Edison Showcase: Ten Best
The Saturday After Thanksgiving Showcase hosted by Edison High in Huntington Beach featured five games with teams coming to the coast from various locations throughout Orange and Los Angeles counties. Here are the Ten Best performers from the event.
Best Performance: Kaden Headington, Edison
The senior guard scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half, leading the Chargers to a tight win over Mission Viejo in their season opener. Headington’s efforts were magnified due to the fact that two fellow starters left the game early with injury.
Best Scorer: Jared Brown, Cypress
You’d be hard-pressed to find a player more important to his team’s success than Brown is to the Centurions. The Westmont College-signee scored 24 points – 10 from two-point range, nine from 3-point range and 5-for-5 from the charity stripe – in Cypress’ 68-66 win over Heritage Christian. The 5-foot-9 guard scores in every way imaginable and displayed that Saturday.
Best Shooter(s): Dennis Flowers III, St. Francis and Justin Rochelin, Heritage Christian
One of the biggest improvements in Flowers’ game over the course of the last year-and-a-half has been his perimeter shooting. The 6-foot-2 senior connected on six triples, scoring 25 points, in the Golden Knights’ win over Irvine Northwood.
Rochelin, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, came out on fire for the Warriors, hitting three of his five three pointers in the first half, including a 3/4 heave to beat the halftime buzzer. Heritage Christian couldn’t pull out a win over Cypress, falling to the Centurions, 68-66. Rochelin finished with 21 points.
Best Passer: Joshua Belvin, St. Anthony
Sometimes simpler is better when it comes to dishing the rock to a teammate and Belvin fits that mold perfectly. The senior point guard orchestrates St. Anthony’s uptempo attack with kick-ahead passes off of limited dribbles, getting the ball up the court, and into the hands of playmakers, before the defense has time to set.
Best Basketball Player: Andre Henry, St. Francis
The 6-foot-4 junior is truly one of those guards who can play and defend multiple positions because of his basketball IQ and all-around skill set. Henry scored 12 points (despite a slow first half), adding 15 rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots in the Golden Knights’ win over Northwood. Henry spent plenty of time both on and off the ball offensively and successfully guarded the opponents’ post presence.
Best Bench Performance: Luke Serven, Edison
The wiry 6-foot-2 sophomore stepped up when the Chargers needed him most, scoring 12 of his 14 points in the second half, helping Edison overcome a scrappy Mission Viejo team. Serven hit four 3-pointers over the final two quarters.
Best Under-the-Radar Performance: David Olcomendy, Los Alamitos
The 6-foot-5 junior scored an event-high 32 points for the Griffins in a loss to St. Anthony, but opened plenty of eyes in the process. Olcomendy is a skilled forward with good post footwork, soft touch, and the ability to stretch the floor to the 3-point line.
Best Defensive Performance: St. Francis
The Golden Knights didn’t have their best foot forward to open the game, trailing Northwood 23-20 at half, but turned up the defensive pressure in the final two quarters. St. Francis held Northwood to just 11 second half points to close out its 20-point win.
Best Under-the-Radar Prospect: Connor Collins, Edison
The 6-foot-4 forward made an early exit because of an ankle injury, but his first half performance was worthy of a mention in this piece as he scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds in the first 16 minutes Saturday. Collins is a hard-nosed player who does a majority of his work inside the paint with touch with either hand.
Best Freshmen to Watch: Jayden Bush, St. Anthony and Tyler Matthews, Los Alamitos
Bush carries himself with the confidence and poise of a seasoned veteran, not a freshman playing his sixth game. He understands spacing and pace on offense and uses his quick hands and feet to cause problems on the defensive end.
There are still some things Matthews needs to work out to be an impact freshman this season, most notably shot selection and ball security, but the 6-footer has a smoothness to his game that only comes natural to few players. Matthews is certainly a player to keep an eye on moving forward.