Most Intriguing Prospects: Centralia vs Belleville East
The Centralia Thanksgiving Tournament concluded its pre-turkey day hoops slate of the event on Wednesday with the host Orphans and Belleville East. It was a low scoring and close game. Centralia made a couple key plays late to hold on 49-44. Here we breakdown our Most Intriguing Prospects: Centralia vs Belleville East.
G Mason Blakemore (Centralia – 2021)
The breakout player of the night was this Centralia two guard. Blakemore stands at 6’0” with an athletic build. Definitely uses that athletic pop on both ends of the floor. Flies around making plays with his length defensively. He connected on several threes off the catch. Overall smooth player with a solid skill set. Liked his passing especially late in the game making the correct pass that led to buckets. Finished with 15 points.
PG Bryan Meskil (Centralia – 2019)
Meskil is the veteran of this group. The 5’8” point guard isn’t overly projectable, but he brings shooting to the table. Spaces the floor although he only knocked down one in this game we know that is his forte. Scrappy kid that isn’t afraid to mix it up. He had 8 points.
PG Jamie Long (Centralia – 2020)
Long runs the show for the Orphans. He has been doing that since his freshman season when he was given the keys and now this is his team. He prefers to set others up and make those around him better. Drive and kick ability. Knows the offense so well he hits guys on the money where they can score. He went for 7 points.
PG Tyree Westbrook (Centralia – 2020)
Westbrook is a tiny 5’9” point guard that brought some energy to his team. Shot the ball well from three.
SF Khalifah Muhammad (Belleville East – 2019)
Best prospect in the game was this Belleville East 6’5” small forward. He transferred over from Althoff. You can tell he is still trying to find his way a bit with this team. He is by far and away the best scorer on Belleville East. Talented ISO scorer that sets up defenders. At times in this game he settled too much for contested jumpers considering his size, strength, and athletic advantage. He does have a nice looking shot that he connected on from three early. Mixed in a couple drives including one where he got to the rim converting off a jump stop along with a transition layup. Went for 13 points. Prospect that will get a bump in our next update after a strong showing in the fall. More colleges should be tracking him.
SG Isaiah May (Belleville East – 2019)
May is a long and rangy two guard that can be a factor on both ends of the floor. He has the ability to check multiple positions on the defensive end of the floor. Offensively he is at his best slashing taking quality angles on drives. Lived in the lane. He had 10 points.
SG Braxton Stacker (Belleville East – 2022)
Stacker only scored 2 points, but he peaked our interest. The 6’3” freshman two guard has excellent size already along with a projectable frame. Explosive driver, crisp ball handler, made a couple sweet passes, and rebounded in limited minutes. One to track down the line.