Pangos Best of the West Shootout: Most Intriguing

Joel Francisco

March 31, 2022 @ 05:26 PM

Pangos Best of the West Shootout: Most Intriguing LONG BEACH, Ca—The spring is in full gear now that the high school playoffs are finished and it was time to take a short drive up to McBride Middle School for the Pangos Best of the West Shootout directed by grassroots guru Dinos Trigonis. There were a plethora of fine performances that caught my eye including the following: 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="1409409" first="Isaiah" last="Lewis"] (Pangos Select), 2024 Styles Phipps (Belmont Shore), 2023 Will Smith (Belmont Shore Blue), 2025 [player_tooltip player_id="1417368" first="EJ" last="Vernon"] (21 Elite 16u), and 2024 Malick Diallo (Utah Mountain Stars. Will Smith (Belmont Shore Blue / Bishop Montgomery) 2023, G, 6-foot-4, 190 pounds Joel’s Take: Smith is a strong guard who plays with power and moxie. His greatest trait is his motor is always on fire. He gets most of his points playing bully ball and he overpowers smaller defenders for the finish in the paint area. Not to mention, his mid-range pull-up is quite potent as well. He drops off the nifty assist at times as well. However, going forward, he needs to tighten up his outside shot as his shot tends to fall apart outside 15-feet. DJ Mitchell (LA Rockfish / St. Monica) 2023, WF, 6-foot-6, 175 pounds Joel’s Take: Mitchell is a quality athlete with an ideal overall length. He excels in transition while attacking off the dribble and he has the ability to weave his way through defenders and finish. In addition, he also showed a solid pull-up game. He needs to improve the consistency of his jump shot to keep his attack-mode style in play going forward. Elijah Gelin (21 Elite 16u / Culver City) 2024, G, 6-foot-5, 160 pounds Joel’s Take: One of the more intriguing prospects I witnessed at this event was the play of Gelin. The wiry guard has long arms, solid ball skills, and he is equally effective as a scorer and a passer. He can glide in transition and slash his way to the rim for the dunk or drop off a nice assist. In the half court set he exhibits a quick 1st step to keep defenders off balance and his overall decision-making is solid. Kendyl Sanders (21 Elite 16u / St. Bernard) 2024, F, 6-foot-7, 185 pounds Joel’s Take: One of the more promising sophomores in Southern California is definitely Sanders. After emerging during the playoffs, Sanders continued to show his budding skills in this event. He has a great frame with long arms and he’s a quality athlete who shows excellent timing in the paint area—both as a shot-blocker and rebounder. His face-up skills are raw, but he can stick the elbow jump shot and his touch around the rim is impressive.