LSBA Fall Shootout: Event Surprises

<p>The inaugural Lamont Smith Basketball Academy Fall Shootout took place this weekend at Miramar College, a familiar battleground for San Diego high school teams kicking off the fall scrimmage season.</p>   <p>Smith, a former college head coach – most recently at the University of San Diego – assembled 23 of the region's top teams and a very good Dougherty Valley squad from the Bay Area, which won the even't signature – and opening game, a 60-49 win over St. Augustine.</p>   <p>Standouts dotted the four-court gymnasium on both days this weekend. In this report, we look at some of the players whose efforts caught our attention. </p>   <h2>Matin Madadkar, 6-4 2024 G/W, Torrey Pines</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/09/IMG_9719.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/09/IMG_9719-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1588314" width="338" height="253"/></a><figcaption>Matin Madadkar had a solid showing at the LSBA Fall Shootout</figcaption></figure>   <p>In terms of rising prospects in San Diego, Madadkar, a lanky, crafty wing guard with underrated ball skills, is one of the fastest risers. One of the Falcons primary reserves, Madadkar has the size to score in the paint, but has the handle to initiate the offense and the court vision to create plays for others with the pass. The lefty played with much improved effort on defense, where his length allows him to play in the passing lanes and be disruptive at the top of Torrey Pines' 1-3-1 zone look. After a very good performance last weekend at the COTC, he's firmly on my radar. </p>   <h2>Ahkwon White, 6-2 2023 G, Helix</h2>   <p>White has been a key player on the Highlanders varsity for a couple of years, but this was one of his first times to showcase his abilities to the region at large, and he didn't disappoint. A physically built guard who can knock down threes from beyond college range, and who can attack the basket and finish through contact. </p>   <h2>Hudaifa Osman, 6-5 2023 W, Helix</h2>   <p>Osman might be one of the more intriguing long-term prospects in San Diego. A long, fluid wing type, Osman does much of his damage from midrange, where he has a nice one to two-dribble pull-up and gets to his spots and uses his size to elevate over smaller defenders. He also rebounds and can guard multiple positions at the high school level. At 6-5+ with excellent length, he's a prospect to monitor. </p>   <h2>Cole Murray, 6-1 2023 PG, Carlsbad</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/09/IMG_9985.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/09/IMG_9985-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1588315" width="362" height="271"/></a><figcaption>Cole Murray is a throwback point guard with an excellent motor and ball skills </figcaption></figure>   <p>Murray gets overshadowed at times by the high scoring duo of Jake Hall and [player_tooltip player_id='1502812' first='Tony' last='Duckett'], but a deeper look at a Carlsbad game and you see that Murray's fingerprints are all over the team. A pass-first point guard who unselfishly whips the ball around to open teammates, or gets into the paint and finds shooters on the strong and weakside, Murray is also a strong on-ball defender and plays with an excellent motor. He's also starting to flash scoring ability off the dribble, finishing drives with either hands in the paint. An impressive weekend. </p>   <h2>Jaiden Schube, 6-0 2023 G, Scripps Ranch</h2>   <p>Schube plays with an edge and an excellent motor. He gave his team extra possessions all weekend by diving after 50/50 balls, crashing the offensive glass (including off missed free throws), and harassing opponents into turnovers. Offensively, Schube is a downhill slasher who aggressively attacks the paint and finishes off of two feet. He can also hit open threes off the catch in space. With the graduation and departure of several players from last year's D4 state title team, Schube is embracing the expanded role. </p>   <h2>Logan Watts, 5-11 2023 G, Francis Parker</h2>   <p>Every year after the Creme of the County, there's a kid that I inevitably regret not inviting. This year, it's Watts, a lefty combo guard who handles the point guard duties for the new-look Lancers. An athletic guard with solid burst, he gets into the paint on demand and makes plays off of two feet. Watts has underrated court vision, improving ball skills and can hit open threes from the left side of the floor. He's one of three players the Lancers will lean on heavily at the start of the Mason Biddle era (Quincy Williams and junior Kamran Dubois are the others). </p>   <h2>Caleb Thach, 5-10 2025 PG, Steele Canyon</h2>   <p>Thach, a long-armed sinewy point guard for the Cougars, is an intriguing prospect in the sophomore class. He plays with solid pace and changes speeds effectively in the open court. His eyes are always up and scanning the floor to make the right pass in the halfcourt and transition. He's got to get stronger to get to his spots easier, but we saw in flashes his ability to to get to the midrange and knock down the pull up and hit the floater. </p>   <h2>Nolan Reuter, 6-0 2023 G, Coronado</h2>   <p>The last time I saw Reuter play in a team setting was the CIF D2 finals in 2021, when he was a stocky combo guard who primarily served as a floor spacer on the D2 championship team. Flash forward to this weekend, and Reuter is a physically imposing guard who can get downhill and does an excellent job keeping defenders on his hip - or bumping them off like a bowling ball - to score in the paint at will. He still can shoot it from deep, but makes a more concerted effort to score off the drive, making him a much tougher cover. </p>   <h2>Aadi Malali, 6-4 2024 SG, Dougherty Valley</h2>   <p>Malali is a sharpshooter who's floor spacing ability is amplified alongside [player_tooltip player_id='950790' first='Ryan' last='Beasley'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1380769' first='Connor' last='Sevilla']. A long-armed wing who can hit threes from either side of the floor, and also does an solid job attacking closeouts to score around the basket with floaters and runners. </p>   <h2>[player_tooltip player_id='950925' first='Blake' last='Hudson'], 6-3 2023 G, Dougherty Valley</h2>   <p>An explosive combo guard who lived in the paint all weekend, Hudson can score it off the bounce with his dominant hand and is a threat to drives above the rim in the halfcourt. He's got some good long-term upside, and physical tools to be a lockdown perimeter defender. </p>

The inaugural Lamont Smith Basketball Academy Fall Shootout took place this weekend at Miramar College, a familiar battleground for San Diego high school teams kicking off the fall scrimmage season.