BA Showcase – Five Best Guards
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Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! Scrimmage season is here and one of the top annual events that takes place is the Broken Arrow Showcase. Teams from all over the state compete…
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Scrimmage season is here and one of the top annual events that takes place is the Broken Arrow Showcase. Teams from all over the state compete against one another at Broken Arrow and we were there taking in all of the action. In this post, we’re taking a look at five of the best guards that we caught in action during the Showcase. Stay tuned to Prep Hoops Oklahoma for more “Five Best” features on the top teams and the top big men!
One of the top 2024 prospects in attendance on Saturday was Union guard Cedric Dixon Cedric Dixon 6’3″ | SG Grind Prep | 2024 State #323 Nation OK . With Union missing fellow 2024 guard Dalen Fuller Dalen Fuller 6’4″ | CG Union | 2024 State OK , Dixon was more of a leader on the offensive side of the floor for the Redhawks. Coming into this season, Dixon is looking to become more of a complete player on both sides of the floor. Last season, Dixon was a microwave shooter for the Redhawks. When he got hot, they would feed the guard and he could fill it up from the perimeter. This season, Union is expecting Dixon to be much more than just a shooter on this year’s team, especially if they’re going to make a run to the state tournament. On Saturday, Dixon showed that he can still shoot the lights out, but what impressed us most was his ability to run the point and get his teammates involved throughout the day.
Broken Arrow senior and Oklahoma State commit Connor Dow Connor Dow 6’6″ | SF Broken Arrow | 2023 State #252 Nation OK might not fall under the classic “guard” distinction but we’re putting him on this post for his ability to absolutely light it up from the perimeter. Coming into the scrimmage, Dow already had the reputation of being a sharpshooter after the offseason he had while playing for Team Griffin. But when we watched Dow in a few of the scrimmages on Saturday, two things stood out about his shooting. Dow was incredibly efficient while shooting the ball and he was also stepping out a few feet beyond the three-point line and knocking down shots with regularity. That makes Dow even more of a dangerous weapon on the offensive end of the floor. If teams are going to have to pick Dow up 25-30 feet away from the basket, that’s going to stress the defense.
We’ve written a few times already this preseason about Nathan Hale and specifically their guard Kabron Lewis Kabron Lewis 6’2″ | CG Hale | 2024 State OK and how he’s primed to lead the Rangers to becoming a breakout team in Class 5A this season. Last month, Lewis was an absolute star at our Top250 Expo in Edmond. He was one of the top overall performers from start to finish and it was good to see him again on Saturday with his team in a school ball setting. Nothing really changed. The explosive and vocal playmaker was a tough guard to stop on Saturday and he showed off all of his abilities on the offensive end of the floor. Nathan Hale has a few other players that are going to make the Rangers a tough team in Class 5A this season. But when it comes to legitimate star power, Lewis has it and is primed to becoming one of the top scorers in the Tulsa area.
Highlights
We saw quite a few teams and players throughout the day on Saturday but the first player to stick out was Booker T Washington junior guard Marques Smith Marques Smith 5’11” | CG Tulsa Central | 2024 State OK . In the very first scrimmage of the day, the Booker T Washington junior was on fire from beyond the arc and was hitting shot after shot against Edmond Memorial. The Hornets are once again have a very guard-heavy team that uses pressure defense to force turnovers. But on the offensive end of the floor, we were really impressed with Smith and his ability to heat up in a hurry. And he wasn’t just shooting the ball all over on Saturday. He was driving to the basket and bringing the defense down on him and dumping it off to a cutting teammate. The shooting was what got our attention and his vision on the court made him a no doubt selection for this post.
We wrote about Southmoore as one of the top teams that performed on Saturday, especially after they rallied from a 7-0 hole to Broken Arrow and actually beat the host team by 7 points. And in that scrimmage specifically, senior guard Ryan Guerrero Ryan Guerrero 5’11” | PG Southmoore | 2023 State OK was one of the top performers of the day. He was all over the court on offense and defense and was a big reason why the Sabercats rallied to get the win. On offense, Guerrero showed a complete game with shooting, driving to the basket and passing and getting teammates involved. Then on the defensive side of the ball, he created or forced several turnovers that led to easy buckets for the Sabercats. Guerrero played for ROUGE in the offseason and that team had a lot of success. You can tell that it’s made him a better player and leader early on this season.