Lloyd Williams MVP and All-Tournament 1st Team

Last week, I attended the annual Lloyd Williams Shootout hosted by North Bakersfield High School. The four day tournament started on Wednesday, December 10th and ran through Saturday, December 13th. I was present for the last three days of the Shootout and focused on games from the Championship side of the bracket and the Consolation Game on the final day of the event. This series of articles will take a look at my All-Tournament Teams, starting with the Shootout MVP and players that earned 1st Team All-Tournament honors. The following articles will look at my 2nd and 3rd Team All-Tourney squads, and are based on my own observations. The event itself had its own All Tournament team, and there is some overlap but not exact. There were players that did well on the Consolation side of the bracket, but I only watched that one game and, therefore, did not include any players from that side of the bracket because I did not see in person. This article takes a look at my tournament Most Outstanding Player, along with 5 players that I deemed worthy of making the 1st Team. In this article you will find the following information: player's information, my own personal recorded statistics, and a brief description of each player's skill sets and how they performed at the Shootout. The players are listed in alphabetical order (outside of the MVP), not ranked order, and we begin with standout senior [player_tooltip player_id='2700921' first='Kade' last='Johnson'].    Johnson is coming off a stellar performance at the Lloyd Williams Shootout that resulted in his team winning the tournament championship, as well as Johnson earning tournament Most Valuable Player, as well as my overall event Most Outstanding Player. The 6-foot-4 combo guard showed his 3-level scoring abilities and elite shot-making in the 3 games I watched him in person, going for 29 points connecting on 3 threes, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals, followed by 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists in wins over Del Oro and Garces Memorial of Bakersfield respectively. As if those games were not enough to display his scoring arsenal, Johnson would cap the event off with a monster showing in the championship game, going for 35 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals to lead the Drillers to a 85 to 70 win over Centennial of Bakersfield. Johnson has solid handles, uses the crossover, behind cross, between cross, and hesitation to get his defender off balance, uses his long strides and wiggle to get by his initial defender, hunts the mid-range jumper with great lift and accuracy off the bounce, and gets into the paint with the use of the Euro-step or reverse lay-ups, as well as touch on the floater down the lane. Johnson showed improved accuracy with the 3-ball coming off the ball screen, in transition, or moving off the ball to get open looks off the catch, and quality decision making with the ball in hand and the court vision to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass, the slip pass to teammates in the dunker spot or in the middle of the paint, and up the court off the defensive rebound. Johnson is a solid on-ball defender, has the lateral quickness and active hands to disrupt the flow of opposing perimeter players, and had some dazzling dunks throughout the 4-day event. Johnson did all he needed to do at the Lloyd Williams Shootout to show that he is the top player in the 661 and he is capable of leading the Drillers in a run to earn a top seed in the D2 Section playoffs, and challenge Bakersfield Christian for rights to top squad in the South Valley.     Hanson is an athletic and physically gifted player that can score in volume, is a lock-up on-ball defender, and is ready to have a breakout junior season under the new regime at Liberty. The 5-foot-10 lead guard had a strong showing in the quarterfinal win over Porterville, going for 12 points and 5 steals to highlight his high-level perimeter defense. Hanson took his game up a notch in the 3rd place game against the host team North Bakersfield, and he did all he could to keep his team close, as he would finish with 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals in a tough 2-point loss. I saw Hanson the previous week against Central of Fresno at the Clovis North Valley Children's Invitational in the Consolation Game, and he had a stellar showing there as well with 27 points and 5 rebounds. Hanson has a strong handle on the ball, keeps his dribble alive to survey the floor, gets low to the ground with the dribble using the crossover, between cross, and hesitation to create space from his defender, has a great burst off the bounce to get his defender on his hip, has elite bounce to get lift with the body control to absorb contact on the stop-and-pop mid-range jumper, which he connects on with frequency from various spots on the floor, and is a creative scorer at the basket with the use of the Euro-step and up-and-under lay-ups, as well as the strength to muscle through and score at the basket. Hanson has elite footwork, the lateral agility to stay in front of his opponent, active hands to poke the ball out, the timing to jump passing lanes, and is active on the boards to push the pace of play up the court with the vision to find teammates in transition or off the drive and kick pass in the half court. The dual-sport athlete is showing he has just as much of an impact on the court as he does the football field and is the most reliable scorer I have seen thus far from the Patriots.     Owens is a sharp shooting player that has good court awareness, plays to his strengths, can run the offense at the lead guard spot, and scores in volume from beyond the arc. The 5-foot-10 shooting guard was the best 3-point shooter that I saw at the Lloyd Williams Shootout, and he had this on display in two of the three games I saw the Drillers play. Owens scored 14 points connecting on 4 threes in the semifinal game against Liberty of Bakersfield, but really put his stamp on the event in the Championship Game, as he would knock down 7 threes and was the main reason the Drillers were able to pull away from Centennial of Bakersfield in the second half, going for 21 points in the 85 to 70 win. Owens understands floor spacing, moves fluidly off the ball to get to his shot spots, is deadly with the 3-ball off the catch, as was evident from the stats above, and can score in volume to open up the court for his teammates to have more room to operate in the paint. Owens has solid handles, uses the between cross, crossover, and toss-cross to get his defender off balance, has good touch on the floater, and is a creative finisher around the basket over height in the paint. Owens is a solid on-ball defender, has active hands to disrupt his opponent's dribbling space, and looks to generate steals and transition points. I was torn between going with Owens or standout sophomore guard RJ Shehee for my 1st Team All-Tourney, but the 6 threes after halftime, in a game that was 47 to 42 at half, were crucial in opening up the game for Bakersfield High, so I decided to go with Owens.     Saenz is a dynamic lead guard that can create his own offense, makes quality decisions with the ball in his hands, and steps up when it is crunch time, as was evident with his game winning basket in the 3rd place game against Liberty of Bakersfield. The 5-foot-11 lead guard is required to carry much more of the scoring load this season, and he showed he is more than ready and capable of taking on that work load in the three games I watched him play in last week. Saenz would score 16 points to go with 6 rebounds and 5 assists in the quarterfinal win over Frontier of Bakersfield; 20 points 4 rebounds, and 3 steals in a near 20-point comeback against Centennial of Bakersfield before falling short by one point; and 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists along with the game winner in the 3rd place game against Liberty of Bakersfield, and was an easy selection for my 1st Team All-Tournament team. Saenz has dynamic handles, keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor or probe the defense, uses the crossover, the between cross, behind cross, the hesitation, and the toss-cross to create space from his defender, plays with good change of pace and direction once he gets by his initial defender to make it difficult for the defense to stay in front of him, has good touch on the floater, is a creative finisher at the basket with use of the Euro-step, the up-and-under, and reverse lay-ups to evade height in the paint, and is accurate with the jumper off the bounce from the mid-range to the 3-point line. Saenz has great court vision to find teammates off the drive and kick pass, timely reads out of the pick and roll action, and is a good positional rebounder to make reads up the court off the glass. Saenz is shifty with his moves, has an underrated boost off speed off the bounce, and gets his shot off quickly around the basket with good body control through contact within fifteen feet of the basket.     Santillan is an athletic player that can score in volume, is a threat from beyond the arc, and stepped up big in the 5th place game with the Panthers top player, standout senior Landon Haynes, sidelined with a minor injury to help Porterville to a win over Frontier of Bakersfield to wrap up the Shootout. The 6-foot combo guard was sensational in the two games I watched the Panthers, as he would lead his team in scoring with 20 points connecting on 4 threes, to go along with 7 rebounds in the quarter final loss to Liberty of Bakersfield, and would end the event with a great showing of 28 points and another 4 threes, as he was one of the top three point shooters in the Shootout. Santillan has solid handles, good moves to create space from his defender with use of the crossover and the hesitation, a quick release on the jumper with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the bounce, and creative shots around the basket to score amongst height in the paint. Santillan moves fluidly off the ball, gets to his shot spots, is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch, and uses the pump-fake to get his defender off the ground on closeouts, which opens up lanes for him to drive and either get to the middy or make timely passes off the drive and kick pass. He is a good positional rebounder and was one of the more surprising players of the event and a surprising 1st Team All-Tournament team selection for me, as I would have predicted it would be his teammate Haynes, but Santillan took advantage of the scoring his team needed without its top bucket getter. The Panthers are a team to keep an eye on as the season progresses.     Shaw is a versatile player that can score in the paint, as well as operate from the perimeter, is a high-level rim protector, and was the biggest stock riser of the Lloyd Williams Shootout, as his name was buzzing all week/weekend amongst media, coaches, and fans in attendance. The 6-foot-6 wing/forward had three dominant showings at the Shootout, as he would go for 23 points connecting on 3 threes, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 steals in a quarterfinal win over Del Oro of Bakersfield; 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 blocks in a semifinal win over host team North Bakersfield; and an impressive double-double in the championship game loss to Bakersfield High with 13 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Shaw is a versatile defender, with the length, timing, and height to be an elite shot-blocker around the basket, as was evident with his 12 blocks in 3 games I saw in person, has the lateral movement to close out and contest perimeter shots, has quick hands to deflect entry passes into the paint, and can switch off and keep perimeter players in front off him with the wingspan to deflect passes or jump passing lanes and get the ball out in the open court. Offensively, Shaw has good footwork and low-post moves to score around the basket amongst height, with the ability to absorb and score through contact at the rim, is effective with the face-up jumper from the mid-post to the top of the key, the handle to put the ball on the deck and attack the basket down the lane, and moves well off the ball to get open looks off the catch with accuracy from the 3-point line. Shaw put up great numbers all week/weekend and made the case to be a top 10 player in the 2028 class in the Central Section and with continued work and development on his perimeter skills, he is one of the more promising prospects in the South Valley.

Last week, I attended the annual Lloyd Williams Shootout hosted by North Bakersfield High School. The four day tournament started on Wednesday, December 10th and ran through Saturday, December 13th. I was present for the last three days of the Shootout and focused on games from the Championship side of the bracket and the Consolation Game on the final day of the event. This series of articles will take a look at my All-Tournament Teams, starting with the Shootout MVP and players that earned 1st Team All-Tournament honors. The following articles will look at my 2nd and 3rd Team All-Tourney squads, and are based on my own observations. The event itself had its own All Tournament team, and there is some overlap but not exact. There were players that did well on the Consolation side of the bracket, but I only watched that one game and, therefore, did not include any players from that side of the bracket because I did not see in person. This article takes a look at my tournament Most Outstanding Player, along with 5 players that I deemed worthy of making the 1st Team. In this article you will find the following information: player's information, my own personal recorded statistics, and a brief description of each player's skill sets and how they performed at the Shootout. The players are listed in alphabetical order (outside of the MVP), not ranked order, and we begin with standout senior Kade Johnson Kade Johnson CA-S .