Weekly Roundup: 12/28-1/3

New readers: Use code Proia30     Our staff of scouts wanted to start a weekly roundup where we touch on some of the players, teams, and matchups that have stood out to us the most over the past week. This will be a weekly post where we try to speak on as many players as possible, please feel free to reach out to our scouts with game scores and stat lines along with video so that we can highlight as many of our young athletes as possible. We will use the same 5 guiding questions each week, and we hope it is representative of the hotbed that is DMV Basketball. Let's dive in!     Our Scouts:   <a href="https://prephoops.com/author/colby-giacubeno-author/">Colby Giacubeno</a>: Twitter/Instagram @colbyghoops   <a href="https://prephoops.com/author/van-johnson-author/">Van Johnson</a>: Twitter: @johnsonvj   Will Lloyd: Twitter: @knownhoops| Instagram: @knownhoopswill   <a href="https://prephoops.com/author/aaronproia/">Aaron Proia</a>: Twitter: @pr0ia| Instagram: owe_hoops       1. What team(s) have stood out to you last week?   Colby- I'm going to go Archbishop Carroll (DC) here. They're riding an eight-game winning streak dating back to Dec. 20 and are putting miles on the team bus playing in New York, Salisbury and North Carolina in the days between Christmas and New Years Day alone. As if their wins against Roman Catholic (PA) and Oak Ridge (TN) weren't impressive enough, they showed grit and resilience in a comeback win over a good Archbishop Wood (PA) group at Gov. Challenge.    Van- Theodore Roosevelt (DC) enters 2026 with a 12-3 record with some impressive wins. The Rough Riders beat Falls Lake Academy by 42, lost to Archbishop Carroll in the Battle of the Bull Tournament in Durham by 3, then beat Jordan by 26.   Aaron- Sidwell (DC). Even missing a key piece (Collingwood), Sidwell bounced back from an uncharacteristic 1-4 start to the year to win 6 straight games, 5 by double digits. The Quakers picked up a 3-point win over Bergen Catholic in a game that started way past 10 pm in the Jordan Holiday Classic, then turned around the next day to beat Hudson Catholic by 20 in the same event. Junior F [player_tooltip player_id='2353562' first='Ian' last='Condon'] has been on an absolute tear (25p 10.5r averages) as a two-way presence that can score inside the paint or outside the arc at JHC. [player_tooltip player_id='2453417' first='Jadah' last='Washington'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2353625' first='Andrew' last='Ross'] had great performances against Hudson Catholic and Eric Green is rounding into form as a dynamic wing prospect that plays winning basketball.   Will- Good Counsel (MD) has really turned my head as of late. Took the Governors Challenge bracket championship this year against some good well-coached teams in Montverde's regional squad and Haverford School from PA. Trailed in both those games but fought back and gained enough momentum to control the finish and get the wins. Gritty play from everyone's name that was called.     2. What was the best individual performance you saw last week?   Colby- Not a MD/DC prospect, but it has to go to 2028 Coatesville guard/wing Colton Hiller. Hiller led his team to a lopsided 79-54 win over Blake in Salisbury. Baba Oladotun didn't travel with the team, but that didn't mean Hiller would take his foot off the gas. He went for 34 points in just 22 minutes of play, giving the folks in attendance plenty of reason to believe that he'll be the standard for the 2028 national class over the next two years.   Van- Boy I would say [Paul VI's] Jordan Smith Jr, he has been the most consistent and dominant player in the first half of the season. Comfortably averaging over 25 points a game and playing both ends of the floor at a high level.   Aaron- Covered the John Wall Classic in Raleigh last week and came away extremely impressed with sophomore PG AJ Morman's 40-ball in the closeout game for his Southern Durham team in the John Wall Classic.     3. What game (s) or tournaments are you most looking forward to this week?   Colby- The Clash of the Titans event this weekend at Calvert Hall is absolutely loaded. It's tough to choose just one matchup, but St. Frances vs Archbishop Carroll will have my attention followed by Mt. Zion Prep against Spire Academy on Sunday.   Van- I will be hosting my Hoop It Up event this Saturday at Oxon Hill HS:   1:00 Southern Maryland Christian Academy (MD) vs Friendship Tech Prep (DC)   2:30 St. Charles (MD) vs Varina (VA)   4:00 MacArthur High (DC) vs Oxon Hill (MD)   5:30 Woodside High (VA) vs Archbishop Carroll (DC)     I also am looking forward to attending the Clash of Titans event at Calvert Hall this upcoming Sunday!   Aaron- I'll be on the road this week but will tune into the IAC-MAC Challenge this weekend this Saturday at Sidwell, in addition to the Capitol Hoops Challenge at DeMatha Saturday and Sunday.   The stand-alone game I'm looking forward to most this week would be John Carroll @ Mt Carmel 6 pm today, the BCL's current 1 and 3 seed matching up with a combined 28-6 record to start the year.      4. What fresh/sophomore prospect are you buying stock in?   Colby- [player_tooltip player_id='2882931' first='Brayden' last='Whitaker'] is a player who showed me a lot over the last week or so. Boys' Latin has an extremely young roster that'll take time to learn how to win at a high clip, but Whitaker's skillset and dynamism are both reasons why the future will be bright for the Lakers.   Aaron- [player_tooltip player_id='2194773' first='Elijah' last='McQueen']. Interviewed him for my podcast (episode dropping Wednesday). Poised, mature, 2-way guard prospect that is quietly producing at a consistently-high level for a Landon team that has a really good young core to build their future around.    Van- I am buying stock in [player_tooltip player_id='2524398' first='Elijah' last='Hall']--a 6-4 combo guard at Theodore Roosevelt-- and [player_tooltip player_id='2981285' first='Yusuf' last='Zaid']-- a talented 6-4 freshman whose game reminds me of a quicker Trevor Keels.   Will- [player_tooltip player_id='2265685' first='Billy' last='Stanfield III'] has had a very productive season for Calvert Hall. Every time you look up he's putting up big numbers. Solid prospect that has room to grow and has already been efficient as a varsity starting big. Lot to look forward to down the road for him and the young team.     5 What team are you holding stock in for the end of the season?   Colby- Judging solely off record, New Town can be categorized as underperforming, but their two recent losses have largely been due to 2027 [player_tooltip player_id='2954432' first='Michael' last='Brown'] dealing with a back injury. Once he returns and the Titans get a couple of mid-season transfer guards for their backcourt needs, I fully expect them to blossom into a county contender as they typically are. 2027 Josh Jones continues his strong junior campaign and with further support, they'll be a team to watch during the back half of their schedule.   Van- Cardozo I think the defending DCAA champions will be a tough out in the second half of the season.   Will- Spalding (9-8, 5-3), the Cavaliers are forging through some injury issues and have a big week ahead hosting Calvert Hall at 7 pm Tuesday before going on the road to match up with Mount Carmel at 5:30 on Friday--the short-handed Cavaliers could rise from 5th place in the BCL to 2nd if they win both and SFA drops two. After those two games, they'll match up with Springdale Prep and Gonzaga on back to back days this weekend. With ECU commit [player_tooltip player_id='2453521' first='Colt' last='Busse'] back in the lineup, Army committ [player_tooltip player_id='1782656' first='TJ' last='Moultrie'] recently scoring his 1,000th career point-- the Cavaliers will need a big week out of their 2028 frontcourt to pick up some steam as they look to build momentum here in the dog days of league play.

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