Brawl at the Palms: Game-Changing Guards

The level of guard play in the 17U division at Prep Girls Hoops "Brawl at the Palms" was very high with the top shoe circuit and independent teams from Florida and Georgia. Several future college players put their game on display at Wellington Sports Academy and many met head to head and these players stood out from the rest as the best performing guards at the event.    Sabb started out the event with a bang on night one in the last game of the opening night. I had not seen [program_tooltip program_id='1310827' first='Florida' last='Nation'] or Sariyah play before came home after the game very impressed with her team and her individual play. Sabb was unconscious from three, scoring 21 points in the first half. Sabb hit at least five and maybe six threes in the game and a few were from the parking lot. Her composure on the ball was very impressive. Anytime the play broke down, Sabb got the ball back, pulled it out, and got over to one side of the court before breaking her defender down off the bounce, creating space, and calmly and confidently released the ball in the air. When opportunities presented themselves Saniyah also got the basket and scored with great effectiveness. She did an excellent job running the point and offense for her team, rarely running the ball over and getting it to her playmakers on the inside [player_tooltip player_id='1671178' first='Justice' last='Alexis'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1380638' first='Janecia' last='Parrish']. Individually, no one had a better tournament in my eyes than Sabb.     Baez was another player who was outstanding scoring the ball for her team impressively from all over the court including several feet behind the three point line. The number 6 ranked '28 lived up to the hype as she was nearly automatic from three point range in the games that I watched. Baez showed how complete her game was on offense however, not only relying on her outside shooting ability but was able to get buckets from the midrange and finishing at the rim. Several of those buckets she scored with flair and a high level of difficulty. Baez has great size a quick release where she releases the ball high above her head making it almost impossible for smaller guards to alter or contest her shots. No one played better than Baez at the event. She was outstanding in three games I watched. Her big game definitely matched her big name. She has multiple division one offers, including multiple ones from the home state Florida schools. She recently picked up an offer from USF and next coach Kristy Curry who came from the University of Alabama.     I have been watching G play for about five or six years now and have always been impressed with her knockdown shooting ability from three. She is without question of the very best shooters in Georgia, regardless of class. Her overall game has been coming together the last few years and the result saw her ranking rise up to number 6 overall in Georgia for the 2027 class. Rogers has worked extremely hard to diversify her game and not just be labeled as a shooter. You can see the results as she has been the primary ball handler for [program_tooltip program_id='1237402' first='HER' last='Elite']'s 17U EYBL team, proving that she is more than capable of doing so for a Power Four school on the next level. Rogers is a very cerebral player who knows and thinks the game. She has been outstanding when running the point for her team both distributing the ball to her ultra-talented teammates, while also being a serious scoring threat herself. Rogers hit multiple threes in a limited attempts every game of the event. Her efficiency scoring was more than impressive. All of Giaunni's work is paying off as she recently has picked up offers from Arizona, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Georgia Tech. Rogers bloodline is also strong as she is the daughter of former Auburn star and NFL player Carlos Rogers.     Copeland showed a lot of diversity and skill in her offensive game throughout the event. She is a very skilled shooter from the perimeter, but her shot was not falling in the couple of games I watched. She still found a lot of ways to impact the game in a positive way for her team. Copeland is a competitor and she simply outworked other players to come up with loose balls, rebounds, and steals. Because her shot was not falling from the perimeter, Copeland adjusted and starting attacking the basket off the dribble where she was very effective scoring or drawing fouls and going to the free throw line. She competed and played very heard on the defensive end as well. She is a crafty player, with sneaky handles, who is not just a jump shooter. She showed a lot of toughness, had a very high work rate, and was an encouraging, positive leader for her team.     This was about the 7th-8th time I have seen Lieverst play in a calendar year with Montverde and [program_tooltip program_id='1237402' first='HER' last='Elite'], but she played a different role than I had seen in previous games running the point position when Rogers or Ashanti Taylor were not. Mia has a well earned reputation for being a sharp shooting sniper from three, so it was a pleasant surprise to see her facilitate and run the offense when she got the opportunity. Mia has excellent size, is long, and made very good decisions with the ball. With Jordan Speller and other very talented guards at Montverde, I can't remember her playing the point guard position in the past, but she did a really solid job. I saw other aspects of her game than just shooting like good and competent ball handling, nice vision and passing ability, and Mia was showed good vocal leadership as well. Lieverst did shoot the ball extremely well again from three while I was watching her play. She rarely misses in open catch and shoot situations and is also an excellent teammate who celebrates the success of others. I think that is a by product of her international experience with the Netherlands. She will be a very good division one player in college after another year of prep ball in Florida before graduating.     While I did not get to sit and watch Callie for a whole game, I was able to watch as much of her as I could throughout the event and I am glad that I did. James reputation proceeded her with the catchy, thoughtful IG handle "Callie From Tally", so I knew who she was coming in but had not seen her play in person. It did not take long to realize that there was considerable substance behind the hype. Callie is a very talented young player who is putting together a diverse offensive skill set that she utilized to great affect in Wellington. She was intentional with her fakes (head, shot, pass) and had the defensive players off balance and guessing while trying to guard her. She scored from all three levels, multiple times while I watched her. She was putting in work and getting buckets every game I saw her play. She has the moxy and demeanor you would expect from a kid who in all likelihood will be a blue chip recruit for college coaches nationally. She carries herself with confidence and definitely loos the part with good size for her age. I look forward to watching her play again and I hope that is sooner rather than later.

The level of guard play in the 17U division at Prep Girls Hoops "Brawl at the Palms" was very high with the top shoe circuit and independent teams from Florida and Georgia. Several future college players put their game on display at Wellington Sports Academy and many met head to head and these players stood out from the rest as the best performing guards at the event.