Peach Games: Sunday Superlatives

The final day started out with a bang with several of the best teams and players matched up against each other in both 16U and 17U. It should have been very hard to follow up yesterday's action and individual performances, but several players stepped their game up on Sunday and stood out with their play. Salute to these players for bringing on day three when everyone's gas tank is starting empty.    Kendall was excellent on both days for [program_tooltip program_id='713456' first='Porter' last='Sports'], but really stood with great games against very good competition on Sunday. Kendall has very good size and length, plays with a high basketball IQ, and can play a number of different positions on the court. When opposing teams made their runs, Kendall kept a cool head and kept making plays eventually shrinking the deficit. Azhia was excellent getting into the paint whether it was on the fast break or in the half court and when she got into the heart of the defense made very good decisions on when to score and when to distribute the ball. Defensively she did a very nice job guarding some of the best players in the state man to man throughout the course of the weekend. She is a definitely a stock riser for me coming out of this event.     Emerson is a player who does everything on the court with a smile and could care less how many points she scores. Defensively, Carnes has no problem getting physical, but also uses her speed and quickness guarding bigger defenders on the block. She is almost always undersized in the post, yet she still manages to get multiple rebounds on both ends and put backs every game due to her effort and extremely high work rate. Carnes had some of the best passes of the entire tournament in Redline's win today hitting her North Forsyth teammate, [player_tooltip player_id='898829' first='Leah' last='Bryan'], several times with quick, closes passes resulting in open shots and points. Emerson is kind of kid and player every coach wants to have on their team. She is a selfless as it gets, which is saying something in today's age.     Savannah came into the weekend as the leading scorer on the Nike EYCL circuit for the 17U division. This came as no surprise to me as I have seen her fill it up from all three levels on multiple occasions and know the kind of talent and skill she possesses. Aparicio shot the ball very well from the perimeter making multiple threes in each of the games I saw her play. She was also able to get out on the break in transition and score with both hands several times in each game as well. What impressed me the most with her play was her efficiency with the dribble getting to the basket in the half court. Almost every possession in high school ball, Savannah is initiating and facilitating the offense for her teammates while also putting up a lot of points. I had not seen her play much at all off of the ball and when she did the switch went off because she was looking to score when she got the rock. No ill advised or forced shots, just good basketball with one or two moves and jumper, floater, or finish at the rim. She is an excellent passer with great vision and very good strength which enables her to throw darts all over the court. Seeing her play on the wing was something I did not have on my cards heading into the weekend, but coming out I am glad that she did.     Hayes was a player I had not seen before this weekend, but one who made a big impression and I definitely look forward to watching her play again. She was very difficult for opposing teams to stop or keep in front of them when she had space and the ball. Hayes has excellent quickness and leaping ability which allowed her to finish over defenders in the paint after she blew by them on the perimeter. Hayes has some very good ball handling and used several combinations of moves with the ball that were short, quick, and effective in getting around and through the opposing defenses she faced. She has a lot of skill and very good size but the thing that stood out most to me was how competitive Hayes was. She was relentless with her effort on both ends of the floor, was a positive communicator with her teammates, and showed a little bit of swagger which I appreciate it.     Milord was getting buckets all weekend for Team Elite Hubbard, especially knocking down shots from the perimeter with her smooth southpaw stroke. She really was hot from the wings down to the corners on both sides of the court on offense. Milord doesn't not need a lot of time or space to get her shot off and when she had clean looks she knocked down the majority of her open shots from outside. As the tournament went on, Aaleanna was able to get into the painted area and score from the midrange hitting jumpers from 10-12 feet and getting to the basket and finishing through contact. Milord was also very good on defense jumping into the passing lane and creating steals or causing deflections in the games I saw her play.     Donaldson was another player I had not seen before or even heard about to be honest, which is rare. After a couple of trips up and down the floor I had to look and see who she was. Donaldson, on one of the first plays I saw her, got into the paint on the break and hit the defender with a hard pass fake which sent her sliding to the other side of the lane leaving nothing but air between Syd and the ball. She was able to create plays throughout the weekend, especially in transition, and usual after a steal or rebound on the defensive end. Donaldson, like [player_tooltip player_id='1161947' first='Azhia' last='Kendall'], plays the game the right way and made the right basketball play all of, or most of, the weekend. She is another player from South Georgia I have my eye on and look forward to watch playing again sooner rather than lately, hopefully.

The final day started out with a bang with several of the best teams and players matched up against each other in both 16U and 17U. It should have been very hard to follow up yesterday's action and individual performances, but several players stepped their game up on Sunday and stood out with their play. Salute to these players for bringing on day three when everyone's gas tank is starting empty.