Sophomore Sensations: Part II
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The high school season is underway, and we have plenty of sophomores who are already earning a lot of playing time making each minute count. Here are some of the ones that I have seen recently. Let’s start by taking…
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Continue ReadingThe high school season is underway, and we have plenty of sophomores who are already earning a lot of playing time making each minute count. Here are some of the ones that I have seen recently.
Let’s start by taking a look at Lake Norman who has one senior on the roster followed by a talented group of sophomores leading the charge. Here are three of them that you should watch.
Alexis Shehan does a nice job sliding out of the paint to open up the court, and she’s ready for the pass and jumper when the pass is kicked out to her. She does a nice job seeing the floor finding her open teammates or knowing when to put up her own shot. She gets inside for offensive rebounds using them as second chances for her own points. She uses her fakes to get around opponents and knows when to jump stop for a shot instead of laying it in. Don’t leave her open around the arc, either, because she will make you pay for it.
Highlights
Samantha Shehan does a nice job sneaking behind her opponents to catch the pass and put up a jumper. She has a knack for hitting the difficult baseline jumpers. She does a nice job crashing the boards on both ends, and she uses offensive rebounds for her own points. Her awareness of where to get to on the court on fast breaks makes sure that Lake Norman scores in transition each time whether she catches the pass and scores the bucket on her own, or she finds an open teammate.
Highlights
Addison Sirianni has continued to produce on defense keeping her opponents in front of her and knocking the ball away to grab the steal. She does a nice job perfecting the long pass up the court finding her open teammates on the fast break. On offensive sets, she makes smart passes to her teammates getting them the ball for some points, and she can certainly drive herself to the basket creating space on her own. She’s got the range for her shot, too, draining them from beyond the perimeter.
Highlights
Zion Pimentel
Zion Pimentel
Zion Pimentel was all over the court grabbing rebounds and knocking the ball away. She was tenacious sticking to her opponent making sure they didn’t have a chance to catch the ball. She did a nice job moving without the ball on offense flashing in and out of the paint and cutting up towards the ball when needed.
Taylor Hawley sees the floor well knowing how to zip a pass into her teammates, and she can find her own openings for the shot. She does a nice job creating space for her teammates as she penetrates the paint to get the dish on the block. She showed off her shot from deep against Covenant Day. Her ability to grab steals and change directions quickly to go on a fast break is certainly an asset for her team.
Highlights
Amari Baldwin
Amari Baldwin
Amari Baldwin shows great awareness on defense knowing when to jump in front of her opponents and even has a gift of catching the pass instead of making a deflection. These steals are pushed up the court with ease scoring two points. She moves fluidly with the ball, and she is constantly relocating after her passes running plays and finding the openings on the court. Full court presses don’t seem to intimidate her because she can push it up the court with her passes or time her crossovers well to get around her defenders.
Alicia McClain may just have one full high school season under her belt, but she has already shown how versatile she can be for her team. She can knock down shots from all over the court, and she controls the game on the block. On defense, she can step outside to defend the basket from guards trying to get around her, and she does well dominating the space on the block making sure post players don’t score against her. She does well grabbing rebounds and immediately pushing it up the court finding her open teammates or dribbling it up on her own.