Thunderbird at Moon Valley: Freshman/JV Standouts

On Tuesday, January 17th I attended the 4A Moon Valley Rockets hosting the 4A Thunderbird Titans. The Titans were ranked a top-10 team in 4A and the Rockets were in the top-20.   The game was fairly close throughout and the Rockets started hot with a 19-11 1st quarter lead but only led 30-27 at halftime.   The Rockets once again started the second half strong again and led 51-40 heading into the 4th. The Titans closed it to a three point game, but could not score and the Rockets pulled off the mini upset and earned an important region win.   Before the big varsity game I checked out the younger players.   <h2>Here were the younger standouts</h2>   Freshman Game   [player_tooltip player_id='1756462' first='Elias' last='Tenorio'] Moon Valley    A point forward type with really good court vision and a nice handle. He is very good off the pick and roll game and throws up the court passes in stride. He changes speeds and can get into the paint and finish off floaters. Most of the game he lives in the paint with runners, floaters, spin moves and layups. He plays four quarters on freshman and two on JV.      Joshua Perez SF 6'0 2026 Moon Valley   A wing forward plays with good energy to rebound in his area. He has adequate hands to catch passes and rebound. He gives a hard ball fake and will drive by. He anticipates well to collect steals and he can make the three and fall away from his defender. Defensively he will close out to shooters and he can block or alter shots.    Robert Bell PG 5'5 2026 Thunderbird    A tight handle pure point guard has good court vision. He is undersized but the ball is on a string for him and he even pulled off the Shammgod move. He can splash in the three and step back off of his defender. He will jump stop and float it in often and has quicker hands on defense.   Arie Callwood CG 5'10 2026 Thunderbird    A decent sized combo guard has a nice handle and is extremely shifty. Although a little streaky, he has range on his three and will burst by his defenders with some speed.    JV   [player_tooltip player_id='1756480' first='Desean' last='Goe'] Moon Valley (Pictured)   A thicker wing is a great passer, rebounder, scorer and competitor. He can take a rebound off the glass and go coast to coast in traffic. He has a tight crossover and can dribble through defenders to drive it and score or kick it to a shooter. He can rise high on his jumper and score amidst pressure. He defends multiple positions and he can step back and hit the three off the dribble. He transferred in from Mesa HS and will be moved up to varsity shortly.   Jordan Sepulveda PF 6'3 2025 Moon Valley   A thicker forward has very good hands and long arms to rebound. He is strong to fight inside for position and rip the ball out of his opponents hands and made a few grown man rebounds in heavy traffic. He can pull-up from mid-range and score inside with ball fakes and take the ball straight into a post players chest. The Rockets set up a couple lob plays for him using his length and sticky hands. He also plays football.   Ryler Pete PG 5'8 2025 Moon Valley    A highly competitive and tough defensive point guard. He is a good passer but makes his money on defense. He has quick reflexes to steal the ball and is a good leaper to rebound. He has a super quick first step and has speed to burn. He can euro his way to the basket.   JJ Estrada PG 5'8 2025 Moon Valley   A lefty sharp shooter has a super quick release from the three point line. He is deceptively fast handling it but he is best off the ball. He is in motion trying to free himself to get open for a catch three. He will rattle them off once he gets an open look. He can dime a teammate off the pick and roll game and plays confidently.   [player_tooltip player_id='1756479' first='JD' last='Morris'] Thunderbird   A long and lean defensive guard who collected a lot of steals with his length and quick hands. He has a nice runner/floater and has a smooth gait when he runs. He has a burst of speed to get past his defenders often and will smartly reset the offense to get a good play. He can also pull-up off the dribble but needs more reps.     Cole Barker F 6'3 2025 Thunderbird   A thicker forward is a tough, natural rebounder chaser. He will block shots in his area and he is an efficient scorer in the paint. He will go up among the post players and score effectively and his motor and desire allows him to beat his opponents to the ball.   Charlie Weible SF 6'2 2025 Thunderbird   A wing forward who is a catch three point shooter. He can rattle them off plus he cuts to the basket when he should and plays from the neck up. He has a pretty stroke, he plays fundamentally sound defense and makes the winning team plays.

On Tuesday, January 17th I attended the 4A Moon Valley Rockets hosting the 4A Thunderbird Titans. The Titans were ranked a top-10 team in 4A and the Rockets were in the top-20.