Mesa handles Tucson in regular season home opener

On Wednesday, Dec 3rd I attended the match-up of 6A Mesa Jackrabbits hosting the 6A Tucson Badgers. The Jackrabbits are one of the top teams in 6A and the Badgers will make the 6A playoffs and are one of the best teams in Tucson.   I checked out all three levels with Freshman, JV and Varsity.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Here were the standouts on the night </h2>   Freshman Game (52-42 Mesa won)   [player_tooltip player_id='3174454' first='Kaiyon' last='Peoples'] Mesa   A long guard who can defend and score. He is very long in the passing lanes to collect steals and he is a fluid athlete. He will score with mid-range pull-ups, transition buckets and ball fake into a layup. He scored 6 points with multiple steals.   [player_tooltip player_id='3174421' first='Lincoln' last='Morris'] Mesa   A long wing who can score. He will score it inside and has a nice shooting stroke from mid to the three. He plays the passing lanes and will collect steals and score layups on the other end. He rebounds well for a wing in and out of his area and scored 13 points.    [player_tooltip player_id='3174403' first='Peter' last='Hiadzi'] Tucson   A power forward is a little raw but a massive kid. He handles it fairly well and is a load to contain off the glass. He grabs rebounds in bunches and seems to bounce off of the contact with his strength and girth. He is a sneaky good passer for his position and has a polished floater game and a tough spin move. His length and size alone makes players think about coming in the middle. He scored 24 points with 10+ rebounds.    Junior Varsity Game (58-33 Mesa won)   [player_tooltip player_id='2889279' first='Jace' last='Parris'] Mesa    The tallest freshmen in the AIA is a long and well built true center at a real six-foot nine. He is a strong two-handed rebounder and will block or alter shots at the rim. He is a good passer out of the post and will score with hook shots and he has a nice touch to step out and shoot it from the perimeter.     [player_tooltip player_id='3174393' first='Steele' last='Cummard'] Mesa    A pure point guard who can score. He has a nice touch using a floater inside the paint and has a very high feel for the game with advanced passes better then most. He changes speeds extremely well and seems to love the floater game, which may be his pet move. He scored 14 points with multiple assists.    [player_tooltip player_id='3174399' first='Caden' last='Johnson'] Mesa   A long and athletic wing is very fluid and can cover a lot of ground on defense. He will dunk the ball on the break and he is a good passer. He has a nice first step to gain separation from his defender and he can play and defend multiple positions.     [player_tooltip player_id='2731627' first='Parker' last='Bowden'] Mesa    A wing forward with some size and good dexterity. The lefty has a nice touch from the three and a pretty stroke from mid-range. He smartly moves without the ball to score on layups and he will rip thru to the basket. He will crash the glass to rebound and defend a couple positions. He scored 10 points.     [player_tooltip player_id='2731629' first='Connor' last='Arnett'] Mesa    A highly skilled combo guard can catch and shoot from the three point line one by one. He has a sharp looking mid-range jumper with nice elevation and moves without the ball and can play with it to create his own offense. He scored 14 points.   [player_tooltip player_id='2692794' first='Chris' last='Allen'] Tucson    A defensive minded point guard with quick feet and hands to pester his opponents. He is a good passer and is highly competitive. He will score with mid-range jumpers and get to the basket with a burst. He is normally a varsity player but just got back from an injury and played both.     [player_tooltip player_id='3174521' first='Sebastian' last='Albertsen'] Tucson    A power forward who moved in from Denmark. He has decent size and fights hard inside versus bigger players. He rebounds well in his area and will score around the basket and do some of the dirty work. He is also on the varsity team.   Varsity Game (81-43 Mesa won)   [player_tooltip player_id='1651788' first='Jakyi' last='Miles'] Mesa    A bigger scoring lead guard makes it look easy. He started the game going 7-7 from the field with 16 points. He was getting to his spots and rising up with his potent mid-range jumper, fall away and deep triples. He will step back off of his defender or hit a side step three. He rebounded really well and made some plays. He had an efficient 28 points.    [player_tooltip player_id='2337274' first='Brig' last='Bowden'] Mesa    The Jackrabbits big man played some big boy basketball inside the paint and was just outworking his opponents. He fights inside for position and grabs rebounds out of his area. He will score with running hook shots, drop steps and he has a soft shot from mid-range. He also passes the ball well. He scored 7 points with many rebounds.     [player_tooltip player_id='2251690' first='Innocent' last='Onwo'] Mesa   A bigger scoring guard plays well beyond his years. He is very calm and collected and you never know if he is up 10 or down 20 with his calm demeanor. He will score with threes off the catch, mid-range jumpers, tough jab steps and transition layups. He is a good passer and rebounds well in his area. He scored 16 points.    [player_tooltip player_id='2280210' first='Josh' last='Stewart'] Mesa   A highly skilled scoring combo guard who can play on or off the ball. He will catch and shoot from the three point line with a pure stroke and nice arc to release. He will score it in the lane thru the contact and in transition with and-1's. He collects steals and moves the ball like you should. He scored 9 points.    [player_tooltip player_id='2146269' first='Daijon' last='Grayson'] Mesa    A bigger and super athletic point guard with an elite burst and first step. He will hit the mid-range pull-up, which is definitely his sweet spot and jet to the basket and seemingly hang in the air around the traffic to score. He will catch lob layups and throws perfect strikes to teammates with drive and kicks. He has suffocating defense with his next level speed and twitch. He scored 14 points.    [player_tooltip player_id='2146266' first='Douglas' last='Sweatt'] Mesa   Their first guard off the bench is undersized but tough, strong and very fast. He handles heavy ball pressure, makes plays for his teammates and will score. He will shoot it from the three point line plus pull-up from mid. He can also get to the basket with a burst. He scored 6 points.   [player_tooltip player_id='2630584' first='Patrick' last='Flores'] Tucson   A strong framed scoring point guard has the savvy, IQ and skill to hoop with anyone. He is undersized but gets to his spots and will get downhill with his strong frame, he will cut off the ball, euro step down the lane and rattle in threes off the catch. He had a team high 15 points.    [player_tooltip player_id='2990149' first='Jaylan' last='Knight'] Tucson   A quick on quick undersized scoring point guard. He plays at a different gear then many and he will score. He will hit the three off the dribble or catch threes in bunches with a high arcing stroke and big confidence. He is a good passer and quick on the ball defensively. He scored 9 points.

On Wednesday, Dec 3rd I attended the match-up of 6A Mesa Jackrabbits hosting the 6A Tucson Badgers. The Jackrabbits are one of the top teams in 6A and the Badgers will make the 6A playoffs and are one of the best teams in Tucson.