MADE Hoops Summer Finale: Friday Night Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The grassroots season is coming to a close, but not without a few tournaments to wrap things up. MADE Hoops is back at the Philly Expo Center and, of course, several players showed out. Here are a few:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1153987' first='London' last='Carson'] | 6'4 G 2025 [program_tooltip program_id='2078566' first='East' last='Coast Cyclones'] 17U</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In a decisive win over Midwest Elite Cincy, Carson went off for 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. He started off patient in the first half, crashing the boards and capitalizing on transition opportunities. But as he got warm, his halfcourt skill began to flash. Carson went to his pull-up jumper, able to turn and fade away or stop-and-pop in the mid-range. From there, he salted away the game with physical drives to the rim, where he laid the ball high off of the glass to avoid shot-blockers.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2427245' first='Xander' last='Grasty'] | 5'8 G 2027 [program_tooltip program_id='2078709' first='Team' last='Final'] Black 15U</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Grasty took what the opposing team gave him and, because he's such a smart player, they unintentionally gave him a lot. When nobody boxed him out, he chased down the rebound and started the fastbreak. When they sagged or helped off of him, the well-rounded point guard knocked down three triples. Late in the game, B2M Snoddy tried to pressure the ball, but Grasty used their aggression against them and got to the cup. He racked up 29 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2436083' first='Doug' last='Layer Jr'] | 5'7 G 2027 [program_tooltip program_id='2428018' first='Sideline' last='Cancer'] 15U</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Busy dictating the pace on both ends, Layer Jr didn't was scoreless for most of the game against New Heights Lightning EYBL. Instead, he checked off every other box in the stat sheet. The 5'7 guard stole the ball 4 times and distributed it to teammates for 4 assists. Then, he jumped into the scoring column by hitting a three off-the-catch. Finally, with the game tied up and the final seconds ticking off the clock, Layer drove and swished a floater over the outstretched arms of the defense for the win.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2139578' first='Jordan' last='Owens'] | 6'0 G 2026 [program_tooltip program_id='2078709' first='Team' last='Final'] Black 15U</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Final Black was only up four points going into the half, but Owens got hot in the second, igniting his team to blow the game wide open. He tallied his first bucket with a catch-and-shoot jumper for three. Next, he got a steal and went coast-to-coast for two. His success at the rim continued on as he made a couple more layups after drilling a pull-up three. Owens notched all 13 of his points in the second half.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2336671' first='Wes' last='Robinson'] | 6'2 G/W 2026 Total Skills 16U</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Robinson was all over the place against [program_tooltip program_id='2078697' first='Philly' last='Pride'] 302 Black. He made his presence felt off-ball on defense by picking off 7 passes for steals that he took the other way. The 9 rebounds also signaled his activity, with three of them being putbacks. Lastly, he led his team with 19 points as well. Besides his halfcourt scoring and the catch-and-shoot three he made, Robinson feasted on transition opportunities, some of which were created by his defense.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->