7 Standout Players From The New England Freshman Showcase

The New England Freshman Showcase took place over the weekend. Despite inclement weather, the girls brought their games to be exhibited. The event included some of the best players the region has to offer from the 2028 class. The showcase was flourishing with talent that provided a great atmosphere, tough competition, learning based drills and an overall enjoyable time. Although the court consisted of plenty of quality players for the class, there were some that had distinctive performances. Below are the 7 girls that stood out from the New England Freshman Showcase.    [player_tooltip player_id='1005125' first='Joy' last='Robinson'] is a superb all-inclusive 2-way talent. Robinson stood out for the standard play on both ends of the floor. Joys was able to finish from 3 levels and she had great offensive court awareness when finding her teammates under the rim or out at the 3-point line. She works well with others due to her ability to switch out to any position on the perimeter. Robinson had the speed to keep up with guards plus the strength to play physical down low while finishing. She was constantly in the right help position on the defensive side which lead her to disrupting a ton of layups and getting steals for her team. Joy kept her arms extended while guarding ballhandlers. This made it tough for girls to get by her and dribblers avoided attacking her head on. Her polished game combined with her endurance made it so there wasn't a drop off in production throughout day. Robinson is a player to keep an eye on for through this season due to her multiskilled nature. Rivers has a great player on their hands.     [player_tooltip player_id='351272' first='Kaylis' last='Diaz'] (2028) | 5'9 SF | Mansfield   Kaylis showed exactly why she's one of the top players ranked at her position. The versatile Diaz had a spectacular day. From start to finish Kaylis was finishing at the rim and playing stifling defense. It was clear that when she was on the floor the level of play was raised. Diaz brings a level of intensity that leads to winning plays. Whether it was diving for loose balls, switching to guard primary ballhandlers or even showing the ability to rebound and start the break herself, Kaylis was dominant throughout the entire showcase. Her size combined with her ability to move her feet laterally made her a natural mismatch. Even on a miss, Diaz would snag her own board, gather herself and finish even stronger again. The defense was consistently demoralized with her ability to get second or even third chance points. Diaz is one of the more multifaceted prospects in the class and she displayed exactly why she's a top player in the class during the showcase.     Peyton Burrell (2028) | 5'4 CG | Maloney   Peyton had some of the sharpest handle on display during the camp. A couple highlight plays that were thrilling to watch. With a long frame, Peyton made sure to get to the rim and use her dribble to penetrate to get paint touches. The change of pace dribble is elite! Burrell has the timing, footwork and shoulder movements down that all work in conjunction to allow her to make her moves flawlessly. Peyton wasn't allowing any of the tough defenders from the showcase to crowd her space. She keeps them at a distance with her twitchy speed and the threat of an attack. Burrel was also a solid defender that crowded the space of dribblers when they picked the ball up. While playing the passing lanes Peyton was frequently attempting to jump the lane to get out on the break. Overall, Peyton was fun to watch and was a standout performer throughout the showcase.     [player_tooltip player_id='1005124' first='Anjolie' last='Abelard'] (2028) | 5'6 CG | Milton Academy   Anjolie had a staggering performance the entire showcase. One of the more dominant performers on the day. The 5'6 combo guard shows the ability to create for herself plus others, facilitate, shoot the 3-pointer, attack the rim and defend multiple positions. The well-rounded guard has long arms that allowed her to have a solid handle while she kept defenders at bay. Abelard showed great court perception by creating plays from nothing with timely passes and cutting after getting off the ball. Anjolie was able to construct crafty driving lanes with a calculating touch to give herself the best chance at finishing. She was embracing contact, but also had enough finesse to skillfully get by defenders from the perimeter. On the other side of the ball, Abelard had light feet which lead her to move on the flight of the ball. Great defensive IQ was shown by her on the day by consistently assisting on the help side defensively that lead her to generate steals. She also showed maximum hustle by getting back after team turnovers and even recovering the steal back herself. Altoghter, Abelard was one of the premier players this weekend.     [player_tooltip player_id='1005128' first='Riley' last='Rea'] (2028) | 5'6 PG | North Attleboro   Riley was one of the better distributors on the day. Rea comfortably ran the point guard on a team full of talent and had no problem evenly passing the ball around. She was one of the top floor generals with the potential to play in multiple styles of offense. Riley's ability to facilitate within the halfcourt or in transition was prominent throughout the entirety of the showcase. She showed quick touch passes, accurate lead passes and full-court extension passes that all lead to her teammates scoring baskets. In 3v3 play she also showed secondary scoring ability by getting to the basket under control. Rea was able to use her hop-setps and 2-foot gathers that lead to solid finishes at the rim. Overall, Rea displayed the capacity to keep teammates involved while making an impact on winning. Riley is a player to keep an eye on at North Attleboro this year.     [player_tooltip player_id='935815' first='Bella' last='Baez'] (2028) | 5'4 PG | Milton Academy   Bella showed exactly why she was a top 10 player in the class throughout the showcase. She can play at an elite level no matter the pace of the game. While slowing down and letting the offense develop, she extended the defense to create open space for her to operate. A great pick & roll prodigy that made a living creating mismatches off pulling defenders out of position and then attacking the rim. While attacking, Bella displayed the ability to contort her body after the contact to finish tough angled finishes. She slows her body down while getting to the lane while drawing contact to get a quality attempt every time at the rim. Baez was able to speed up the pace a bit in open court with dazzling cross court passes or dumps to open players under the rim. She had no problem advancing the ball when lanes were filled on secondary breaks. Bella showed impressive shooting skills on the day. She moved without the ball in her hand and was able to find open spaces on the wing for open 3-pointers. She has a consistent form that was falling for her. On defense she was an agitator that got under weaker ballhandlers trying to get steals. Baez can burst out of defensive slides quickly which allowed her to stay aligned with the best of the ballhandlers. Altoghter, Bella is an elite point guard in the class. The creation for herself and others was second to none.     [player_tooltip player_id='1005119' first='Kyleigh' last='Goldson'] (2028) | 5'5 SG | Hamden   [player_tooltip player_id='1005119' first='Kyleigh' last='Goldson'] was a surprising talent with her exceptional 3-point shooting proficiency, athleticism and ball handling skills. Goldson showed dynamic well-built moves throughout the camp, especially in 5v5 play. She had a couple moves strung together in consecutive sequences that were startling for someone in her class. The long hanging crossover was quick, but fully extended. She then followed up with a twitchy snatch-back cross or double cross that could've made any highlight. Kyleigh kept impressing as the day went on and showed that her game is not just a one-dimensional type as a wing player. In the 3-point competition Goldson made at least 7 3-pointers in a row that fell through the net effortlessly with great distance. She gets great lift on her shots with one of the prettiest looking jump shots there is. Her ability to catch the ball, find her pocket and consistently shoot the same shot is something to marvel at. Even when missing shots, Goldson remained a steady shooter that never lacked confidence. On defense, Kyleigh made it her point to try to stop the better players on the floor every trip there was. She never backed down and embraced the competition that was put forth at the showcase. Goldson is a fantastic player that was notable this weekend.

The New England Freshman Showcase took place over the weekend. Despite inclement weather, the girls brought their games to be exhibited. The event included some of the best players the region has to offer from the 2028 class. The showcase was flourishing with talent that provided a great atmosphere, tough competition, learning based drills and an overall enjoyable time. Although the court consisted of plenty of quality players for the class, there were some that had distinctive performances. Below are the 7 girls that stood out from the New England Freshman Showcase.