Rose City Showcase: Top Performers Day 1
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Like other events, the Rose City Showcase took the past couple of years off but it was back this past weekend in full force – and doing things a bit differently for the first time in 20 years. Once almost…
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Continue ReadingLike other events, the Rose City Showcase took the past couple of years off but it was back this past weekend in full force – and doing things a bit differently for the first time in 20 years. Once almost exclusively consisting of AAU teams, the RCS featured a high school varsity division and some of the top projected teams for the 2022-23 season were in attendance at the event. We had the opportunity to take in some opening games on Friday night and here are some of the top performers we watched.
Jackson Shelstad Jackson Shelstad 6'0" | PG West Linn | 2023 State #55 Nation OR (2023 West Linn)
The reigning 6A state player of the year pretty much did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted on Friday night. He was money from downtown, was unguardable getting to the basket, and it wasn’t just scoring as he was constantly looking for his teammates who were either open on the perimeter or underneath. He had 19 points and 8 assists at the half and 32 points and 12 assists at game’s end. Absolute dominance that we’ve come to expect from him.
Adrian Mosley Adrian Mosley 6'2" | SF West Linn | 2023 State #269 Nation OR (2023 West Linn)
Just about as dominant was Mosley as he too pretty much did whatever he desired on the basketball floor. His outside shot continues to be more consistent as he drained threes, but mostly the rest of the team just cleared out and he took his defender to task off the dribble and used his physical and athletic advantage to score around the hoop. He was a force on the boards on both ends and made a number of recovery blocks down in the paint.
Utrillo Morris Utrillo Morris 5'8" | PG Roosevelt | 2024 State OR (2023 Roosevelt)
He’s already hard to keep up with because of his speed and quickness, but Morris is an absolute magician with the basketball which allows him to pretty much get anywhere he wants to at any time. He was dribbling circles around opponents getting into the lane for scores for himself or getting it to open teammates. Defensively he was a menace as well which helped create turnovers and get Roosevelt into transition.
Owen Nathan Owen Nathan 6'2" | CG Roosevelt | 2025 State OR (2025 Roosevelt)
Nathan was the surprise of the day among all the big names among his teammates. The rising sophomore guard was constantly in the right place at the right time to find himself open for shots, get an offensive rebound, or score on the break. He showed a nice touch on his outside shot and wasn’t afraid to bang around with the big boys underneath. He wound up leading the Roughriders with 17 points.
Christian Green Christian Green 6'1" | CG Cleveland | 2023 State OR (2023 Cleveland)
We all know about Green’s high-flying antics and he certainly threw down a couple of highlight-reel dunks on Friday night. But what impressed us about the guard’s play was some of the toughness he showed on some of his drives to the hoop, where he finished through contact. Green has also improved on going to his left and converted a couple of buckets in that direction. At one point in the second half, he took over and brought Cleveland back from a deficit.
Jackson Cooper Jackson Cooper 6'5" | SF Cleveland | 2023 State OR (2023 Cleveland)
Cooper could very well be the top big man returning in all of 6A and he powered his way to a handful of baskets in the paint. He was tough on the defensive boards and threw a couple of nice outlet passes to streaking teammates down the court for transition points. To cap off the night, he hit the game-winning three to finish off a Cleveland comeback and get the W.
Esyah Pippa-White Esyah Pippa-White 6'2" | PG Gresham | 2023 State OR (2023 Gresham)
While Gresham fell short of the win, Pippa-White had a solid effort. He was strong with the basketball going to the basket, often converting drives or getting fouled in the process. He hit a handful of outside jumpers and had a good sense of balancing his own scoring with looking to get his teammates involved.
Marcus McKinney Marcus McKinney 6'0" | CG Gresham | 2023 State OR (2023 Grant)
There’s no question that McKinney is going to be heavily counted upon for offense this upcoming season as he’s the main offensive weapon returning from last year’s team. So while there was a high volume of shots, the rising senior is the one guy for the Generals who can create offense both for himself and for others. He converted some nice drives to the hoop and showed range out past the three.