Pangos All-West Frosh/Soph: more 2022 “scorers”
WESTMINSTER, Ca. – The Pangos All-West Frosh/Soph Camp, held last weekend at Westminster High, had a multitude of exceptional scorers among its 200 or so players.
I mentioned one of the best of those from the Class of 2022 – Richard Isaacs Jr. (Henderson, NV, Coronado) – in a recent rundown on the best of the point guards at the camp.
But, if not quite as polished nor the exceptional jump shooter that Isaacs is, there were others from his class who are adept scorers by way of their jumpers or ability to get to the glass and rim.
The most prolific of those on Saturday and Sunday during his three camp games and performance in the Top 30 Crème of the Crop All-Star game that wrapped of the event was 6-foot-4 Christian Moore (Los Angeles Brentwood School).
Moore was also one of the very best scorers on hand during the Pangos Fall All-SoCal Showcase the weekend before, also in Orange County (Santiago High in Garden Grove).
He’ll be a factor if Coach Ryan Bailey’s squad is to win a third consecutive CIF Southern Section championship this spring.
Six-three Gabriel Quiette (Santa Ana Mater) isn’t likely to get significant playing time right away – much less start – for one of the state’s best teams in 2018-19.
But I’d be surprised if doesn’t become a dependable part of, say, an eight-player “rotation” for Coach Gary McKnight at some point in the season.
Quiette (pictured) didn’t make the Top 30 Crème of the Crop all-star game (he was on my ballot) and wasn’t spectacular or overly aggressive in the earlier Top 60 game.
But he showed off the same kind of fluid yet explosive (when it was called for) style of play, on and off the ball.
One of the most spectacular of “vertical” athletes in the camp – regardless of class – was 6-3 De’Vonte Cobbs (Phoenix Shadow Mountain).
Cobbs is from Milwaukee and nearly enrolled at JSerra in San Juan Capistrano (in south Orange County) before landing his Phoenix with his mother and older brother.
He tried to dunk on every drive (or so it seemed) and might have batted about .333 on his attempts – with some whiffs that were every bit as jaw-dropping as the ones he converted.
Jalen Green of San Joaquin Memorial in Fresno is one of the most touted prospects in the national Class of 2020.
But there are also a couple of compelling prospects in the Class of 2022 on the squad’s roster and each of those – 6-3 Joseph Hunter and 6-2 Devin Newsome – held up quite well at Pangos.
Hunter (with Moore and Cobbs) was one of three players in this category to make the Top 30 game.
He wasn’t nearly as productive nor spectacular as some of the other players in the game (notably Isaacs and sophomores such as Devin Askew and Isael Silva) but did hit a couple of 3s off the catch.
Newsome didn’t make any of the all-star rosters but I thought he worth of Top 60 accolades. He’s very quick off the dribble.
Maybe the biggest oversight when it came to the all-star selections, though, was in 6-1 Davion Wright (Franklin in Elk Grove, near Sacrament) being completely blanked.
His scoring ability, off the catch and dribble, was such that I recommended (after Saturday’s action) that he be given strong consideration for the Top 30 game.
I supposed I could have listed 6-6 Randi Ovalle (San Gabriel Valley Academy) among the best of the 2022 “posts”.
But he rarely got into the post (at least the “low” post) when I watched and seemed much more at least when I watched him. He doesn’t have decent “perimeter”. But Ovalle (originally from the Dominican Republic) is capable of being a forceful present in the lane as a freshman this season if that is his focus.