Standout Holiday Performers: Guards

There was a ton of action and tournaments over the holidays, so let's check in and find out who some of the standout performers were over the last week. Check out some guards with solid games over the holidays.    Stanford was all over their game against Nooksack Valley, getting to the hoop and flying around defensively. Her activity was truly impressive and she never seemed to stop. She mixed in tough reverses and contact finishes with wide-open layups after blowing by her defender. She used her quickness to draw up extra defenders and then found teammates for assists. And she was racking up steals both on and off the ball. And while she played with pace throughout the game, she was also keen to let plays develop and time her drive or pass just right in order to get good looks.     Bell had a solid game against Bethel in the T-Town Throwdown, scoring in various ways and showcasing some nice playmaking skills. She's a good shot out to 3-point and did some nice work in the midrange to splash in open looks. She also showed great awareness to work for good shots, using a pump fake outside on a give-and-go to hit her teammate to the rim, and then finding a nice seal quickly out of a reversal to get another easy bucket. Bell made some nice plays defensively too to chase down the ball from behind for a steal, and kept her hands active while on the ball.     Sears is a lefty with some deep range. She showed off that extended 3-point ability against Juanita this week and highlighted her skills as a catch-and-shoot threat. In the second half, she did more work to the rim and displayed some good ball skills to weave around defenders in the paint, make some tough catches and rebounds, and showed there is more to her game than just a nice outside shot.     Makaiwi is a shooter. She showed us just that in their matchup against Seattle Academy, spearheading their offensive approach with her ability to take advantage of tight shooting windows and stretch the floor. This was especially key because of how tightly the Cardinals were guarding driving lanes, but even so, Makaiwi was able to find some room later on and started working herself to the foul line with some tough drives.     Nelson showed some nice ability to get to the rim, both working in transition to get ahead of the defense and deploying some quick moves around the paint in their matchup with Mark Morris. She looked especially strong getting to her right hand down the lane but also had some nice combo moves to lose defenders and finish. She was constantly busting it down the floor with leak outs and her teammates found her time and again for quick, easy buckets.     Skogstad had a solid game against Port Angeles at the Trojan Storm Classic. She did well to set the pace for her squad, getting penetration and causing the defense to collapse, then finding open shooters. She was calm under pressure, using step-throughs and ball fakes to create passing/shooting windows, and was able to keep her defender at bay with her crosses and retreat dribbles in order to avoid turnovers or pick-ups and keep her team flowing from possession to possession.     Johnson is a pretty tenacious point guard who was all over their game against Mark Morris, pushing the pace, attacking rebounds, and getting good depth on her drives. She was equally impactful passing the ball up ahead of the defense as she was getting in close for some short pull-up jumpers. But what really stood out was her tenacity on the glass. She was racking up rebounds and it allowed her and her team to get out on the break frequently for buckets.

There was a ton of action and tournaments over the holidays, so let's check in and find out who some of the standout performers were over the last week. Check out some guards with solid games over the holidays.