The Showcase: Second Team Performers

<p>One all tournament could not contain the bevy talent on hand at The Showcase at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids. After giving you the first team yesterday. Following is the second team with positional placement. <br /> <br /> <strong>Point Guard- [player_tooltip player_id="1349419" first="Mason" last="Docks"] 6-0 2022 Williamston </strong>After brief detour playing Texas. Docks is back where he began and spent most of his career. Like his backcourt partner [player_tooltip player_id="863940" first="Jacob" last="Wallace"]. Docks came out firing on all cylinders defensively. Collected an eye opening seven steals. But outside of the statistics applied an intense amount of on ball pressure that kept Grand Rapids Union from getting comfortable all day. Not too shabby on the offensive ended either. Posted a double double with 10 points and 10 assists. When you take a step back and realize he came three steals away from posting the rare high school triple double. You begin to see how special Docks’ day was. The lighting quick point guard is slated play at Division 1 Maryland-Baltimore County (yes that giant slaying UMBC) So catch him before he leaves the state again. You might be able to do that at the Breslin Center as the Hornets are one of the most talented teams in Division 2. </p> <p><b>Two Guard- [player_tooltip player_id="987273" first="John" last="Blackwell"] 6-3 2023 Birmingham Brother Rice </b>Blackwell is most likely a point guard long term. But with the scoring chops he showed off Saturday. I’m going to list him at the two for the purposes of this article. Has excellent for either guard position and uses it well. Walls up to play big on both ends of the court. Blackwell was aggressive in penetration all game. Has an effective spin move that he uses to cover a lot of ground. Intelligent player who played through foul trouble all night. I was also impressed with how he seemingly rose to the moment in the nip and tuck game. Had what looked to be an impressive and 1 drive as things were starting to slip away in OT. However was called for his fifth foul. Pretty much sealing the game for Northview. Blackwell finished with a team high 21 points. </p> <p><b>Small Forward- [player_tooltip player_id="864018" first="Jalen" last="Charity"] 6-6 2022 Grand Rapids Northview </b>While teammate [player_tooltip player_id="787685" first="Kyler" last="Vanderjagt"] made a loud Mr. Basketball statement. He did not do it all by himself. Charity put together a complete offensive game. Has the type of athleticism that has always made him an effective slasher. On Saturday showed a good outside shot along with improved ball handling ability. This allowed him to get his spots easily in half court sets. Wasn’t just a factor offensively. An integral part of the team effort that held top 2023 prospect [player_tooltip player_id="985661" first="Curtis" last="Williams"] under the 20 point mark. Charity finished with 21 points and showed the litany of college coaches in attendance that he can play with anyone. </p> <p><b>Power Forward- [player_tooltip player_id="863933" first="Genesis" last="Kemp"] 6-7 2022 Grand Rapids Union (pictured at top of article) </b>Kemp had a literal “tall” task on Saturday with Williamston’s 6-10 post [player_tooltip player_id="863935" first="Max" last="Burton"]. Kemp started out very aggressive on the offensive end. Showed some serious stretch four potential with a few early threes. One of them was extremely deep for any position. Showed a smooth and easy release. Got it off quickly as well. Negating Burtons shot blocking ability. As the defense adjusted in the second half took his game down to the block. Showed the ability to create space and finish through contact. Despite not having the thickest frame. On the defensive end Kemp’s length was on full display. I had him for at least three blocks. Finished with a team high 20 points. </p> <p><b>Center- [player_tooltip player_id="985665" first="Xavier" last="Thomas"] 6-6 2023 Birmingham Brother Rice </b>Like his teammate Blackwell. Thomas is playing slightly out of position. He will almost certainly (there could always be a growth spurt) not be a center at the next level. But as the Warriors biggest player fills the position nicely. Is quite light on his feet for his size. While not a huge leaper shows explosive lateral quickness. Seemed to struggle initially with the size of Northview’s 6-9 center [player_tooltip player_id="983528" first="Calvin" last="Hyde"]. However used an assortment of post moves to eventually force Northview to go small. At that point Thomas was able assert his strength on the block. Has a soft touch and is able to finish with both hands around the basket. Not afraid of the moment. Took the final Warrior shot at the end of regulation. Kept fighting in OT after Blackwell fouled out. Finished with 17 hard earned points. </p>