NE Jamfest Grab Bag Part 3: Third Degree Burn

Photo: JT Shotz

Bash Hudson

May 14, 2022 @ 10:14 AM

Below is the final part of New England Jamfest standouts from last weekend in New Hampshire.   [player_tooltip player_id="429104" first="Shannon" last="Welburn"]|Team New England|5’7’’|CG|’26 [caption id="attachment_429474" align="alignnone" width="300"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/05/235DA4D4-CC73-44B5-9D65-E232B1BF39B6-crop-1242x816-1652540878.jpeg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-429474" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/05/235DA4D4-CC73-44B5-9D65-E232B1BF39B6-crop-1242x816-1652540878-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> Photo: JT Shotz[/caption] When I watched Welburn play last weekend, I was convinced she was at least a sophomore because her game is mature. I found out after that she was in middle school and was stunned because she commanded the floor as an older prospect would. Welburn’s marksmanship from the outside was her strongest attribute, and Welburn gave backcourt mate [player_tooltip player_id="301042" first="Bleu" last="Kerr"] a deadly target to kick out when she penetrated. Welburn has a high release, gets good elevation on her jump shot, and shows the confidence to hit shots with a hand in her face.   [player_tooltip player_id="371743" first="Catherine" last="Sollose"]|CT Starters|5’8’’|SG|’24 Sollose is fearless, and you can always count on her to be one of the best rebounders in every game. Even when she has a size disadvantage, Sollose will snatch boards over bigger players because she is very explosive off the ground. Sollose also has the muscle and body strength to move players on box-outs and get in prime position. Sollose showed how impactful she could be in transition. In the open court, her ball-handling was tight, she was under control when changing direction, and made some impressive finishes.   [player_tooltip player_id="298697" first="Marykate" last="Flynn"]|NEX|6’1’’|PF|’24 There were only a few true rim-protecting forwards who altered shots consistently at Jamfest, and Flynn was one of them. She was an eraser down low, securing the paint and not letting her opponent get anything easy at the cup. Flynn stays vertical and does a good job not fouling when flying in for a block attempt.   [player_tooltip player_id="335254" first="Caitlyn" last="McCoy"]|MBC|5’2’’|PG|’25 Don’t let McCoy’s size fool you! At 5’2’’, she is one of the best shooters in the ’25 class, and defenses need to locate McCoy at all times when she is on the court. She moves well without the ball and runs the floor hard in transition to get in position to fire away. McCoy hit a couple of backbreaking threes in the game I saw, and even with the defense closing out, it wasn’t enough of a disruption for her quick release and shooting acumen.   [player_tooltip player_id="184118" first="Sierra" last="Carson"]|Maine Attraction|5’7’’|PG|’23 Carson has been a problem for opposing defenses all spring, and last weekend she had another big-time scoring weekend. She is an elite athlete who keeps her center of gravity low, so it’s a tall glass of water to ask a defender to stay in front of Carson. She got to the basket whenever she wanted and took advantage of her quickness when the defense pressured her. Carson uses her body well on drives and is great at drawing fouls. She also does not turn the ball over a lot, considering how often the ball is in her hands.   [player_tooltip player_id="298627" first="Maren" last="Maxon"]| Maine Firecrackers|5’6’’|CG|’25 <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-429472" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/05/A4EC5F77-625C-4C20-8B5F-4667D7098E28-crop-1242x816-1652540731-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> I always liked how hard Maxon competed, and she showed how good of a ball-hawking defender she was last weekend. She sits down in her stance and has the lateral speed to stay in front of some more athletic guards. I also like how physical Maxon is, and her defense effort made the ball handler visibly uncomfortable.