Hill hails from Baltimore and is absolutely ELECTRIC. The 5-foot-8 guard has incredible quickness and a phenomenal handle, so he can get paint touches whenever he wants. Once he gets there, he has excellent vision and unselfishness and sets up his teammates consistently. If the defense doesn’t collapse, Hill will get all the way to the rim and finish quite comfortably for a player of his size. He will be attending CATS Academy next season and will be an awesome watch whenever he’s on the floor.

14p 8a 2r 2s vs NY Lightning

-Loved the progression with Hill’s maturity throughout games, as he is channeling his passion into providing aggressive 2-way value as a point guard capable of playing on or off the ball. Hill really ratcheted up the defensive ball pressure midway through the 3Q to turn a double-digit deficit into a 12-point win by bottling up and turning over opposing guards along the sideline. Hill also impressed at the offensive end of the floor, showing the full versatility in his skillset by seeking out contact on drives and drawing fouls, knocking down floaters after getting into the teeth of the defense, pushing the pace and making timely reads in transition, knocking down perimeter jumpers behind screens, and throwing runout passes over the top to maximize his teammates’ advantage in transition for layups and jumpers at the other end. Eight assists to only two turnovers showed the improvement of his decision-making in tight gaps, as Hill struck the balance between throwing timely passes and avoiding risky passes into traffic.

Hill was on a heater all weekend and it wasn’t just with his scoring performances. His tight handle, cat-like quickness and quick processing to fit the ball into tight windows off the live dribble led to a plethora of buckets. When Hill is playing with balance and confidence, you’ll see the jumper fall consistently and that’s what took place throughout S1. Whether he was leading the break or quickly getting to spots off the bounce in the half court, when he sets his feet with a strong base, good things happen. The sharing of on-ball duties between he and Darrell Davis make for a hellacious duo that should cause massive issues in UAA play moving forward.

I thought Hill looked improved in this viewing compared to the weekend prior and it had to do with his overall pace and decision making when it came to being an aggressive slasher. Hill has high-level twitch on the ball and can change directions in the blink of an eye before the help side defenders knew what hit them. When he’s initiating high ball screens and snaking them, Hill causes a ton of problems for defenses because it forces the big to decide whether he’ll switch or continue his drop coverage. If the switch is aggressive, Hill makes tough pocket passes look routine. If he probes his way into the paint he can quickly process the defense and find shooters on the weakside spotting up. Lastly, when he’s playing with the pace and balance that he was on Saturday, Hill can get into his midrange jumper with rhythm and good results.

Samartine Hill is a player that I’ve gotten more familiar with over the past few weeks, and he’s becoming one of my favorite players to watch. He is an aggressive driver who, despite his size, has no fear driving the ball. He is one of the most crafty finishers I saw on the day and is a pretty good athlete. Samartine’ is outstanding in space and can score effectively from all over the court. He is a pest of a defender and has elite quickness. He averaged 21.5 PPG and 5.5 RPG in two Mount Carmel wins. 

Despite his smaller stature, Samartine Hill is a dynamic floor general. His quick decision-making, excellent ball-handling skills, and ability to energize his teammates highlight his leadership capabilities as a point guard.

is a small and quick PG who sees the floor at a high level. Samartine’ has one of the better handles at the event, and he knows how to dictate the pace of a game. I’d put Samartine’ up there with almost anyone when it comes to the best passers in the DMV. Samartine’ is an outstanding perimeter defender who puts a lot of pressure on opposing guards. He’s an acrobatic finisher, and you can see he’s the vocal leader for Mt. Carmel. Samartine’ had a combined 28 points and 10 assists in two games. 

18p 4a 2r 1s vs Malvern Prep

-Counted out by some scouts and coaches due to his size, Hill continues to be extremely productive as the head of the snake for a deep OLMC group. Hill leverages his size and speed to throw his matchup off balance and get downhill even through the smallest of gaps in the defense. Once he’s generated paint touches and distributed to teammates, he will usually find opportunities to reject ball screens to knock down perimeter looks from beyond the arc. Proving that he can be a lockdown POA defender while limiting fouls and turnovers will be key in winning over college coaches to his brand of basketball.

16p 5r 3a vs Jackson Reed, 7p 9r 5a 1 charge drawn vs Shabach

-Consistency will continue to be the name of the game for this junior floor general as he develops his feel as a leader. Loved his change of pace with this one and his assertive decision-making off the bounce. Hill’s aggressive brand of basketball often earns him several trips to the FT line or great advantage creation scenarios when he is able to keep his defender on his hip once he gets past them. A proven shooter both off the catch or off the dribble that can also finish well around the basket, I want to see him find more opportunities to come off of screens or closeouts by getting to space to hit open 18-footers. Love the way that he leverages his size and quickness in ball screens at the defensive end of the floor to come up with deflections or push the ballhandler towards the sideline or towards halfcourt to disrupt the flow of the opposing offense.

Samartine’ impressed me with his all-around play with Team Thrill DQ recently. He scored the ball well in spurts with smooth shooting and timely drives. His biggest impact on the game was his defense and critical late-game playmaking. Samartine’ carried the team through the final minutes with crucial assists to shooters and cutters. He was able to slice through the first line of defense and get into scoring position in order to find his guys. Defensively he took the task of guarding some big-time guys like Lonnie Lyons, and Samartine’ was causing them severe problems. Countless steals and deflections that mounted up to big wins for his team.