Ayala High School Best of the West Tournament Pt. 1

This time of year is always a big one for holiday showcases and tournaments and this week Ayala High School played host to the Best of the West Tournament. A couple of teams had to withdraw due to health and safety protocols but the event was a still a good one. I was able to swing by on the final day of the tournament on Friday, Dec. 31 and here’s a look at some of the top talent that I saw. <strong>1. Aurora Elder - Riverside Poly 2024</strong> Elder is a talented post who has a knack for setting good, hard screens. She does a good job to free up the ball-handlers. She’s a strong presence in the paint, she gets good position down low and she has a soft touch around the rim. She positions herself well for rebounds and she follows misses on the offensive glass. One thing she could improve on is making quicker decisions out of the post but she can actually see the floor well passing-wise from the high post. <strong>2. Emily Cruz - Ayala 2023</strong> Cruz is a solid combo guard; she has a nice scoring touch but she can move the ball around and find open teammates as well. She has a strong slashing game; she can take her defender off the dribble and get to the rim. Does a good job drawing contact and getting herself to the free-throw line. She uses high screens well to get a matchup advantage and attack downhill. She pushes the pace well in transition and she can pull-up for a midrange jumper. Good ball-handler. <strong>3. [player_tooltip player_id="103355" first="Erica" last="Collins"] - Chino Hills 2022</strong> A UNLV commit, Collins is a strong force defensively in the paint. She has good mobility and she can meet slashers at the rim. Does a good job blocking and altering shots. On the offensive end, she’s versatile. She gets good position in the post and she can score in the paint, but she also can face up and shoot it from midrange. Very unselfish player who sees the floor well in the halfcourt and keeps the ball from stagnating. Does have to get a little bit stronger with finishing. <strong>4. Dailani Richardson - Roosevelt (Eastvale) 2022</strong> Richardson stood out as a knockdown shooter who hit several big three-point shots to keep Roosevelt in the championship game against Chino Hills. She’s a great shooter from both the midrange and from the three-point line. Does a good job moving without the ball and getting open and she’s a very good shooter off the catch. Can fake with defenders closing out on her and put the ball on the floor to get closer to the rim. Good transition defense.