Rising Stars Showcase: Ladies Consolation Standout Players

Sacramento, CA - This past Saturday, August 15th, I made the trip up to Sacramento High for the annual Rising Stars Showcase hosted by Coaches Corner. The event featured two girls semifinal games, a three point contest, and a championship game, with the boys following the same format, to make for a fun and entertaining day of hoops. This article looks at 8 prospects from the teams that lost in the semifinals, referred to here as the consolation teams, that made the most of the opportunity in the one game they played. In this article you will find the following information: the player's name, height, player position, current school they are attending, and the stats I kept from the event. We begin this updated list with .   Team Sky    Brown is a versatile player that can operate in the post, as well as space the floor from beyond the arc, and crash the glass on both ends. Brown has moves to score in the post, get to her shots spots off the ball for the 3-ball off the catch, gets points off the put-back or her team second chance scoring opportunities, and has good touch on shots around the basket. Brown finished her only game with 8 points, including one three pointer, to go along with 7 rebounds.     Johnson is a physical and skilled wing that can score in a variety of ways around the basket, as well as operate from the perimeter, and is a tough on-ball defender. Johnson got going early for Team Sky, and made her presence felt on both sides of the ball, finishing with 11 points, connecting on 1 three, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals but her team fell short to the Liberty. Johnson has solid handles, uses various moves to create off the dribble, is effective with the jumper off the bounce from the mid-range to the 3-point line, and is tough to defend near the basket, as she has the euro-step, spin-move, and up-and-under moves to get space from her defender, and has touch on shots around the basket. Johnson has active hands, good lateral movement, and relentless energy to stay in front of her opponent, with the timing to jump passing lanes, deflect entry passes, or poke the ball out to get out and run.     Kimmons had a string showing in the opening game of the Rising Stars Showcase, leading her team in scoring with 14 points, to go with 7 rebounds and 2 steals, but the Sky would fall to the Liberty. Kimmons has elite handles, keeps the ball on a string to survey the floor, had a plethora of moves to create off the bounce, using all variations of the crossover combos, hesitation, and spin-move to get space from her defender, weaves through the traffic keeping the dribble l=alive to find holes in the defense, is effective with the mid-range jumper, and is a crafty scorer in the paint, using the up-and-under, euro-step, and floater to score over height in the paint, with great body control and pace of play when on the attack. Kimmons has great court vision, makes the right reads to open teammates around the basket or open on the perimeter, and is a tough on-ball defender with good foot-speed and active hands to jump passing lanes, poke the ball out, or deflect passes to get the ball and to push the pace of play in the open court.     Lawrence showed her sharp shooting from beyond the arc in the Sky's loss to Liberty in the semifinals, where she would end up with 8 points, connecting on a pair of threes, pulling down 6 rebounds, and snagging two steals. Lawrence has active hands, gets into her opponent's dribbling space, has good timing to jump passing lanes or poke the ball out, turning defense to offense, moves fluidly off the ball to get to her shot spots, and has a quick release on the 3-ball off the catch. Utility player that can impact various aspects of the game and hits big shots.    Team Sparks    Ahmad has a diverse skill set to either make plays for others or create her own scoring opportunities, the handles to control the pace of play, and the ability to space the floor from beyond the arc. Ahmad has the court vision to find open teammates off the drive and kick pass, up the court in transition, or cross court to open shooters, moves fluid off the ball to get open looks for the 3-ball off the catch. Ahmad would finish with 10 points, connecting on a pair of threes.     Hollomon has elite handles, shifty moves to get her defender off balance, changes direction and pace with good body control to cut through the defense, has a great burst off the bounce to get paint touches, is a crafty scorer around the basket to evade shot blockers, can stretch the floor with the 3-ball off the dribble, and draws fouls frequently to earn free points from the line. Hollomon finished with 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals and showed she is an incoming freshman to keep an eye on over the next four years.     Taplin has dynamic handles, shifty moves to create off the dribble, great off-ball movement to her shot spots, and is accurate with the 3-ball off the catch or the dribble. Taplin uses her lights out shooting from deep to make defenders over-pursue, uses the crossover, pump-fake, or rip through to get by her opponents to attack drive lanes, where she is creative with finishes around the basket over height. Taplin ended up with 14 points, connecting on 3 threes, but the Sparks fell short to the eventual champs, the [program_tooltip program_id='713896' first='Fever' last=''].

Sacramento, CA - This past Saturday, August 15th, I made the trip up to Sacramento High for the annual Rising Stars Showcase hosted by Coaches Corner. The event featured two girls semifinal games, a three point contest, and a championship game, with the boys following the same format, to make for a fun and entertaining day of hoops. This article looks at 8 prospects from the teams that lost in the semifinals, referred to here as the consolation teams, that made the most of the opportunity in the one game they played. In this article you will find the following information: the player's name, height, player position, current school they are attending, and the stats I kept from the event. We begin this updated list with .