Opening Night Top Performers
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I started using “The Big Three” way before it became popular on the professional side so I had a chance to open the season up with teams that have opened up against each other for quite a number of years,…
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Continue ReadingI started using “The Big Three” way before it became popular on the professional side so I had a chance to open the season up with teams that have opened up against each other for quite a number of years, Northshore and Hightower. This will be a WIDE OPEN Road To San Antonio for Region 3, the Houston area, in 6A, the highest classification in the state, in fact, it will be the broadest I have ever seen. Summer Creek is still in the driver’s seat yet there are so many possibilities
I break the season down into 3 parts, the preseason, district, and playoffs, which is when it really counts. Why do you say that asked the novice, well in a one-game situation, I have seen some strange things happen, so I’ll break down the Big Three from each team and later I’ll drop the role players that are going to play huge parts in how far their teams go, like Chandler Caver Chandler Caver 5'9" | CG Hightower | 2025 State TX who might be Hightower’s X- factor
North Shore
Shalayne Morgan Shalayne Morgan 5'9" | CG North Shore | 2023 State TX -5’9 CG [2023]
Morgan continues to find ways to make a difference and her “cat-light” instincts on the defensive end played volumes in her team’s dramatic comeback. She has timing, she reads plays on the defensive end before they happen and she does what I will always love to see, play the passing lane. The UNSIGNED senior’s explosiveness will play a huge part in how well the team does this season because off the dribble or with the jumper, she can put up numbers
Simran Williams Simran Williams 5'7" | SG North Shore | 2024 State TX -5’7 CG [2024]
Williams’s improvement probably had me more excited than anything else. She’s long and athletic, which works for all sizes and watching her not only create her shot but elevate over defenders all night was nice. What was even nicer was her game-tying jumper on the stop-and-pop in transition, which she hit after the lick from 15 feet. She also showed her body control has gotten better which will make her a definite threat throughout the season
Kobe Johnson-6’0 G/F [2026]
Johnson was inadvertently left off the 2026 Watchlist and I apologized before the game. This is her THIRD year playing, and she has an unbelievable upside because trust me, she is showing signs of being able to “take over” games. She’s long and athletic, and scores around the basket, after contact, but that JUMPER is smooth, she sets the defender up nicely and drops it from midrange with a hand in her face, she did it several times last night
Hightower
Nia Reed-5’7 CG [2023]
Reed got me going off the top with her defense, on the ball, baseline to baseline, so do I have to put she’s athletic after that, yes because many don’t equate that. I also loved her first step as she set the defender up nicely on several occasions to not only take them “off the dribble” but score after contact. Her body control was also nice, and so was her understanding of positioning and rebounding on both ends
Alanna Nerocker- 5’7 CG [2024]
Nerocker was a pleasant surprise, hey Texas is a big state and the Houston area is so spread out that I miss some players even here, it is what it is, yet she is what she is and showing her athleticism on both ends, especially applying that heat defensively, was nice because she has quick hands, understands how to trap as well as force players into the trap. She also, one more time, does what I love to see, play the passing lane and on top of that, dropped some jumpers, a huge 3 stopped a run
Madison Bob Madison Bob 5'8" | SG Hightower | 2024 State TX -5’9 CG [2024]
Bob gets the front page cover because she was, well hard to cover and I told her that she changed her hairstyle again and I’m old and needed the roster. Well let me say this, yeah she opened the season up with an NBA 3 and scored countless ways but when I first saw her in middle school when she was still in Louisiana, I saw the potential, which is why she made that initial freshman Watch List when she moved to Texas, remember I’m a REAL EVALUATOR. Her progression every season has proved me right yet her CONFIDENCE on the court is about to take her game to yet another level