Best Ball Handlers at The Lady Panther Holiday Classic

The first Lady Panther holiday classic kicked off at PVI this week, and it was a fun two days of basketball. The shot creation and overall ball handling from the guards were outstanding. Here are the players that caught my eye the most.    [player_tooltip player_id='1251838' first='Dawn' last='Houston'] controlled a lot of the game for West Potomac against Bishop O'Connell. WP's offense was highly successful early, and what Dawn did as a driver and passer was big for that reason. Dawn did an excellent job pushing the ball off rebounds, and she had a handful of nice drives to the rim. She knocked down a three, and she seems to be more than comfortable in the role she has this year as a primary ball handler.     Alyssa Fitzgerald got deep into her bag for Georgetown visitation against Manchester. Alyssa has a great handle, and she has a great behind-the-back move that creates a lot of space. She was money shooting the ball in this game, especially early, and she was one of the better shot creators at the event. She uses a quick clean crossover that allows her to get her shot off from both three and mid range. She is a smart passer and gets her's scoring at all three levels. She arguably had the best ball handling at this event.     [player_tooltip player_id='376327' first='Finley' last='Weaver'] had a terrific two days for Manchester, leading them to a 2-0 record. You know what Finley can do as a shooter, but I loved what she did on defense and as a ball handler. Finley had a couple of outstanding defensive plays in transition and had 2 blocks that she got some real hang time on. She had a few sloppy turnovers, but overall, she was great as a facilitator, finding open shooters. Against Pallotti in the second half, when she started to uptick her aggressiveness as a driver, it changed the game and helped Manchester jump out to a lead they never relinquished. She also hit an impressive one-legged buzzer-beating deep three that pushed Manchester's lead to 12 at the end of the third quarter, and in a lower-scoring game, that 12 felt like 20.     Mikayla Bowe has great vision, and every time she went downhill, she made the right decision. Mikayla had a handful of crafty underhanded finishes, and she was able to get in the lane a lot in the Lightridge game against Steward. Lightridge is a talented team with a nice bench, but they don't have many true ball handlers who can create shots. Mikayla runs a lot of the team's offense, and you could see Steward make a concerted effort to pick her up full court in the second half and take the ball out of her hands. I loved what I saw from her on both days, and in a lot of ways, I think Lightridge will go as far as she goes this season.     [player_tooltip player_id='380004' first='Lilly' last='Thoman'] was almost flawless as a passer and playing in transition. Lilly is a deceptively fantastic athlete, and it often felt like she was moving at a different speed. Her handle is elite, and the court vision she has is unmatched. She didn't have the biggest scoring day, but when she wanted to, she got downhill and scored. Even in a close Steward loss, this felt like close to a total mastery of the game as a lead guard.

The first Lady Panther holiday classic kicked off at PVI this week, and it was a fun two days of basketball. The shot creation and overall ball handling from the guards were outstanding. Here are the players that caught my eye the most.