Cali Live 26': Central Cali's Standout Guards (Part 2)

Rocklin, CA - Last weekend, Friday, June 26th through Sunday, June 28th, Northern California played host to the 4th annual California Scholastic Live Tournament, which gives D1 college coaches a chance to sit court side and watch some of the top players on the West, if not nationally. The event featured 170+ teams that played the first two games in pool play, with Sunday serving as championship day, as the event paired the winners of competitively equivalent teams against each other. There were 44 pools in total, and the top 14 pools featured the top teams in the event. This article takes a look at 6 more standout guards from the Central Section of California, which is part two of a two-part series that looks at top guards from the same Section. After that, I will cover the other standout players in the event by grad class and position. In this article you will find the following information: players name, height, position, school, stats from the event, and a breakdown of their skill sets. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and we begin with Josiah Perry.   Josiah Perry (2028 | PG) - Buchanan (Clovis)   The 6-foot-1 point guard controls the pace of play, makes plays for others or can create his own offense, and is a quality perimeter defender. Perry had a strong sophomore season for the Bears and was a huge reason it made it back to the D1 Section title game, and he brought his high-level of play to Cali Live, averaging 12 points per game and showing he can space the floor from beyond the arc. Perry has elite handles, keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, uses the wrap-behind, crossover, toss-cross, hesitation, spin-move, and between-cross to get his defender off balance, gets off the bounce with a quick burst, has good body control and accurate with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line, and is a crafty scorer around the basket, using the euro-step, reverse, and up-and-under lay-ups, along with the floater to score over taller players in the paint. Perry has great court vision and makes good decisions with the ball in his hands, is a good positional rebounder and looks to find players up the court, as well as in the half court setting off the drive and kick pass, to the diver out of the pick and roll action, or to players cutting down the lane off the baseline drive and dime. Perry has quick hands, good lateral movement to stay in front of his opponent, and the timing to poke the ball out, jump passing lanes, or deflect passes, leading to steals and transition offense.     [player_tooltip player_id='2932601' first='Ty' last='Schalk'] (2027 | CG) - San Joaquin Memorial (Fresno)   The 6-foot-2 guard can fill it up from beyond the arc, has the moves to create his own shots, and has improved as a play maker with the ball in his hands. Schalk has been stellar for the Panthers this Summer, leading the team in scoring and shooting efficiency from beyond the arc, and he brought his high-level of play to Cali Live with an average of 12 points per game, with highs of 20 and 15 points, connecting on 5 threes and 2 threes respectively against the top teams in the event. Schalk has dynamic handles, keeps the dribble alive to find holes in the defense to attack, has the court vision to find open teammates off the drive and kick, to the diver out of the pick and roll action, or cross court to open players when the defense over rotates to get open looks off the catch. Schalk has the moves to create space from his defender, using the crossover, hesitation, spin-move, step-back, wrap-behind, and the between-cross to get by his defender, is accurate with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line, and is a crafty scorer around the basket, using the euro-step, reverse, and up-and-under lay-ups, as well as the floater to score over height. He moves well off the ball, gets to his shot spots, and can light it up from the 3-point line off the catch, with limitless range.    RJ Shehee (2028 | PG) - Bakersfield Christian     The 5-foot-10 lead guard has great court awareness, controls the flow of the game, makes reads that only he sees, and has the ability to create his own shot as a 3-level scorer. Shehee is the new addition to the D2 SoCal Regional champs Eagles, joining fellow rising junior Braylen Smith to make one of the top back court duos in the state, and he has made his presence felt every weekend since joining the team in early June. Shehee has elite handles, keeps it on a string like a yoyo surveying the floor and looking for openings to attack, has an elite burst of speed off the bounce, shifty moves to shake his defender, using the crossover, toss-cross, spin-move, hesitation, behind-cross, and in-and-out to separate from his defender, gets great lift with body control to connect on the jumper with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line, is a creative scorer at the basket, with the euro-step, reverse, up-and-under, or spin move lay-ups to go along with a sweet floater to evade shot blockers. His court vision and decision making with the ball, to go with his ability to knife through the defense, allow Shehee to make reads that seem nearly impossible off the drive and kick pass, to the diver out of the pick and roll action, the drop off pass to players in the dunker spot, and with the lob to rising senior teammates [player_tooltip player_id='2646533' first='Taiwo' last='Daramola'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2194700' first='Jeremias' last='Killebrew']. Shehee is an elite on-ball defender, has the foot-speed and active hands, along with the instincts, to jump passing lanes, gets into his opponents dribbling space, rips the ball from his opponent, deflect pass, and has the bounce to get the chase down block or the weakside block in the paint.   [player_tooltip player_id='2843567' first='Anthony' last='Smith'] (2028 | PG) - Clovis    The 6-foot-4 lead guard is a dynamic scorer, elite play maker, and a true 3-level scorer that may have been the biggest stick riser of the event. Smith, coming off a D2 Section title and a strong showing throughout the Spring session of the 3SSB Circuit with Lakeshow 16s, has been sensational in the month of June and he left his stamp on Cali Live 26' as the leading scorer of the 3-day live period, averaging 28 points per game with a single game high of 37 to close out the tournament against Del Oro of Loomis. Smith has elite handles, various moves to create space from his defender, using the crossover, spin-move, hesitation, the step-back, wrap-behind, toss-cross, and between-cross to get his defender off balance, gets good lift on the jumper with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line, with good body control off the bounce when in the air to square his shoulders to get quality looks. Smith is a crafty scorer around the basket off the dribble, using the euro-step, reverse, and up-and-under lay-ups, as well as the floater down the lane or off the baseline to evade shot-blockers, or looks to go at the rim, with the bounce to take flight in the half-court setting. Smith has great court vision, makes tough reads in tight windows off the drive and kick pass, to the diver out of the pick and roll action, up the court off the glass to get ahead of the defense, and the cross court pass to teammates when the defense over rotates. Smith has also established himself as a premier perimeter defender with active hands, good lateral foot-speed, and the instincts to jump passing lanes, deflect passes, poke the ball out, or alter shots in the perimeter. Definitely a player to keep an eye on over the next few years.   Braylen Smith (2028 | CG) - Bakersfield Christian    The 6-foot-1 combo guard has shifty moves to create his own shots, the awareness to find open teammates, plays opportunistic defense, and can score from 3-levels at a high clip. Smith has had a productive Spring on the PRO16 Circuit with Team CPSA, which has continued in the month of June with BCHS, capped off with a stellar showing at Cali Live, averaging 12 points per game with a high of 17 points in the bracket championship win over Monte Vista. Smith keeps the ball on a string with his elite handles, various moves to create shots off the dribble, using the between-cross, behind-cross, wide crossover, hesitation, spin-move, the step-back, and the toss-cross to generate space from his defender, has great body control with accuracy on the mid-range jumper, and is a crafty scorer in the paint, with the euro-step, reverse, and up-and-under lay-ups, along with the floater, to score over bigs in the paint. Smith makes quality decisions with the ball in his hands, makes great reads to open teammates up the court, off the drive and kick pass, or cross court to open teammates for catch and shoot opportunities. Smith is active on the glass, has the foot-speed and instincts to jump passing lanes, deflect passes, or rip the ball from his opponent when he gets into their dribbling space.   Kiyan Wharry (2029 | PG) - Clovis North (Fresno)   The 6-foot-2 lead guard has shifty moves and handles, can create for himself or for open teammates, and can space the floor from beyond the arc to open up driving lanes to attack. Wharry, who joins the Broncos to take over the lead guard spot after the graduation of McKae Amundsen, and he showed he has the skills and the lengthy and athletic build to be one of the more intriguing prospects from the 2029 class in the Central Section, with a single game high of 10 points, connecting on a pair of threes, in the close out win over Beyer of Modesto. Wharry keeps the dribble alive to probe the defense, plays with good pace and change of direction to keep the defense guessing, uses the crossover, spin-move, hesitation, behind-cross, toss-cross, and between-cross to create space from his opponent, is a creative scorer around the basket with the floater, as well as the reverse, up-and-under, and euro-step lay-ups to score among height in the paint. Wharry has active hands, quick reflexes, and the timing to alter perimeter shots, jump passing lanes, deflect passes, or poke the ball out to get out in the open court and push the pace in transition.

Rocklin, CA - Last weekend, Friday, June 26th through Sunday, June 28th, Northern California played host to the 4th annual California Scholastic Live Tournament, which gives D1 college coaches a chance to sit court side and watch some of the top players on the West, if not nationally. The event featured 170+ teams that played the first two games in pool play, with Sunday serving as championship day, as the event paired the winners of competitively equivalent teams against each other. There were 44 pools in total, and the top 14 pools featured the top teams in the event. This article takes a look at 6 more standout guards from the Central Section of California, which is part two of a two-part series that looks at top guards from the same Section. After that, I will cover the other standout players in the event by grad class and position. In this article you will find the following information: players name, height, position, school, stats from the event, and a breakdown of their skill sets. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and we begin with Josiah Perry.