AHSAA Top 7 Performers: January 27 – February 2
Below are some of the top performers from around the state as teams finished up regular season play and get ready for their upcoming area tournament. Kisean Johnson, Ramsay: Kisean led the way for the Rams against Homewood on Tuesday with…
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Continue ReadingBelow are some of the top performers from around the state as teams finished up regular season play and get ready for their upcoming area tournament.
Kisean Johnson, Ramsay: Kisean led the way for the Rams against Homewood on Tuesday with 22 points. He has a smooooooooth pull up jumper. He can shoot from anywhere on the court and always makes himself available. He needs to learn to create when he has a hot hand. Creating his shot will allow him to contribute even more and be more dynamic. He showed a glimpse of it late in the fourth quarter driving with his left hand and finishing strong in the lane. His hot hand helped Ramsay win 61-58.
John Barranco, Vestavia Hills: John led the way for Vestavia as they defeated McAdory handily, 68-56 on Monday night. He is a force to be reckoned with. He is everything a team wants in a point guard. He has quick, shifty hands on defense. He showed the crowd a beautiful no-look pass to his cutting teammate. He has a pass-first mentality. This provides its positive and negatives, which sometimes make him be too ambitious trying to get the highlight reel assist. He is a great finisher in traffic through contact. Twice he got to the line on fouls beyond the three point line. He almost always finds the cutting player in the half court set or in transition and has excellent court vision. He left a lot of points at the free throw line, something a great point guard should never do. He finished with 14 points for the game but more importantly got the win.
Sam Youngblood, McAdory: From the start against Vestavia, it looked like Sam was going to have a huge game. He has a smooth pull up jumper from 15 feet. He is able to draw attention from the defense and dish the ball to open teammates. He cuts well without the ball and is often rewarded for it. He scored 12 points in the first quarter, but went nonexistent after that. With such a hot hand, he needed to demand the ball more and keep the momentum rolling. It asks the question of what would the game have looked like if he kept up the hot hand. He finished with 17 points and lots of unanswered questions.
Bo Barber, Homewood: Bo is the spark that ignites the Homewood Patriot offense. He led the comeback against Ramsay, but fell a few points short. He handles the ball extremely well and can attack from anywhere on the court. He confidently steps up and knocks down the outside shots. He’s a very good passer but can sometimes get drawn into forcing and trying to make the SportsCenter Top 10 pass instead of taking the easy points. It seems that his motor never runs out. As good as he is, though, he cannot carry the entire offense by himself. He needs his teammates to help draw some attention away from him and allow him to score more.
Jerrell Bellamy, Central: On Wednesday, Jerrell was a monster for Central, but relatively quiet for someone as dominant as he is. He is a big presence inside on offense and defense. He gets big blocks on defense, is relentless on the boards, and shows good footwork for a big. On offense, he is able to adjust his shot in mid air and finish strong and high at the rim. When rebounding, sometimes he wants to be the most athletic and out jump the opposition for the rebound. Instead, he needs to get low and box out. He also needs to deny the entry pass to the other team instead of sitting back allowing the offense to get their spot. Jerrell finished with 12 points in the loss to Hardaway, but should have had much more.
Joshua Harrington, Spain Park: Joshua struggled early in Friday’s win against Hoover. It seemed he wanted to force and attack the basket. For someone his size, that’s difficult to do against the bigger, stronger defenders. But in the second quarter, he got going. He hit two big threes that electrified the senior night crowd. This started drawing more attention to himself and opened up his floor for his teammates and himself. He was then able to drive and attack or drive and kick to his open teammates. He finished with 9 points and a big W.
Keshawn Murphy, Ramsay: Keyshawn was a great piece for the Ramsay Rams but could have been a lot more. He desperately wants to be a big point forward doing it all. He has good handles for someone his size, able to hesitate and pull up in the midrange. That can turn to a little too much confidence when he pulled up from the logo. He had a beautiful backdoor alley oop from teammate, CJ Burns. For someone his size, he contests the guards attacking the basket, but really needs to dominate the boards every game. There is no reason he shouldn’t have had 15 rebounds every single night. As a leader on the team, he needs to hustle back on defense. The best players are often the first players back on defense. Keyshawn finished with 14 points big points in the win against Homewood.