Best of SoCal League: Cream of the Crop Standouts (Pt. 1)

<p>Our first trip to an individual summer exposure event was a successful one as the Pangos Best of SoCal League culminated with 25 of the top players from league games played in the Cream of the Crop all-star game late Monday night. Below we take a closer look at some of the top performers from this game.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="994974" first="Maurice" last="Wright"]</strong>, 2023, Santa Clarita Christian - The 6-foot-2 guard is one of the faster end-to-end players in the region and his speed was on full display in this event. Wright got out in transition and put pressure on retreating defenses to get into the paint and finish around the basket. Wright’s energy and toughness are two things you can count on him bringing no matter what setting he’s competing in.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="939986" first="Justin" last="Gladney"]</strong>, 2021, NELA Prep - The 2020 Fairfax graduate spent a prep season at NELA and his crafty ball handling and ability to score in a variety of ways stood out among this crop of players. Gladney is a shifty lefty who changes speeds and directions on a dime to get by defenders and into the paint where he finishes with english off the glass. The 6-foot-2 point guard has the ball on a string when handling in traffic and creates offensive opportunities for himself and his teammates.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="950889" first="Varick" last="Lewis"]</strong>, 2023, Southern California Academy - Lewis might have been the most explosive athlete of this group. At 6-feet-4, the rising junior covers a ton of ground with his first step and uses second-level speed to blow by defenders to get to the rim for a strong finish either through contact or above the rim. Lewis was another player who made his presence felt with his effort and energy on the defensive end, not just by scoring the basketball. Lewis is a versatile scoring guard who also showed deep three-point range.</p> <p><strong>Kosi Akametu</strong>, 2021, King/Drew - Akametu has been a sort of breakout star this season, but still remains an unsigned senior. Akametu is a strong wing with explosive leaping ability and loves to operate at the 17-foot range where he can face-up and beat a defender off the bounce for a power finish. Akametu showed flashes of defensively versatility and high level instincts as a rebounder and positional defender.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="748768" first="Brandon" last="Perez"]</strong>, 2022, Saugus - Perez pulled double-duty playing for his high school team at the Bosco Summer Classic before joining the Cream of the Crop game. The 6-foot-2 shooting guard came into high school as one of the more pure set shooters in his class and that hasn’t changed much. When he has his feet set, time and space, and stays balanced, there’s little a defender can do to stop him from knocking down a three-point shot.</p>