PGH Great Lakes Region Finals: 17U Saturday PM Dynamic Guards

Day One of the Great Lakes Region Finals featured a full slate of games. Every play counts when you're fighting for a chance to win a circuit championship. Teams emptied their tanks to win and advance in the brackets, with every 17U team opening the tournament with an opportunity to take home a Gold or Silver bracket Championship title. My coverage over the weekend focused on 17U prospects, and here are a few guards who excelled for their teams Saturday.    Awut has freakish athleticism, length, and elite talent that makes her a near impossible matchup for opposing guards or forwards. She stole the show on Saturday at the PGH Great Lakes Region Finals. Awut split a gap with an explosive drive-by, elevated, floated above the paint, and finished with a double-clutch layup. She rotated from the help side to swat a shot away with authority and poked the ball away with her quick hands for steals on the perimeter. Awut threw long passes up the court for fast-break assists and went by after a pocket dribble for a stretch finish. She picked up a steal, dribbled behind her back to lose the defender, and raced up the court for a layup. Awut snagged an errand pass, pivoted, and converted a contested off-platform layup. She worked inside to score many offensive rebound putbacks, swished smooth straightaway threes, drained shots off the dribble, and used a filthy Iverson reverse between-the-legs step-back move on the wing to create an open look.     Tylee showed confidence, toughness, poise, and skill that stood out with Ryze Athletics 17U at the PGH Great Lakes Region Finals on Saturday. She handled the ball with poise under pressure and demonstrated a high IQ playing off the ball. Tylee cut to the basket, caught pass in stride, and finished with her left without skipping a beat. She drove straight to the basket in transition and finished strong through contact. Tylee changed hands, used different dribble moves, and used her body effectively on her way to the rim to create scoring angles. Tylee didn't shy away from contact, and earned many trips to the free throw line. She made good entry passes, finished strong off two feet, drained a straightaway three off the dribble, produced steals with her active defense, crashed the boards to secure offensive rebounds, and knocked down free throws efficiently at the line.     Lily was a weapon for 24 UP Rise 17U at the PGH Great Lakes Region Finals on Saturday. Her deep range and confidence jolted the offense, while she also attacked with determination to score through contact. Lily drained a step-back jumper from the free throw line and used a shifty double-crossover dribble combination to get by her defender for an and-one bucket. She buried a deep straightaway three from well beyond the college line and went back to the well for another moonshot three from the slot. Lily scored another and-one layup through contact, crashed the boards to secure offensive rebounds,     Brea was very productive for [program_tooltip program_id='712517' first='Full' last='Package'] 17U 3SSB at the PGH Great Lakes Region Finals. Her impact on Saturday helped the team have a very successful day. Brea demonstrated great court vision and ball-handling command. She made extra passes on the move that created wide-open looks for teammates. Brea made an underhand shovel pass for an assist, knocked down a contested jumper, and transferred the ball smoothly to her left for a layup. She sprinted in to secure offensive rebounds, finished putbacks with strength at the rim, and knocked down free throws confidently at the line. Her length generated steals on the defensive end and closed driving lanes. Brea buried shots in the mid-range off the catch and the bounce, while adding a triple from the corner in rhythm.     When you see 6-foot length handling the ball in the backcourt with skill and precision, that immediately catches your attention as a scout. Sofia was that guard on Saturday at the PGH Michigan Great Lakes Region Finals. She was fantastic for [program_tooltip program_id='712563' first='Illinois' last='Rockets'] 17U E40. Sofia ran through a pass in the corner, accelerated with her dribble, changed hands to avoid a defender, then finished with a smooth left-handed layup. Her long strides and pushout dribbles get her from point A to B in no time. She faked a pass on a hard drive to the basket to move a defender, side-stepped, caused a foul, then knocked down both free throws with ease from the charity stripe. One of Sofia's highlights came when she swiped the ball away on the defensive end, pushed the ball up the court with pace, initiated contact with the final defender using a strong shoulder, changed hands in mid-air, and converted the tough floater. She added another with a shifty, low crossover drive-by, landed on two feet, then used a giant step through to get the scoring angle for a left-handed finish. Sofia communicated actively on defense, used great technique to deny entry passes into the post, forced misses without fouling, and racked up many steals.     Keniya turned up the heat on the defensive end, slashed to the hoop, and competed at a high level for [program_tooltip program_id='834910' first='Example' last='Sports'] 17U Wolfpack, turning in an impressive Saturday performance. She sprinted the floor in transition, caught passes in stride, and finished layups with ease. Keniya chased down an offensive rebound, attacked hard down the baseline, changed hands, and finished with a sweet left-handed reverse in traffic. She showed off her athleticism by deflecting a baseline out-of-bounds pass, scooped up the ball for the steal, then accelerated up the court to score a fast-break layup with her left. Keniya was a standout performer on both ends of the court.

Day One of the Great Lakes Region Finals featured a full slate of games. Every play counts when you're fighting for a chance to win a circuit championship. Teams emptied their tanks to win and advance in the brackets, with every 17U team opening the tournament with an opportunity to take home a Gold or Silver bracket Championship title. My coverage over the weekend focused on 17U prospects, and here are a few guards who excelled for their teams Saturday.