Cantwell continued his good play this last part of the summer at George Fox. While there weren’t as many opportunities as he had in the AAU tournaments we’ve seen him recently, whenever he did have the ball in his hands he made them count. The rising Nelson senior wing knocked down open jumpers – arguably one of the best outside shooters we saw out of all participants – and was effective finishing in transition with a number of fast break layups.

If we had to pick the top rising senior we saw all weekend, Cantwell would be our choice. The Nelson wing was simply lights out from the perimeter in every game we watched that he played in, whether it was with Pressure Elite in the Varsity division or with McCaffrey in 17U/16U. If defenders gave him any kind of space on open jumpers, it was basically a layup and Cantwell buried shots even as defenders rushed out to contest. While he averaged probably 5 threes in every game we watched, Cantwell didn’t just bomb away as he had a number of solid drives and finishes at the hoop. With the scoring also came some nice feeds to teammates for scores and he was big on the boards too. 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists in the 17U/16U semis and then another 26 points (6 threes) in the finals win over Pressure Elite. He’s unquestionably one of the most underrated and underrecruited seniors in the state.

Cantwell really emerged this off-season with expanding his game from being mainly an outside sniper to more of an all-around scoring guard. That showed during Pacific Elite Camp but what also caught our eye was not only his willingness to share the ball, but the court vision and pinpoint passing he brought to the table as he often found teammates cutting to the basket for layups.

Having been more of a main option previously this summer, with star guards Braylon Gaines Braylon Gaines 6'0" | PG Nelson | 2027 State OR and Jaydon Schregardus Jaydon Schregardus 5'11" | CG Nelson | 2027 State OR both in action, Cantwell settled just as nicely into a support role. In an intense win over Ridgeview, the rising senior wing was still dropping threes and getting other buckets inside the arc as well. When the dust settled, he finished with 17 points.

Another shooting star on the day at the Happy Rock Tournament was Cantwell, who had his jumper fully locked down. The rising senior was deadly from deep, hitting six threes, but was also hitting from the mid-range and also using the dribble to create for himself and getting finishes around the hoop, especially in transition. Cantwell has been one of the top perimeter shooters in the state that most people haven’t heard of but as a primary scorer this upcoming season for the Hawks, that will obviously change. He finished with 32 points.

Cantwell showed why he’s considered one of the top juniors in the Mt. Hood Conference. A confident, streaky shooter with deep range, he played with poise and knocked down five three-pointers on his way to 17 points. Cantwell also held his own defensively, rounding out a strong two-way performance.