RECAP: Team Elite vs Aja Wilson Elite 17U

It was a battle on Saturday between some of the best 17U teams: Team Elite Hubbard EYBL and Aja Wilson Elite. [player_tooltip player_id="173104" first="Tonaja" last="Lester"] (2021) for Aja Wilson used her strength to muscle her way to where she wanted to go on the court. She made some smart cuts getting open looks straight to the hoop. She used fakes to drive around her opponents to get a bucket as well. She was aggressive on defense, too, grabbing steals and making it difficult for players to get by her. <img class="size-medium wp-image-203951 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/09/Aleisha-Spann-copy-scaled-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" />[player_tooltip player_id="171762" first="Alicia" last="Spann"] (2022) was a tall presence inside making moves to the basket. She was persistent going after the rebounds and used that to covert second chance points into two for her team. Her presence inside deterred the opponents from driving down the lane. [player_tooltip player_id="124071" first="Malayziah" last="Etheredge"] (2021) seemed to be all over the court making steals and turning those into fast break opportunities by herself. She pushed the ball up the court with speed and versatility showing her ability to handle the ball under pressure. She fought through contact underneath the basket using power dribbles to reposition herself in order to make the best shot. When she did not have the ball, she was making great cuts getting lost by the defense and was able to make a play. [player_tooltip player_id="124087" first="Amber" last="Burton"] (2021) was grabbing rebounds for her team and immediately finding a teammate to push the ball up the court. She had a nice spin move down the middle of the paint turning that into points. For Team Elite, [player_tooltip player_id="118145" first="Kaleigh" last="Addie"] (2022) had a game making steal after steal and moving up the floor quickly. She was very smooth handling the ball while moving at high speeds. When she did get a chance to show off her set offensive skills, she was able to shoot well from behind the three point line or make some smart passes to her teammates to get them involved. [player_tooltip player_id="195606" first="Cierra" last="Foster"] (2021) was fearless driving to the basket. She fought through contact <img class="size-medium wp-image-203959 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/09/Cierra-Foster-copy-scaled-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" />and even successfully converted several old fashioned three point plays. Her hesitation moves and speed were a threat when she was driving to the basket. Even her passing game was great with the way she would thread the needle on fast breaks. She is an aggressive defender, too, staying in close contact with her opponent making sure they have to work for any kind of points that they get. <img class="size-medium wp-image-203960 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/09/Jayda-Brown-copy-scaled-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" />Jayda Brown (2023) was scoring from all over the court. She was hitting shots behind the three point line, and she was driving to the basket for some layups even through contact that was consistently waiting for her. She had a nice midrange jump shot that she was able to put on display after creating separation between her and her defender. [player_tooltip player_id="186285" first="Mone" last="Florence"] (2021) had another game where it seemed like she had a handful of steals that were quickly pushed up the court for fast breaks. She was a terror on defense appearing to be all over the court finding ways to cause problems or deflections. Tairah Galvin (2021) was picking the pockets of the opponents grabbing steals and pushing the ball up the court. She could grab it right out of her opponents’ hands or push the ball out from underneath them when they were dribbling. She had smart positioning on defense knowing when to be in a help position or when to jump in the face of her opponent.