Midwest Showdown 16U Saturday Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I had the opportunity to watch the Midwest Showdown, at The Champion Center on Friday and Saturday, specifically the 16U division. Here are a handful of players that stood out to me on Saturday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2740246' first='Bennie' last='Garcia']</strong>-[program_tooltip program_id='2075258' first='ABC' last='Young Lions'] (Brookfield East)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I came away very impressed with the play of 6-3 [player_tooltip player_id='2740246' first='Bennie' last='Garcia'] and his overall feel for the game. Sporting an effortlessly looking outside touch, he accounted for at least four long balls in each game I watched. When guarded closely he displayed a quick first step blowing by defenders for easy layups finishing at the rim or dropping dimes to his teammates for easy buckets. By far one of the best players that I had the privilege to watch and excited to see what he does in his junior year at Brookfield East!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2802443' first='Thomas' last='Freeman']</strong>-[program_tooltip program_id='3502082' first='Team' last='Compete'] (Belmont)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While there were probably more athletic "bigs" at the Showdown, none possessed the size/strength combo of Freeman (6-5) as well as his overall feel for the game. A solid anchor, he is unmovable when he established position and showed both a soft touch around the basket as well at the free-throw line where he seemed to live all weekend. He also impressed me with his passing ability finding cutting teammates for easy layups as well as hitting outside shooters right in their hands for knockdown 3's.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2815729' first='Wyatt' last='Temperly']</strong>-[program_tooltip program_id='3502082' first='Team' last='Compete'] (Belmont)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second member of [program_tooltip program_id='3502082' first='Team' last='Compete'] that stood out to me was Freeman's Belmont teammate [player_tooltip player_id='2815729' first='Wyatt' last='Temperly'] (6-2). The 1st team All-Six Rivers West player was virtually automatic from deep and if I had to guess probably shot better than 50% in the games I watched. When not knocking down outside shots, he lived on the offensive glass accounting for several putbacks with a variety of finishes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2798060' first='Boone' last='Havens']</strong>-Team Complete (Belmont)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Belmont has a bright future ahead of them evident by the third Brave to make the list from Team Complete in [player_tooltip player_id='2798060' first='Boone' last='Havens']. Another deadly sniper, Havens did a great job of getting his hands ready and feet set to show off a very quick release knocking down 3 three-pointers in the early game Saturday. He was equally impressive taking the ball into traffic with tough finishes at the rim while absorbing/delivering contact.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2866900' first='Martin' last='Runde']</strong>-WI Dynasty (Madison Memorial)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Runde (6-2) came alive in the games I watched on Saturday. He ran point for WI Dynasty and had no problem blowing by his defenders, getting to the rim, at will, where he showed a variety of tough finishes. Long and athletic, Runde keep the defense on their heels showing a nice step back game when the defense overcommitted and was active not only on the offensive glass, with several boards, but also defensively accounting for multiple blocks per game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->