Title XI Top Five Tournament Teams (From the IH)
Title XI Top Five Tournament Teams (From the IH) The IH’s top five Title IX tournament teams, and why. 1. Saint James Not a lot of fluff, but a high level of basic high school girls basketball. Three ultra ballers…
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Continue ReadingTitle XI Top Five Tournament Teams (From the IH)
The IH’s top five Title IX tournament teams, and why.
1. Saint James
Not a lot of fluff, but a high level of basic high school girls basketball. Three ultra ballers in 5-10 freshman Gabby Grantham-Medley, 6-1 senior Morgan Moseley, and 6-2 senior Skylar Treadwell. 7/8 players who can score, solid defense throughout the lineup. Coaching that makes adjustments throughout the game. Multiple money players. You have to beat them. The IH has seen them play at the Good Counsel scrimmage festival, She Got Game, and Title IX. Outside of Treadwell being injured for the scrimmage fest and a little bit of She Got Game, this writer has seen Saint James play only 2 quarters of ball where they were faking!
2. St. Vincent Pallotti
Eniyah RussellSmooth thugs, and sneaky thugs, and they get away with it every time! Like when they roughed Riverdale Baptist and Bishop Ireton for wins… A solid mob, with decent size. Tough, scrappy. Two alpha females in 5-8 senior combo-guard Janiah Hall (sweetheart off the court, thug life on the court), and 6-0 senior Eniya Russell (when she’s not taking plays off, is always the best player on the court).
3. Charles H. Flowers
No superstars outside of Kaniyah Harris tough and scrappy, rebounds and gets almost every 50/50 ball on the floor, score well in traffic. State Championship experience, good coaching (not many in-game adjustments), but they don’t give away many games. Beat Osbourn Park at Title IX because they out-roughed Osbourne.
4. Osbourne Park
Madison ScarboroughHead coach won a State Championship at Forest Park (waxing Princess Anne). This writer saw them almost beat Riverdale AND New Hope in the Gwynn Park fall league. After losing to Flowers at Title IX, the rebounded by dropping a 35-piece on Nazareth the next game. A lot of girls with handle, high IQ, and three-point shooting ability from WAY out there. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. Great team defense! A problem when you play against them, because they are so disciplined. Another sneaky tough team. And the leader-of-the-pack 5-10 junior Maddie Scarborough, crafty/slick/and clutch, All-DMV candidate.
5. James Madison
Alayna ArnolieCurrently 12-0. The Washington Post LOVES them, the IH expects big things out of them in NoVa (smacking teams out there). They did great at Title IX, beating Georgetown Visitation in the process… Lots of solid players (as they always have), and the 5-8 sophomore twin sister dynamo guards Alayna Arnolie (one of the best young guards in the DMV) and Grace Arnolie (who ain’t far behind her twin, and is rapidly improving). The IH expects to see Madison competing for a State Championship at season’s end. The IH’s top 15 players at Title IX (in alphabetical order).
Alyssa Andrews 6-0 junior (Colgan, Manassas, VA), the IH never saw her take a play off, a gifted scorer inside and outside, shoots a lot of free-throws at about 90%, crafty rebounder outside of her area, a knack for putbacks. Average on defense, but outstanding at playing the passing lanes. Alayna and Grace Arnolie 5-8 sophomores (James Madison, Vienna, VA). Rhyan Baldwin 5-6 freshman (Benjamin Banneker, Washington, DC), unless one was really paying attention, she didn’t seem to be doing much. But when you WERE paying attention, she was in the middle of every play on both ends of the court. Solid, didn’t make many mistakes, always telling her teammates what to do and where to go, on both sides of the ball. A talker, a coach on the floor. This writer saw her show good enough handle, hit the three-ball, show a mid-range game for being so young (!) and get to the basket in traffic and finish, and shoot and make her free-throws. Really nice defense, if she can stay out of foul trouble. A bright future, if she gets with the right club program. Amaya Durrett 5-2 8th-grade Walker Mill Middle School (Capitol Heights, MD), another one of those coaches on the floor, even telling the refs where to place the ball for the inbounds after times out! By far the best guard of any type and style in the little-little girl division of the Title IX. She never scored less than 25, on an array of slashing to the basket and finishing in traffic, , mid-range jumpers (!), and no-shame step-back threes. AND, a wicked handle! As with most little-little girls, needs to know the difference between a good shoot and a bad one. But unstoppable and lethal when she’s on. She dropped about 30 on New Hope (taller, longer, bigger, and athletic), she showed no fear. Can be one of the ones. Nia Ford 5-11 junior (Frederick Douglass, Upper Marlboro, MD)