2019 Northwest Shootout Preview
The 25th annual Merritt Truax Northwest Shootout takes place Saturday, April 13th, as 40 of the top players in boys and girls basketball in the state of Oregon and Washington face off against one another in two games starting at 4 p.m. at Liberty High School in Hillsboro.
The girls game tips off first and the Oregon girls will be led by co-6A Player of the Year Cierra Ellington (2019 Benson) who has signed with Loyola Marymount, USC signee Alyson Miura (2019 La Salle), Weber State signees Daryn Hickok (2019 Grant) and Ula Chamberlain (2019 South Medford), and UC Davis signee Campbell Gray (2019 Tigard). Also on the roster are 4A Player of the Year and Northwest Christian signee Aspen Slifka (2019 Banks), Southern Oregon signee Kami Walk (2019 Sheldon), Tayler Lyday (2019 Benson), and Nicole Fennaugh (2019 Westview).
They’ll take on the Washington team full of future Division I players, led by Pac-12 signees Jaquaya Miller (Washington) and Bynna Maxwell (Utah) and others such as Aspyn Adams (Loyola Marymount), Jacinta Buckley (UNLV), Mae Bryant (Grand Canyon), Isabelle Hernandez (San Diego State), Ashlee Maldonado (Santa Clara), Oumou Toure (Butler), and Brooke Walling (Fresno State).
The boys tip off at 6 p.m. and will have a roster comprised of all the state’s Division I signees so far and all five members of the 6A All-State First Team. The past two 6A Players of the year, Vermont signee Aaron Deloney (2019 Grant) and Washington signee Marcus Tsohonis (2019 Jefferson) lead the way, and Portland State signee Jaden Nielsen-Skinner (2019 South Salem) adds firepower in the backcourt. All three were First Team 6A All-State honorees and the other two, Northwest Christian signee Stevie Schlabach (2019 Tigard) and state champion Justin Bieker (2019 Jesuit) will score both inside and out. Team Oregon will rely on Kaleb Anundi (2019 Stayton), Riley Nichol (2019 Stayton), and Brian Warinner (2019 Bend) to battle inside and guards Josh Angle (2019 Lake Oswego) and Chase McClain (2019 Mountain View) round out the roster.
It will be a tall order for Oregon against Washington, which is full of Division I talent. Unsigned All-American Jaden McDaniels (2019 Federal Way) is scheduled to play and he will play alongside state champ and Gonzaga signee Anton Watson. The rest of the roster is almost all Division I or Division II signees in Cole Bajema (Michigan), Raquan Battle (Washington), and Brock Ravet (Gonzaga) for D-I and Shaw Anderson (Seattle Pacific), Zach Paulsen (Seattle Pacific), Micah Pollard (Central Washington), and Clayton Whitman (Seattle Pacific).