Wildcat Shootout: Prime Time Playmakers

With game action taking place less than 20 miles from the Georgia/Florida border, the Wildcat Shootout hosted some of the best teams and players from both states at Camden County High School. Severally of these teams and players faced off with one another making their standout performances even more impressive. Young and old, these are players from the Peach State who left their mark and college coaches should know.    Tallulah has continued her outstanding play from her freshman season with North Hall into travel ball earning her first offer at the beginning of June from Bryan College. She is one of the best 2029s in the state and one of the best point guards regardless of class and her skill and talent was on full display in Kingsland. With the emergence of 2030 [player_tooltip player_id='1814235' first='Rae' last='[player_tooltip player_id='1242017' first='Davis' last='']'] as legit and consistent scorer, Tallulah was more of a distributor over the course of three days but still scored effectively in each game. She did a great job penetrating the defense in the half court draw the help and then dish the ball out to some excellent three point shooters on the perimeter like [player_tooltip player_id='1814235' first='Rae' last='[player_tooltip player_id='1242017' first='Davis' last='']'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1726710' first='Camille' last='Nix']. Ball also got to the rim and scored multiple times using excellent fundamentals with a flash of flair breaking defenders down and finishing in the paint. She shot the ball well from the perimeter something she does very well on a regular basis. Tallulah showed good leadership and was vocal in organizing and executing what the bench called for with her even younger teammates.     Malorie was one of the best 29's at the event and she, along with Ball and [player_tooltip player_id='1726710' first='Camille' last='Nix'], helped North Hall to a very good overall showing against the top teams there. Wyse is a very good shooter from three and she did plenty of that scoring in each game from beyond the arc. It was her finishing inside and with her left hand several times with a great effect that proved to be her best weapon the two days her team played. Malorie played almost as a stretch four at times and she was able to use her quickness and footwork to get by bigger, slower defenders on the perimeter and score at the rim. Defensively, She was outstanding on the ball in North Hall's full court pressure defense, something they do the majority of the time make or miss. When the Lady Trojans did score and opposing teams took the ball out, Malorie made their lives very difficult with her wingspan and activity. She deflected multiple inbounds passes and stole a few as well. When the ball did get inbounded she applied the same pressure in their traps causing several turnovers. Wise had an excellent freshman season for North Hall and has garnered praise for her play this Spring with Redline. She is a player that in state college coaches should take a serious look at over the next three years as she will definitely play in college. The only question is, what level will she play on. Time will tell.     McLemore is another kid who looks like a basketball player in warmups at 5'9 with a long wingspan and clearly someone who knows where the weight room is. She was an effective and efficient scorer for Bradwell in each of the games I saw her play. Destini shot it well from three, but it was her pull up game from the midrange that she looked most confident in and was very effective. McLemore has a quick release and good elevation on her shot and showed the ability to create the necessary space to get her shot off without wasting dribbles. She was decisive on the offensive end especially when she got downhill and into the paint. Destini was equally good scoring the basketball from 10 feet in showing good footwork and finishing ability at the rim. She is a strong kid who competes on the backboards and defensively, where she guarded the other team's best player in both games I saw. She is a solid college prospect with two years to prove it, something I am more than confident that she will do.     Blevins, like McLemore, is a player who I knew a little bit about going into the Wildcat Shootout, but had not seen play in person for an extended period of time. Her basketball intelligence was more than impressive as she used her anticipation skills to jump into the passing lanes multiple times, intercept the pass, and go coast to coast scoring on the other end. On offense when she had the basketball in her hands she made good decisions for Bradwell initiating and facilitating the offense while also being a consistent threat to score inside and out. Blevins shot the ball well from the perimeter in the half court and was able to get past the initial defender and score from the midrange and in the paint.     I have seen Rae in a very small workout environment with [player_tooltip player_id='1867893' first='Ila' last='Batson'] at a Brandon Clay workout in the past. After watching her shoot the ball for about an hour with my daughter on the same basket, it was clear to see that she was a very talented player who has a very bright future. Watching her play at the GBCA Live event and then at the wildcat Shoot with her high school for the first time, my previous evaluation holds true- she is a kid who is much further along than most her age offensively and that alone makes her ceiling very high as is the likelihood of her playing division one college basketball. She did not just shoot the ball from perimeter at Camden County, instead she probably had more point production scoring at the basket on the break and in the half court. That was not something I anticipated from just seeing her workout, but have seen enough of now to know that she is going to score a lot of points from all three levels in her high school career. Physically she looked very similar in size to the rest of her team and has the versatility to play three and maybe four positions if the situation arises in the future.     Black was one of the biggest surprises and stock risers for me at the entire event. I had heard her name in conversations in the past and someone brought her up as I got to the gym on day one. It was obvious why after only two to three minutes of game play as Black used her length and quickness to slash her way to the basketball and finish with both hands in game one versus a very good Ribault team. Black was very quick off her feet and moved fluidly as she hit the boards hard on both ends and blocked several shots on defense. She also defended well on the perimeter, fighting through, switching, and going under/over screens to keep the ball in front of her. Black hit shots from the elbow and other areas of the court from the midrange and shot the ball from the free throw line when drew fouls. There is a lot to like about her game and she is a player who will be ranked and pretty high when the updated rankings come out for the 2029 class in Georgia. As a result of her play at the event, Zhniyah received her first offer from Albany State.     Porter was like a Swiss Army knife for Lee County, "a versatile, muli-purpose" player who contributed in all areas of the game. Her name is one that I am familiar with as she has received praise for her play at several showcases and with her play last season for the Lady Trojans. When I looked at MaxPreps to see what her stats were I was not surprised at all to see that they were very reflective of the way she played the game at Camden County. As a Junior, Porter's season stat line (9.5 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game, 3.7 steals per game and 0.7 blocks per game) illustrates just how versatile she is and how important she will be for her team in her senior season. Defensively she showed her versatility as well guarding effectively on the perimeter and in the post against the teams Lee County played. She along with Black, and fellow '27 [player_tooltip player_id='1178971' first='Camya' last='Hutcherson'] gave every team Lee County faced problems on the defensive end. Those three have a chance to take their team further than they have gone in a very long time in Porter and Hutcherson's last season in high school.

With game action taking place less than 20 miles from the Georgia/Florida border, the Wildcat Shootout hosted some of the best teams and players from both states at Camden County High School. Severally of these teams and players faced off with one another making their standout performances even more impressive. Young and old, these are players from the Peach State who left their mark and college coaches should know.