Stat standouts: Black Hawk Holiday Basketball Invite
Eight East Valley squads head to Gilbert Williams Field High this weekend in the Black Hawk Holiday Basketball Invite in a single-elimination tournament. Play begins Thursday, December 20, and championship, third place and consolation games winners will be decided Saturday.
The first-round games are as follows:
Chandler / Campo Verde
Skyline / Mesquite
Seton Catholic / Desert Ridge
Dobson / Williams Field
Here are a few players that have stuffed the stat sheets thus far this season:
Scoring: Skyline’s Patrick Herrera and Dayton Harris:
The two top-scoring players to this point of the season both play for Skyline. Sophomore Herrera leads the tournament with an average of 19.9 points, while his back-court counterpart in junior Harris has averaged 19.3. They play different styles. Herrera has been extremely effective from outside, though he can definitely dribble into the paint and make plays that way. He has been lethal from three. Harris has cut to the basket very well, and draws a ton of fouls on his way to the cup for foul shots.
Assists: Carson Mittun – Seton Catholic
Mittun has been pivotal to the 6-2 Sentinel start. He leads the tournament in assists (7.6), but also leads his team in rebounds (8.1), steals (3.1) and blocks (0.7) per game. His unselfishness and ability to drive the lane and pass the ball to open guys has been huge for the Sentinels, who have other players that excel in scoring the ball. Even as just one of just two 4A teams, the Sentinels could be a tough out in a tournament filled with other 5A and 6A squads, especially if he plays well.
Rebounds: Edin Smjecanin – Mesquite
Smjecanin is the one true big man and center for the Wildcats in their starting five, and has averaged 9.8 rebounds per game – good for sixth in all of 4A. The tallest player mentioned in the article, it will be interesting to see how he fares against tough competition in this tournament. I believe the Skyline / Mesquite game has the potential to be the most exciting of the first round.