Day 2 Standouts at the NJ Showcase

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For the second straight day, my head was on a swivel scouting talent spread out across five courts. On this final day, six players stood out to me as a cut above the rest:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='583714' first='Alani' last='White'] | NJ Soldiers</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>You'd never know Alani was new to this AAU thing by watching her play today. She battled against UConn commit [player_tooltip player_id='591477' first='Gandy' last='Malou-Mamel'], holding her own and making the 6'5" star work for everything, despite giving up 4-5 inches of height. Alani crashed the glass and pulled down rebounds with pure aggression! She played tough, hard-nosed basketball and really gave it her all.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='601341' first='Sophia' last='Georgiades'] | United NJ</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sophia was a BUCKET on Sunday! She had her way with the defense and scored points at a furious rate, on dashing drives, deep 3 balls &amp; pull-up mid-range jumpers. Her speed was blistering as she got out in transition and converted basket after basket. Defensively, she kept active hands and sharp anticipation to heckle the ball-handler and force turnovers. She was the total package for United!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='414237' first='Mackenzie' last='Teevan'] | [program_tooltip program_id='714654' first='NJ' last='Shoreshots']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If anyone can figure out how to stop Mackenzie, please let me know! Her versatility was extremely problematic for opponents as she proved to be a matchup nightmare. Her height, speed and ability to score the ball efficiently both in the post and deep behind the arc was very impressive. Holy Cross is getting such a special player who holds multiple offensive weapons and is a tremendous rim protector. Mind = blown!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='785460' first='Cayenne' last='Pigeon'] | [program_tooltip program_id='794209' first='Global' last='Squad']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cayenne was smooth today in her game vs the Syracuse Nets. Her confidence shined through on every possession. She gave her team points on runners in the lane, 3-point baskets and quick-hitting transition buckets. Her long, lanky arms made it easy to push the ball up over taller defenders and score on floaters. On defense, she was able to be disruptive and snag some steals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='559819' first='Whitney' last='Hobson'] | United NJ</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Whitney is what I refer to as a "silent killer." She handles business on the court and does so in a cool, calm and collected demeanor. She never looks fazed or rattled. Her speed seems to have been amped up even more since the last time I watched her play, which is truly saying something! Her mid-range game was clicking on all cylinders and her rim-running was electric! Whitney really excels on defense, with terrific lateral movement to stay ahead of her man and apply stifling pressure along the perimeter. If you're sleeping on her game, it's time to WAKE UP!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Emma Cleland | Mid-Penn Motion</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This was the first time I ever saw Emma play in person and boy was I impressed! The first thing that stood out to me was her defense! Absolutely suffocating, smothering pressure to force turnovers and break out the other way for instant offense. She was strong leading with her right hand on the extension in the lane for steals and tallied them at a high rate. She was quick getting to the hoop, confident taking shots from 15-18 feet and really made her presence felt on both sides of the ball in a big win against Total Skills.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->