The Range of Classes is Effective for Charlotte Dream Elite 17U

Mindy McCarthy September 7, 2020 @ 05:46 PM

There was a good mix of athletes competing in the 17U division at LBI Carolina Live for Charlotte Dream Elite and NC Lady Gems. Here is a recap of their matchup. <img class="size-medium wp-image-200435 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/09/Zion-Duncan-copy-scaled-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" />Zion Duncan (2023) continues to dominate on the block no matter who her opponent is. She is strong in the post moving her body and feet with ease to make the best play for a score. She uses her strength to find a way to rebound each time. She knows how to position herself and uses her footwork to stay strong in where she is moving. [player_tooltip player_id="172857" first="Josie" last="Hester"] (2021) continues to show she has the ability to play at the next level with her ability to move well with the ball, and she always finds the open areas of the court in order to make a contribution. Fighting through contact, she finds ways to make plays. Hester showed that she can shoot from all over the court, and her vision was on point with making smart passes to her teammates for their own points. She is strong on defense consistently deflecting and stealing the ball creating possessions for her team. She even had a nice block for her team on a fast break saving some easy points that could have been scored for the opponent. Ashley Farmer (2022) is a true floor general controlling the tempo of the game. She makes amazing passes that are perfectly timed to get her teammates involved. Her vision of the court will translate well to the next level. She runs the floor well with the ball, and she moves into the open areas of the court when she does not have the ball. She isn’t scared of driving against contact to create some easy points for herself. <img class="size-medium wp-image-200436 aligncenter" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/09/Emerie-Tillmon-copy-scaled-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> [player_tooltip player_id="172864" first="Emerie" last="Tillmon"] (2021) is fantastic on the wing making moves to the basket and creating space between her and her defender. She doesn’t shy away from contact either. She is also a terror on defense keeping her opponent in front of her and jumping into passing lanes. After her steals, she quickly pushes the ball up the court converting those into points for Charlotte Dream Elite. For the NC Lady Gems, Jada Wilkins (2021) was a great shooter from behind the arc <img class="size-medium wp-image-200437 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/09/Jada-Wilkins-copy-scaled-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" />and showed that she was aggressive with the ball when driving inside. Late in the game, she had a great “and 1” opportunity that pumped up her teammates, but it seemed like this is something that she does well on multiple occasions. On defense, she even had a nice block positioning herself perfectly in order to make a play. She consistently does this against players that she is guarding. Janelle Carter (2021) was aggressive with the ball and strong when grabbing rebounds. She had several nice put back opportunities that either led to points for her with a layup or sent her to the free throw line where she converted. Her vision on defense led to her jumping into passing lanes and creating problems for her opponents. She pushed the ball up the court to create plays for her team.