Standouts: Clearwater Fall League (Tuesday Night)

<p>On Tuesday night, I made my way over to the Ross Norton Recreation Center for some high school basketball action in Clearwater.</p> <p>Countryside lit up the scoreboard with an 83-56 victory over Hudson while Calvary Christian held on for a scrappy win over Clearwater 56-52. A young Largo team beat CCCS (a local recreational team) during the game in between the ones listed above.</p> <p>Here is a look at what we learned from the night.</p> <h3><strong>Countryside has a trio of dynamic juniors</strong></h3> <p>2021 6'3" guard <strong>EJ Hubbert</strong> and 2021 6'4" guard <strong>Anthony Bittar</strong> came over from Oldsmar Christian and both have brought endless scoring to this new look group. Hubbert was active, playing hard nosed defense, embracing contact and hitting from the mid-range. Bittar caught fire in the first half with four 3's and is a slasher who can dunk in transition and fight on the boards.</p> <p>2021 5'11" guard <strong>Mikey Shane</strong> is the quiet and determined leader of this team. He is a surefire shooter, who had seven 3's from my count in the second half alone. He's improved as an attacker as well. Countryside also has 2020 5'10" guard <strong>Noah Tran</strong> (transfer from Palm Harbor), a dangerous shooter and 2021 6'3" forward <strong>Michael Blake</strong> (transfer from Clearwater) to help the cause.</p> <h3><strong>Calvary Christian plays hard</strong></h3> <p>2020 6'7" guard <strong>Josh Berenbaum</strong> was doing everything on the court, handling the rock, getting up for boards, shooting from the top of the key and simply setting the tone for his Calvary Christian group.</p> <p>Three other pieces were impressive in the victory over Clearwater for the Warriors. 2021 6' guard <strong>Griffin Barasa</strong> was powerful as a lead guard and took the pressure off Berenbaum and others. 2022 6'2 guard <strong>Trevor Parks</strong> has improved two-fold since last season and continues to be an asset from long range. 2023 6'1" guard <strong>Tristan Gross</strong> hit some important 3's for his side and plays with a ton of speed and confidence for a true freshman.</p> <h3><strong>Clearwater has endless speed</strong></h3> <p>2020 6'5" guard <strong>Max Jones </strong>went to work against Berenbaum in the nightcap and both did a good job in open space. Jones is a good shooter and the clear alpha for Clearwater. Calvary Christian threw everything they had at him and Jones still had a solid game despite the added attention.</p> <p>A pair of 2022 athletes in 5'7" guard <strong>AJ Wright </strong>and 6' guard <strong>CJ Lee </strong>move the ball around and are super shifty. Wright is undersized, but boy is he quick and he is able to finish with both hands around the rim. Lee is a good poised shooter, fast guard who is packed with upside if he continues to develop.</p> <h3><strong>Hoglund is a workhorse</strong></h3> <p>Transferring over from Fivay, 2020 6' guard <strong>Hunter Hoglund </strong>was rock solid for Hudson in the loss to Countryside. He was battling in one-on-one ball with bigger defenders as he went to the basket and finished through contact. Hoglund lives to fight another day if he misses and he keeps the tempo going for his side. Look for him to have a good senior year. Hoglund should get Division III/JUCO looks simply because of his basketball IQ and overall effort level.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">2023 Calvary Christian guard Tristan Gross beats the halftime buzzer with this triple. <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsCalvary?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SportsCalvary</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/KebBurley?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KebBurley</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/reale1t1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@reale1t1</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TheTristanGross?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheTristanGross</a> <a href="https://t.co/8Z0vqS5Jr4">pic.twitter.com/8Z0vqS5Jr4</a></p> — ᴊᴀᴋᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴘᴇʀ (@JakePerper) <a href="https://twitter.com/JakePerper/status/1174124316130185216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2019</a></blockquote> <p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>