Excellent Forwards from the Walnut Grove Tournament

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prep Hoops Missouri's Small School Spotlight continues as we spent the day on the stream watching the action from the Morris Brothers Holiday Tournament at Walnut Grove. We had a chance to watch the semifinals; with Seymour defeating Bakersfield and Chadwick defeating Pierce City. We also watched a couple of consolation round games with Billings defeating Lamar and Ash Grove defeating Hollister.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is a look at some of the standout forwards that we watched at Walnut Grove.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2915430' first='Wyatt' last='Henry'] (Seymour): The 6'8" 2026 forward is the top big in the tournament. He has good athleticism and terrific skill set, which makes him a matchup problem for his size. He scored 15 points in the victory over Bakersfield. He was handling the ball and shooting it from 3-point range. He is always good for a crowd-pleasing dunk. He was seeing a lot of double teams, but he was unselfish in finding the open teammate with the pass.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Truman Helms (Seymour): A 6'3" 2027 forward who is very solid in all facets of the game. He does whatever is needed to help his team at the time. In the first quarter of the semifinals, he hit back to back 3-pointers. He rebounds the ball well and he is also a good secondary ball handler. He also plays well on the back line of the zone defense with his positioning and anticipation.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Talen Timmons (Lamar): A 6'3" 2026 small forward who plays several roles in being the team's top player. He is a very capable scorer from all three levels, but I was most impressed with his passing ability. He was dropping no look dimes and wrap-around passes on the fast break. He is an excellent slashing threat who could change hands in mid-air and score the bucket. He could also work out in the low post as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eli Genzler (Pierce City): A 6'4" 2026 forward who is a workhorse player around the basket. He is a good finisher in the paint and he also rebounds the ball well. He can also stretch the defense with his 3-point shooting from the perimeter. He has good mobility and he can also be a release against full court pressure.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Reece Hepko (Seymour): The 6'3" 2027 forward had a huge performance in the victory over Bakersfield in the semifinals with a game-high 25 points. He was a wrecking ball in the paint with his low post scoring and offensive rebounding. He was physical and he was catching the ball in the crowd and scoring tough buckets in traffic. He is an elite-level swimmer when he isn't playing basketball, but he does a very workmanlike job on the basketball court.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tyler Carpenter (Hollister): A 6'6" 2026 forward who is built like an offensive tackle at about 290 pounds. He knew how to use his size to his advantage in the low post. When he sealed his defender, he was next to impossible to dislodge. He was moving people in the lane like furniture. He was scoring on tough drop steps around the basket. When he caught the ball, opposing players were trying to strip him, but to no avail. The ball was his.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Carter Witt (Pierce City): A 6'3" 2027 forward who has solid athleticism and a versatile set of skills. He hit the baseline jumper from about 15 feet and he was good at attacking the basket and drawing fouls. He displayed good footwork in the paint to score in traffic. He can also hit the open perimeter shot from 3-point range.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cohyn Goetz (Chadwick): A 2029 forward who has a bright future ahead of him for the Cardinals. He goes about 6'2 or 6'3 and he has a solid body and some pretty good skills. He backed his defender down and stepped through and hit a nice shot off the glass. He also stepped out and hit a 3-pointer. He had a nice shot fake and drive from the perimeter. He is going to be very good as he gains more varsity experience.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->