2022 Southwest Salsa Slam: Saturday Standouts Part 1

Matthew Martinez May 9, 2022 @ 04:51 PM

The 2022 Southwest Salsa Slam is a four day event held in Albuquerque New Mexico, on May 5th - May 8th with 23 Varsity Girls Teams representing Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. Here are the names of players who performed well during the morning portion of games on Saturday 5/07/2022 <hr /> Layla Villalba, Senior Class of 2022, TX Layla Villalba is quick guard that operates well in open space, and has quick first step when attacking the basket. Layla is aggressive on defense and is a "Menace" who does not let opposing guards breathe as she does a good job of staying in front of her opponent. Villalba is a good passer, that makes quick decisions especially during out of bounds sets.   <hr /> Kim Cruz, Junior soon to be Senior Class of 2023, TX Kim Cruz is another quick guard with good handles that "Dimes" passes; Cruz delivers crisp pocket bounce passes to rolling post players with accuracy; Cruz also flashed ability to finish in traffic when she gets past the initial defender and gets into the paint with a strong take and layup.   <hr /> [player_tooltip player_id="216708" first="Maddison" last="Neale"], Sophomore soon to be Junior, Class of 2024, CO <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-426649" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/05/DDFD7847-94A5-4E3F-A86C-70C5F0BF8D6A-scaled-crop-1920x1261-1652113060-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> [player_tooltip player_id="216708" first="Maddison" last="Neale"] is an all around talent who affects that game in a variety of ways, Neale can hit the 3 ball from the corner and wing with ease, she can handle the ball, rebound on both ends of the court and most importantly can put the ball in the basket; Neale has great touch on her shot as the ball really hits nothing but net! Maddison gets to her spots and is not afraid to fire multiple attempts if not guarded closely. Neale is long and athletic and is a miss-match for opposing backcourt players as she uses her size and strength very well.   <hr /> Emily Beyale, Junior soon to be Senior Class of 2023, NM Emily Beyale is a sound guard, that plays with a lot of energy. Beyale is a good "Floor General" that can draw multiple defenders into the lane when she attacks and deliver pocket passes from in the paint to cutting teammates for easy layups. Beyale runs the floor well for transition layups thanks to her high motor and shoots the 3 ball with confidence. <hr /> Kennedy Spellman Kennedy is a BRIGHT young player with tremendous potential. Kennedy can knockdown 3s from the corner spot and wing , make good decisions especially on the fast break where she can deliver no look passes AND can also put ball on floor and dribble/attack slipping into the lane. Kennedy Spellman is ONLY an 8th grader soon to Freshman who has exceptional footwork for her age !!! Keep an eye out for this young lady going forward! <hr /> --