5 Players Who Popped: Bay State Jaguars
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I had the opportunity to watch the Bay State Jaguars practice the other day at Mass Premier, and the level of play was off the charts. Players who participated in this practice ranged from the class of 2022 to…
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I had the opportunity to watch the Bay State Jaguars practice the other day at Mass Premier, and the level of play was off the charts. Players who participated in this practice ranged from the class of 2022 to the class of 2025, and every player on that court brings a unique skill set to the program making the team so much fun to watch. Here are 5 players in particular who stood out.
Watching @BayStateJags get after it and the amount of talent on this court is INSANE🔥🔥🔥💪🏾💪🏾 pic.twitter.com/jSJUqizOdD
— Bash Hudson (@BashHoopsNE) March 15, 2021
Alex Williams – Middleborough High – 5’11’’ – SF/PF – 2022 (pictured above)
I have watched Williams on film and know how versatile and tenacious a defender she is, but her size and length stand out when you see her in person. The combination of her height and wingspan gives her the physical makeup to guard 4 different positions on the floor. She plays extremely hard and is so active on the defensive end, making her the ultimate disrupter in passing lanes. Williams is an intimidating presence that causes offensive players to panic and forces them into poor decisions making her extremely valuable if you are a team that wants to press full court. Her aggressiveness and endless motor make her a player everyone should keep an eye on because she most likely will be matched up against one of the opposing teams’ best scoring options which will be “must watch” action.
Sophia Vital – Tabor Academy – 5’3’’ – PG – 2023
Vital is one of the most electric players in the region. She is fantastic at elevating her teammates’ play with aggressive drives to the basket, crisp passing, and elite decision-making. Vital’s quickness with the ball makes her impossible to guard. There isn’t a single-player one-on-one who can stay in front of her resulting in teams resorting to gadget defenses which Vital can shred with her playmaking ability. Vital’s head is always up scanning the court to create a scoring opportunity for her team. She recognizes that she can score at will on any possession, so she makes the conscious effort to facilitate the offense and pick her spots on when to attack. When she gets the rest of the team clicking on all cylinders, the team is virtually unstoppable.
Thai Davis – Beaver Country Day School – 5’6’’ – PG/SG – 2023
Davis is a gifted scorer whose athleticism is off the charts. A weapon in transition, Davis’ eye-popping speed and ability to get ahead of the defense leads to easy scoring chances on the break. Albeit a smaller guard, I think Davis’s scoring prowess and aggressiveness on offense make her a great 2 guard option. Her mid-range package is excellent, and she can torture defenses with her stop-and-pop jumper. Davis mixes speeds well, always has the defense off-balance, and because of her deadly in-between game, she does not have to rely on challenging bigger forwards at the rim to be effective on offense. Davis is competitive and plays with so much heart, and it trickles down to the rest of the team, which is a unique trait to possess on the basketball court.
Kaelyn Carroll – HS Undecided – 6’2’’ – PF – 2025
Carroll is one of the rising stars in New England who has all the tools to be a dominant force over the next four years. What impressed me about Carroll is her mental makeup. As an 8th grader, she is down low, battling with many elite New England prospects from the class of 2022 and 2023, and she accepted the challenge and pushed herself every drill to show she belongs with this group. Carroll’s skills are jaw-dropping; she can snipe from the perimeter, and not many defenders can bother her jump shot due to her height. She is aggressive inside, has an array of one on-one-moves on the wing, and she is also comfortable handling the ball. A power forward at her size with a guard skill set is rare, making Carroll a fascinating watch. With Carroll competing against top prospects on the team, such as Megan Olbrys, Oralye Kiefer Oralye Kiefer 6'3" | PF Beaver Country Day | 2022 State New E , and Blake O’Grady (to name a few), it will be exciting to see her gain even more confidence and develop into more of a force as the spring season progresses.
Oralye Kiefer Oralye Kiefer 6'3" | PF Beaver Country Day | 2022 State New E – Beaver Country Day School – 6’3’’ – PF – 2022
Kiefer is one of the best bigs in the 2022 class and is another Jaguar power forward/center who plays on the wing effectively. She has a fluid jumper from the outside but can put the ball on the floor and take her defender to the hoop. Kiefer is a strong and forceful 5 who is a terror down low and can score at will. No one runs the floor like Kiefer; nothing to do with her speed or athleticism in transition but has everything to do with her basketball intelligence. The 6’3’’ junior reads the defense well and picks her spots on the court that gives her the highest scoring opportunity on that specific possession. One trip down, she will run rim to rim hard and get a layup, or if the defense is already sucked into the paint, she is comfortable trailing and burying a mid-range jumper. Kiefer is a player who understands the game at a high level and will always put herself into a position to give her team the best chance to be successful.