Young guards rising – Central WA-Week one
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There were some amazing performances in week one of the girls basketball season all across the state. I decided to focus my attention on a few from the Central WA area. There is a big-time scorer at Davis. Ellensburg has…
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Continue ReadingThere were some amazing performances in week one of the girls basketball season all across the state. I decided to focus my attention on a few from the Central WA area. There is a big-time scorer at Davis. Ellensburg has a familiar name with great talent. East Valley has a talented junior guard. Mabton has a whole team of underclassmen. Wapato has a freshman star in the making. Here’s a closer look at some of the young talent in Central WA after week one.
Esmeralda Galindo
Esmeralda Galindo
She has opened the season with some huge games. She had 35 points in a 77-46 win over Selah, breaking the school record for points. She followed with 34 points in a 74-53 win over Decatur. She capped it off with a mere 26 in her third game of the week. She didn’t take a ton of shots to get there. Nothing fancy, just some really fundamentally sound basketball skills. She has a nice compact shot, feet set, with a quick release. She made threes, she made a couple of nice running floaters. She has good foot speed when she gets going downhill and got lots of layups using it. She is an excellent free throw shooter, hitting 11 of 12 in one of those games. Elbow in-back spin. She looks like a player who has spent a lot of time at the gym but she also appears to be a natural. Not only did she score, she made some nice dump off passes off the drive to a wide open teammate in the post. She is a scoring guard but can handle the ball and play the point. Solid player with the ability to change games real fast.
Jameson Phillip
Jameson Phillip
Younger sister of class 2A player of the year last season, Dylan Phillip. Ellensburg went undefeated and won the class 2A state championship. Dylan was a senior but the younger Phillip started her sophomore season with 18 and 13 points in the first two games of the season. She averaged around 11 points as a freshman on that championship team last year. She is a player who understands what it means to be a point guard. She gets the ball to the right people and constantly put herself in a position to do so. She has a tight dribble and can get into the lane and kick it out or find a post player who is open on the block. She delivers it where they can catch it. She is quick on defense with active hands and gets a lot of steals. This whole team is built for defense with length in the post and quickness at the guard position. They love to pressure the ball and she often starts it with good ball pressure. She can score and she picks her spots well. She had a three, a nice drive to the hoop and a mid-range jumper in sequence. This is another good Ellensburg team, led by Olivia Anderson Olivia Anderson 6’6″ | PF Ellensburg | 2023 State #37 Nation WA in the post and Phillip running the show.
Scored 17 in a 40-30 win over Naches, 23 in a close loss to Zillah and 19 vs Toppenish. She is smart player who also seems to have that natural ability. She has good speed with the ball and is able to go by the defense, as well as having a nice shooting touch. She sees the floor well and makes the right decisions. She also has the potential to be a really good defensive player and is often able to get to loose balls before anyone else. She has all the tools to grow into a great player. She has already shown that in the opening three games of the season for East Valley.
Highlights
Alana Zavala
Alana Zavala
Started as an 8th grader last season on a Mabton team that had nobody older than a sophomore on their roster. They still won 17 games and their league with a 10-1 record. She was the leading scorer averaging 15 points a game. She opened the year with 12 in a 53-47 win over Grandview. Jezebel Ramirez scored 21 and is only a sophomore. I don’t recall many teams with that much youth winning their league. This is a team to watch in the future. Esmerelda Sanchez was the second leading scorer last season at 14 a game and is also only a sophomore.
Deets Parish Nagle
Deets Parish Nagle
She is another freshman who is already making a name for herself. She has great skill level at the guard position. She can handle the ball, and score at a high level. She opened the season with 8 points and 7 rebounds in the her first varsity action. She will continue to improve on those numbers, no doubt, and be an impact player as a freshman.
I’m not sure if Mount Si is actually considered central Washington but I am adding this. My favorite shot is the pull up jumper. I’m going to say she has one of the best in the state. She can really shoot it off the dribble and knocks down pull-up jumpers going to the right and going to the left. She is an exceptional shooter and those pull-up jumpers will always land you a spot in my articles. Great shooter, quick release and pulls it off the dribble.