Clovis West Fall Shootout: Standout Juniors Pt. 2

This past weekend, September 13th – 14th, Clovis West hosted its annual Fall Shootout at the Eagles Nest. The event featured teams from Fresno, Santa Maria, Stockton, Elk Grove, Madera, Merced, and Modesto. Teams played in a showcase game format, with led to some intriguing match-ups, none more thrilling than powerhouses St. Joseph and San Joaquin Memorial squaring off. This article is part 2 of a two-part piece that looks at 8 more standout juniors, which will be followed by a look at standout underclassmen from the event. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order. I begin this article with standout defender Jahlil Montgomery.    Montgomery is a physical and athletic wing/guard that is an elite defender, and showed improved shooting efficiency at the Fall Shootout. Montgomery has active and strong hands to get into his opponent's dribbling space, the footspeed and lateral quickness to keep his man in front of him, the instincts to poke or rip the ball out for the steal, or the timing and wingspan to deflect or jump passing lanes and get the ball out in the open court. Montgomery is a great positional rebonder, outlets the ball quickly to run the floor and get ahead of the defense, uses the crossover to get by his defender and into the paint, and has the strength to finish through contact down the lane and at the basket. Montgomery showed improved off ball movement and effectiveness with the 3-ball off the catch to open up the court.        Oganesyan is a lengthy and active wing/forward that impacts the boards on both ends. Oganesyan crashes the glass relentlessly, gives his team multiple possessions after missed shots, has the length and wingspan to alter/block shots in the paint, as well as the strides to step out and deflect perimeter shots, and deflects entry passes to opposing bigs to give his teammates the chance to steal the ball. Oganesyan has good hands to receive passes in the dunker spot when his teammates attack the paint and find him with the drop-off pass, and has nice touch on shots around the basket. He runs the floor well and makes himself available up the court.     Posas is a lengthy and wiry wing/forward that can score the ball at 3-levels, and impacts the defensive end in a variety of ways. Posas crashed the boards with relentless energy, scores on the putback lay-up with regularity, the wingspan and height to block/alter shots around the basket, with the lateral quickness to step out and alter/deflect shots on the perimeter, active hands on defense to deflect entry passes, or lock-up on perimeter players to poke the ball out or jump passing lanes, which gets the ball out in the open court. Offensively, Posas makes good reads from the mid-post to the top of the key to players cutting off the ball, has enough handles to put the ball on the deck and attack from the top of the key or from the baseline, has good touch on the floater from either spot, is accurate with the jumper from the elbows, and moves fluidly off the ball to get open looks off the catch, and can space the floor with the 3-ball. Posas looks to push the ball off the glass, understands floor spacing in the pick and roll action, and had a few power dunks on timely rolls off the screen.     Poulsen is a shifty combo guard that can space the floor from beyond the arc, as well play solid on perimeter defense. Poulsen has a solid handle on the ball, uses the crossover and between crossover to get by his defender, has a smooth mid-range jumper, and is able to finish through traffic at the basket with the reverse lay-up to avoid height in the post. Poulsen moves well off the ball to get to his shot spots, is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch, and has active hands and good footwork to stay in front of his opponent, and cause turnovers by poking the ball out. Poulsen played at a high-level at the Fall Shootout and showed the depth of the Guardians and why they will be a team to keep an eye on once the postseason arrives.     Price is a shifty and skilled combo guard that can spray shots from various spots on the floor, as well as provide elite perimeter defense to make life difficult for opposing guards. Price keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, is aggressive in looking to attack holes in the defense and get paint touches, has touch on the floater down the lane, great body control on the mid-range jumper, and is efficient with the 3-ball off the bounce. He uses the between cross, the low crossover, and the hesitation to get his defender off balance, has the court vision to find open players cutting off the ball, is a great positional rebounder that looks to advance the ball up the court, has a great burst of speed off the dribble with the physical prowess to score at the basket with contact using the up-and-under or Euro-step lay-ups to evade length at the basket. Price is at his best when he is hunting the jumper, with the control and skill to connect on the spin-fade, fadeaway, and one-leg jumper off the bounce routinely. Defensively, Price has the lateral quickness, quick hands, and good timing to rip the ball out or deflect passes in the passing lanes to turn defense to offense, and has the bounce to get the chase down block or alter perimeter shots. He scored 13 points in St. Joseph's win over Clovis North.     Tucker is a crafty shooting guard that can score in volume from beyond the arc, and showed improved shot-making off the dribble at the Fall Shootout. Tucker moves fluidly off the ball, gets to his shot spots, squares up his shoulder to be ready for shots off the catch, with accuracy from the 3-point line. Tucker uses the crossover and hesitation to get space from his defender, showed he can hit the mid-range jumper off the bounce with the body control to fadeaway, and was more aggressive when attacking the paint, with a few crafty finishes around the basket. Tucker will be relied upon to space the floor for the Broncos, but his overall game is making strides as well.     Schalk is a sharp shooting guard that continues to develop the handles and moves to be a true 3-level scorer for the Panthers. Schalk has a strong handle on the ball, makes great use of the quick crossover, the between cross, and the hesitation to get his defender off balance, has touch on the floater down the lane, and is efficient with the mid-range jumper off the bounce, which he was looking to get to more frequently at the Fall Shootout. Schalk moves well off the ball using off ball screens, is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch or the dribble, and has the court vision to make tough reads when attacking off the drive. Schalk put up 15 points in the Panthers win over St. Joseph, and will be a relied upon scoring option this coming season.     Simmons is a lengthy and wiry wing/guard that plays with good energy and impacts the game around the basket. Simmons uses the crossover to get by his defender with a good burst of speed, looks to get into the paint, has the body control to take contact down the lane and score at the basket, and threw down an impressive dunk off the pick and roll lob action. Simmons is solid on the boards, gets the ball out to his primary guards, and runs the floor well to get ahead of the defense for easy catch and score opportunities in transition.

This past weekend, September 13th – 14th, Clovis West hosted its annual Fall Shootout at the Eagles Nest. The event featured teams from Fresno, Santa Maria, Stockton, Elk Grove, Madera, Merced, and Modesto. Teams played in a showcase game format, with led to some intriguing match-ups, none more thrilling than powerhouses St. Joseph and San Joaquin Memorial squaring off. This article is part 2 of a two-part piece that looks at 8 more standout juniors, which will be followed by a look at standout underclassmen from the event. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order. I begin this article with standout defender Jahlil Montgomery.