NERR Northeast Hoop Festival Varsity Standouts: Part 1

I attended the Northeast Hoop Festival on Saturday (4/5) and Sunday (4/6). I tried to catch as many varsity games as possible; but with coaching duties, multiple locations, and dozens of teams, it was impossible to see everybody.   That being said, below is part one of my standouts from the tournament. I'll have a total of 5 standout articles coming throughout the week. Players from the same team will usually be written about in the same article.    Yukhymchak is a towering 6-foot-10 center with solid positioning and IQ. He knows where to be on both ends; offensively, he keeps the ball high and knows how to work the dunker spots and the painted area. On the defensive side, he's disciplined as a rim protector and generally understands how to help from the weak side. He definitely needs to get more comfortable in his body if he wants to be successful at the college level, but someone will certainly take a chance on Yukhymchak as a result of his size and length alone. He also seems like he has a great attitude -- never complaining and always supporting his teammates.     Mauristhene is a good all-around guard that can play both with and without the ball. He has a solid handle and can score at all three levels, and I was especially impressed with his ability to throw his body into opposing bigs and finish with contact – he's an above-the-rim player when he has a head of steam. He also lets the game come to him and wasn't too shot-happy offensively; he was consistently willing to make the extra pass when the defense collapsed on him in the paint. Will be curious how much run Mauristhene gets on a talented South Kent team next year.     Lyare was a pest defensively all tournament. The 5-foot-10 bulldog slides his feet incredibly well and has super active hands on that end of the floor. He has great lateral quickness and plays with supreme effort and intensity, which is a lethal combo on the defensive end. Offensively, he does a great job getting out in transition and finishing with both hands, and he's also a capable three-point shooter. Hilton and his twin brother, Hilary, somehow got cut from the BC High Varsity team, which makes absolutely no sense to me. He could probably find a D3 home somewhere.     Echevarria is fresh off a really solid season at St. Marks, and now he's running the point for Above The Rim this AAU season. The pitbull-style point guard is a true floor general who loves to operate in the pick and roll; he's great at throwing the pocket pass and likes to play at his own pace. He had some really nice takes to the rim where he finished with his left hand on the right side before the defense even realized he was shooting. Defensively, Echevarria plays hard and is a brick wall when larger players try to post him up. Tough kid.     Cantave is a big time athlete who keeps getting better every time I watch him play. During the high school season, he was tentative offensively and didn't have too many perimeter skills. He still definitely prefers to play in the paint with Above The Rim, but he looks a lot more comfortable with the ball in his hands and looks like he has a more compact three-point shot than he did the last time I saw him. Most impressive is Cantave's ability to do the little things; he defends, rebounds, gets loose balls, and plays super hard, all while having an amazingly quick second-jump. Big senior season ahead for him at Brooks.

I attended the Northeast Hoop Festival on Saturday (4/5) and Sunday (4/6). I tried to catch as many varsity games as possible; but with coaching duties, multiple locations, and dozens of teams, it was impossible to see everybody.