Rising Stars 2022: Guards Part I

Mindy McCarthy August 12, 2021 @ 02:41 PM

The class of 2022 certainly made a strong case in their last summer playing travel basketball. Here are some guards for NC teams that stood out to me. <img class="size-medium wp-image-279990 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/05/Victoria-Boddie-scaled-crop-1920x1261-1619879421-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" />[player_tooltip player_id="219879" first="Victoria" last="Boddie"] | Greensboro Lady Gaters Boddie has a gift of taking over games and hitting some clutch shots right when her team needs it. She has a nice shot from deep, and she handles the ball well finding her open teammates anywhere on the court. She hustles after loose balls, too, diving on the floor for them and jumping into passing lanes to grab steals. [player_tooltip player_id="260511" first="Reece" last="Johnston"] | FBC Carolina Elite Charlotte Meadows Johnston is someone who can contribute on all areas of the court. She can control the tempo from the top of the key, and she can also fill the gaps making cuts and causing the defense to constantly shift. She does well showing off her jump shot from deep as well as finding the openings to score some points from mid range. She can handle the ball well moving quickly up the court on fast breaks. [player_tooltip player_id="285926" first="Chloe" last="Richmond"] | Carolina Flames 17U Nike Richmond is a play maker on all levels. She can drive the ball to score herself close to the basket. She also finds her teammates as she pull defenders towards her while she drives creating opportunities for others. She doesn’t need to be close to the basket to score as she can certainly shoot from downtown. She reads opponents’ offenses well jumping into passing lanes grabbing steals and deflecting the ball disrupting their plays. [player_tooltip player_id="207411" first="Lariyah" last="Clark"] | Carolina Lady Rising Stars<img class="size-medium wp-image-201755 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/09/Lariyah-Clark-copy-scaled-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> Opponents should make sure they know where Clark is at all times as she certainly knows how to disrupt her opponents’ offenses. She jumps into passing lanes sometimes seemingly coming out of nowhere, and she isn’t scared to pick the pocket of her opponents. That lack of fear of contact translates well to the offensive side of the ball as she easily grabs steals and takes them the other direction to score in transition. [player_tooltip player_id="124100" first="Najah" last="Lane"] | PSB Elite Lane (pictured above) has a patience with the ball that makes it hard to guard her. She knows exactly when to make her moves to the basket blowing by her defenders after showing off a variety of ball moves like jab steps and hesitation moves. Even when defenders are closing in around her, she finds ways to make smart passes to her teammates for their own points. She can certainly move well without the ball finding the open areas of the court to show off her jump shot.