Diamonds Classic: Defensive Stars

Mindy McCarthy December 7, 2021 @ 03:01 PM

Diamonds Classic hosted an array of talent in North and South Carolina. Here are some of the top defenders I saw at the event. [player_tooltip player_id="172621" first="Bethel" last="Ekperigha"] | Victory Christian | G | 2022 6 points // 3 rebounds // 5 assists // 6 steals Ekperigha was dominant handling the ball and reading her opponents’ offense as she grabbed steals to push the other direction. She was excellent at creating plays with her passes dumping down nice dimes to her teammates in the post. She certainly got to the hoop herself taking steals from end to end to score some points. [player_tooltip player_id="260167" first="Eva" last="Butler"] | Providence | G | 2022 11 points // 8 rebounds // 1 assist // 5 steals // 1 block Butler (pictured above) continues to play dominant defense grabbing steals right out of the hands of her opponents. She takes these the other direction with ease weaving in and out of her opponents and showing off a nice finish at the rim. She facilitated some plays well driving hard to the basket to open up some space for her teammates. Jessica Ralda | Butler | G | 2023 14 points // 2 rebounds // 5 steals Ralda shot well from behind the arc knocking down three from deep and converting well from the free throw line. She was a terror on defense grabbing steals showing anticipation in order to push the ball up the court the other direction. Taylor Dunn | North Meck | G | 2022 2 rebounds // 1 assist // 5 steals Dunn was constantly getting her hands involved on defense grabbing steals and pushing them up the court. She crashes the boards going after rebounds, and she does a nice job of seeing her teammates open ready for their own shot.