Preseason Classic in Tampa: BDCHS Phoenix Rise
On Wednesday night, I made the trip to watch some Tampa teams and a Pinellas County team square off in some early preseason action. The first game finished with a score of 71-16 as Jefferson was just too much for…
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Continue ReadingOn Wednesday night, I made the trip to watch some Tampa teams and a Pinellas County team square off in some early preseason action. The first game finished with a score of 71-16 as Jefferson was just too much for Dixie Hollins who had a key injury. The last game was a show as Brooks DeBartolo dominated Alonso for 32 minutes. Brooks was missing Ayonna Simmons and Alonso was missing Carly Price, their leading scorer, with both absences being due to injury. The Phoenix looked really solid from players 1-6 as they won 78-34, and they will add a strong 7th player once Simmons returns.
Brooks DeBartolo won 22 games last year, and they return over 92% of their scoring from that impressive 22-8 team. They always play a competitive schedule, but they look poised to make it another 20-win season this year. The Phoenix were led by three juniors, a sophomore, and two freshman who all had at least 6 points on the night.
Junior Triniti Youngblood led all scorers with 20 points after a strong first half filled with some crafty buckets, offensive boards, and some steals to boot. Her mid-range game is solid too as she can do a little bit of everything.
Sophomore Jaela Davis was their second leading scorer as she finished with 16 points on the night with three 3-pointers. She has a pretty shot, passes well, and had a bunch steals on the other end of the floor.
Junior Brionna McClinton couldn’t miss from the corners, and she ended with 14 points in the game after a solid second half. Her rebounding and defense were fantastic last night to go along with the high percentage she shot from the field.
Junior Amarie Godwin is a ton of fun to watch as she plays hard and does it right with her 11 points last night. She has superb court vision and can dish the rock by using a nice shot selection as she can knock down just about anything when she needs to.
Maia Lewers (6 points) and Aleyna Sherman (10 points) sure didn’t look like Freshman out there as they jelled with everyone on both sides of the court like they’ve played together forever.
Alonso really missed their leading scorer in Carly Price during this contest, but a couple players stood out during this one. Shayla Gonzalez led the Ravens with 16 points as she connected on four 3-pointers as their primary source of offense last night. Junior Lillian Barnes also had a nice game with 9 points, and I think she will continue to improve this year as she has a nice shot, good size, and knows the game. Alonso will look to improve on a 16-7 record from last season.