Ron Massey Fall Tournament: Standout Guards
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LONG BEACH, CA – As the regular high school season approaches, several of the top teams and players in Southern California gathered at McBride High School for a pre-season tournament to make their debuts. The event honors the late Ron…
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Continue ReadingLONG BEACH, CA – As the regular high school season approaches, several of the top teams and players in Southern California gathered at McBride High School for a pre-season tournament to make their debuts. The event honors the late Ron Massey who taught and coached at Long Beach Jordan for 28 years. Prep Hoops takes a look at some of the top stand out guards from the event.
A player who is not afraid the spotlight, Turner played with supreme confidence and swagger. As highlighted with his performance 2 weeks ago, Jack is an extremely tough, high IQ guard who is the definition of getting to your spot. Against the tough guards of Bishop Montgomery, Turner kept working and getting into the key to find high percentage shots. He is extremely patient as he breaks down his initial defender, then reads the help and comes with additional counters to finish whether with a turnaround, fadeaway or scoop shot at the rim. You can tell Turner works on his craft and has a ton of tricks up his sleeve. There was a sequence in which he was trapped near the basket by 2 defenders and a hackler from the audience yelled out “he got nothing” and Turner responded with a tough angle shot that hit the bottom of the net. You have got to love the toughness and character of Turner, as his mentality will take him places.
McCain was the highest profile player coming into the event and showed why he is the top player of his class. In a battle with St. Joseph HS, he was consistent all game and put his stamps on in the clutch when it mattered. McCain showed his brilliance and dominance especially on a sequence where he hit a 3 then hit a rolling Devin Williams Devin Williams 6’10” | PF Corona Centennial | 2023 State #86 Nation CA-S for a huge alley oop. McCain finished the first game with 16 points and three 3 pointers. The Duke bound prospect is one of the best shooters in all of America with an IQ that is through the roof.
Jason Crowe Jr.
Jason Crowe Jr.
In his high school debut, the younger son of Jason Crowe Sr. put on a show en route to a 45 point explosion. Crowe is a pure point guard who does an excellent job of running the offense and putting his teammates in the right place. On Saturday morning, he was feeling it from outside with five 3 pointers on the way to his big scoring output. His father Jason Sr. was a standout player at Inglewood High School and went on to play at Cal State Northridge and spent several seasons playing overseas in Austrailia and Latin America. The potential for the younger Crowe is through the roof as he is only 14 years old.
Brayden Burries
Brayden Burries
The combo guard from Riverside Poly seems to have grown taller and gotten even better. Burries is a mix of power and athleticism when attacking the rim. The 6’4″ combo guard does a great job of finding holes in traffic and getting to his spots and finishes creatively. On the fastbreak, he gets downhill in a hurry and isn’t shy from contact. Burries also shows an improved jumper and prowess from the perimter. On the first game of the day, Burries finished with 16 points and 8 assists against Pacifica Christian and is heralded as one of the top sophomore in Southern California.
Kaiden Bailey
Kaiden Bailey
Another freshman who has a huge debut. Bailey plays above his years and is already a good shooter with the potential to be great. Has a good stop and pop to combine with his smooth handles and shiftiness. His range goes out to the 3 point line where he shows the ability to be consistent. On attacks at the rim, Bailey was equally impressive finishing several times through contact and also with creativity. Finished with 27 points in his debut game against Long Beach Jordan.