Bash in the Desert: 16U Friday Night
Inspire Courts played host to the 16U level of Bash in the Desert as Hustle Region play continued in Phoenix, Arizona. Prep Hoops was there to bring you the headliners.
Austin Puts 33 in the Books
Six-foot guard Emmanuel Austin of Legacy High School in North Las Vegas, Nevada carried out his combo guard role as a sophomore in a fitting way: knocking down open jumpers. Austin made just under 40 percent of his threes and 44 percent of his attempts overall for a dozen points a game. Add in four boards and two steals per game and that’s a consistently affective producer.
Playing with Nevada Hard 2 Guard, Austin does even more. Facing “Dreams Become Reality” (a local team) Austin opened the game knocking down two threes, attacked for a score, and then hit a third triple forcing a quick timeout from the opposition. Emmanuel had made his mark and the Arizona kids were scrambling to figure out how to cover ground with each quick Austin step into an attack or quick pull.
Emmanuel began attacking the basket more and more resulting in a nine of ten foul shooting performance putting Hard 2 Guard up double digits. Unfortunately Austin went through a mid-game struggle missing nine straight shots. Yes nine straight! During that time D.B.R. made a comeback but as shooters do, Austin kept attacking leading to finding his grove once again. Austin hit three more shots behind the arc leading to a 33 point performance and six makes at the arc overall (9 of 24 shooting).
Austin proved to be the type of scorer that a team can gameplan for but if you can get length with quick feet on him you better pray he has an off day.
Brady RamonBrady’s in the Mood for Numbers
One of the most interesting players of Friday night was Team Prep 16u’s Brady Ramon. Brady is a 6-foot-1 point guard from Salpointe Catholic High School (AZ) that plays with the type of demeanor that all coaches would love, like he’s wearing a mask. Did Ramon make some mistakes? Sure but he was always in control of his team’s destiny with his ability to make sure that the first pass of every possession found it’s mark after Ramon moved the defense with the right deep push.
Ramon’s combination of strength and smooth attack schools finding defenders position weakness and attacking that fault for positive playmaking. Brady took eight shots and made five for his ten points and also created numerous shots for others that became five assists (a total that would of been 8-9 if his teammates had a better shooting day). Those numbers are solid but what Ramon did was control the pace.
With his ten rebounds – most came on the defensive end – Brady controlled the possession and then either pushed, or slowly paced his way to the other end for quality Team Prep shots. Benefactors included Nico Castenada and Julian Riesgo (who play with Ramon at Salpointe) as each scored 14.
Wayne HamptonU.T.U. Gorilla Pressure Breaks Opponent
Some teams chase the ball full court and other teams pressure the ball the length of the floor. The Gorillas are a group that swarm the ball in numbers and it if escapes to another player, the U.T.U. swarms it again. Teams may be able to bust through the attack here and there, but as teams wear down turnovers come in big numbers.
And after the turnovers started to pile up, so did the buckets for the Gorillas. Sophomore Wayne Hampton III (scored 17 points) of Hoover HS in San Diego and Yahsani Humphrys (had 16) of Price HS in Los Angeles were the biggest constants around the basketball forcing problems and enjoying the rewards of buckets. Hampton just has a love for attacking bodies and then completing shots after contact. Humphrys seems to love turning opponents over and quickly producing with a physical approach at the cup.
Another 2021 prospect to watch from this club is Nicolas Fowler, a 6-7 power forward out of Hoover High School as well. Fowler showed a bit of a perimeter touch, he sprinted the floor well for transition scores, attacked shots with length and quick bounce, and Fowler played with activity.
Team Inspire – Several Prospects
A Phoenix area team combining freshmen and sophomores on a raw but talented team is Team Inspire. Team Inspire beat the Sharks 51-36 and despite the 15 point differential they really didn’t play very well, but they did flash potential. There are several prospects to run through so we go basketball in bullet points!
- Carson Kelly is a 5-foot-9 2021 from Chandler High School with a load of handles that Sharks couldn’t get their teeth into.
- The team scoring leader was 6-foot-7 freshman Daunte Johnson out of Moreau Catholic. Johnson is physically advanced as a 2022.
- Paris Holland of Apollo HS possesses ball handling skills and a quick burst after separation that you rarely see in a 6-foot-5 guard. Explosive off his feet and length for days, Holland still has a lot to learn but when it comes he’s got a ton of game to give.
- Everything I said about Holland you could also say about Isaiah Broady, a 6-foot-6 guard from Chandler High School. Broady beat the first man nearly every possession but then had contact came leading to balance. When Isaiah adds a bit of core strength and can complete possessions in high percentage ways the sky is the limit when it comes to level of play.
- Six-foot-6 Isaiah Rider III and 6-foot-7 Nicolas Jair Riley are two more Team Inspire players with big potential futures.
Bash in the Desert Notes
Dreams Become Reality have several players that caught our eye. Here are three that stood out:
- Six-foot-6 2021 forward Tanner Crawford of Williams Field HS (AZ) is a quick jumping, active four man who was quick with the spin to the rim for touch makes. Crawford scored 18 with eight rebounds.
- Ti Cochran was on triple-double watch for a time before the assists slowed down. The Williams Field 6-foot-4 all around producer had 10 points, 11 boards, and seven assists.
- San Tan sophomore Chad Avis either didn’t play in the first half or barely played. Then in the second half the 6-foot-5/6-foot-6 Avis collected ten boards and scored three times.
Mister Efficiency was Damion Byrd II of Nevada Hard 2 Guard 16s. Byrd scored 19 points on 8 of 10 shooting plus chased down five boards. Byrd is a 2022 from Silverado High School in Las Vegas at 5-foot-10. His shot selection was outstanding and he took advantage of every late rotating defender.
Six-foot-3 Team Prep 16s (AZ) 2021 slasher Kambreal O’Bannon scored 17 points on only nine shots. Colorado Premier didn’t have an answer for Kambreal’s activity off the ball. O’Bannon also collected seven rebounds. Kambreal was the most active player on the floor and one guy that the opponent couldn’t locate when rotating defensively.