Dick McConnell Holiday Tournament: Top Performers
This thanksgiving break provided us with a lot of high school basketball to watch! One of the most exciting tournaments was the Dick McConnell Holiday Tournament: . Teams were competing hard and here are the top performers from the tournament:
Khalid Whitaker (Flowing Wells 2020):
Khalid had to have had the most impressive run I’ve seen all week. The first night of the tournament, he scored 46 points. That’s not a typo, yes he scored 46 points against Palo Verde. That is very impressive but what I thought was even more impressive was how he followed that performance up the next night, scoring 38 points. Whitaker is averaging 42 points to start off the high school season. That stat by itself is very impressive. Flowing Wells may not have a ton of wins this year but it will be fun to watch this kid play and you should keep an eye out for him. I think he should be considered a sleeper for the Mr. Basketball award.
Jackson Ruai (Amphi 2019):
Ruai looked good, defensively he looked great as usual. Offensively, he looked very good. I worry about his scoring a lot due to how ineffective his shot is but he proved me wrong. Jackson scored 26 in Amphi’s win over Walden Grove (66-50).
Carson James (Catalina Foothills 2019):
Carson James led Catalina Foothills to the championship of the tournament. James was scoring the ball at a very high rate. In the final, Catalina Foothills beat Cholla 80-49, while James scored 24 points. He can shoot the ball at a very high rate and should never be left open or else he is going to bury a three.
Chase Verdugo (Walden Grove 2019):
Chase Verdugo also turned in a nice game against Amphi, scoring 22 points. Very impressed by Chase, he is definitely a new face and a new player to keep an eye on.