Bryce’s week 10 favorites: juniors

<p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1049306" first="Keilan" last="Howard"]</strong> | 2022 Southmoore CG</p> <p>Aprospect on-the-rise, Howard’s greatest transformation is handling the poise of varsity pressure — he proved it against Friday a full-court Mustang defense. The crafty southpaw has one of the best all-around games in his class as far as one-guards go, a clean skill-set with the conservatism that marks the most error-free players mixed with polished offensive talents and a spoonful of finesse. Howard may turn out to be one of the most efficient on-ball players in Cleveland Co. when it’s all said-and-done.</p> <p><strong>Jacob Henderson</strong> | 2022 Mustang C</p> <p>If you’re looking for a post whom has blossomed in the past calendar year, look no farther than Mustang’s interior presence. In matchups against Moore and Southmoore, Henderson was integral fulfilling each of the necessities characteristic of your favorite centers. He passed the ball well from the paint, scored with aggression, finished through contact, defended tenaciously and rebounded competitively.</p> <p><strong>Marcus Dockins</strong> | 2022 Moore F</p> <p>It is surely a shame that Dockins’ heart is committed to the gridiron, because he is truly an exceptional scorer. In a back-and-forth offensive struggle between his Lions and Mustang, Dockins seemed the only figure who was able to consistently put the ball in the hole, and in a game in which the Broncos were deflecting just about everything, the Mustang defense hardly had an answer for the 6-foot-2, lanky but explosive tailback.</p> <p><strong>Lonato Henderson</strong> | 2022 Moore F</p> <p>Henderson has strong, large frame, but it would be a mistake to assume that he is without an effective strike — and a shot. Henderson can be trusted to score deep in the pit, from the mid-range, and even from long-range, as he proved a couple weeks ago when he hit two 3-pointers against Millwood. Defensively, his edge is most salient as a rim-protector and interior gatekeeper.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="955384" first="Ethan" last="Scott"]</strong> | 2022 Mustang SG</p> <p>Against Southmoore, Scott stretched the floor with deep 3-pointers, including a couple in transition that helped Mustang obtain a double-digit lead on the SaberCats mid-way through the second quarter. On one sequence during that scoring stretch, the junior sharpshooter who recently eclipsed 1,000 career points knocked down five consecutive free-throws — not much of a surprise considering his state-leading 90-plus-percent accuracy from the stripe during the past two seasons.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1049316" first="Austin" last="Smith"]</strong> | 2022 Mustang G</p> <p>Though he may be a glue guy for the Broncos, Smith is hardly a nobody on the floor. His presence is most inflated by his hustle, uncanny reliability from the 3-point line and two-way playmaking. Either way, he remains a conservative force for Mustang, rarely committing errors that would diminish the benefit of having him on the floor.</p> <p><strong>Ethan Clark</strong> | 2022 Southmoore G</p> <p>There is not much to be said about Clark other than that he is a pure knock-down shooter. With a depleted Southmoore roster, Clark hardly missed a beat against a talented Mustang defense, repeatedly keeping the SaberCats in contention with his marksmanship.</p> <p><strong>Reese Strange</strong> | 2022 Mustang SF/PF</p> <p>Strange can be best categorized as a sort of do-it-all guard-forward that brings with him the recipe — or at least a few ingredients — to team cohesion. That seems like a sugary statement until you see his game. Against Southmoore, Strange was all over the floor. Offensively, he hit shots with accuracy from outside the arch, although his physicality often took over when he drove to the rack and provided the SaberCats’ defense with yet another problem. He stands 6-4 or so with strong arms and some acceleration behind him, and it also showed up defensively as he often sent shots flying back to the perimeter.</p> <p><strong>Rejond Hayes</strong> | 2022 Moore PG</p> <p>A strong distributer with the rare combination of speed and control, Hayes is a great package for the Lions. Against Mustang, he was unaffected by a stiff full-court, and he was central in breaking to the half-court with seamless timing. Hayes is the type of player whom you can trust with the ball against traps to get the ball into the right hands. However, his offensive skill was only a secondary point of praise to his defense. An anticipatory off-ball defender, he stole a number of opposing passes, and he was just as effective forcing turnovers when he was on-ball.</p>