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

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 more upperclassmen that had standout performances on championship Saturday, as a Part 2 article on standout juniors and seniors. This article includes the following information: player's information, my own personal recorded statistics, and a brief description of each player's skill sets. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and this article will be followed by standout underclassmen. We begin this article with Myron Pondexter-Johnson.    The 6-foot-3 wing/slasher is an elite athlete, impacts both sides of the court, has expanded his scoring arsenal, and is a versatile defender capable of defending on the perimeter, as well as in the paint. Pondexter-Johnson had a monster showing in the Consolation Game against Liberty of Bakersfield, as he would fill up the stat sheet with 25 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals, 4 assists, and 3 blocks. Pondexter-Johnson has solid handles, uses the crossover, between cross, and hesitation moves to get his defender off balance, has a good burst of speed off the bounce to get by his initial defender, gets into the paint routinely, and is able to score through contact around the basket, earning trips to the free throw line on the regular. Pondexter-Johnson has active hands, good instincts, and a long wingspan to poke the ball out, deflect passes, jumper passing lanes, and block/alter shots in the paint, as well as the perimeter defending on the ball, all of which lead to turnovers and allow the Bengals to get out in the open court where Central excels as a team. Pondexter-Johnson crashes the boards, has good court vision to make timely passes off the drive and kick pass or up the court, gets good lift on the jumper off the bounce, and is effective enough from beyond the arc to open up the court and passing lanes. After a year at Clovis West, the move back to Central East seems to be working out for him.     The 6-foot combo guard is a tough perimeter defender, can score in bunches, and showed he is capable of getting to the basket and drawing fouls and trips to the free throw line. Richardson had a strong second half in the Consolation Game against Liberty of Bakersfield, as he would score 14 of his 17 points after the break along with playing high-level on-ball and trap defense against the perimeter players for the Patriots. Richardson has good handles, uses the crossover and between cross to create space from his defender, is effective with the mid-range jumper off the bounce through contact in the air, and is a creative finisher around the basket. Richardson moves well off the ball to get open looks off the catch with the 3-ball, has active hands and good lateral quickness to stay in front of perimeter players, has good instincts on the trap defense, and looks to poke the ball out or deflect passes to get the ball out in the open court for transition baskets.     The 5-foot-9 shooting guard has emerged as one of the reliable scorers for the Broncos, can light it up from beyond the arc, and continues to expand his scoring arsenal to score from the mid-range to the basket. Tucker had a solid showing in the Championship Game against Lincoln of Stockton, as he would score 13 points connecting on 3 threes in the process. Tucker keeps the ball on a string, uses the crossover, behind cross, and hesitation to create space from his defender, moves fluidly off the ball to get to his shot spots, and is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch or the dribble. Tucker uses the pump-fake to get his defender off the ground when over pursuing on the close-outs, gets to the elbows for the mid-range jumper or the floater down the lane, and is a crafty finisher around the basket with the Euro-step and reverse lay-ups. Tucker has been one of the top 3-point shooters for the Broncos this season and was named to the All-Tournament team for his performance at the Valley Children's Invitational.     The 6-foot-5 wing/forward has a smooth jumper, can play in the post and off the perimeter, and has a variety of moves to put the ball in the basket from the mid-range to the basket. Wheeler is one of the few remaining core pieces from last year's league winning roster and has become the main scoring option for the Rangers, as was evident with his 21 points and 2 blocks in the 7th place game against Dinuba. Wheeler has good handles, is able to attack from the perimeter with the crossover and between cross moves to get by his initial defender, is accurate with the mid-range pull-up jumper off the bounce, with the length to shoot over most perimeter defenders, and has the strength to score through contact en route to the basket with touch on shots around the basket, including the floater and the reverse lay-up. Wheeler moves well off the ball to get open looks off the catch, crashes the boards on both ends, and is a timely shot blocker in the paint, with the ability to close out and alter perimeter shots. Should be a season with good stats for the junior wing.     The 6-foot-2 wing/guard has stepped up nicely this season as one of the more reliable scorers outside the top two seniors, McKae Amundsen and [player_tooltip player_id='2977779' first='Elias' last='Gish'], and fills up the stat sheet to show his overall impact on the game for the Broncos. Woodsford had a strong showing in the championship game and showed his value to the team, as he would go for 11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Woodsford moves well off the ball to get to his shot spots, is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch to space the floor, has the handles and moves to create off the dribble, gets into the paint with the strength to absorb and finish through contact around the basket. Woodsford is a versatile defender, has active hands and good footspeed to stay in front of perimeter players to generate steals, and has good bounce and timing to block shots in the paint from the weakside, as well as on close outs to contest perimeter shots. Woodsford will be relied upon to contribute in various ways this season for the Broncos to have the depth needed to have success in the TRAC league and the playoffs.     The 5-foot-11 combo guard has become more of a go to guy on the offensive end for the Knights, is a threat from beyond the arc, and provides the senior leadership needed with the young Bullard roster. Zamora hit some big time shots in the second half to keep an edge on the scoreboard over Santa Barbara in the 3rd place game, as he would score 13 points connecting on 3 threes. Zamora keeps the ball on a string, uses the crossover and between cross to get his defender off balance, is accurate with the jumper from the mid-post to the 3-point line off the bounce, as well as fluid off-ball movement to get to his shot spots for the 3-ball off the catch. Zamora has good court vision, makes quality decisions with the ball in his hands, has a good burst off the bounce to get into the paint, and makes good reads to open teammates off the drive and kick pass, or out of the pick and roll action. Zamora is a crafty finisher around the basket with touch on the floater, a tough on-ball defender that gets into his opponent's dribbling space to force turnovers and transition buckets.

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 more upperclassmen that had standout performances on championship Saturday, as a Part 2 article on standout juniors and seniors. This article includes the following information: player's information, my own personal recorded statistics, and a brief description of each player's skill sets. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and this article will be followed by standout underclassmen. We begin this article with Myron Pondexter-Johnson.