Space City Collision Houston: Friday Night Lights at MI3

This weekend, the stage is set in Houston for PH Space City Collision and Friday night started off the tournament on a great note. Prospects were there early warming up for games and spectators/media were out in full force to cover these great athletes. I was able to watch a few games on Friday night and there were some blowouts, but also some players made their names known or proved that they need to be on the radar. Let's examine a few of these athletes.    [player_tooltip player_id='2860071' first='Javohn' last='Monk'] was a force unleashed on both sides of the ball for [program_tooltip program_id='2075520' first='Houston' last='Raptors'] Ayers in their statement win over Just Play Elite 15u. Monk played the passing lanes aggressively and with quick reflexes, coming away with 5 steals leading to easy fastbreak layups and converting defensive stops to points for his Raptors team. Javohn was also effective getting to the basket even past constant pressure and always made sure he was the first one down the court to get back on defense. Monk is an upcoming guard at Cy Creek who will be looking to make some noise next season.     [player_tooltip player_id='2819443' first='William' last='Abney'] is an effective floor general for 1 Nation 17u, and he controls the pace of the offense throughout the entire game. Abney can get a quick bucket off the drive and make his way through the defense with a variety of dribble moves, creating an opening for himself and teammates. He is the captain of this team with his motivational leadership and his energy/hustle play. Dickinson has a good one coming their way next year in William if he keeps up this momentum and his play will only get better as he continues through this grassroots summer.     [player_tooltip player_id='2860096' first='Noah' last='Cross'] was the dominant force in the paint for the Raptors in their 40-point win on Friday night over JPE 15u. Cross consistently found himself in prime position to finish under the rim and was a post playmaker, passing out to open guards when he was double teamed and scoring when he had single coverage. I was able to watch Noah block 5 shots in the paint and come down with the rebound almost every time, limiting the other team's second chance point opportunities.     Ronald was a big time fastbreak machine for 1 Nation in their one-point win over Arnold Elite on Friday night and was effective finishing and-one buckets in the paint and cashing in at the charity stripe. Williams plays a great brand of fundamental defense and is a constant disruptive force on both ends of the ball and was able to impact the game in several ways besides scoring the basketball.     Cooper was a spot up shooter that played an effective role for JPE 15u in their Friday night loss. Schultz picked his spots carefully to rifle away threes at the basket and proceeded to shoot a good percentage from distance. I was impressed by Cooper's off ball movement as well to keep offensive possessions alive and get himself open looks. He will continue to be a knockdown shooter for JPE 15u moving forward.

This weekend, the stage is set in Houston for PH Space City Collision and Friday night started off the tournament on a great note. Prospects were there early warming up for games and spectators/media were out in full force to cover these great athletes. I was able to watch a few games on Friday night and there were some blowouts, but also some players made their names known or proved that they need to be on the radar. Let's examine a few of these athletes.