaxson' last='Sullivan'] Sandra Day O'Connor    A real point guard who changes speeds to get downhill. He plays with good pace to the game and will burst downhill and score using his sturdy frame. He can hit the three and takes care of the ball and will move it to an open shooter. He also rebound well for his position and size. He scored 23 points.    [player_tooltip player_id='2641723' first='Xander' last='Mitchell'] Sandra Day O'Connor    A tough wing forward with grown man strength and a very high motor. He works well from the high post and will rip thru to get to the basket and he is tough inside. He plays bigger then his height may suggest. He is also working on his perimeter jumpers and brings his hard hat to every game.   [player_tooltip player_id='2641716' first='Tanner' last='Hawkins'] Sandra Day O'Connor    A decent sized wing forward with a pure shooting stroke from the three point line. He is very active around the basket and will score with offensive rebound put backs. He can dribble drive and get himself to the foul line and cash in. He is also a sneaky good passer.       [player_tooltip player_id='2692800' first='Jayden' last='Wong'] Hamilton    A highly skilled combo guard with a pretty stroke from the three point line. He will catch and shoot it and has a deceptively quick first step. He is patient to pick his spots and shows a good pace to the game. He will use a polished floater game and will finish in traffic with plus body control. He transferred in from Basha and scored 16 points.    [player_tooltip player_id='3075631' first='EJ' last='Sharpe'] Hamilton    A long scoring point guard with some speed and quickness. He shows very good timing on his passes and will even throw players open. He transferred in from Chandler and he has a nice burst and pace to get to the basket plus facilitate.    [player_tooltip player_id='3075634' first='Dylan' last='Pedroia'] Hamilton   A cerebral wing who is tough inside to score. He is a very smart player and seems to always be in the right spot. He will score it getting downhill with either hand and crafty to not get blocked. He is competitive on defense to collect steals and rebound. He is the son of MLB MVP Dustin Pedroia.     Varsity Game (74-41 SDO won)   [player_tooltip player_id='1697293' first='Ryker' last='Hughes'] Sandra Day O'Connor   A face-up forward with one of the better motors to rebound the ball in and out of his area. He will fight for loose balls and big inside with any player. He will also confidently hit catch and shoot threes. When he is on from deep, their team is dangerous to play against.    [player_tooltip player_id='1490240' first='Colton' last='Watson'] Sandra Day O'Connor    A bigger point forward type showed off his bounce with multiple dunks on the break. He will crossover into a downhill drive and works from the high post and then will burst to score with layups, fingers rolls, dunks or gets fouled. He will also fall away from 8-feet with a defender draped all over him. He rebounds the ball well, makes plays and defends his position. He scored 16+ points in only 3 quarters.    [player_tooltip player_id='2878349' first='Dom' last='Lott'] Sandra Day O'Connor    A tough two-way combo guard takes on the opposing teams better guards many nights. He is very physical and the lefty rebounds well and will score with tough put backs in the lane with contact plus hit the three off the catch with a quicker trigger.    [player_tooltip player_id='1875718' first='Melvin' last='Stubbs Jr'] Sandra Day O'Connor    A versatile wing forward who filled up the stat sheet with assists, steals, blocks and rebounds. He had maybe 5-7 rebounds and scored with offensive rebound put backs, long steps to the basket, rip thrus and a couple mid-range pull-ups while defending all five positions. He scored 11 points in only 3 quarters.   [player_tooltip player_id='1697292' first='Rylan' last='Parsley'] Sandra Day O'Connor    A high flying 3 and D type who was terrorizing the rim on the break. He will shoot the three and get to the charity stripe. He made one impressive move with a ball fake and then drove baseline for a nasty dunk. His three was also on a foul and cashed in for a rare 4-point play. He scored 10 points in only 3 quarters and locked up his opponents man to man.     [player_tooltip player_id='1697291' first='Amare' last='Runyon'] Sandra Day O'Connor   The big man controlled the glass with 5+ rebounds and altered or blocked two or three shots. He is an incredible outlet passer, which is definitely one of his most underrated skills and brings rare size off the bench with skill. His length and physicality bothers many each night.   [player_tooltip player_id='2156657' first='Liam' last='Pavey'] Sandra Day O'Connor    A decent sized combo guard is getting better and better. He scores it very easily with bursts to the basket with a nice handle, gets to the free throw line, hits the three, he can pull-up and takes pressure off of the seniors of the team. He scored 9 points.   [player_tooltip player_id='2746700' first='Carter' last='Glass'] Sandra Day O'Connor    Yet another good bench player on the deep OC roster is Glass. He is a true combo guard with advanced court vision with drive and kicks seeing players open quickly. He makes his money though from the three point line. He has one of the quickest releases and has one of those shots that look good every time. He scored 9 points off the bench.    [player_tooltip player_id='2552772' first='Tre' last='Terry'] Hamilton   One of the bright spots of the team on a night they struggled as a whole. Tre is a catch and shoot sniper who plays smartly off of the pick and roll game. He can get downhill to score or get to the free throw line and uses euro steps and will dunk it easily on the break. He is their future and seems to get a little better each month. He had a team high of 9 points.     [player_tooltip player_id='2680984' first='Jayden' last='Lee'] Hamilton   Another future piece for the Huskies is a long wing who grew four inches. He will catch and shoot from the three point line and takes long strides to the rim. He will ball fake inside to score and made some good passes. His best basketball is clearly ahead of him.       [player_tooltip player_id='1768202' first='Marquice' last='Cole Jr'] Hamilton    A bigger combo guard plays on or off the ball. He has a stronger frame and next level bounce. He has been out for a month nursing an injury and was a little rusty but played thru it and will score and-1's in traffic and competed hard on defense to rebound, block shots plus made smart reads.   [player_tooltip player_id='2681056' first='Camden' last='Lauterbach'] Hamilton    The strongest player on the team is a true power forward with skill and broad shoulders. He will score with cuts off the ball, he fights inside for rebounds to get fouled or will calmly knock down the three off the pull. He sets strong picks and plays aggressively.    [player_tooltip player_id='2107154' first='Cameron' last='Clayton'] Hamilton   An inside and out threat is a wing forward who will play some on the perimeter or the power forward position. He rebounds well in his area and will get on the glass to score. He will also step out and shoot the three off the catch. They need his rebounding and scoring to make a 6A deep run.   [player_tooltip player_id='2107119' first='Cristian' last='Jimenez'] Hamilton   A pure point guard who is always looking to facilitate. He has an elite handle with speed and can change speeds. He is a next level passer and his shifty handle bothers his opponents often. He will score it at the basket and use the floater game.    [player_tooltip player_id='2109038' first='Nate' last='Tainsky'] Hamilton    A bigger shooting guard was a little off from deep but he smartly got to the basket with counter moves in the post to get fouled and changed speeds. He plays the game from the neck up and takes advantage of mismatches. He is due for a big year with Huskies and they will need his scoring punch.

On Wednesday, Nov 19th I kicked my season off with attending the 6A match-up of Sandra Day O'Connor traveling about an hour to take on Hamilton. Both teams have OPEN aspirations on their mind and it was a good early test. SDO had one stud forward Terrance Byrd Terrance Byrd 6'6" | SF Sandra Day O'Connor | 2028 State AZ who wasn't eligible yet with the transfer portal and Hamilton had Davis Mason Davis Mason 6'3" | CG Hamilton | 2028 State AZ sitting.