OC Orange Bowl Top Standouts

This weekend, AIMS Sportsplex in Seal Beach, CA played host to the OC Orange Bowl presented by West Coast Elite as a kick-off to AAU season. There were a few teams participating in the event from Southern California as well as up North. I was able to attend the event on Saturday, March 26 and here’s a look at some of the top standouts that I saw. <strong>1. [player_tooltip player_id="166830" first="Kate" last="Hackney"] - Bishop Alemany 2024</strong> Hackney stood out as a solid scoring wing. She has good size and and she can handle the ball. She has a strong slashing game and she can dribble under defensive pressure. Uses head fakes to get the defense off balance and get into the lane where she finishes well. A good catch and shoot player from the three point line with good shooting mechanics. On the other end of the floor, she gets good position defensively and plays solid on-ball defense. <strong>2. Crystal Wang - Sierra Canyon 2023</strong> Wang is a big forward who can play some small-ball five and stretch the floor with her three-point shooting. She can face up and put the ball on the floor to get to the rim, but she could work on being able to finish stronger in traffic. She has solid handles for a player her size and she’s able to bring the ball up court and handle the ball in transition. Likes to drive along the baseline. She also moves very well without the ball and makes strong off-ball cuts along the baseline. <strong>3. [player_tooltip player_id="265662" first="Mari" last="Somvichian"] - Oakland Tech 2023</strong> Somvichian is a quick little guard with good ball-handling ability and can run an offense well. She has good body control at the rim for a small player and doesn’t have much trouble finishing. She uses screens well to get to where she wants to be on the court. She keeps her head up running the break and can see the floor well; find open teammates. Good shooter from three-point range, especially with catch and shoot. Defensively, she keeps the ball-handler in front of her. <strong>4. Elaine Rivera - Culver City 2023</strong> Rivera is also in the mold of a good wing scoring option. She’s comfortable with the ball in her hands and uses both head fakes and hesitation moves to get into the lane. She’s able to attack off the dribble and she has a nice crossover to free herself up. She can draw contact off her drives and get herself to the free-throw line. She has some playmaking to her game as well. She passes well off dribble penetration; finds teammates open in the paint. <strong>5. Atalia Thomas - Riverside King 2023</strong> Thomas is a workhorse in the paint. She might be a lundersized for a frontcourt player but she makes up for it with her toughness. She can finish well around the rim through traffic. She’s strong and a good rebounder especially on the offensive glass for second shot opportunities. She does her work in the paint, but she can step out and shoot from three-point range.