2021: She Got Next Tournament

With the travel schedules having wrapped up, schools and players have shifted their attention to their regular season basketball schedules to be played out over the span of the next few months. Prep Girls Hoops was on hand at Brookland-Cayce High School just outside of downtown Columbia this past weekend and got a glimpse of some of the best preps hoops talent in South Carolina. From the Upstate to the Midlands to the Lowcountry, virtually every portion of the state was well-represented at this much-ballyhooed event. Among those that made their way to Columbia for the festivities was a number of talented seniors looking to put an exclamation point on their high school careers. Here is some of who stood tall like a palmetto tree in the South Carolina Midlands of the games that I was able to watch here today. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-231035" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/11/79D71A22-051C-4A8D-8DFA-4126F5EED667.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="124077" first="Trinity" last="Franklin"] – Greenville HS </strong>– Blink and you may miss it. The “it” being the Red Raiders’ star staring down your defense, then laying up for two points. The “it” could also be her driving down the floor and draining a 3-point basket. An integral piece of Greenville’s winning puzzle, Franklin has a great deal of court awareness and can find open teammates. She is also adept at slashing her way through defenders and finding her way to the basket as well as shooting and draining treys. Franklin tallied nine points in Greenville’s 42-39 victory over Keenan on the tournament’s opening day. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-230816" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/11/03F0E6AD-7AFE-427C-874F-5E3F99CAB7E6-300x169.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="169" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="124072" first="Janiyah" last="Hagood"] – JL Mann HS </strong> – Mann … is Hagood very good or what? Hagood recently announced her commitment to Francis Marion University (NCAA D2) and her play serves as a reason why the Patriots had wanted her. Hagood is a floor general who can shoot 3-point shots as well as draw contact and find her way to the free throw line. Get Hagood out in transition and it is a hard time for defenders hoping to keep her from scoring two more. Ironically enough, the JL Mann athletics teams are the Patriots as well – just as Francis Marion’s are. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="185431" first="Samara" last="Brennan"] – Dutch Fork HS </strong> – Brennan may be considered one of the unsung heroes of a Silver Foxes team with eyes on regaining its winning ways in 2020-21. She is listed as one of the four team captains and her play on defense is a reason why. Looking to score on Brennan – or simply just dribble against her is a tough assignment in itself. She averaged more than three steals per game in 22 games she played in her junior campaign. Her ability to run the floor and shoot 3-pointers will also serve as assets to the Silver Foxes this season. <strong>Tamyra Davis – Keenan HS </strong>– Keenan’s contest with Greenville at the tournament was not exactly high-scoring … a 42-39 decision that went in favor of Greenville’s Raiders as opposed to Keenan’s, but Davis was a key player on the offensive end that kept Keenan in the game. Davis scored 14 points for the game, but 11 of those 14 came in the second half – a second half in which Keenan opened trailing Greenville by a score of 22-14. An integral portion of Davis’ game is her ability to take 3-pointers and drain those shots. Davis will also give her team much needed rebounding help.