Dynamic Baltimore Guards

New Readers: Use code Proia30     I pulled up to Bel Air, MD last night to watch both the JV and Varsity teams compete in a matchup between the home Patriots and the visiting Cardinals of Calvert Hall in a BCL matchup. Always love catching both games, if at all possible, to see the current crop of talent at the varsity level in addition to a nice group of freshmen and sophomores that have an opportunity to compete at the varsity level next season. Both games ended up being highly entertaining as well as valuable for new names as we round the corner in the new year to an updated set of rankings for our 2027-2029 classes. Let's first dive in to the guards that stood out last night!    32p 3r 3a 2s vs Calvert Hall   -Able made his case for BCL POY on a night that he was honored for eclipsing the 2,000 point mark for his career. Able started thingsd off with a 2 foot floater in the paint, hit a stepback and1 3 for the 4-point play, scored on several back cuts from the corner around defenders, and posted up smaller guards for easy seals and buckets on BLOB plays. Love the skill progression from a T10 player in the 2026 MD class as he is getting the step on his matchup off of rip screens and using his shoulders to keep his opponent behind him to score at the rim with relative ease. UMBC is getting a good one, but in the mean time he will remain the productive head of the snake for a John Carroll team that shouldn't be discounted in BCL play.     18p 12r 1a 3s vs John Carroll   -Wood set the tone early with a drive right down the middle of the defense to score at the rim. Wood is a really good rebounder for his size/position and came up with some huge O boards in traffic over bigs before finishing around the rim. He's especially dynamic in transition as a ballhandler that uses the glass well to finish at odd angles over the defense. Wood also has a nose for the basketball, beating his matchup to loose balls for steals or long rebounds before racing in the opposite direction. Expect him to continue to climb our rankings in our next update coming next week.     11p 5r 2a 1s vs Calvert Hall   -Lee bounced back from a slow start in the 1H to make some big plays for the Patriots to close this win out. Lee put up 8p 2a 2r 2s down the stretch including two huge 3s that pushed the JC lead to double digits for good midway through the 3Q. Lee finished 3/5 from beyond the arc, rifled a pass from halfcourt into his big to score at the rim, and turned the on-ball pressure up in the 2H to force some tie-ups.     23p 5r 2a 8s vs Calvert Hall   -Currently the best prospect on a good JC JV team, Brown is a dynamic scoring guard that uses his defense to ignite his offense. The shooting started off slow but he finished with 10p 5s in the 1H alone, building on that progress to show the full compliment of abilities in the 2H. Brown was active defensively both on the ball and in passing lanes, scored several times on coast to coast drives, had a beautiful crosscourt skip to the wing shooter on the weak side, threw a nice assist over the top to his big on the BLOB, and hit several acrobatic floating layups off the window. His best sequence of the game was when he responded with a missed layup by racing back in transition to force a miss, grabbed the rebound, and took it C2C to finish through the contact at the other end of the floor for the AND1 lay. Bright future ahead for Brown if he continues to develop.     10p 1r 1a 2s 2 charges drawn vs Calvert Hall   -Hinton is the consummate John Carroll guard. He hit several big 3s in key moments for his team, relocated well off the ball when his matchup turned their head, and drew two big charges in transition that resulted in 4-point swings with a bucket at the other end. Love that he was ready for his opportunity whenever it came throughout the contest.     6p 2r 1s 1b   -Started things off with a standard C+S three from the wing off of movement. The next possession? Dribbled into then laced a 3 from the volleyball line. Liked his activity defensively as a guard that's willing to chip in defensively around the rim to swipe away a steal or block a shot to preserve a lead. His ability to impact the game without dominating the ball should bode well moving forward in his career.     11p 2a 3r 2s   -Liked what Fantroy brought for his team as a versatile guard prospect that impacts the game at both ends of the floor. Fantroy is a good driver off the bounce, has all the intangibles (good hands, screen navigation, versatility) that you can ask for at the defensive end of the floor, and plays his role on the team pretty selflessly. Best play came in transition after poking out a steal to catch the pass over the top, wait for the defender to jump, then finish through the contact.

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