2022 features variety including HEAVY HITTERS #RiseUp

Part 3 of my Skills Pays Bills Rise Up Individual Showcase gave me a whole lot of something to talk about and even more to write about since I’m a man of few words that don’t include me but hey, I know my stuff, as in girl’s basketball and I saw some college players as well as some that will go beyond that and I’m not kidding and starting with one in particular who just continues to leave me speechless [player_tooltip player_id="65912" first="Ayanna" last="Thompson"]-6’0  F (Red Oak) Hall left me speechless last summer and now I’m not only speechless but bedazzled as she game is LEGIT every aspect. She’s long, ultra-athletic and attacks at will yet she can score, mid to long-range as well as in the paint but what really impressed me, even more, was watching her not only the ball in the open court, under pressure, but make the pass [player_tooltip player_id="65911" first="Breanna" last="Davis"]-5’8 G (Red Oak) Davis was called a #D1Lock when I saw her in the 6th grade heading to the 7th and once again, I was correct yet that has elevated to #BCS because she elevated her game as she does on her jumper which is from mid to NBA range. Great vision, handles the ball under pressure and understands when she needs to take over Brianna Espircueta-5’5 G Espicueta gave me my first look at her and she was definitely a pleasant surprise. She’s a heady combo guard that plays within herself, she creates her shot and can score either from outside or attacking but even more important was the fact she saw the floor and played the passing lane [player_tooltip player_id="202480" first="Tiona" last="Amos"]-5’7 PG Amos is one of those "when the bright lights come on" types of players. Sure, she was solid during the skills and drills portion but in the games, her athleticism was on full display as she manned-up baseline to baseline and created turnovers as well as attacked the basket strongly and just for fun, she shot the ball outside and dropped a fadeaway Heaven Hayden-5’8 G Hayden is smooth and sets defenders up nicely and using her athletic ability while creating her shot was nice. The pull-up jumper is smooth, she releases it nicely but her ball-handling enabled her to set defenders up as she attacked and finished after contact but on the flip, she applied heat on the defensive end Kacie Trusell-5’5 G Trussell understands the game and doesn’t force anything, that’s always a good thing but she maneuvers around the floor nicely, handles the ball in crowds and makes the right passes to the right people at the right time so it’s always great when you can see the floor well ad to keep the defense honest, that pull-up helped Jazmyne Jackson-5’6 G Jackson was solid in the skills and drills, especially the one on one segment and that gave a glimpse of her athleticism. She’s also a good defender that plays the passing lane and understands the importance of switching and being on top of the pick [player_tooltip player_id="135385" first="Suni" last="Davis"]-5’7 G (Saginaw) Davis impressed me in elementary school and I’ll never forget going ask who she was because she was going completely off, that’s something I don’t do unless I see big things in the future and she hasn’t disappointed. Nice set of offensive skills, including the jumper Olivia Gibson-5’7 G Gibson is strong, she  understands positioning and does a good job rebounding, on both ends, from the guard spot but her consistency at banging on the inside was on full effect from the skills and drills to the games which said a lot bout her endurance and athletic ability Amyria Walker-5’5 G Walker with the stop and pop over and over as well as creating the pull-up off the dribble but she also uses that creativity to attack the rim and finish strong but two very important things also caught my eye, the way she reacts on defense and her timing on playing the passing lane Tori Alexander-5’0 G Alexander showed she could create her shot in the half-court set and hit the jumper, she also showed the pull-up in transition but as the day went on, she pulled something else out, her range and she was knocking down the long ball with consistency [player_tooltip player_id="202478" first="Aniah" last="Hall"]-6’3 P Size does matter when you can play and just watching Hall’s improvement from my Holiday Tournament Extravaganza left me smiling. She rebounds well on both ends, throws the outlet and defends in the paint where she also finishes strong but her progression tells me a lot about her upside which is pretty solid like her game is becoming Raven Busby-5’8 G Busby was solid in the skills and drills and it transferred over to the games where she blended in nicely but at one point, she showed the pull-up consistently while being defended. Good upside, heady ball-player that also falls into that "never takes a play off" player