PGH Triumph Region Finals: 16U Day 1 Standouts

Another exciting Prep Girls Hoops Circuit season is reaching its crescendo with Columbus, Georgia being one of four locations where region champions are to be crowned.    This year's Triumph Region Finals are emanating from Columbus State University and is one of four Circuit events taking place in addition to those for the Dynasty, Legacy and Victory regions. The lone Circuit remaining on the schedule will take place after camp month when the Battle in the Sunflower occurs in Kansas in the early part of July.    The first day of Triumph Region Finals play featured plenty of noteworthy performances from the 16U field. Here are a few of those standouts.     We have approached the point on the basketball calendar where the word “rising” will start appearing in the evaluations of many kids. Wiley completed her sophomore season at 2A Hart County and is transitioning to junior status. Georgia-based Net Rippers 16U began its Triumph Region Finals with a win over SC Eagles UA Rise 16U and Wiley led the way with a 12-point effort. Wiley particularly gave the Palmetto State-based team problems in the second half as she tallied all 12 in the final 16 minutes of play. Wiley also was not called for a personal foul throughout Saturday's contest.     Coach Jeff Wiley had to be pleased with what he saw out of Verdelle on Saturday afternoon. The bulk of what she got accomplished was in the second half and it equaled an eight-point performance to earn Net Rippers 16U its first victory of Triumph Region Finals weekend. Net Rippers defeated SC Eagles UA Rise 16U by a final score of 48-34. Included in her performance was a willingness to draw contact to find her way to the free throw line. Only Verdelle's teammate – the aforementioned Wiley – had more second half points than she did in the game against the Palmetto State-based assembling.     Mountain View Prep is one of the newer programs across South Carolina and that means it is looking to build a statewide profile. Standouts such as Wilder should help the 2A Stars in that process. Her SC Eagles UA Rise 16U team was on the receiving end of a 48-34 decision to Georgia-based Net Rippers 16U, but she helped her team's efforts with nine points. Wilder stands at 5-foot-5 and typically plays at the one. She displayed an ability to drain 3-pointers as if she were a two guard given all of her scores were by way of the 3-pointer.     Byrnes has established itself as one of the teams to beat in the 5A ranks across South Carolina. As long as Dukes continues to sport the Rebels colors, that should continue. Dukes tallied seven points to give her team a lift as SC Eagles UA Rise 16U took on Net Rippers 16U. Included in her skillset is an ability to connect on floaters and the ability to collect steals to give her team additional offensive possessions. A 3-point shot is also part of her overall offensive arsenal. One can see why Dukes went from seeing playing time in 15 games as a freshman to 20 contests as a sophomore.     When watching Moore play, one can certainly see why she will be featured more prominently at 4A Greer. Her SC Eagles UA Rise 16U team took on Net Rippers 16U and was on the lower end of a 48-34 decision to the Georgia-based club team. Moore finished the game with seven points. One may think at first that being 5-foot-8 could be a bit undersized for someone who typically plays at the four, but she makes up for it with talent. Moore can also make things happen on the defensive end of the floor as a shot blocker. Coming away with steals is another strong point to her overall game.     One of the more competitive contests of the latter portions of Triumph Region Finals Saturday was OMG Academy 16U vs. Now Elite 16U. Loukides' team was slightly on the wrong end of a 57-53 decision, but Loukides put forth a winning effort with 20 points. It appeared that if Loukides had the ball in the interior, it was an automatic two points with Now Elite 16U's defense being able to do little if anything about it. She can play effectively as either a traditional five or as a four forward. She stands at 5-foot-11 and is one of the featured players at 7A Fairhope.     The first half of that contest between OMG Academy 16U and Now Elite 16U was going the way of OMG Academy 16U. It was 25-20 at the half in large part due to Acklin's play. She finished with eight points for the game with six of hers occurring in the first half. Not only is Acklin a scorer, she is a heads-up playmaker with a knack of coming up big on either end of the court. Acklin can connect on running floaters and combines speed and quickness with ball-handling capabilities. She is a multi-sport athlete who thrives on the basketball court and the softball diamond.     Early on in OMG Academy 16U's competitive contest with Now Elite 16U, Jones looked to establish herself from 3-point range. That confidence she had in her long-range shooting would lead to a 13-point performance for the standout from 6A Murphy. In that game, OMG Academy 16U as a team drained three 3-pointers – all three were courtesy of Jones. She is also a familiar name to this year's Prep Girls Hoops Circuit. Back at the Roll Tide Rumble in early April, Jones was part of our 16U Third Team.     Now Elite 16U's first matchup of the weekend was against OMG Academy 16U. Hudson made sure this contest of Alabama grassroots clubs went the way of her team as Now Elite 16U defeated OMG Academy 16U with the final score being 57-53. Hudson would score seven points in the victory. Hudson is a standout of 6A Chelsea and her team last season finished with a robust 29-9 record. She stands at 5-foot-9 and plays typically at the three. Even if a shot looks tough, that will not stop this confident standout from attempting said tough shot and hoping to put two (or more) points on the board.     Farrell gives Mississippi representation on what is mostly an Alabama-centric travel team in Now Elite 16U. Her team began its time at the Triumph Region Finals with a 57-53 victory to dispatch a tough in-state foe in OMG Academy 16U. Farrell placed 14 points on the scoreboard. Out of the 14 she scored, 12 were tallied in the second half – which were key in spearheading a second half which saw her team outscore OMG Academy 16U by a margin of 37-28. Farrell can get shifty and crafty with the ball in her hands, can handle the rock with either her right or her left hand and can get from one end of the court to the other. She reached the 1,000-point plateau for her career last season.     In close, tough contests like the one Now Elite 16U was locked into against OMG Academy, every bucket counts. The Russellville standout converted plenty of them in that contest. She had 12 points and the team's margin of victory was only four – 57-53 to be exact. While the 12 points she had on offense will draw plenty of eyeballs, she keeps her hands outstretched whenever she is on defense. Copeland is also confident in her ability to drain her 3-point attempts. She is also unafraid of contact and can get to the free throw line. Combined the aforementioned attributes with her rim attacking and she will leave plenty a defense guessing.     If Now Elite 16U was without the 3-point shooting of Addison, we could be talking its first contest of this weekend's Triumph Region Finals being a defeat to fellow Alabama team OMG Academy 16U. Thanks to those nine points Addison delivered, her team was able to stave off the challenge of a very formidable opponent. Addison tries her talents in several sports – including softball and volleyball alongside basketball. As her performance on Saturday denotes, she can be very accurate from behind the arc. Coming away with steals on defense and getting out in transition on offense are other strong points to her game.     In the early portions of the evening, OMG Academy 16U put together one of its more emphatic performances when it defeated [program_tooltip program_id='1219908' first='Britt' last='Basketball Academy'] 16U in a contest that was a rout virtually from the opening tip. She tallied 14 points in the win. When one has a player who stands at an even six feet, one will win plenty of rebounding battles. That is complimented by the fact that she combines her height with plenty of length. Feed McKinney the rock in the post and it is almost an automatic two points. A team can place her at either the four or the five.     Whenever a team puts together an emphatic win over another team, it has either a nucleus or nuclei. Tolbert was the protons and neutrons of the OMG Academy 16U atom against an overmatched [program_tooltip program_id='1219908' first='Britt' last='Basketball Academy'] 16U group. Tolbert tallied 20 points in what was one of the more dominant performances of the day's play. She displayed her quickness with the ball all game long and made plenty of plays in transition. On more than one occasion, she had clear paths to the basket and was able to deliver strong finishes at the rim. The Hueytown standout evenly distributed her scores between the first and second halves of that contest.

Another exciting Prep Girls Hoops Circuit season is reaching its crescendo with Columbus, Georgia being one of four locations where region champions are to be crowned.