Game Of The Week: KS Select Red_2030 vs Stay Sober Elite

The historic run of the KS Select Red_2030 squad cannot be understated. This team will be the first group of 8th graders from Kansas to compete for the Jr EYBL Championships at the Peach Jam in Augusta, Georgia, this July 8th-12th. Before that, this past Wednesday, they participated in a quick tune-up matchup before the games. The opponent, Stay Sober Elite, another 8th-grade opponent who came to fight, but just didn't have quite the artillery. Both squads, I believe, got what they wanted out of this matchup, which was some form of improvement. The matchup, unfortunately, was not close at all to the disdain of Stay Sober Elite, but they received a lot of learning in one night. By the end of the game, you could see that they started to settle down a bit and compete without caring about how it looked. KS Select, on the other hand, started out the gate a little bit slow but made swift defensive adjustments in the 1st Quarter that catapulted them to an insurmountable lead late in the 1st. Once that happened, they became surgical with their ball movement on the perimeter and got into the paint with ease. Once they got there, finishing at the rim got better as the game went on. Each of the players was able to receive some significant minutes of play, and Coach Jared Mocaby of [program_tooltip program_id='3612975' first='Kansas' last='Select'] had a stress-free night at the helm. Here are the players of the game on both sides:      5'10 On-ball defensive stopper. He was able to completely shut down Stay Sober Elite from getting across half-court without turning the ball over and dictated the entire flow of the game from the outset.       The game was actually close in the first 4 minutes of the game until Brian decided to go on a 10-0 run by himself and basically break the game open with his back-to-back steals, along with a couple of threes for good measure.     He is willing to give up his body for the ball and is becoming a threat from outside, as well as being a high-riser in the paint.     5'11 guard that plays within himself and doesn't overthink things too much. Has a strong IQ for the game and always finds himself getting easy steals or easy buckets because of it.     Does a good job helping on the boards on both ends and seems to be figuring out where his game is most effective, which seems to be in the 2nd level scoring areas of the midrange and floater range.     6'2-3 Point guard who has expanded his handles and his overall game since the last time I saw him a year ago. He got about 2 inches taller and is clearly working on finishing and scoring with his off hand more. His shooting is also better, plus his court vision on the swing pass is getting dangerous for opponents. He's understanding the importance of getting into the paint once a play breaks down, which shows his overall IQ growth as well. The game is starting to slow down for him, which is gonna be scary.       6'3 Big #0 For Stay Sober Elite who establishes his position and contests well for Offensive rebounds and does a good job of competing overall despite being down significantly in this game. Most impressively, he has already developed a solid free-throw shooting routine that had him pretty much automatic from the charity strike in this game.     #11 for Stay Sober Elite, who is an explosive athlete with high potential on the defensive end. Despite a loss, Jaylan had the most impressive individual play in the game ( a block) that had the whole gym gasping for air. He plays strong and could play a huge role in Stay Sober Elite's future in games like these.

The historic run of the KS Select Red_2030 squad cannot be understated. This team will be the first group of 8th graders from Kansas to compete for the Jr EYBL Championships at the Peach Jam in Augusta, Georgia, this July 8th-12th. Before that, this past Wednesday, they participated in a quick tune-up matchup before the games. The opponent, Stay Sober Elite, another 8th-grade opponent who came to fight, but just didn't have quite the artillery. Both squads, I believe, got what they wanted out of this matchup, which was some form of improvement. The matchup, unfortunately, was not close at all to the disdain of Stay Sober Elite, but they received a lot of learning in one night. By the end of the game, you could see that they started to settle down a bit and compete without caring about how it looked. KS Select, on the other hand, started out the gate a little bit slow but made swift defensive adjustments in the 1st Quarter that catapulted them to an insurmountable lead late in the 1st. Once that happened, they became surgical with their ball movement on the perimeter and got into the paint with ease. Once they got there, finishing at the rim got better as the game went on. Each of the players was able to receive some significant minutes of play, and Coach Jared Mocaby of Kansas Select had a stress-free night at the helm. Here are the players of the game on both sides: