Top Five Surprises: The Hoop Memorial Day Classic (Day 1)
In Saturday’s action at The Hoop Memorial Day Classic we definitely had our eyes on the top players that were well-known. However during the games there were some others from the supporting casts of teams that made an impression as well. Here’s a look at top five “surprise” in-state performers we observed.
Riley Nichol (2019 Stayton HS/Nike Team Northwest – 17U Team Swoosh) – Team Swoosh is largely perimeter oriented so he doesn’t get a ton of touches, but when Nichol gets them he makes them count. He has a solid build which allows him to compete on the boards for putbacks and he showed a good ability to step out and hit the face-up jumper, out to the three-point line.
Alex Jaczko (2019 Newberg HS/Team Fly White) – Team Fly White is full of talented shooters so some players can seemingly get lost in the mix. While Jaczko isn’t a long range shooter per se, he is solid from the mid-range in and has a variety of moves to get to the basket. The converted post was good in transition and showed off a nice Eurostep to a layup in one game.
Chase McClain (2019 Mountain View HS/Team Fly Williams) – With Isaac Lange out due to injury, McClain stepped in at the point and was steady as steady as can be. He took good care of the ball and especially in the team’s narrow loss against Prodigy Elite, he hit some key jumpers late. McClain also showed a willingness to battle on the boards, especially on the defensive end.
Jonah Downey (2019 Silverton/Hoop Salem 17U) – The Memorial Day Classic was Downey’s first with the top Hoop Salem team and he certainly made an impression. The undersized guard played fearlessly, hitting deep threes while also driving inside and finishing athletic layins. Downey played at Santiam Christian as a junior but will finish high school at Silverton.
Austin Forrar (2018 Barlow/Deep 3) – Forrar is playing out the spring as an unsigned senior and is making every minute count on the basketball floor. He was a key part of Deep 3’s two wins on Saturday, taking it hard to the basket and finishing some very tough and-ones inside. Like he did at Barlow, he stepped out and hit some threes as well.