July Tuneup in Vegas – Part 1

<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Big City Hoops</strong> put on a great tournament experience for the kids playing this weekend in Las Vegas with a great venue and organized staff to take care of things in an easy manner.  <strong>Lew Roberts of Big City Hoops</strong> is the organizer of the event and he prepared by bringing in teams from around the region and some from across the water in Hawaii.  We came in on Friday night and watched a few games, but the girls Varsity division did not start until Saturday.  We camp out in the gym and gathered some names of some girls we think should be recognized for their play.  Here we go, please enjoy, we try and bring you the RAW and UNCUT of girls basketball at its finest.</span> &nbsp; <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Paul George Elite 16U:</strong></span></span> &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>2023, 5’3, Birmingham HS, Naia Williams</strong> - small guard that runs the floor and makes plays, can defend and is a go getter on the court through her hustle play.   She ran the point guard spot with precision and did what she was told on the floor by her coaches.  She could pass the rock, she has a very good handle and she made great decisions on the floor for her team to get scores and push the ball.  </span> &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="104798" first="Serenity" last="Johnson"]</strong> - seen her many times before, but she is a player, make shot from the perimeter and can make plays for her teammates.  She showed us that her three point shot has improved tremendously over the past year, we watched her at her high school, but seeing her in action with her club team, she was amazing in our opinion.  Already has a college body and is one of the toughest and most aggressive girls on the court, she made plays for her team.</span> &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Natalie Patrick</strong> - solid guard type with some swag to her game, hustle player by nature and a good defender, she is fun to watch.  She kept her team engaged on the floor, she made play after play and was a good leader on the court for her team.  She rebounded the ball, could push it and get the ball to a teammate for a easy bucket.  We loved her attitude on the floor and she made heady plays that made us think, she is pretty good at this game.  </span> &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>2024, 5’7, Sage Hill HS, Zoie Lamkin</strong> - another forward type with a nice body type, gazelle like can getup and down the floor with ease and had nice soft hands to finish in the paint and on the perimeter.  She was a good rebounder, she showed us she could really board and get the ball to the guards up the floor with nice outlet passes for some easy scores.  This girl has a solid post presence and she was a monster in the paint and terrorized her opponents with skilled post play and some midrange jumpers in the paint. </span> &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>2024, 5’11, Westchester HS, Mariah Blake</strong> - nice guard body type that can get out into transition and make some plays.  Watch her make some nice dimes to her teammates in transition, but love her tenacity on the floor.  One of the most athletic  and agile players on this team, looks like a natural born athlete to me, which she proved on so many run out layups to the rim ahead of her opponents.  She was fierce on defense, showing she could contain and shutdown her opponent and also block your shot if you tried to get off a jumper in her presence.</span> &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>2025, Hamilton HS, Kinidi Curl</strong> - nice size forward with a nice slender body type and is able to score at the rim and in the midrange.  She was another athletic specimen on this team that could get into the lane and finish in transition.  Shot the ball well from the midrange, was a lethal finisher at the rim, but was also able to catch and finish in the post.  She has a nice college ready frame for coaches and is quite strong and fierce on the court.  Long arms that allowed her to do some good things on the floor.</span> &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>2024, 6’1, Desert Oasis HS (NV), Cali Scarpaci</strong> - Big in the paint, can run the floor and make plays at the center spot.  Able to seal in the paint with some soft hands, knows how to pass out of the double which is impressive.  She was the rebounder supreme for this team, ate up all of the boards and got the ball to the guards to push the tempo of the game.  She was skilled in the paint, could catch with soft hands, recognized the double and was able to throw out, then repost and finish. </span> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;