Scouting Takeaways: Wilsonville Wildcats
Wilsonville finished in second place in last year’s 5A state title game and with a number of key returnees back, the Wildcats figure to be one of the top teams in the hunt once again in 2018-19. We recently got a chance to catch them in action in a summer league game, a contest in their own summer tourney this past weekend.
In a 97-28 rout over Wilson, it really wasn’t much of a contest as Wilsonville got off to an early start and never let up. Despite the score, the team continued to play extremely tough defensively and scored many baskets in transition.
Obviously one game does not define a player or his game but there can definitely be some takeaways
from watching action even in a single setting – even if it is a summer league game. Here are some
observations of some of the top performers from Wilsonville.
Dakota Reber (2020 Wilsonville HS) – Reber largely played in the post last season for the Wildcats but has been working on expanding his game – and that was the case in this contest. He regularly floated out to the three point line where he showed off a very nice looking stroke. Reber also faced up to attack the basket and on one drive, threw down a thunderous one-handed jam in traffic. At 6-foot-6 he already possesses good size on the wing and it will be a matter of building his upper body strength to be able to finish even more plays inside effectively.
Jack Roche (2019 Wilsonville HS) – Roche is the clock that helps the Wilsonville machine tick as the point guard and he really made things look extremely easy. In the half-court, he was the steady hand and when he wasn’t driving and dishing out to the open man, he was also able to thread some nice entry passes to guys posting up or cutting into the lane. On defense, his quick hands led to several steals and long outlet passes to guys on the break. For himself, he scored on a few drives but really didn’t attempt any outside shots – something which some sideline observers said isn’t typically the norm. But Roche no doubt showed off some tremendous point guard skills which could rank him among the best in the class at the position.
Gabe Reichle (2019 Wilsonville HS) – We have seen Reichle in action previously this summer with Hoop Salem 17U and on that squad he impressed with his ability to shoot from long range. In this game, however, his role was to attack the basket and he did that extremely well and scored the majority of his points off of drives. He too was very active on defense which led to some easy buckets on the break.
Zach Rivers (2019 Wilsonville HS) – Rivers plays a complimentary role for the Wildcats and let the game come to him in the game. He spotted up for a couple of threes, scored on a few drives, and also dished out a few assists. Like everyone else, he was very active on defense, forcing a number of turnovers with his length and quick hands.
Sam Westing (2019 Wilsonville HS) – We had not previously seen Westing in action and he immediately passed the look test with a lean but strong body. He was extremely active on defense and was outstanding in transition. On one break late in the game, he drove in for a power slam which brought his team to its feet.