Sunday Standouts #PGHLive

I closed out the event revisiting several squads I had seen before and for me to say that I’m always excited to see a variety of new players step-up and stand out and there were many, I’ll be putting together lists all week including an All-Tournament selection from the 17U Division (Dynasty Region) but here are my picks from Sunday <img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-433676" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/05/DSC_0089-1-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" /> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>STEPHIE SAFI-SALUMU</strong></p> <strong>Kaylee Ruberg-5’9 PF (Rushford Peterson HS) Air Minnesota 2023</strong> Ruberg was overpowering in every game I caught her yet her hands and footwork around the basket deserve the hashtag #THROWBACK as she finished after contact numerous times yet understanding how to use her body around the paint was one thing, another was watching her battle for rebounds which when I say it means "she goes after everything off the rim" yet she also ran the floor, did a good job defending both in the paint as well as outside of it and speaking of outside, she dropped the jumper as well <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="381348" first="Caislyn" last="Long"]-5’8 SG (Falcon HS) P.L.U.T.O. Prospects 2023</strong> Long is one of those "variety of players" I mentioned earlier who stepped up. Her squad lost 4 key players to a variety of injuries yet she simply went off to close the event out. She scored off the dribble yet she also showed she could knock the mid to long-range down by creating her shot and if that wasn’t enough, she applied pressure on the defensive end "on the ball pressure" which helped create turnovers and she showed good timing to block shots <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="175459" first="Lauren" last="Wells"]-5’10 SG (St Joseph HS) KC Royalty Basketball 2023</strong> Wells created her shot so well I still see the pink headband blowing by defenders and either attacking and finishing or showing the pull-up jumper yet she also dropped it in transition and by her letting me see the "stop and pop" that JUST DID IT  however she also rebounded on both ends of the court and did a good job defending, this includes "playing the passing lane" yet her barrage of baskets as she scored a variety of ways helped changed the momentum <strong>Stephie Safi-Salumu-6’1 SF(Sunrise Christian Academy) Kansas Bluejays 2023 [2024]</strong> Safi-Salumu did something I have seen few players on this side of the game do and that’s change hands in mid-air to score baskets and peep this, she did it on Friday and Saturday as well, well she’s done it numerous times since the PGH Circuit started so she’s long and athletic, I call that the base and trust me, she’s rounding all of them and is going to develop into a "nightmare to defend" because she has the HEZ off the dribble, she finishes after contact and can face the basket and score so her rebounding, on both ends and very good timing on defense to block shots are pretty impressive <strong>Kya Johnson-5’8 PG (Kickapoo HS) DC Queens 2024</strong> Johnson was everywhere, I saw that a few weeks ago as her energy left me somewhat speechless but just brings it on both ends. Yes, she scores off the dribble as well as showed the pull-up jumper however her defense is smothering and she falls into that "never takes a play-off" type of player as her hands are quick and help her steal the ball but she also reads the floor and plays the passing lane. The jumper is solid also <strong>CORRECTABLE ERROR</strong> <strong>Makayla McClellan-5’6 CG (Sunrise HS) Kansas Bluejays 2023</strong> McClellan came to me and told me I misspelled her name on the Saturday Tip Sheet and I told her "no you did" but she was right, she also can go right as well as "to the left, to the left" so I want to add what she did <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/2022/05/saturday-standouts-pghlive/"><strong>SATURDAY</strong></a>