Salpointe Tip-Off: Key Takeaways
This thanksgiving break provided us with a lot of high school basketball to watch! One of the most exciting tournaments was the Salpointe Tip-Off. Teams were competing hard and here are the top takeaways from the tournament:
Tucson High’s Guard Play
Tucson High showed that they have a bunch of fearless, quick, guards. While these guards are not very big in inches, they play big. All of their little guards were more than willing to fight for boards, dive for loose balls, and take it into the paint. Mark Hunter and Marcus Hinojosa led the team by pushing the pace and providing a lot of energy for their team. Overall, I was very impressed with Tucson High.
CDO Struggles
CDO lost 67-27 to Tucson High on Day 2 of the tournament. It was very clear that CDO needs help, especially in terms of ball handling. They do not have a go-to primary ball handler and often times looked very uncomfortable dribbling the ball up the court and in their offensive sets. Tucson High wisely took advantage of this and continued to press them all game long, resulting in many forced turnovers/steals that led to easy buckets for Tucson.
Ironwood Ridge Heading In The Right Direction
Ironwood Ridge used to be a consistent 18-20 win team every year, until the departure of former head coach Brian Peabody. Since then, IRHS has struggles to put together a winning season. However, new head coach, Le’Sean Marks has this team headed in the right direction. It is clear that the team is playing with a different level of intensity this year than they have in recent years.
Evan Nelson-Weight Room
Evan Nelson has been hitting the weight room hard this off-season and the results are very clear. Nelson is by far at the biggest and strongest that I have ever seen him at. Last season, he was a bit on the skinnier side, many thought that this would hurt him in college. However, Nelson has shown a dedication to the weight room and has put on some serious muscle.