Central Cali’s Standout Players: Buchanan v. Clovis West Game

Fresno, CA - Last Friday night, I made the trip up to Fresno to catch two of my top 10 teams in a TRAC league match-up of two undefeated league teams in the Buchanan Bears of Clovis at the Clovis West Golden Eagles gym, the Eagles Nest. The Golden Eagles had the lead after one quarter and down only 7 going into the half, but the Bears had a big 3rd quarter that led to a 20-point victory for Buchanan, and remaining undefeated in league play. In this article I look at 8 players that had standout showings by positions: guards, wings, and forwards. I discuss how they played in the game and their relevant statistics, which are my own personal statistics. I will follow this with standout players from two MLK showcases I attended over the holiday weekend.   Buchanan Bears (Clovis) 75 Clovis West Golden Eagles (Fresno) 55   Standout Guards:   5'9 Des Patton (Point Guard | 2026) Buchanan Bears   Patton put on a great display of point guard play last Friday in Buchanan's win over Clovis West, as he controlled the pace of play, orchestrated the offense, and was advantageous in scoring the ball when the opportunities presented themselves. Patton would put up a monster stat line of 12 points, 12 assists, and 5 steals, as he would make timely reads up the court off the turnover, made pin-point passes to teammates cutting off the ball in the half-court setting, and timely passes to players on the dive out of the pick and roll action, or flaring off the screen for the perimeter shot. Patton did a solid job of showcasing his tough on-ball defense, active hands and quick feet to get into his opponents dribbling space, and the instincts to poke the ball out or jump passing lanes to turn defense to offense. Patton was opportunistic scoring the ball, as he would use the quick crossover and burst of speed off the bounce to attack open lanes, and score at the basket when catching the defense off guard.   6'1 Josiah Perry (Combo Guard | 2028) Buchanan Bears   Perry displayed the ability to score the ball from 3-levels and was a noticeable addition to the Bears roster, which I had not seen play live since the Fall, where he was in football season and not on the court yet. Perry connected on a pair of threes in the second quarter that helped open up the court and driving lanes for him and his teammates to attack off the dribble drive. Buchanan went into the half with a 7-point lead, 33 to 26, and he would continue to provide a consistent scoring punch that helped the Bears extend the lead in the second half and finished the game with 16 points. Perry has solid handles, uses the crossover, between-cross, and hesitation moves to get by his initial defender, gets good lift on the pull-up middy off the bounce, is accurate with the 3-ball off the dribble or the catch, with good off-ball movement, and is a crafty scorer around the basket. Perry is a solid perimeter defender with good lateral quickness to stay in front of his opponent, the wingspan to deflect passes and jump passing lanes, and displays his athleticism in transition.    6' Jace Kellogg (Point Guard | 2026) Clovis West Golden Eagles   Kellogg has been one of the top scorers in the Section this season, as he set the single-game scoring record for the Golden Eagles with 52 points against West Tracy. Kellogg had his scoring arsenal on display in the loss to Buchanan of Clovis, as he would lead Clovis West in scoring with 19 points, along with 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Kellogg was the one bright spot when it came to putting points on the board, being the only Golden Eagle to score in double digits. Kellogg has elite handles, a great burst of speed off the bounce, can score it from 3-levels, has the moves to create space from his defender, with the use of the crossover, between-cross, toss-cross, behind-cross, gets great lift on the jumper with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line with range, and has great body control when attacking the basket, using the Euro and reverse lay-ups to evade shot blockers, as well as touch on the floater. Kellogg will continue to be relied upon to carry the scoring load for Clovis West and he is more than up to the task, as he displayed against Buchanan.   Standout Wings:   6'3 Jaiden Anderson (Wing | 2026) Buchanan Bears    Anderson was a key factor in the Bears pulling away in the 3rd quarter, after only being up by seven going into the break, as he would catch fire and score 10 of his 14 points in said quarter, connecting on a pair of threes in the process. Anderson would add 6 rebounds and 2 steals to his stat line and he used his physical and athletic frame to control the glass, as well as score through contact at the basket. Anderson moves well off the ball, gets to his shot spots, and has great lift on the jumper to get his shot off over most perimeter defenders, with accuracy from beyond the arc off the catch. Anderson is a versatile defender with the lateral quickness and foot-speed to stay in front of perimeter players, the length and strength to hold up against bigger players, and has a good burst of speed off the bounce to enforce his way to the cup. He will be a key senior piece for the Bears looking to win the TRAC and make a dead run in the post-season.   6'3 Luke DeManby (Wing/Guard | 2028) Buchanan Bears   DeManby was the other sophomore that had a huge 2nd quarter scoring the ball, which was needed as leading scorer [player_tooltip player_id='2915953' first='Rhead' last='Sweeney'] and senior Brayden Harris were both sidelined most of the half with foul trouble. DeManby came in and chipped in 8 points in the second quarter, his overall game total, and connected on 2 threes to match fellow sophomore Josiah Perry's pair of threes to give the Bears a seven point lead going into the break. DeManby was active on the glass as well, pulling down 5 rebounds and extending possessions for Buchanan with multiple shot opportunities on the offensive glass. DeManby moves fluidly off the ball, gets to his shot spots, squares up to be ready to fire, and is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch. Tough on-ball defender that plays with relentless energy, gets into his opponents dribbling space, has quick hands to poke the ball out or jump passing lanes, and runs the floor well in the open court. Big part of this year, but even more so the next three years.   6'4 [player_tooltip player_id='2915953' first='Rhead' last='Sweeney'] (Wing/Guard | 2028) Buchanan Bears    Sweeney has had an impressive sophomore season, and has led the Bears in scoring this season with some big scoring outputs. Sweeney got off to a hot start with five points in the first quarter, but picked up his 2nd foul early in the second quarter and was forced to sit the remainder of the half. With fellow sophomores DeManby and Perry picking up the scoring, the coaching staff was able to keep Sweeney off the court and avoid that third foul before half. Sweeney made up for it in the 2nd half as he would score 15 of his game-high 20 points after the break and connected on 3 threes over the course of the game. Sweeney has solid handles, uses the crossover, between-cross, and hesitation moves to create off the perimeter, has great body control to score at the basket with the Euro-step and reverse lay-ups in his arsenal, and gets good lift with the height and length to shoot over most perimeter defenders, and is accurate with the jumper from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the dribble. What makes Sweeney one of the top scoring threats in the 2028 class in the Section is his ability to score with or without the ball in his hands, as he moves fluidly off the ball, understands floor spacing, and can light it up from beyond the arc off the catch. Good positional rebounder to push the ball up the court and the vision to find open teammates when the defense over-pursues.   6'4 David Hinton IV (Wing/Guard | 2028) Clovis West Golden Eagles    Hinton had a solid showing and is a player that Clovis West can build around with the other young players on this season's roster. Hinton had 4 points and 4 assists but showed flashes of what he can be over the next few years, as he has a good perimeter skill set to operate off the wing, along with the height and size to play at the high post and make good reads or create shots. Hinton has solid handles, uses the between-cross, crossover, behind-cross, spin-move, and hesitation moves to get by his initial defender, has a smooth stroke on the jumper with the ability to connect from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the bounce, and good body control when attacking the basket with the spin-move and Euro-step to evade height at the basket. Hinton has good court vision and decision making with the ball in his hands, makes tough passes in tight windows, is a dual threat in the pick and roll action to either find the roller or pull-up for the jumper, and does a solid job on the boards. Really liked what I saw last Friday from the sophomore and a player to keep an eye on, as he could jump up the ranks for the 2028 class.    Standout Forward:   6'5 Hunter Bradford (Forward | 2028) Clovis West Golden Eagles   Bradford has continued to be that reliable force in the paint for Clovis West this season, and, despite only being a sophomore, he has stepped into that role nicely and gets better each time I see him live. Bradford was really the only other player that contributed to the score board in a significant way when the game was still in reach for the Golden Eagles, as he would score 8 points through three quarters, along with collecting 9 rebounds to lead all players. Bradford has great feel around the basket once he receives the entry pass from the perimeter, uses the pump-fake to get bigs out of position, has touch on finishes on the up-and-under lay-up, is effective with the face-up jumper from the mid-post, has good court vision from the top of the key to find players cutting off the ball, is active on the glass with good positioning and allows for put-back opportunities, and seals his man off on the dive out of the pick and roll action.

Fresno, CA - Last Friday night, I made the trip up to Fresno to catch two of my top 10 teams in a TRAC league match-up of two undefeated league teams in the Buchanan Bears of Clovis at the Clovis West Golden Eagles gym, the Eagles Nest. The Golden Eagles had the lead after one quarter and down only 7 going into the half, but the Bears had a big 3rd quarter that led to a 20-point victory for Buchanan, and remaining undefeated in league play. In this article I look at 8 players that had standout showings by positions: guards, wings, and forwards. I discuss how they played in the game and their relevant statistics, which are my own personal statistics. I will follow this with standout players from two MLK showcases I attended over the holiday weekend.