POF: Knockdown Shooters

Several of the state's best shooters were in attendance at this year's Phenoms of the Future tournament and they did what they do best knocking down shots consistently from long range. While this is their speciality or strength, each of these players is much more than a shooter and their play was instrumental to their team's success this past weekend. Hopefully a sign of things to come for these players travel ball tournament play starts to really pick up over the next month with the live period in less than two months, hopefully their form holds true when they play live in front of the college coaches at those events.    Rycek was huge for Redline in the Final Four win over Southeast United Elite. In a very close game throughout, Haley steeped up and made multiple timely threes to help her team win the game and advance to the championship where they would beat Explosive Elite. Haley played hard on both ends of the floor and made several contributions in other areas. She is a good ball handler and passer and played very good defense. It was her shot-making that was the difference in that game and if it were not for those huge threes she made, her team would have in all likelihood lost the game. She is a very good athlete, quick with very good lateral movement and competed hard while she was on the court. I look forward to seeing her play again.     Whether it's been for Rabun County or Southeast United, Adelyn has proven over the last three years that when she gets hot she can shoot with anybody. With the freedom that John McGraw allows his guards to play with Adelyn really thrives in his dribble-drive offense. She is excellent penetrating the defense off the dribble and hitting open teammates cutting to the basket or kicking out for a three after forcing the defense to help and collapse. When left open, she is nearly automatic from three. Thompson is very good shooting the ball both pulling up off the dribble and in catch and shoot situations. Adelyn is also a very good finisher around the rim and gets herself into the right areas to score opportunistic baskets every game.     Alexa shot the ball really well for [program_tooltip program_id='713452' first='FBC' last=''] NextUp all weekend long. She is another player who really benefits from an offense with consistent player and ball movement. Alexa has a pretty stroke from three and she shoots the ball with a lot of confidence. She has gotten so much stronger in her upper body and shoulder the last couple years that defenders were bouncing off of her when she driving the ball to the basket. Craig was excellent on the boards using her strength and IQ to anticipate where misses were coming off the rim and then snatching the rebound and immediately turning and pushing the ball in transition. Physically, Craig looks like a college player right now and she is another kid who will punish any defense that gives her time and space to shoot from three.     Leah proved again that she will punish teams that leave her open on the perimeter. She has continued to improve the other aspects of her game and the growth is very evident. Right now, though her biggest strength and strongest skill is her ability to stretch the defense with her shotmaking ability. Her team has some very good penetrating guards who force the defense to help and when they do she consistently buries long-range shots with her pure, left-handed stroke. Leah has very good size and length for the position which helps her get her shot off over smaller defenders. Continued improvement driving the ball to the basket and making plays off the dribble will determine what level she will play in college.     This was the first time I had seen Jill play in person and I came away very impressed with the young combo guard. She handles the ball very well, especially against the full court pressure her team faced in a couple games. Jill never got sped up, always controlling the pace of the game. Agami is a very vocal kid, something that a lot of coaches demand and desire. She is a competitive kid, who also shines on the flag football field, so the physicality of some of the games did not faze her. She played with calm and composure which was impressive for such a young player. She is a shot maker when given looks, from the midrange and beyond. She hit multiple threes over the course of the two days and left me very impressed. She is a player who will be ranked when the new edition is released and a player I look forward to watching the next few years.

Several of the state's best shooters were in attendance at this year's Phenoms of the Future tournament and they did what they do best knocking down shots consistently from long range. While this is their speciality or strength, each of these players is much more than a shooter and their play was instrumental to their team's success this past weekend. Hopefully a sign of things to come for these players travel ball tournament play starts to really pick up over the next month with the live period in less than two months, hopefully their form holds true when they play live in front of the college coaches at those events.