Rivers Holiday Tournament: Dominant Guards

On Thursday and Friday, I attended the Rivers Holiday Tournament at their facility in Weston, MA. Though I didn't see any of the bracket play, I watched every team's first game.   There were a good number of college-level players present, so I'll be covering some over the next couple days.   Read: <a href="https://prephoops.com/2025/12/rivers-holiday-tournament-high-potential-bigs/">Rivers Holiday Tournament: High Potential Bigs</a>   Read: <a href="https://prephoops.com/2025/12/rivers-holiday-tournament-polished-wings/">Rivers Holiday Tournament: Polished Wings</a>   To finish my coverage, here are some dominant guards.    Avery had an up and down first half against Rivers, but the 6-foot point guard erupted in the final 16 minutes offensively; he made a bunch of threes from well beyond the line on both step back moves and hesitation dribbles. He's always balanced and ready to shoot, and he has some really nice stop-and-go dribble moves. Once he got to the paint, he showed off some pretty nice hang finishes with contact, using both his strong right hand and his southpaw to convert. Avery is only a junior but should be on the radar of D3 coaches because of his advanced skillset.     Skehan is lightning quick with the ball in his hands and is a pure PG maestro offensively. The southpaw gets into the lane with utter ease and makes on target, on time passes out to teammates once the defense collapses. He can also knock down a standstill and off the dribble three. Some added aggressiveness from the junior guard would be really big for his development, but he has a couple years to figure out that part of his game. Regardless, he's a PG who can run your team confidently and effectively. Massively underrated prospect.     Nkugwa was one of the few bright spots for Governor's Academy in a tough loss against a talented Frederick Gunn squad. The 6-foot junior has a herky-jerky dribbling style and does a good job using his first step quickness to get by defenders, but it was his three point shooting off the dribble that surprised me more than anything else. He normally prefers to get to the paint and look for layups or mid rangers, but his perimeter release looks better than it has in the past and his confidence is clearly at an all time high shooting-wise. Let's see if he can continue this momentum moving forward and earn himself some high D3 looks.     Yepdo is committed to play division 1 football at Lehigh University, and you can see why. The 6-foot-1 combo guard is a ridiculous athlete who's constantly around the ball; he slides his feet quit well on defense and has excellent hands (he's a WR and DB in football), but he also has explosive athleticism when he gets to the rim. Sure, he's raw in some parts of his basketball game, but his pure speed, quickness and leaping ability is enough to keep him on the floor for major minutes. Yepdo is an awesome piece to this Brooks squad.     Sanchez was probably the best guard I saw at the Rivers Holiday tournament. The 6-foot-1 senior is a total blur on the fastbreak and consistently left defenders in the dust in the full court; he has insanely quick dribble moves while moving at high speeds, and he's an explosive finisher at the rim, even with contact. I was also really impressed by his passing ability in the paint, where he showcased really good vision and patience, something I hadn't seen as much of in AAU ball. Defensively, too, Sanchez is a DOG. He was on the floor constantly and even laid out for a loose ball while up more than enough with 2 minutes left in Beaver's convincing win against Proctor.     Dehaney was a clear bright spot for Proctor in their loss against Beaver Country Day. While many of his teammates were stagnant on the perimeter, the junior guard was able to get into the paint via the dribble and finish at the rim with confidence. Most impressive, though, was Dehaney's ability to get his three point shot off, even with defenders draped over him. The 5-foot-11 guard has an insanely quick release and is quite accurate with his shot, so he's lethal from long range. His pull up in the mid range is also impressive. The junior guard should be a key cog for Proctor all season and will get D3 looks when the time comes.     I had never seen Petion play before, but he made his presence felt in Pomfret's win over Brooks. The 6-foot guard plays off the ball and really wow'd me with his shooting confidence and composure. Pomfret ran a bunch of sets for the junior guard to get open three point looks, and he was able to hit shots while coming off screens, backpedaling, and getting swarmed by defenders. What's most intriguing is that Petion looks like he has a lot more physical development to undergo and could look significantly different by the time he's a senior. D3 schools should be eyeing Petion as a potential late bloomer who can stretch the floor.

On Thursday and Friday, I attended the Rivers Holiday Tournament at their facility in Weston, MA. Though I didn't see any of the bracket play, I watched every team's first game.