2022: Summer Dreams High School Exposure – Part 2

So far, since the conclusion of the regular season, we have seen premier Palmetto State high school basketball talent don the uniforms of travel teams such as SC 76ers, A’ja Wilson Elite and IDreams. There was a late Fall-early Winter feel to this past weekend’s event at Aiken High School given the Summer Dreams High School Exposure event featured five high school teams from across South Carolina. And we at Prep Girls Hoops were on hand to take in the Saturday portion of the two-day event at the home of the Green Hornets. Here are more from the Class of 2022 that caught our attention. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/06/DECDDBDE-05D9-4CE4-A0A5-D1B52E4070BE-scaled-crop-1724x1132-1623071190.jpeg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-295315" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/06/DECDDBDE-05D9-4CE4-A0A5-D1B52E4070BE-scaled-crop-1724x1132-1623071190-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="175389" first="Anija" last="Jones"] – Denmark-Olar HS</strong> – It was not long since the last time Prep Girls Hoops saw Jones on the court as she participated with SC Future at the previous week’s Southern Memorial Showdown at Legacy Early College. Jones is not afraid to try her hand at the 3-point shot and can greatly help a team’s rebounding game. She also utilized her wingspan as well to make plays on defense. The event was somewhat of a return for Jones as she previously played at Aiken in 2019-20 before making the transfer to Denmark-Olar. In one of the games that occurred on Saturday, her Vikings matched up against Lower Richland and she scored 11 points and brought in seven rebounds. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="234752" first="Shawnteanna" last="Tillman"] – Lower Richland HS</strong> – Listed as one of two team captains from last season’s Diamond Hornets rendition, she and fellow captain [player_tooltip player_id="124093" first="Anala" last="Nelson"] appear to be steering the Lower Richland ship in the right direction. Tillman comes up with a number of defensive plays and has the knack for converting defense into offense. Defensively, she causes problems for ball carriers as she can match whoever on the opposing team has said basketball step for step and move for move. She can get from one place on the court to another quickly which helps other aspects of her game including her 3-point shooting, rebounding and ball distribution. Tillman will absorb her fair share of contact enroute to the free throw line as well. She had nine points (eight in the first half) of the Diamond Hornets’ game with Ridge View plus six points (all in the first half) and four rebounds of her team’s game with Keenan. <strong>Taja Atkins – Ridge View HS</strong> – The Blazers were well represented at the Summer Dreams High School Exposure – particularly its 2022 class. Atkins is part of that class. Atkins did plenty of work on the boards and came through with big shots in the second half of the Blazers’ contest with the host school Aiken. In that game, Atkins also entered off the bench.  This is the first year she has been listed as part of the Blazers roster, so this upcoming season, she will be a name to watch for a Ridge View team looking to keep its winning ways going in spite of the graduation departures of [player_tooltip player_id="124070" first="Laila" last="Acox"] and [player_tooltip player_id="185220" first="Mya" last="Wasswa"]. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/06/E3E03A9F-8F92-4510-8072-3A02006BE614-scaled-crop-1803x1184-1623071141.jpeg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-295313" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/06/E3E03A9F-8F92-4510-8072-3A02006BE614-scaled-crop-1803x1184-1623071141-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="244089" first="Lanasia" last="Brown"] – Ridge View HS</strong> – When coach Terrence Gibson begins the 2021-22 season, he will do so with five seniors as part of his roster. Brown is one of those seniors. Brown gives a team a boost in the mid range game and can display that she is an unselfish player. At one point in the Blazers’ game with Aiken, she passed up an open three opportunity to drive to the basket and dish the rock to one of her teammates. Brown will put in the work to make it all work on defense as well. She can get to the rim very quickly and will try a few 3-pointers. She is also effective in the transition game and will battle for rebounds. <strong>Erica Houser – Ridge View HS</strong> – With Houser donning Blazers purple for one more season, Ridge View girls basketball has a stable foundation for 2021-22. Rebounding is a center piece of her game as she displayed in the games she played this past season for coach Gibson’s Blazers. That work she puts in with her defensive game can include an ability to get opponents into turnovers and, of course, it compliments how she provides a dimension to Ridge View as an anchor of the team’s front court. Houser scored six points in one of Ridge View’s games on Saturday against Aiken.