Damien Classic SG/SF Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I watched the prestigious <strong>Damien Classic</strong>&nbsp;which is located at Laverne, CA at Damien HS. The event has 9 brackets of 16 teams each and six Arizona teams invaded Cali and did quite well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sunnyslope (4-0) actually won the top Platinum Division and Sandra Day O'Connor (1-3) ended up in 8th place. Mesa (1-3) got 8th place in the Gold Division, Central (3-1) got 3rd place and Liberty (2-2) got 11th place in the Diamond Division and finally Saguaro (2-2) earned 6th place in the Silver Division. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Here were the SG/SF Standouts</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1482165' first='Rider' last='Portela'] Sunnyslope&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the top senior AIA players earned an All-Tourney spot at the Damien Classic. He is true Swiss Army Knife with handling some lead guard, taking charges, makes smart reads and scores it from all three levels. He often does quick speed dribble drives in traffic, he will hit the pull-up from mid-range, score with deep threes and defends almost every position on the court. The <strong>Colorado</strong> commit showed off his all-around talents.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1697292' first='Rylan' last='Parsley'] Sandra Day O'Connor&nbsp;(Pictured)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A bigger wing forward with great length and skill. He shoots it easily from the three point line with a quicker trigger and range. He can get to the basket with a decent handle and will pull-up from mid. He will also throw it down way above the rim on the break.&nbsp;He earned an All-Tourney spot at the Damien Classic. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1490240' first='Colton' last='Watson'] Sandra Day O'Connor</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A bigger point forward who can play and defend multiple positions. He handles it well in tight spaces and will get downhill with driving layups, dunk it in the lane, absorbs contact well and he is shooting the three at a higher clip then ever. He sees the court well and will defend the one to the four.&nbsp; </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2533651' first='Bentley' last='Elrod'] Saguaro&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A bigger versatile wing forward is their interior presence for the undersized team. He rebounds well in his area and will alter, block shots and collect steals. He will score with threes off the catch, dribble drive with either hand and he can push the pace up the court.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2432574' first='Terrance' last='Byrd'] Sandra Day O'Connor</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A slow start to the week for Byrd but found his footing and became more patient getting to his scoring spots. He works well from elbow and in and attacks the basket about as well as you can and literally bounces off of defenders and takes the bump to score or get fouled with his next level frame. He rebounds well and handles it better then most. He could be a difference maker in the second half of the season and the next two years for the program.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1875718' first='Melvin' last='Stubbs Jr'] Sandra Day O'Connor&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The high flying wing forward is one of the connectors of the team. He makes the extra pass and makes it easy to play with. He will score with floaters, off the ball cuts, dunks and will collect steals and score with layups on the other end. His versatility on defense is why you like him and playing and defending multiple positions.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1758975' first='Nash' last='Parmley'] Sunnyslope&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>An improving wing forward is one of the team's floor spacers. He will catch and shoot it from the three point line and moves without the ball for layups and frees himself up to get open. He showed off his athleticism with a tip-dunk in the lane and he will rebound the ball using his size.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2435075' first='Lincoln' last='Cooper'] Liberty&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A long and lean scoring guard comes in off the bench and will put up points. He scores with threes off the catch, blow by's to the basket with reverse layups and comes in with confidence.&nbsp;He gets some deflections with his size and length on defense. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1736172' first='Keegan' last='Colter'] Liberty</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A strong combo guard with good size is the teams top defender. He uses his length, toughness and lateral quickness to keep his opponents in front of him. He is a good passer, rebounder and he will score. He picks pockets which lead to layups on the other end and will hit the occasional three and get to the basket.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2282925' first='Jacob' last='Hunter'] Liberty&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the teams top scorers in both games I viewed is a strong framed guard who can score it from all three levels. He will hit the three off the catch, get downhill with his dominant right hand and pull-up from mid. He can get on the glass and gets to the free throw line often.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2251690' first='Innocent' last='Onwo'] Mesa&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A strong scoring guard is tough and fearless for his class. He will score it with transition layups, mid-range jumpers, threes off the catch, downhill takes, step thrus and tough shots in the lane or get fouled. He is a physical defender and he has been steady most of the year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->