Going Camping: Small Town Standouts

June camp season brought more opportunities to see prospects from outside the metro areas. Here's a few that are expected to play pivotal roles in the race to the Coliseum.    In some ways it's a new era for Dale basketball, but they also return three outstanding seniors who grew up quite a bit over last season. As the forefront of that group is Meely, and he looked the part of a dominant small town player at UCO team camp. He was a beast in a win over Collinsville. He's capable of living on the rims with oops and pushing it himself in transition for dunks. Not just a low post presence, he's a solid shooter from three and the mid-range. Which makes him that much tougher of the cover in half court situations, as opponents must close out on him. Finding the right balance between perimeter scoring and dominating the post will be key for Meely and company to add to Dale's impressive trophy collection.     Stephens has been quite productive since his freshman year, capping it off by leading Wewoka to a Class 2A State Tournament appearance. Now with Stephens and his squad established, they're looking to stay in the title picture. The lefty is a quick twitch guard, making him a transition threat. And capable of carving up the defense in the halfcourt, with good acrobatic finishing at the rim. Add in three point shooting and he's set to build off his 17.6 point per game scoring average from his sophomore season.     The northern Oklahoma guard has been an underrated athlete in the class. As he's bouncy in transition and off cuts to the rim in the halfcourt. Has a good motor, as along with the dunks he hunts for putback attempts and fights hard for rebounds. With a team filled with quality guards, Garfield appears to do some of the key dirty work. And brings some verticality and momentum with his dunks.     Hernandez made quite the splash in last year's Class 2A Area Finals, with a buzzer overtime three. Which punched Riverside's ticket to State. At a team camp in Washington in June, he was absolutely flame throwing from deep. He wasn't just cashing out in catch and shoot situations. Hernandez can freeze defenders for a split second with quick dribble moves, then use his quick release to pull off the dribble. Riverside has a star guard to play around, but expect Hernandez to play his part with threes and gravity to space the floor.     Trimmer helped Latta to a Class 2A State Tournament appearance, and has posted impressive highlight tapes for his first two high school and AAU seasons. Earlier the month in Washington was the first in person viewing of the Latta Panther. After a slow start in the first scrimmage, he showed more juice in the second scrimmage. Hitting from deep and scoring a floater off the bounce. Shooting is his top trait, but there's a smoothness to his handles and ability to get into the mid-range or loft floaters over rim protectors.

June camp season brought more opportunities to see prospects from outside the metro areas. Here's a few that are expected to play pivotal roles in the race to the Coliseum.