North Little Rock-Mansfield Spring Creek Invitational

Simmie Colson January 2, 2024 @ 05:43 AM

I caught the talented team from Arkansas last season at this same event and I always love to go back and read what I wrote so<a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/2023/01/arkansas-standouts-from-spring-creek-mansfield-invitational/"> [player_tooltip player_id='304689' first='Jocelyn' last='Tate'] and [player_tooltip player_id='870511' first='Madison' last='Hatley']</a> were a couple of the returning players that caught my eye,<a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/2023/12/top-performers-mansfield-spring-creek-invitational-pt-2/"> Tate made my Top Performers</a> list this time around but here are some others   Jaliya White-5'5 G (2026)   White is an athletic guard that uses her athleticism on both ends, I stress that because it's important and her defensive pressure immediately grabbed my attention as she did a good jon "on the ball" yet she read the floor and played the passing lane. She handled the ball after the steal to attack the basket and score, yet her court vision was another plus   Erica Shepherd-5'8 G (2026)   Shepherd falls into that "long and athletic" category which will always be the base and even though she's a guard, the base still works but watching her elevate over taller players to score gave her the UPS in CAPS yet no CAP, she also did a good job grabbing rebounds on both ends of the court. Her interior defense was solid, she also stepped outside the paint to defend   [player_tooltip player_id='876286' first='Katie' last='Fimple']-5'4 G (2026)   Fimple grabbed my attention immediately as I was scratching my head and then it occured to me she was the daughter of the coach. No nepotism needed, this kid has blossomed into a multi talented point guard. Yeah, she was heady and could control the tempo and run a team young but her court vision in transition was very nice, so was her pull-up jumper but adding the "step back" was nice, and was her "catch and shoot" from BTA   [player_tooltip player_id='465515' first='Kinley' last='Mears']-5'3 G (2025)   Mears does a good job of creating her shot under pressure and getting it off while being tightly defended yet she also handled the ball while being guarded and saw the floor. Her "on the ball" defense helped to create turnovers, so did her quick hands as she came away with steals but after creating the turnovers, her decision making was solid   Da'liah Batemon-5'10 F (2026)   Batemon is "long and athletic" and a couple of inches shy of "the magic number" and that places her in yet another category for next level coaches. She does a good job rebounding on both ends of the court, she also showed solid defense in the paint as well as lateral movement but her attacking the basket from the wing was also nice, so is her upside   [player_tooltip player_id='870511' first='Madison' last='Hatley']-6'0 F (2024)   Hatley has added even more since I caught her last season and her "hands and footwork" coupled with her powerful finishes are among the things that I see improvement on yet that same power applies to her rebounding as she went after AFTA everything off the rim, on both ends. I also saw her timing to block, alter and (or) deflect shots has gotten better

I caught the talented team from Arkansas last season at this same event and I always love to go back and read what I wrote so Jocelyn Tate Jocelyn Tate 5'9" | SF North Little Rock | 2024 State AR and Madison Hatley Madison Hatley 6'0" | C North Little Rock | 2024 State AR were a couple of the returning players that caught my eye, Tate made my Top Performers list this time around but here are some others