OPEN Semi/Finals Guard Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wednesday March 4th and Saturday, March 7th I watched the semi finals and finals of the OPEN bracket.&nbsp;<strong>Sunnyslope Vikings&nbsp;</strong>defeated&nbsp;<strong>Basha Bears 67-64 </strong>in OT,&nbsp;<strong>St. Mary's Knights </strong>defeated&nbsp;<strong>Millennium Tigers 66-64</strong>&nbsp;in the OPEN Final-4 with <a href="https://x.com/GreggRosenberg1/status/2029376218387341527">one of the best shots I have seen in years</a> and finally <strong>Sunnyslope</strong>&nbsp;defeated&nbsp;<strong>St. Mary's 60-51</strong>&nbsp;in the OPEN Final. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Here were the CG/SG Standouts</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>All the stats are official.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Here were the Standouts</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1464983' first='Mick' last='Riordan'] St. Mary's (Pictured)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring combo guard made the shot of the year to extend their season and advance to the Chip. He always smartly plays off of two feet and will fall away from mid-range. He made a couple of ridiculous shots with hands in his face and his three point shooting is a thing of beauty off the catch. He makes plays for his teammates and scored 14 in the semis and 9 points with 5 assists in the Chip.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1482165' first='Rider' last='Portela'] Sunnyslope&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The MVP of the Chip is a two-way guard who pulled down a ridiculous 17 rebounds. Which may have been the most I have ever seen from a non post player. He scores it from all three levels with threes off the catch or pull, long striding takes, step thrus and on one play he hung in the air for minute and finished with next level body control. He scored 17 in the semis and 16 in the Finals with eye popping rebounds plus a few assists in both games.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1555180' first='Delton' last='Prescott III'] Sunnyslope&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another steady performer for the Vikings scored 21 in the semis and 16 in the Chip. He is a mid-range magician off the dribble with a sudden move, making it very hard to defend. He will blow by his defenders with his burst of speed and often takes it coast to coast. His three point shot keeps getting better and he collects steals in bunches. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1555181' first='Adrian' last='Higuera'] Millennium&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring point guard will score with mid-range jumpers, reverse layups, floaters, threes off the catch and made some impressive passes that led to assists with next level court vision as his game keeps ascending. He scored 12 points with 4+ assists.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1546987' first='Adan' last='Diggs'] Millennium&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The top performer of the long week in any one game was clearly Diggs. He scored 33 points in their semi final buzzer beater loss with step thrus with either hand, high level mid-range jumpers, pull-up threes and four nasty dunks where he seemed to take an elevator up to the rim.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2194808' first='Carter' last='Bagley'] St. Mary's&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A strong framed scoring guard is a catch and shoot three point sniper. He has a super quick release and gets it off in a blink of an eye. He can rise up from mid-range with a sharp pull-up and rebounds well with his frame and strength. He scored 11 in the semis and 8 points with 9 rebounds in the Chip.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2276223' first='Kingston' last='Montague'] Basha</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the top scoring guards in the sophomore class has a high arcing jumper with real range beyond the three point line. He comes with big confidence and he can make plays for others. He scored 12 points with three triples.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1694989' first='Brody' last='Postorino'] St. Mary's&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring lead guard is skilled and cerebral. He will hit the three off the catch and score with swooping layups and is feisty on the ball defensively. He will rebound and push the pace. He scored 9 points in the semi finals win and 3 in the finals loss. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2223500' first='Noah' last='Ondoua'] St. Mary's</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A defensive pure point guard is strong, stocky and tough. He can blow by his defenders to the cup using a next level burst of speed plus shoot it with mid-range pull-ups. He moves his feet quick laterally and he scored 2 points in the semis and 8 points in the Final. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1323290' first='Mason' last='Magee'] Basha&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The <strong>San Francisco</strong> commit is your class pure point guard who will throw up the court passes for dimes and will drive and kick and dump it off to teammates. He gets to the basket with his speed and tight handle along with toughness. He is a tough on-ball defender and controlled the offense for the Bears for almost 4 years now. He scored 8 points with 5+ assists in the semis.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2552765' first='David' last='Rossling'] Basha&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The sophomore came in with one of the biggest moments of the game and hit a clutch three off the catch and made another top notch play with an off the ball cut for a layup in traffic. He handles the ball fairly well and will be asked to handle it even more next year when Magee graduates.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1574517' first='Jaylin' last='Ideran'] Sunnyslope&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A skilled lead guard can play on or off the ball. He is a natural scorer from the three point line off the catch and he can get a step on his defender to the basket. He handles it well to beat the ball pressure and scored 5 in the semis and 7 in the Final.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->