Takeaways from the Lee’s Summit Jamboree
On Thursday night, Lee’s Summit held a Jamboree that consisted of Liberty, Lee’s Summit North, Lee’s Summit and Belton. Below are some takeaways from each team and a few standouts that should have a good year.
Liberty – Probably the best of the 4 teams in the Jamboree, at least they looked the best. Loaded with shooters and great size all around. The Team is led by their great senior guard Jalen Lewis. Lewis is very quick with the ball and creates opportunities for his teammates. Lewis can knock it down from anywhere on the court, and he showed it on Thursday night. He isn’t the only shooter on the team though. Senior Brock Matson is a straight shooter as well. He has a quick release and with his height, should be able to get great spacing and good looks. Senior Jordan McClellan is a tough guard that will provide plenty of scoring as well.
Lee’s Summit North – North has some talent on the team, but they also have some weaknesses and will be vulnerable to start the season. Size and defense didn’t seem to be their strong points. Elijah Farr and Tommy Erwin both have pretty good size, but it will be interesting to see if it’s enough considering the division they are in. A very guard oriented team with Javaunte Hawkins, Mikel Henderson, and Logan Jenkins. They will be mostly dependent on scoring the ball, and scoring a lot. Those three guards are all very quick and have some great range, but on off nights, they will need others on their team to step up. Javaunte and Mikel have been playing together for quite a while now, and their leadership along with that chemistry should allow them to be one of the better backcourts in the city.
Lee’s Summit – Although not the most talented team, Lee’s Summit showed that they can compete and play with everyone. With the atmosphere, they brought to the jamboree, great coaching staff, and the energy their players brought, they look to be a tough beat for just about anyone. Lee’s Summit has a few kids who can score the rock. Expect the team to be led by Senior Will Eames and Sophomore Jaden Moore. Eames adds some good size, but can also stretch it out and hit the 3 ball. Moore, a 6’2” guard who was quite impressive, was able to use his size to get good scoring opportunities. Shooters Seth Romi and Deron McDaniel will add a great dynamic and when they are hot, watch out!
Belton – Losing a lot of their team last year, Belton will have a little way to climb. With that being said, they were still pretty impressive at the jamboree. Not loaded with a ton of basketball talent, everyone knew their role and they played as a team. Belton was the team that moved the ball until they got good looks. On misses, they hustled to the ball and got offensive rebounds. A few guys you can expect to be leaders and have a good year for Belton will be Jaden Clark and T.J. Brown. Clark is very athletic and has great size. He will probably be the go to guy on the team, plus he can play almost every position. T.J. Brown is a big dude who can be a bully and grab a few buckets in the paint. He worked hard and rebounded well for the Pirates.