Crozier League Hidden Gems: 2027 and 2028 Shot Makers

This year's even was spread across Freire Charter, Salesianum, and NBN, with the champion taking place at the latter facility. Middletown took home the chip, but not without prospects from there and various programs hitting big shots for their teams. Here are six of them:    On-ball defenders and defenses as a whole couldn't keep Davis Jr out of the paint. After blowing by his man, he would skip past help defenders with different footwork patterns and pick-ups, then lay the ball in. If another defender was at the rim, Davis would find or create an angle to score and absorb the contact by playing off two feet. And when he earned the foul call, he went to the line and knocked down the freebies at a high rate.     Johnson proved to be an all-around hooper who also hit shots from all over. He hustled for offensive rebound putbacks and capitalized on his steals with fastbreak lays. He also made the knockout or the extra pass when he was heavily contested. But that didn't happen too often because Johnson kept exploiting advantages off the catch. He drained catch-and-shoot threes, attacked closeouts, and found openings in the mid-range for long twos.     Lopez asserted himself on offense and constantly made plays on defense. He looked for his shot early and often, unafraid to pull-up from far behind the three-point line or quickly fire home a three if/when he caught the ball in rhythm. Lopez kept that same energy on defense too. He ignited transition offense by grabbing defensive rebounds and jumping passes for steals.     A bouncy athlete, Murphy made tough shots - through contact - at the rim. Going at the other team's best player, he created separation off the dribble and maybe his way to the paint from there. He also hit some threes to boot. But when it was time to defend, Murphy brought even more intensity. He got on the rim in transition by taking steals coast-to-coast for jams.     With the ultimate greenlight, everything for O'Connor was either at the rim or beyond the arc. He effectively moved into open spaces on the perimeter before swishing spot-up threes. His dedication to spacing the floor evened things out versus a Delcastle team who had a size advantage over the Red Devils. And when that wasn't enough, O'Connor chipped in on the glass with putbacks and got to the charity stripe.     Warner regularly found the bottom of the net, no matter what level his shots were from. He absorbed bumps and dished out contact en route to the cup and stopped-and-popped for two when the lane was closed. When his wide shoulders gave him an advantage, Warmer also played off two feet and even posted defenders up to score around the basket. He drained about two triples per game as well. But when someone else had a better matchup, especially in the paint, Warner got the ball to the right place with entry passes.

This year's even was spread across Freire Charter, Salesianum, and NBN, with the champion taking place at the latter facility. Middletown took home the chip, but not without prospects from there and various programs hitting big shots for their teams. Here are six of them: