Basha wins a fast paced game vs Central

On Tuesday, Jan 13th I attended the match-up of 6A Basha Bears hosting the 5A Central Bobcats. Both teams will be in the OPEN playoffs and potentially make very deep playoff runs. Central showed they are one of the favorites to win 5A, unless they stay in the OPEN Final-8.   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 (72-29 Basha won)   [player_tooltip player_id='3350560' first='Caius' last='Cook'] Basha    A long lefty wing who can score it. He will catch and shoot it from the three point line and pull-up from mid. He is also a sneaky good passer and he can throw it down on the break. He is very long in the passing lanes and scored 8 points.    [player_tooltip player_id='3077238' first='Mason' last='Ireland'] Basha    An undersized but skilled power forward who will score with put backs, he has a polished drop step move and runs the floor for layups. His mid-range is currently his sweet spot and rebounds well in his area and plays smartly off of the pick and roll game. He scored 12 points.    [player_tooltip player_id='3077229' first='Sal' last='Alosi'] Basha    A highly skilled scoring point guard who will hesitate and get downhill to score. He has a deceptively quick first step and will hit the thee off the pull or catch. He is very good on the break and will shoot off the dribble pull-ups and scored 7 points in limited minutes with the blowout.    [player_tooltip player_id='3102489' first='Micah' last='Bejarano'] Basha   An undersized scoring lead guard can score with runners and he is one of the best freshman shooters on their team. He will rattle in threes off the catch but he is also a good passer out of the pick and roll. He talks on offense and scored 8 points in limited minutes with the blowout.    [player_tooltip player_id='3350344' first='Hunter' last='Gloss'] Basha    A decent sized guard/wing who is another three point specialist for them. He comes with a super quick release and big confidence to let it fly. He will give a hard ball fake and will dribble drive to the basket plus uses the floater game. Defensively he rebounds and boxes out well. He scored 14 points    [player_tooltip player_id='3350803' first='KJ' last='Dodd'] Central    A fast and quick point guard can make plays with good court vision and he will score. He will hit the three off the catch, crossover into a mid-range jumper and uses a nice euro step with a quick spin move. He scored 9 points.    [player_tooltip player_id='3350841' first='Keonte' last='Hollaby'] Central    A very fluid defensive shooting guard. He is very active and moves well in space to keep his opponents in front of them. He is a good passer and will score with flashes off the ball for layups, spin off of his defenders and fall away from mid-range, He is very fast on the break and can get to the basket quickly. He scored 8 points.    [player_tooltip player_id='3350851' first='Kyree' last='Brewster'] Central    A wider bodied power forward who gobbles up rebounds and will block shots. He runs the floor well and is very physical. He will close out to shooters and grab every rebound with strong hands and will use his girth well. He plays with a motor to get on the glass and scored 6 points.     Junior Varsity Game (66-56 Basha won)   [player_tooltip player_id='3077626' first='Carmelo' last='Pierce'] Basha    A true combo guard who makes plays and scores it. The son of former NFL player will score with threes off the catch and he collect steals which lead to layups. He uses the tear drop and has a nice burst to get to the painted area. He scored 13 points    [player_tooltip player_id='2692801' first='Thomas' last='Sorenson'] Basha    A long guard who can shoot it from deep plus uses the floater to score. He rebounds the ball well with some bounce and long limbs and timing. He will score with put backs and floaters. Look for him to get some burn on varsity next season. He scored 8 points.    [player_tooltip player_id='2692796' first='Ezra' last='Sander'] Basha    A big bodied post player with some real size who can control the paint with his strength, height and girth. He has soft hands and will score with drop steps and offensive rebound put backs and fall aways from his defender. He rebounds well with two hands and will block shots. He scored 10 points.        [player_tooltip player_id='3351696' first='Booker' last='Shirck'] Basha   A lefty wing forward who is very crafty. He will score with euro steps, he uses ball fakes and bursts to the basket and finds himself to the free throw line often. He can handle some contact, he rebounds well and will block shots. He scored 13 points.    [player_tooltip player_id='3351867' first='Jewel' last='Brunston'] Central    A power forward with some strength and length. He will score thru the contact with his next level frame and he is a strong two-handed rebounder. This is where he makes his money as he is a monster on the glass. He interesting goes left most of the time even though he is right handed and he is a sneaky good passer for position. He scored 12 points.     [player_tooltip player_id='3352959' first='John' last='Trujillo'] Central    A strong framed lefty who can score from inside and out. The combo guard can make plays and has good pace to his game. He will score with perimeter jumpers plus get downhill with euro steps and smartly changes speed well. He uses his next level frame and tighter handle to handle the inside pounding. He scored 8 points.    [player_tooltip player_id='2735690' first='Tyrone' last='Kelley'] Central    A scoring point guard is quick and has some athleticism. He is a plus rebounder and he is a quick on-ball defender. He scores with changing speeds to the paint and will get downhill and finish with layups or tear drops and he has a sharp mid-range pull-up. He scored 6 points.    Varsity Game (91-87 Basha won)   [player_tooltip player_id='1323290' first='Mason' last='Magee'] Basha   The San Francisco commit is a dynamic point guard who showed it all off. If he gets a step on his defender, he is at the rim scoring or getting fouled with either hand. He got hot from deep and will pull-up from the three. He is quick as a hiccup to burst right past with his pure speed. He is a phenomenal passer with lobs, drive and kicks and post entry passes. He also makes it hard to dribble next to him. He scored 24 points with 5+ assists.    [player_tooltip player_id='2276223' first='Kingston' last='Montague'] Basha    The top scorer on the night went to Montague. He fills up the scoreboard in every way with step thrus, deep threes off the pull or catch, deadly mid-range pull-ups and tough off balanced shots in traffic. He showed off his bounce after a steal, he threw it down on the break and he is still finding his teammates as an improving facilitator. He scored 30 points.        [player_tooltip player_id='1482164' first='Desean' last='Middlebrook'] Basha    The heart and soul of their team may just be Middlebrook. He will cover guards on defense and then defend versus post players with his quick reflexes, length and serious bounce. He will score with hook shots, spins move off of his defenders, post up and springs up so quickly to score, offensive rebound put backs and lob dunks impressively. He finished with 21 points.    [player_tooltip player_id='2249943' first='Lleyton' last='Leonard'] Basha   A high level athlete plays and defends the 2-4 for his team in stretches. He makes his money on defense and will rebound in and out of his area, run the floor and still score. The southpaw will hit the three off the catch in the corner, offensive rebound put backs and rip thrus. He scored 7 points.       [player_tooltip player_id='1150901' first='John' last='Mattingly'] Central    The Nevada commit had a good showing with getting his teammates involved and scoring. He will score with step backs from mid-range, pull-up from mid and kiss it off the glass, hit the three with deep range, side step and shoot it, euro step with some speed and he will take charges. He scored 29 points with 6+ assists.      [player_tooltip player_id='1873639' first='Grant' last='Mattingly'] Central    A controlled point guard who does a lot of the little things. He scores, makes players around him better and will defend nearly three/four positions. He has great timing on his passes but his scoring stood out in this game. He will hit the three off the catch, ball fake quickly to the basket, he uses speed dribbles with his left or right hand taking long strides and getting fouled or scoring and finished off with 23 points.   [player_tooltip player_id='3005929' first='Derion' last='Thomas'] Central   The teams big man is a man on the glass. He scores with dunks, offensive rebound put backs and will muscle his way inside to score or get fouled and will occasionally step out and hit the three. The natural power forward makes his money with his rebounding and blocking shots. He scored 12 points.    [player_tooltip player_id='1759332' first='Dom' last='Rojas'] Central    A tough undersized point guard is fearless and gritty. He will make you pay if you leave him open with threes off the catch. He can use his speed to blow by his initial defenders and uses a tough spin move in the lane. He also has a mid-range game he can score with and is quick on the ball defensively. He scored 11 points.   [player_tooltip player_id='1482166' first='John' last='Fahrendorf'] Central    The Bobcats marksmen is a high level shooter. He likes to catch and shoot in the corners with his super high arc. He will also give a hard ball fake and dribble drive and use the floater game and he had a tough mid-range fall away with a nice touch over a defender. He rebounds well in his area and scored 10 points.

On Tuesday, Jan 13th I attended the match-up of 6A Basha Bears hosting the 5A Central Bobcats. Both teams will be in the OPEN playoffs and potentially make very deep playoff runs. Central showed they are one of the favorites to win 5A, unless they stay in the OPEN Final-8.