#HustleSzn Kickoff: Friday Night
The HustleSzn Kickoff is Grassroots Basketball’s Opening Day. A celebration of the second season. And on night one of the second season Eli Ramos of Gamepoint OC Select put together a fantastic performance. Eli of Walnut High Eli Ramos is…
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Continue ReadingThe HustleSzn Kickoff is Grassroots Basketball’s Opening Day. A celebration of the second season. And on night one of the second season Eli Ramos of Gamepoint OC Select put together a fantastic performance.
Eli of Walnut High
Eli Ramos is a 6-foot-3, 180 pound wing from Walnut High School. Ramos led Walnut to a 23-win season averaging 18 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.6 steals per game. Ramos put those numbers together with a hard charging rim attack that carried over to Gamepoint OC Select on Friday night.
Competing against Pressure Basketball (Pasadena Area) who was led by an outstanding shooting performance from Diluan Miladinov, Ramos pushed the transition at Hennessey Venom F5 like pace but then weaved through defenders like a Lotus Elise finishing with success. Ramos had two late game finishes keeping his team up two scores and resulting in a 66-63 victory.
We are told the 6-foot-3 wing needs to work on his jumper to become a more versatile college prospect and while that may be true – also true was the pair of threes that made the nets do the snap dance of success. Steven Lora (a Warren High School 2020) teamed with Ramos to apply late game pressure on their opponents and Pressure Hoops couldn’t respond.
Prep Hoops is looking forward to watching Eli Ramos and the Gamepoint OC Select today as well as Diluan Miladinov of Pressure Hoops. Miladinov showed off a smooth stroke knocking down four triples in the loss.
Demorian LoweThe Inland Empire: Lowe & Rentie
One of the most entertaining teams in the event is surely the Inland Empire of Gamepoint. In a running time victory the Inland Empire used a balanced attack to bring success on day one. Five-foot-10 point guard Andrew Milot showed everybody that he’s been watching Steven Nash videos because the jetting to the box and quickly angling in a score before the defense could react. Milot had 12 points and six assists but it was the combination of quick push to the paint for scores and quick one hand passes to shooters that made the Empire go.
On the wings Will Matthews and Jack Schultz took advantage of everything Milot (and others) gave them for quality numbers. Matthews scored a team high 15 points showing off a gorgeous stroke including three perimeter jumpers. Schultz opened the game with a pair of triples but then showed off one of the best ball tracking abilities in the event. Schultz collected 11 boards plus scored a dozen points with five assists.
The prospect that garnered a lot of attention was 6-foot-8 post Demorian Lowe from Calvary Murrieta. Lowe’s greatest asset – in addition to his size and length in the post – was his effort to beat everybody up and down the court. Lowe was always in position to give a target and make a move because he worked harder to get to position. Lowe was 5 of 9 from the field and 3 of 8 from the foul line for his double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. Lowe has work to do with the touch but you can see he’s put effort into developing better footwork as well as turning over both shoulders. A player to watch going forward. Averaged 13.4 points and nine boards as a junior over the winter.
My favorite player of the day? Cameron Rentle. A 6-foot-2 guard, wing, forward what have you from Inland Empire and Gamepoint (Murrieta Mesa High School). In stead of a run on paragraph, lets do a top ten for what Rentle is a quick favorite on our list:
- Energy. Constant Energy
- Verbal communication defensively and after every play
- Doesn’t need to score to contribute.
- Defensive energy jumping passing lanes and battling over screens to beat the ball to position
- Great movement off the ball leading to cuts
- Excellent passer finding players in space, had four assists
- Great feel for the opposing play led to four steals
- Fought his way to boards
- Dove to the baseline/floor for at least two collected loose balls, made efforts for others
- Hit two threes showing range, scored his 13 on seven shots. Efficient
Play of the Day
We are going to step into the social media realm for a moment and just overload the conversation about a single play. A play that I assume will be on video very soon was Frank Degourville – listed in the media guide as number 31, a 6-foot-3 wing from Rancho High School in Las Vegas – throwing down the day’s most incredible dunk.
Hardwork Dedication (Nevada) lost to the UTU Gorillas but the efforts of Degourville will not be soon forgotten. Retreating on a fast break the UTU defenders did their job to get to position. The problem was the explosive Degourville had a running start at the rim and when he caught and launched the defender had no chance. Degourville split his legs in Jordan fashion and nearly jumped over a guy while throwing down a ferocious slam.
If anybody has video of this play it would be great for the young man to show to the world. Incredible.
UTU – We See You!
A group that defined team basketball on night one was the UTU Gorillas. What shined was the unselfish nature of every player on the floor so picking out individuals over others is tough. UTU beat Hardwork & Dedication 71-52 and they did it with a 90 percent rate of assists on made field goals.
I would say that Carl Adams and Bilal Mikes were two that really stood out. Both are 6-foot-3/6-foot-4 wings from Washington Prep. Carl is a strong 190 pounds coming off a double figure scoring winter while Mikes is also a physical guard that had a 12pt/5rb/3ast/2.5stl per game stat line for his school. The run this pair had in the second half gave UTU the needed separation for the victory.
Then there’s Zion Bazzell out of Prince High School, a 6-foot-3 guard. Zion made his trees confidently and then finished the plays with some explosive flare going back the other way. Bazzell had a 13 point per game season for Price High School in Los Angeles plus he’s a near 90 percent foul shooter. Hassan Hughey took the best charge of any player on Friday night and Kevin Yang pushed pace.
Final Notes
- 2021 Sam Klaasen has one of the prettiest strokes in all of the Prep Hoops Circuit events. An Agoura High School talent
- 6-foot-2 Vashon Vaughn from Gamepoint OC Select/Southland Christian is a name on the radar to watch close going forward. Our views of him were limited but we love his board collect and push, the defensive fire, and the rim attack.
- 2021 Jed Miller tortures ankles with his quick handles and jetting steps plus has a quick release with range at the volleyball line it looks like