Marriotts Ridge vs Long Reach: Standout Prospects

I made my way to a second game this week involving Howard County Public School programs. Marriotts Ridge and Long Reach are two teams that I've heard plenty about with prospects from various classes who have the potential to play at the next level. The game lived up to the hype and while Marriotts Ridge maintained a lead throughout, Long Reach put together a handful of comeback efforts despite being down double-digits that had the gym buzzing.   As the final buzzer sounded, Marriotts Ridge would sneak out with a 60-59 victory, improving their record to 8-3 overall while Long Reach falls to 6-5.    Hammann presents as the most intriguing college prospect given his combination of size, skill and overall fluidity. At 6-foot-6, he spent much of the evening initiating the continuity offense in the half court that consistently generated clean looks for his team. Hammann plays to his pace, uses his size to overlook the defense for cutters everywhere on the floor and driving lanes presented themselves, he used his long stride to get to the rim. He wasn't as effective when contact was involved en route to the basket or on attempts around it, but Hammann was quick to collect his own misses for put-backs. Where he was best was playing on the perimeter as the Long Reach defense went into scramble mode. Hammann found open windows, awaited swing passes and stepping into three's with beautiful form. The senior wing led Ridge 20 points in the win.     Atkinson recently joined Long Reach and took the first half to settle in as the Long Reach attack depended heavily upon Daniel Best, mentioned below. However, the second half belonged to Atkinson in a commanding way. The 6-foot-3 lead guard scored his game-high 23 points in the last two quarters alone and when the game was trending heavily towards Marriotts Ridge extending their double-digit lead, it was Atkinson's shotmaking from three and his relentless attack on the rim that nearly single-handily brought Long Reach back within a possession of the lead.     While Hammann presented as the most college-ready prospect in this night, Hurd takes the argument as the most potential moving forward given his age, size and budding skillset that was prevalent and consistent from start-to-finish in the near loss. Much of his activity came around the rim making himself available around the dunker's spot for dump-offs. He has dependable hands and soft touch while showing ability to adapt to bumps in the air. If he wasn't scoring immediately off the catch, Hurd was making straight-line drives from the high-post or top of the key with his strong hand. In the fourth quarter, he drifted out to he right corner and knocked down a fluid triple. His lone make from deep, along with his success from the free-throw line, are both indications that the stretch potential could be surfacing sooner rather than later. Hurd did a nice job of holding down the glass for Long Reach with his wiry wingspan and timing of snagging misses at their peak. Hurd's scoring was a consistent presence throughout, while Atkinson and Best's came in spurts.     Willingham didn't have the typical success from a percentage perspective from beyond the arc in this one, but what makes him different as a dual-athlete is the unwavering confidence and competitive edge he brings as a leader both on the hardwood and the gridiron. He also possesses the range that makes the defense account for him at all times and similar to what he did last night despite struggling to find his mark in the first two quarters, can light it up once he sees one fall. As Long Reach made multiple comeback attempts, it was Willingham who buried triples to halt momentum. All four of his makes from downtown took place in the second half as he buried a big one under two minutes as the walls were closing in on his team. Willingham accounted for 15 in the win.     It was apparent from the opening tip that Best is equipped with the ultimate confidence and green light as the scoring guard for this Long Reach group. Scoring is a skill that comes naturally for him and early on, he was giving Marriotts Ridge fits in the open floor where the 5-foot-11 guard used a combination of speed and strength to command his way to the bucket. He finished a couple of crafty layups through contact and heading into halftime, looked to put forth a big-time scoring performance as he netted 15 in the first half alone. Halfway through the third frame, Best turned his ankle and was sidelined for the remainder of the quarter. He gave it a go in the fourth and while he was able to gut it out for a few minutes, wasn't able to explode or be a downhill threat anywhere close to what he was in the first half. Still, he looks like a potential DIII prospect for a program looking for a tough-nosed, savvy scoring guard who acts like he's been there many a times after converting momentum-changing buckets.     Based strictly off the eye-test Tatarov doesn't scream college prospect to you, but once the ball is tipped that changes drastically. While he's still very slim and not the most athletic player on the floor, his feel, unique edge and shotmaking speak volumes. He operated with great change-of-pace attack in ball screens after getting his defender on his back hip and reading the defense from there. Off the ball, he's an active mover around the perimeter and possesses a quick first step. So much so, Tatarov dropped a defender off a quick jab step and finished the play converting a three 2-to-3 feet behind the three-point line. He has great understanding of how to play within a system and how to generate a great shot for himself or others. The passion with Tatarov was clear, but I really liked the way he channeled it within and let his game do the talking in an efficient manner as both a scorer and playmaker. He scored 12 in this one for Ridge, but left the biggest impression on me given the translatable skills for a potential JuCo program.

I made my way to a second game this week involving Howard County Public School programs. Marriotts Ridge and Long Reach are two teams that I've heard plenty about with prospects from various classes who have the potential to play at the next level. The game lived up to the hype and while Marriotts Ridge maintained a lead throughout, Long Reach put together a handful of comeback efforts despite being down double-digits that had the gym buzzing.