Banks Co. Scrimmages: New Names to Know

A big part of the reason I decided to go to Banks County on Monday for day one of their scrimmages was that a lot of the teams there I do not get to see on a regular basis. Morgan County, Dawson County, Franklin County all had a bunch of kids I had never seen play and the teams like Elbert and Buford, who reload not rebuild, were breaking in new players at new positions and getting players who have a bigger role this coming season more experience. Then there is Commerce, who returns almost all of their young core and are hungry to go further in the state playoffs this year. A lot of players to see and overall it was a good day in the gym.    Bella came up huge for Franklin County late in the game versus a young, but tough Dawson County team. Ultimately her and her team ran out of time, but the finish was fast and furious with Rosene showing some of the skills in her offensive arsenal. She hit two big threes, one from the wing and the other from corner, to help cut the Dawson County lead. On another play she backed her defender down and hit a tough turnaround jumper off the glass a few feet out from the block. She handled the ball with poise and patience throughout the game against a quick Dawson 2-2-1 press. She is coming off a very solid junior season here I saw her once against Habersham and came away very impressed. I look forward to seeing her and her young, talented teammates again.     Baylor made a big impression and very quickly. She is listed as a guard on MaxPreps and she definitely moved like one and has guard skills at a young age. Perhaps due to her good size and length and/or the lack of size that Dawson County had, butKing went to work in the paint doing damage especially late in the game. Baylor is long, sneaky athletic, and used those gifts to her advantage hitting the boards hard and getting at least one put back on offense. She also looked very confident as she slashed her way to the basket, again showing her elite athleticism. King finished very well around the rim and looked good shooting the one three point attempt I saw her take. She was has having so much success inside scoring over smaller defenders, there was no reason to take unnecessarily shots from the perimeter. She is a player I think that has a lot of promise and potential. I look forward to watching her play again.     Chloe drew my attention with her flashy ball handling and passing very quickly and quite frankly unexpectedly. To be able to pull off combinations dribbling the ball like that in games your fundamentals have to be excellent. Chloe was very good in open space with the basketball, especially on the fast break, where she used inside out dribbles, dribbled the ball between her legs and behind her back, like she was out for a Sunday stroll. On a couple of those trips in transition McFarland whipped passes (one cross court) to open teammates on the move setting them up to score easy, often uncontested lay ups and open jumpers. She was a vocal leader and tough competitor who was not afraid of contact doing the little things it takes to win.     Against the blitzing full court pressure of Buford, Addison did about a good a job as she could playing with poise and under control. She limited her turnovers and did a very good job regrouping her team and getting them into the offense once they broke the pressure and got against half court successfully. She is what is becoming almost rare these days, a pass first point guard who understands her role is to facilitate the offense first and once her teammates are cooking, then she can start to eat herself scoring the basketball. Something she did against excellent competition both from the perimeter knocking down shots from three as well as finishing at the rim in transition and in the half court. Addison played with a maturity beyond her years against a very talented opponent. She has a very bright future ahead.     Green did a little bit of everything for Dawson County. She looked to be about 5'8 or 5'9 and was easily the tallest player that got meaningful minutes. She was excellent rebounding the ball on both ends and showed her versatility guarding every position on the court at one time or another on defense. Mostly, however, she was guarding Franklin county's biggest player on the interior while occasionally floating out to the perimeter. When she secured defensive rebounds she quickly pushed her dribble out and began sprinting like a runner out of the blocks towards the other end with a head of steam. She remained in control however and made some beautiful one-handed assists to her teammates all over the court with her dominate left and scored herself when the opportunity presented itself. Green scored from all three levels and could have done. a lot more of it if necessary it seemed. Baylee is listed as a guard on MaxPreps and she definitely can do that, but she showed her versatility in the game I watched today. She is a very talented player who is nowhere near as good as she will be in a couple years.     Laila is about 5'4-5'5 I am guessing, but probably had more rebounds than most anyone else in the game I saw Dawson County play. She, like, [player_tooltip player_id='910471' first='Baylee' last='Green'], wasted little time when securing boards on the defensive end quickly turning them into offensive opportunities for her team to score. Woody handles the ball very well and did a great job keeping her head up which allowed her to kick the ball ahead to open teammates in transition. She also scored the ball multiple times herself and looked good specifically shooting the ball from three point range and the foul line. She competed and defended hard as well as stuffing the stat sheet for Dawson County.

A big part of the reason I decided to go to Banks County on Monday for day one of their scrimmages was that a lot of the teams there I do not get to see on a regular basis. Morgan County, Dawson County, Franklin County all had a bunch of kids I had never seen play and the teams like Elbert and Buford, who reload not rebuild, were breaking in new players at new positions and getting players who have a bigger role this coming season more experience. Then there is Commerce, who returns almost all of their young core and are hungry to go further in the state playoffs this year. A lot of players to see and overall it was a good day in the gym.