Battle in the Big Friendly: Sunday Standouts 17U

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sunday saw the end of the three day event at Solid Rock in Edmond. With a morning and afternoon of hoops, check out instant reactions of eye catching prospects from the 17U Division of the Battle in the Big Friendly.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["814472"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"The lead guard did a little bit of everything for her squad. She was a driving force in keeping the ball moving and her teammates involved. While also having a scoring punch, especially when pulling up off the dribble. She consistently hit in the mid-range and even knocked down her fair share of threes in two viewings of her this weekend.  With signs of improving dribble moves and passing, Romero looks to be in the middle of a big and pivotal spring.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["879707"],"_player_evaluations_1_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"Woodward is a hard nose, do it all wing that was super productive on both ends of the court in an early Sunday morning contest. On defense, she racked up simple deflections while denying the ball, straight up stole the ball by jumping passing lanes and generally appeared to have a nose for the ball. Even tracking and racing down longer rebounds.  As a scorer, much of her damage came going to the rim, where she finished well. There were some good drives, including one that saw her cut her team's deficit to only two in the closing moments.  But a lot of her points came on easy scores, that she created by the hard work of smart and non stop off the ball movement.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_player":["484973"],"_player_evaluations_2_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"One of the top prospects at the event, Howard is a whirlwind and a defensive powerhouse.  She's quick, tall, athletic and has a plus wingspan.  The Louisiana wing uses all those traits to fly around the court for steals and blocks, along with demoralizing ball handlers by hounding them in the backcourt and generally using her quick feet to be a terror against guards.  Along with the transition points from steals, she pushes it well off her athletic defensive rebounds.  Which during those transition pushes she did showcase some point forward type aspects to her game, as she was unselfish and often made the correct to teammates.  When she did decide to attack herself, Howard was very efficient around the rim.","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_3_player":["895738"],"_player_evaluations_3_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_3_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_3_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"At first glance, Walden could be classified sneaky athletic.  Because out seemingly nowhere she'll show good lift when exploding to finish or snagging a contested rebound. But after a full game of watching the northwestern Oklahoma standout, there's nothing sneaky about her game.  Okay, maybe some of her moves to avoid defenders trying to take charges or stop her are sneaky, but that's a good thing.  Especially a take where she drove right, got to the left side of the rim and scooped a late go ahead score.  Walden's ability to pressure the paint made her a consistent scorer, and also would force the defense to scramble and reset when she kicked it out to shooters.","_player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_4_player":["642714"],"_player_evaluations_4_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_4_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_4_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_4_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_4_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_4_evaluation":"Gordon kept battling and battling, wearing down the opposition in a pair of strong wins for her squad from New Mexico.  That's possibly what was more impressive about the strong forward, her perseverance.  By the end of first contest, she had wore down and fouled out the opposition, while she looked as fresh as an automatic bucket around the rim on post ups and putbacks. Especially as she started with some misses around the rim, but she undeterred in her efforts to dominate the paint.","_player_evaluations_4_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_5_player":["265121"],"_player_evaluations_5_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_5_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_5_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_5_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_5_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_5_evaluation":"In the final game of the day, there was no let up for the table setting guard. Especially with the way she grabbed defensive boards and turned them into instant offense by pushing the tempo.  She even had a genuine no look pass, showing her ability to misdirect the defense with her eyes.  The same pace she plays with as a distributor also gave her some downhill opportunities. Including one transition push, where she blew by the defender, then had the awareness to shift gears at the rim to avoid the worst of a helpside defender. Allowing her to finish with ease.","_player_evaluations_5_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_6_player":["885146"],"_player_evaluations_6_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_6_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_6_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_6_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_6_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_6_evaluation":"Matthews put together back to back strong scoring performances to finish her time in Oklahoma this afternoon.  The first contest featured her relentless driving, with floaters, takes and scoop scores. While the second put her accurate mid and long range, off the dribble shooting on display. If the way she finished today is any indication, the Colorado lead guard is ready to take her scoring talents to a new level this summer.","_player_evaluations_6_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":7,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-662eee5d0f06e"} /-->