Hoops By Ugland Beach Jam: 2021 standouts (Part I)
Costa Mesa, Ca. — The Hoops By Ugland Beach Jam Showcase at Vanguard University featured 70 high school basketball players in a class-by-class game setting.
The combined freshman and sophomore game proved to be the most exciting of the day, a sudden death overtime game that was decided, anticlimactically, by a foul and free throw by Santa Margarita sophomore guard Selah Robins.
The junior class game was another close one, with the team coached by Santa Margarita assistant Wolfgang Wood defeating Fountain Valley assistant AJ Gasporra’s team, 74-69. The senior class contest was the most lopsided of the three, as team Wood dominated its way to a 83-63 victory.
Here is the first set of sophomore standouts from the class of 2021/2022 game:
Wilhelm Breidenbach, Mater Dei
Breidenbach was dominant in this setting due to his skill in many facets of the game. Not only is he a talented low block scorer and adept finisher with both hands, but the 6-foot-9 forward can stretch the floor to the 3-point line and take rebounds off the defensive glass and push the break for his team.
Jeremiah Davis, Fountain Valley
Davis was one of the more unknown sophomores coming into this game, but he made sure to put his name on the radar. The 6-foot-3 wing is a crafty paint scorer who uses angles and slight hesitations to get by defenders and into the key where he uses the glass to his advantage.
Harrison Hornery, Mater Dei
Hornery is a knockdown catch-and-shoot guy from 3-point range, but what sets him apart from most other sophomore stretch forwards is the fact that he’s a legitimate 6-feet-9. Hornery also showed that he’s getting more pop in his legs whether it was getting up for defensive boards or finishing strong in the paint.
Blazona is a pass-first point guard who can really control the pace of a game.Jake Blazona, Santa Margarita
There are two things I love about Blazona’s game: 1. He competes on every possession no matter the style of game or what the scoreboard reads, and 2. He understands how to play the point guard position and run a basketball team. Blazona has high level vision and passing ability in both transition and half-court settings, doesn’t over dribble, and understands how to play without the ball.
Selah Robins, Santa Margarita
The knock on Robins has been his inconsistency as a 3-point shooter, but if Saturday was any evidence, it was clear that he has been working on that part of his game. Robins hit four smooth-looking triples and sank the game-winning free throw in sudden death overtime.