Clovis North Valley Children’s Tip-Off: Standout Underclassmen

Last Saturday, December 6th, I attended Championship Saturday of the annual Clovis North Valley Children's Tip-Off Invitational, which featured 4 games and 8 teams (Clovis North, Lincoln of Stockton, Santa Barbara, Bullard of Fresno, Dinuba, Redwood of Visalia, Liberty of Bakersfield, and Central East of Fresno). Clovis North took down Lincoln in the title game, and I was in attendance for all 4 games. This article takes a look at 6 underclassmen that had standout performances on championship Saturday. This article includes the following information: player's information, my own personal recorded statistics where applicable, and a brief description of each player's skill sets. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and this is the final article from the Valley Children's Invitational. We begin this article with [player_tooltip player_id='2484283' first='Semaj' last='Bluford'].    The 6-foot-5 wing/forward has a solid frame, is active on the boards, a versatile defender, and is tough to defend in the paint or the open court. Bluford asserted himself early in the Championship Game against Clovis North and would go for 11 points in the loss. Bluford has good handles, uses the crossover and hesitation to attack off the bounce, has a nice burst off speed off the dribble, and can absorb and score through contact when driving down the lane at the basket. Bluford crashes the boards, gets second chance scoring opportunities with putbacks, outlets the ball off the defensive glass, and excels in the open court where he can play to his strengths. Bluford moves well off the ball, uses back cuts and dives to the basket off the pick and roll action to get open for easy catch and score opportunities at the rim, and can seal his defender off to receive entry passes and attack the basket. Versatile defender that can guard on the perimeter, as well as hold up well against taller players in the post with his physical frame.     The 6-foot-1 lead guard has dynamic handles, is a solid perimeter defender that turns defense to offense routinely, and is an emerging 3-level scoring threat. Davis has been at Clovis West but transferred to Central East for his sophomore season, and from what I saw in the Consolation Game against Liberty of Bakersfield, he seems to be adapting to his new team nicely, and the Bengals have gotten a quality lead guard in return. Davis came off the bench and it didn't take long for him to make an impact, as he would go for 11 points, 5 assists, 2 steals, and a block to showcase his two-way versatility. Davis keeps the ball on a string, uses the wide crossover, the between cross, the behind cross, and the hesitation to get his defender off balance and create space, he uses his long strides and quick burst to get by his initial defender, is creative on shots around the basket with use of the Euro-step and the reverse lay-ups to score around height, gets good lift on the jumper, and is effective with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the bounce. Davis has good court vision, makes quality reads off the drive and kick pass, as well as up the court off the glass to get transition buckets. Davis has active hands, good lateral agility to stay in front of perimeter players, has the length to alter shots on the wing, and the quickness and instincts to poke the ball out or deflect the ball to generate steals. Davis could be the lead guard needed to replace junior [player_tooltip player_id='2954272' first='Sier' last='Harbin'] that transferred to Clovis High.     The 6-foot-5 wing/forward is an impact two-way player, is active on the glass, and gets to his shot spots with the length and height to shoot over most perimeter defenders, and the ability to get by bigger defenders. Sharpton had a strong showing in the 3rd Place game against Bullard of Fresno, as he would lead the Dons in scoring with 19 points, to go along with 5 rebounds and a steal. Sharpton has quick bounce to get off the ground, crashes the boards to get putback buckets or second chance scoring opportunities for other teammates, has the length and lateral foot speed to stay in front of perimeter players, with the height and physicality to hold up nicely against bigger players in the interior, and has good timing to contest perimeter shots, as well as weakside rim protection in the paint. Sharpton has good handles, the moves to create off the bounce, gets good lift on the mid-range jumper he connected on several times, moves fluidly off the ball to get to open spots on the floor, frequently finding openings in the dunker spot or the short porch for easy looks at the basket. He attacks the basket, draws fouls often, and is a good free throw shooter to maximize on drawing fouls. Impressive sophomore wing with good size and upside.     The 6-foot-5 lead guard has a strong build, plays with good pace and change of direction to keep the defense guessing, and can make plays for others or get his own buckets. Simmons had a strong outing in the Championship Game against host team Clovis North, as he would lead the Trojans in scoring with 19 points. Simmons has a strong handle on the ball, keeps the dribble alive to survey the floor, has a good burst off the bounce to get paint touches, and has the physical build to absorb and score through contact when attacking the basket. Simmons is effective with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the dribble, moves fluidly off the ball to get open looks off the catch, is a great positional rebounder, and has the court vision and decision making to find players up the court in transition, as well as finding teammates off the drive and kick pass or the pick and roll action. Defensively, Simmons, a good athlete, has the foot speed to stay in front of perimeter players, active hands to create turnovers, and the strength and size to switch off and hold his own against taller players in the post. A lot to like about Simmons' game and he is only a sophomore.     The 6-foot-5 wing/forward is fundamentally sound, active on the glass, plays bigger than his listed height, and plays within his skill set with a lot of upside for the standout freshman. Sligh is not relied upon to be a major scoring factor for the Knights this year, but he is the presence in the paint needed for Bullard to battle on the boards and block/alter shots, which was evident with his 7 rebounds in the 3rd Place game against Santa Barbara. Sligh crashes the boards on both ends, limits opponents to single shot possessions, has nice touch on shots around the basket, with the footwork and back-to-the-basket moves to score amongst the bigs, using the spin-move, up-and-under, and pump-fake to get his defender out of position. Sligh is effective with the mid-post jumper, has good timing on dives to the basket out of the pick and roll action, with good hands to receive entry passes, and the toughness to score through contact at the basket. Sligh does a great job of getting the ball out off the glass, runs the floor well to get ahead of the defense, and is a versatile defender that can hold his own on switches onto perimeter players with good lateral footspeed and active hands to poke the ball out.     The 5-foot-11 lead guard has elite handles, keeps the ball on a string to survey the defense, uses the crossover, between cross, behind cross, and the hesitation moves to get his defender off balance, weaves through the defense to find openings, has body control on the spin-move, Euro-step, and reverse lay-ups and floater to score close to the basket over height, gets good lift on the jumper with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line, and moves well off the ball to get open looks off the catch from beyond the arc, with the pump-fake to get defenders off the ground on closeouts, and attack the driving lanes to get into the paint. Wharry has active hands, the lateral foot speed and long strides to stay in front of opposing ball handlers, and the instincts and timing to deflect or jump passing lanes to get out in the open court. Wharry has great court vision, makes timely reads off the drive and kick pass, as well as pin point passes out of the pick and roll action when the screeners rolls to the basket. Wharry will be the back-up point guard behind senior Ja'Vance Coleman, but allows Coleman to play off the ball when both are in the game and he will be the focus to leading the Knights offense the next three years.

Last Saturday, December 6th, I attended Championship Saturday of the annual Clovis North Valley Children's Tip-Off Invitational, which featured 4 games and 8 teams (Clovis North, Lincoln of Stockton, Santa Barbara, Bullard of Fresno, Dinuba, Redwood of Visalia, Liberty of Bakersfield, and Central East of Fresno). Clovis North took down Lincoln in the title game, and I was in attendance for all 4 games. This article takes a look at 6 underclassmen that had standout performances on championship Saturday. This article includes the following information: player's information, my own personal recorded statistics where applicable, and a brief description of each player's skill sets. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and this is the final article from the Valley Children's Invitational. We begin this article with Semaj Bluford Semaj Bluford 6'4" | SF Lincoln, Stockton | 2028 State CA-N .