I’m closing it out with another 5 that stood out on the last day but guess what, All-Tournament teams, as well as Breakout Players, are coming up from the 17U Division at the Battle In The Big Friendly so stay tuned
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/04/tatiana_oliver-crop-1037x681-1650319455.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-416469" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/04/tatiana_oliver-crop-1037x681-1650319455-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a></p>
<strong>[player_tooltip player_id="331949" first="Tatiana" last="Oliver"]-5’7 CG (Byrd HS) O.W.E. Family Renegades 2023 </strong>
Oliver’s demeanor is what initially caught my eye as her poise on the court just stood out and no matter what the situation was, she stayed under control. She also did something else I love, vocal on the court and that deserves a #THROWBACK because she did a good job at both the 1 and 2, she directed traffic yet she went through traffic hard off the dribble and finished after contact. I was also impressed with her rebounding against taller players but when she dropped a few 25 footers, that did it
<strong>Amina Djibrine-6’0 SF (Village School) TNBA Houston 2023</strong>
Djibrine is long and athletic, if you pay attention, I call that the base yet defenders definitely needed to pay attention to her because she had an overly impressive weekend, yes she is progressing, so the "hands and footwork" thing looked great as she scored around the basket elevating over defenders and speaking of elevating, that timing created some issues too as she blocked, altered and deflected but those same "UPS" enabled her to score on offensive rebounds, yes she rebounded on both ends
<strong>[player_tooltip player_id="241014" first="Kate" last="Melton"]-5’7 SG (Edmond North HS) Team Buddy Buckets 2023 [2024]</strong>
Melton sent a message on opening night and since I use different color ink for each day when I take notes, the messages kept saying "this young lady can flat out shoot the ball" and watching her create her shot under pressure and knock it down consistently with a hand in her face, I’m talking "mid to long-range" just kept my adrenaline going. Her ability to catch and shoot is one of the best I’ve seen all season, on any platform, and the icing on the cake was her court vision, I love cake
<strong>Calyssa Sevier-5’7 CG (Lytle HS) Lone Star Magic 2023 [2024]</strong>
Sevier is so darn heady that she just makes things happen at times almost effortlessly. She understands how to create for both herself and her teammates, she sets them up for good shots including gimmes yet she also falls into that "gimme an inch and I’ll drop it from what seems like a mile" as her range is unlimited but she can just flat out shoot the ball, the pull-up in the set, the stop and pop in transition as well as "off the dribble are all nice but her seeing the floor just had me smiling
<strong>Jaylee Christian-6’2 C (Stillwater HS) Graham’s Shooting Stars Academy 2023 [2024]</strong>
Christian size is intriguing as I caught her squad walking in on Saturday so I had to make sure I didn’t miss them and on Sunday, she didn’t disappoint. Let me add "long and athletic" to her 74 inches because just that in itself makes the offensive player think about challenging the basket. She also has good timing and actually threw some shots back but her rebounding, on both ends and not only getting the break going but running the floor was definitely refreshing to me. She scored around the basket, the upside is scary
<strong>Skylar Durley-5’9 G (Classen HS) BTR 2023 [2025]</strong>
Durley had me revisit <a href="https://girlzprepreport.com/2020-passthaball-next100-pt-1-2025/">one of my evaluations about her, I love being right</a> but she has elevated her game so much in the past two seasons that I can only smile because like that fictitious SC from the North Pole, I see everything and I know she’s been working. Her sheer power as she rebounds was enough because she has the right first name as she was skyward over everyone yet that also worked when she attacked the basket from everywhere. Even more importantly was her "on the ball defense" she falls into one of those players that never take a play-off so I guess her mid to long-range was just a bonus for me
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