Sunday in AC- The Best of The Bunch

Day 2 of my time in Atlantic City for Hoop Group Championship Weekend was another jam-packed day of action! I kept my head on a swivel from morning til evening, filling my notebook and circling these twelve that stood out as the best of the day:    Explosive off the bounce with a strong lefty finish. Her long, slender frame posed matchup problems for defenders. Though she favored her left, she was able to finish on both sides of the rim at a high level. Defensive heckler; applied very disruptive pressure. She did it all for her squad.     Brooke had it going on all day! Her 3-ball was scorching. She didn't think about it... didn't hesitate... just let it fly! She was lethal off the catch-and-shoot. Pushed the tempo at every opportunity with blitzing rim-running. She's a big reason why the Shoreshots are in the Championship Game in the top bracket.     Super agile for her size; got up and down the floor fluidly and kept up with guards. Smooth in transition receiving the outlet pass and gliding to the basket. Disciplined footwork around the rim; post moves looked rock solid. Rebounding machine with strong hands who crashed the glass with authority.     For a second consecutive day, Maggie finds herself on my "standouts" list. She's proven to be one of the best players at this event! Today vs the Runnin Rebels, she took on the role of point-forward the way she ran the floor, directed traffic and handled the ball confidently and carefully. Very versatile offense; imposed her will in the low block and also stretched out to knock down step-back triples and long 2's. Magnet-like hands on the glass; strong weak-side rebounding.     She worked the defense and slipped by on backdoor cuts. Lots of run & gun basketball; thrived at an uptempo pace. She showed off range and knocked down a few 3's which helped Penn pull away from a supremely scrappy and physical DAPA squad. Defensively, the press created lots of transition opportunities.     Two-way spark. She did a great job slashing through the lane and contributing to the scoring column. She played really hard on both ends; transition defense was super solid against a WV team that loved to push the pace and run.     Fluid mover; never looked rattled or out of her comfort zone no matter how much the opponent pushed the tempo. Strong command in the low post. High % post-entry conversion. She brings a lot of size to the frontcourt; her teammates can feel confident tossing it up to her because regardless of placement, 9 times out of 10 she's going to go up & get it! Strong rebounding; ate up the o-boards.     Grace turned a fairly timid Game 1 performance into a ferocious Game 2. She was scorching vs a super physical Dream Chasers team to help the Hawks go 2-0 on the day. She caught fire late in the first half which carried over to the second, rattling in five triples, three of those back-to-back-to-back! She propelled this team to a 21-point win and showed off tremendous confidence in the process. 3-point shooting is evolving into Grace's go-to bread-and-butter shot! Defensively, she withstood the physicality and put forth a notable effort to deny the ball and provide help coverage.     Multi-level scoring threat. Her length caused all types of problems today. She showed off versatility in her scoring, taking smaller defenders off the dribble and banging with the bigs down low. Rainbow 3's to show off range.     She was unconscious from 3-point land vs D1SA. I counted 5 triples but it could've even been more than that! Devastating spot-up shooter with a release quick enough to not allow defenders time to successfully close out on her. Smart in her shot selection; played to her strengths well. Total game-changer for the Rebels.     Impressive step-back 3-point shot. Silky smooth jumper, excellent mechanics. She was letting it fly from 3 without hesitation and sinking them at a high clip. The belief she played with carried over for the duration of the game and ultimately helped Havoc beat a very competitive Phoenix Elite team from Texas. Strong effort on the glass battling with much taller opponents and still coming away with several rebounds.     Katelyn did a great job creating for herself on the drive. She exposed any gaps in coverage as she carved paths to the rim. At times, she found scoring opportunities when they seemingly didn't exist or there was no room to operate. Smart players know how to turn nothing into something, which is what she did when Havoc dialed in and turned up the pressure.

Day 2 of my time in Atlantic City for Hoop Group Championship Weekend was another jam-packed day of action! I kept my head on a swivel from morning til evening, filling my notebook and circling these twelve that stood out as the best of the day: