Fear the Hop: Top Juniors

Gregg Rosenberg December 17, 2021 @ 01:08 AM

On Wednesday, November 24th I attended the Fear the Hop Tournament at Mesa HS in Mesa, AZ.   Here were the results of the eight games I viewed: Westwood 42 Agua Fria 39   Westview 65 Shadow Mountain 37   Dysart 78 Apache Junction 14   Hamilton 60 Mesquite 57   Kellis 82 Washington 61   McClintock 83 Boulder Creek 69   Mesa 63 Buena 52   Desert Mountain 65 Campo Verde 61   Here were some of the top juniors viewed: [player_tooltip player_id="994130" first="Isaiah" last="Kai"] Campo Verde A pure PG has a tight handle, crafty and can rise up and shoot it from mid to the 3pt line. His pull-up off the dribble is nasty. He is smart off the pick and roll game and he hesitates well then blows by. He also has very quick hands to collect steals. [player_tooltip player_id="1009139" first="Erenzo" last="Scroggins"] McClintock A ridiculously strong wing forward loves getting downhill and flush it down high above the rim. He almost bodied someone on the break. He can pull-up more consistently and hit the deep-3. His passing keeps showing up every game. [player_tooltip player_id="814517" first="Cohen" last="J Gonzales"] Mesquite A top-notch shooter off the bounce. He is a good catch 3pt shooter and is extremely athletic for his size. He has a tight handle, high skill and bounce which makes his game go. [player_tooltip player_id="831121" first="Kota" last="Benson"] Mesa A scoring point guard with a quick first step. He can hit the catch-3 and smartly moves without the ball. He uses the pick and roll game to his advantage. He has the ball in his hands most of the game and runs the offense plus scores it for them. He made one incredible full length pass up the court throwing it over the defenders head on a dime to a teammate for an assist. [player_tooltip player_id="814505" first="Zach" last="Anderson"] Desert Mountain One of the top Wolves shooters who goes to the correct spots on the court to get open. He has a nice floater game in the lane and he is a catch 3pt shooter. He hit some clutch FT’s down the stretch to ice it in their win. He will be asked to step up his production for the team this year. [player_tooltip player_id="814504" first="Demarion" last="Anderson"] Agua Fría A quick PG who can facilitate and score it. He has good open court speed and makes passes with his left or right hand in his teammates shooting pocket. He can shoot it from the 3pt line and blow passed his defenders. He had a team high 15 points versus Westwood. [player_tooltip player_id="1220369" first="Darius" last="Anderson"] Dysart A long forward moves well from end to end and handles the ball fairly well. He will defend multiple positions from the 2-4 moving quickly laterally. He will crash the boards and he can hit the 3 plus slash to the basket. He is a decent athlete to dunk it on the break. He can create his own offense a little. [player_tooltip player_id="814528" first="Chris" last="Ruiz"] Kellis A high IQ and skilled guard is a pull-up king up from mid-range. He is a smart passer with the most experience on the team who will need to score it from all levels to keep them in many games this year. He had an unreal stat line of 24 points 10 rebounds and 11 assists recording the teams first triple double ever and had the most assists ever in one game versus Washington. [player_tooltip player_id="1334923" first="Benito" last="Carter"] Westview (Pictured) A transfer from Alaska is a quick ball handler and a two-way on-ball defender. He has a real burst into the lane and will blow by many defenders along the way. He had maybe 5 steals in the 1st half alone setting the tone of the game. He also scored 20 vs Desert Mountain the night before and he will be heavily leaned on all year long. Espn Polanksi SG 5’11 Boulder Creek A catch and shoot 3pt shooter has a quick release. He is one of their snipers on the team and has a consistent approach to the game. He caught fire in the game and even hit a half court shot.