BCHS’s Meet in the Middle Mania: Standout Wing/Slashers

This past weekend, Bakersfield Christian hosted the inaugural Meet in the Middle Mania Showcase, featuring 3 teams from Northern California (Destiny Christian Lions of Sacramento, Vanden Vikings of Fairfield, and Weston Ranch Cougars of Stockton) and 3 teams from Southern California (Pacifica Christian Tritons of Newport Beach, Legacy Christian Lions of Valencia, and host team Bakersfield Christian) in a round robin format so that each team played a team from the opposing region. The event started Thursday and wrapped up on Saturday. Along with the quality teams, the event hosted some high-level prospects, which will be covered in this 4-part series of player evaluations. In this article, I look at six wing/slashers that had standout performances in the first two days that I was at the showcase. This article includes the following information: player's information, my own personal recorded statistics, and a brief description of each player's skill sets. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and will be followed by an article on top forwards. We begin this article with senior Austin Brinker.    The 6-foot-6 wing is active on the boards, moves fluidly off the ball to get open looks off the catch, and has the wingspan and lateral agility to be a versatile defender that has the length to alter/block shots in the paint, as well as stay in front of perimeter players and generate turnovers from steals or altering shots on the wing. Brinker had two impressive games scoring in double-digits, as he would go for 12 points in the win over Vanden of Fairfield, followed by a 10 point game in a win over Weston Ranch of Stockton. Brinker has solid handles, uses the crossover and the spin-move to create space from his defender, and gets good lift on the mid-range jumper off the bounce with good body control when taking contact. Brinker uses the Euro-step and reverse lay-ups to score around height in the paint, crashes the boards to get putbacks, has the handle to push the ball up the court, and the court vision to find players cutting off the ball or up the court in transition. Wiry player that gets open in the dunker spot slashing off the ball or using back-cuts to get open for easy shots at the basket.     The 6-foot-4 wing/guard can score the ball from 3-levels, and is a versatile defender that has the physicality to hold up against bigger players in the post, as well as the lateral quickness and active hands to stay in front of perimeter players, and poke the ball out or deflect passes to get out in the open court. Carraway had two solid showings at the Meet in the Middle Showcase with games of 14 points and a pair of threes in a loss to Pacifica Christian of Newport, followed by another 14 points showing and a pair of threes to go along with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Carraway has a strong handle on the rock, uses the crossover, between cross, and behind cross to get his defender off balance, get great lift on the jumper with the height to shoot over most defenders, is accurate from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the bounce, and has the strength to bully his way to the basket and score through contact. Carraway is active on the boards, has good timing and bounce to block shots from the weakside, as well as on the perimeter with timely closeouts, and hit the stepback 3-ball a few times to show his scoring arsenal. Carraway had one of the top highlights of the event with a put-back dunk as he came flying in from the right side baseline that had me and others out of our seats.     The 6-foot-3 wing has a physical build, the moves to create his own offense, and the versatility to defend perimeter players, as well as bigger players in the post on switches. Finney was not suited up for the Cougars opening game but was ready for action on Day 2 against the event's only undefeated team, Pacifica Christian of Newport, where he would score 12 points and 5 rebounds in the loss. Finney is active on the glass to get putbacks, has active hands and good footwork to stay in front of perimeter defenders, gets into his opponent's dribbling space, and looks to poke the ball out or jump passing lanes to create turnovers to get out in the open court. Finney has solid handles, uses the crossover, hesitation, and the spin-move to create space from his defender, looks to get into the paint off the dribble routinely, has the strength to score through contact at the basket, and is accurate with the 3-ball off the bounce. Finney looks to back down smaller players with the ability to spin-off his defender and get the shot off with the mid-range jumper. One of four talented and impact sophomores that the Cougars will build around the next three years.     The 6-foot-5 wing/guard is a dynamic shot maker from the perimeter, is a high-level versatile defender, and can make plays for teammates when the defense converges on him. Killebrew has taken the next step to be one of the primary scorers for the Eagles this season, with some big time scoring performances in the early going of the season. However, that does not take away from the reality that Killebrew is at his best when he makes winning basketball plays and is not hyperfocused on just being a scorer. In the opening game of the event, Killebrew had 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block. That was followed by a game with 10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists, and 2 blocks to highlight his ability to fill up the statsheet. Killebrew has the length and height to defend bigger players in the paint, the agility, wingspan, and footspeed to stay in front of perimeter players, active hands to deflect passes or poke the ball out to generate steals, and is a shot blocker in the post and on the perimeter. Killebrew has solid handles, uses the crossover, toss cross, behind cross, and the spin-move to get his defender off balance, gets great lift on the jumper with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line, is a creative scorer around the basket with the Euro-step, reverse, and up-and-under lay-ups to score amongst height, and is a threat to take flight at the rim in the halfcourt or transition setting. Killebrew has good court vision, makes good decisions with the ball in his hands, is a high-level rebounder that can find players up the court or cutting off the ball. He had a jumper in his second game that displayed the elite shotmaking Killebrew is capable of, as he went to the spin-move, reverse back, and back to the spin-move to connect on the fade away middy.     The 6-foot-4 wing can space the floor from beyond the arc, is active on the glass, and runs the floor well in the open court. Owens had a strong opening game for the Cougars in a tough 2 point loss to event hosts Bakersfield Christian, as he would go for 16 points connecting on 3 threes to go along with 7 rebounds. Owens moves well off the ball, gets to his shot spots, has the handles with use of the crossover to create space from his defender, and is accurate with the 3-ball off the bounce or the catch. Owen crashes the boards, gets easy points off the putbacks, has the length to alter/block shots around the basket, and has the strength score through contact when attacking the basket. Owen has good length and is effective with the jumper from the elbows.     The 6-foot-4 wing/guard has great movement off the ball, keeps moving to get to his shot spots, is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch, and uses the pump-fake to get his defender off the ground to open up lanes to attack off the dribble. Rigdon had a great showing at the Meet in the Middle showcase, as he would lead the Tritons in scoring to go undefeated in the round-robin style showcase and earned MVP honors in the process. Rigdon had 11 points in Pacifica Christian's first win over Vanden of Fairfield, followed by 17 points connecting on 3 threes in the win over Weston Ranch of Stockton. I was not present on Day 3 of the event, but he would go for 30 points in the win over Destiny Christian of Sacramento. Rigdon has good handles, uses the crossover, behind cross, and the hesitation moves to get his defender off balance, gets good lift on the jumper with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line, and is a crafty finisher around the basket with the Euro-step and reverse lay-ups to score around height in the paint. Rigdon crashes the glass, has the handles to push the pace of play, makes good reads for players up the court or teammates cutting off the ball, as well as timely dimes to bigs in the pick and roll action. Rigdon plays with a fast but controlled pace, has a great burst of speed off the bounce, and scores in volume.

This past weekend, Bakersfield Christian hosted the inaugural Meet in the Middle Mania Showcase, featuring 3 teams from Northern California (Destiny Christian Lions of Sacramento, Vanden Vikings of Fairfield, and Weston Ranch Cougars of Stockton) and 3 teams from Southern California (Pacifica Christian Tritons of Newport Beach, Legacy Christian Lions of Valencia, and host team Bakersfield Christian) in a round robin format so that each team played a team from the opposing region. The event started Thursday and wrapped up on Saturday. Along with the quality teams, the event hosted some high-level prospects, which will be covered in this 4-part series of player evaluations. In this article, I look at six wing/slashers that had standout performances in the first two days that I was at the showcase. This article includes the following information: player's information, my own personal recorded statistics, and a brief description of each player's skill sets. The players are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order, and will be followed by an article on top forwards. We begin this article with senior Austin Brinker.