Airport Showcase: Afternoon Standouts

On Monday, I journeyed southbound down I-275 to attend the 12th annual Airport Basketball Showcase Event in Carleton. This showcase provides a great opportunity for me to evaluate downriver prospects, while also giving new high school teams Prep Girls Hoops coverage. With games from 10 AM to 7:30 PM, there were plenty of games to watch throughout the day. The event was very well organized and operated by the host. The afternoon games saw Erie-Mason defeat Lake Leelanau St. Mary 42-16 and Saline defeat Carlson 58-37. Here are several impact players from those matchups.    Addison is a shifty, hard-nosed, and dynamic guard who's making an immediate impact as a freshman and she had a solid day at the Airport Showcase. Addison closed out hard on a perimeter shooter for a block and rotated quickly from the help side to swat a shot away inside. She drove through contact to score a tough, contested floater and attacked hard off the dribble to earn trips to the free throw line. Addison used a shifty crossover, spin combination to create adriving lane and reached around the defender to score a difficult layup. She's a talented freshman with a bright future ahead at Carlson. Addison posted seven points, four rebounds, and four steals.     Kensey was a game wrecker for Erie-Mason, and her complete performance helped put the game out of reach early at the Airport Showcase. Kensey caught a pass in the high post, ripped the ball across her face, and blew by her defender to score a layup. She made quick backdoor cuts to the basket, caught passes with good hands, made smooth transfers, and finished through contact. Kensey crashed the glass, grabbed the offensive rebound, pivoted, and elevated for the bucket at the rim. She dished out accurate passes to teammates for assists and harassed the ball with her perimeter pressure to cause turnovers. Kensey led the scoring with 12 points and grabbed four rebounds in the win.     Kate combined her anticipation and length to create multiple steals on the defensive end. After picking off a pass, she pushed the ball quickly up the court using both hands, landed under control on two feet, and finished the layup. She crashed the glass to score a putback and made a smart extra pass to an open teammate for an assist. She has the potential to be a very productive player for Erie-Mason and had a solid day at the Airport Showcase.     Zoie gave Erie-Mason a physical edge in the paint at the Airport Showcase. She has a muscular frame and good touch around the basket. Zoie caught a pass with soft hands, used a spin move to create space, and finished the layup off two feet. She made good overhead entry passes from the high post and had excellent court vision. Zoie anticipated passes to generate steals and contributed in every category. She finished the game with eight points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals.     Myla is developing into a talented and versatile wing-forward prospect. We had her listed as a center based on previous observations, but she's clearly advanced her ball-handling and shooting abilities. With Myla's frame, that gives her a higher trajectory at the college level. She attacked off the dribble down the baseline for a finish straight through the net and drilled a pure wing three off the catch. Myla buried another high-arcing triple and shot the ball confidently from the perimeter. She came flying into the paint to secure offensive rebounds, and finished off two feet in transition. Myla contributed 10 points and six rebounds during Saline's win at the Airport Showcase.

On Monday, I journeyed southbound down I-275 to attend the 12th annual Airport Basketball Showcase Event in Carleton. This showcase provides a great opportunity for me to evaluate downriver prospects, while also giving new high school teams Prep Girls Hoops coverage. With games from 10 AM to 7:30 PM, there were plenty of games to watch throughout the day. The event was very well organized and operated by the host. The afternoon games saw Erie-Mason defeat Lake Leelanau St. Mary 42-16 and Saline defeat Carlson 58-37. Here are several impact players from those matchups.