2022 Top Performers-Guards-Texas & Arkansas-Border War 2021

I’m closing the month out on Border War drops with players from Texas/Arkansas teams in the 2022 class, starting with guards and I’ll do the forwards and posts on the next. Don’t fret, I have notes and pictures galore and I have not forgotten about Missouri, Nebraska nor Kansas so those will be 2 state combos as well and no, I definitely didn’t forget about Oklahoma because the state, like this event, was much, much more than OK <strong>Lindsey Aday-5’8 (Arkansas Sting)</strong> Aday had a good day, well two of them because she was consistent at showing that she could not only create the midrange but knock it down yet she also did something else I enjoyed, understanding how to get positioning to rebound over taller players as well as finish against them on putbacks <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="265538" first="Aliyah" last="Craft"]-5’8 PG (BCS Thunder-King)</strong> Craft took her game to another level, this event really showed me how good she was and with her speed and ability to finish acrobatically, after contact, not to leave out knocking the mid to long-range down, with a hand in her face, I just smiled because she was virtually unknown, well until being watched virtually <strong>Sarah Harthon-5’6 PG (BCS Thunder-King)</strong> Harthon is one of the most focused players I’ve seen in a long time, she doesn’t crack under pressure in fact she excels under it and her ability to see the floor, under pressure, while handling the ball, also under pressure, both stood out so when you add her mid to long-range shooting, there you have it <strong>Amiya Bowie-5’6 (Heroes DJ)</strong> Bowie did a little bit of everything and showed she was hard to contain because she’s quick and athletic, understands how to set defenders up to blow by them or create her shot with them on her and her mid to very long-range shooting was impressive <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="265532" first="Brooklin" last="Brown"]-5’8 (Houston Skyrise-Edmond)</strong> Brown made me look smart in front of several college coaches who didn’t know about me but importantly didn’t know about her and watching her attack the rim and finish had me being questioned about her shooting and I said "we call her Midtown Brown" in Houston after back to back 15 footers and as I was about to move courts, she drops an NBA range jumper, I left em with, we call her "Downtown Brown too’ <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="135363" first="R’Mani" last="Taylor"]-5’7 (Houston Skyrise-Edmond)</strong> Taylor showed me in the 5th grade what was coming as she dribbling in street clothes so that #D1Lock still stands and she showed it because she controls tempo, makes crisp passes on the money, and can handle the ball baseline to baseline under pressure yet she also applies pressure while being defended and off the dribble or from mid to long-range, she can score <img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-223116" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/11/20201113_195837-scaled-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="135388" first="Kenna" last="Gibson"]-5’7 (Houston Skyrise-Edmond)</strong> Gibson keeps extending her range, when I first caught her she was dropping threes at the three-point line and now some of them are close to the midcourt line. She shoots it with confidence, she creates her shot nicely and also showed she can do the mid to long in transition yet her ability to "catch and shoot" stood out as well, not to omit her being able to run the 1 when needed <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="135362" first="Sydney" last="Love"]-5’7 (Players First 17U)</strong> Love has one of the best pull-up jumpers in her class that I’ve seen, this includes the "stop and pop" in transition, and observing her create while being tightly defended is a work of art. She elevates over defenders, her release is quick yet she also can score off the dribble and as an added bonus, she battles for rebounds <strong>Taylor Rush (Team 10 17U)</strong> Rush understood how to create her shot and showed she could do various ways but watching her take the defender off the dribble, with either and hand and finish, with either hand, was definitely a good sign but she also saw the floor and defended well [caption id="attachment_211577" align="aligncenter" width="150"]<img class="wp-image-211577 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/10/DSC_0046-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="202481" first="Mercedes" last="Mancha"]</strong>[/caption] <strong>Honorable Mention</strong> <strong>JaMya Maryland (Heroes DJ)</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="202481" first="Mercedes" last="Mancha"] (Houston Skyrise-Edmond)</strong> <strong>Kylee Norman-5’5 (Players First 17U)</strong> <strong>Shelby Hall (Team 10 17U)</strong> &nbsp;