TAPPS State Championship 5A Top Performers

The stage was set for Friday night in College Station for some heavy TAPPS action, defending 6A State Champions The Village School featuring <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="65876" first="Jada" last="Malone"] (Texas A&amp;M)</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="136323" first="Tymberlin" last="Criswell"],(SMU</strong>), and Aikens Semones-5’6 G (Hardin Simmons) were playing at 5;30 at A&amp;M Consolidated HS against a very talented Bishop Lynch squad with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="97624" first="Paige" last="Bradley"] (TCU)</strong> and<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="135379" first="Madison" last="Cockrell"]</strong>, one of the top juniors in Texas, while defending 5A State Champions Southwest Christian (Fort Worth) was battling Second Baptist (Houston) at 6 pm at College Station HS, normally a 15-minute drive was almost 30, my daughter won a National Championship at Texas A&amp;M so it seems like I wouldn’t get lost yet I’m a lot better at evaluating talented players, many who have gotten lost in the shuffle over the years and here were some of the standouts as Southwet Christian defended their title 54-40 <strong>Southwest Christian (Fort Worth)</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="200736" first="Arieona" last="Rosborough"]</strong> Rosborough has always shown me she could score and her mid to long-range was shown before she started high school but she can also score off the dribble and finish strongly after contact, she plays the passing lane well which also leads to baskets plus she can defend baseline to baseline <strong>Ariele Rosborough-5’9 G/F senior</strong> Rosborough still understands how to rebound against taller opponents, well she understands the game and when you comprehend positioning and boxing it, combined with desire, that fire she brings on defense is contagious because she’ll also dive for loose balls as well as showing she can punish and wear players down <strong>Dayton Flowers-5’9 F senior</strong> Flowers did a good job of both scoring on the inside as well as applying some solid pressure defense. She’s strong around the basket and made some things happen <strong>Emily Doane-5’6 G sophomore </strong> Doane hit some huge baskets, has a nice pull-up jumper and understands how to create her shot under pressure, very good upside <strong>Second Baptist (Houston)</strong> <strong>Layla Ertan-6’0 P senior</strong> Ertan is long and athletic, elevates for rebounds and she showed that over and over during the championship game. She also uses her length and timing to block shots, deflected some as well but she goes after loose balls and played good defense outside the paint, and also showed she could score <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="267349" first="Kate" last="Marshall"]-6’0 F sophomore</strong> Marshall is just so powerful and she doesn’t mind the physicality, giving or taking but she’s also a battler and her desire shows every time I catch her. She rebounds well on both ends, she also has good hands and footwork to not only finish around the basket but her soft touch gives her baskets facing the rim <strong>Olivia Sauvageau-5’7 G freshman </strong> Sauvageau impressed before the start of her freshman season yet her poise throughout the season, handling the pressure from defenses, and understanding how to run a team has impressed me even more. She scored 23 points in the semifinals which shows she can take over when needed yet she also controls the tempo well, knowing when and when not to push it so off the dribble or mid to long-range, she can score and she sees the floor very well