Heart Of Texas Day 1 Top Performers pt 1

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I opened up at the AT&amp;T Center, I've already said that as well as I hadn't been there since my daughter's Texas A&amp;M team beat Baylor to advance to Final Four in 2011 on their way to winning the National Championship. My 12 hours of watching basketball had me drained yet the action on the court also helped keep me going so I'm breaking the Top Performers into 3 parts from opening day</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='674625' first='Camryn' last='Beck']-6'0 PF ([program_tooltip program_id='715346' first='Houston' last='United'] Chuck-NE2K) Klein Cain [2024]</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Beck is long and athletic and one more time, that is the base. Her progression since the last time I saw her had me speechless as her intensity has shot up and watching her go after everything off the rim, on both ends, timing on defense to block shots, well alter and deflect them as well as very nice. She also score around the basket, putbacks included, and attacked and finished strongly off the dribble</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='793223' first='Alexis' last='Duhon']-5'8 SG ([program_tooltip program_id='715346' first='Houston' last='United'] Chuck-NE2K) Cypress Ranch [2024]</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Duhon also showed progression yet her "poise under pressure" when she was shooting the ball stood out from the jump. Her mid to long-range game looked really good, she created her shot under pressure and elevated over the defender to drop it plus she attacked strongly and finished after contact. She did a good job defensively, she hit the boards and she played the passing lane </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Desiree Perez-5'4 CG (Team Kidd Phillips) Moreau Catholic [2024]</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Perez handled the ball and saw the floor under pressure yet her court vision was extremely nice as she hit her teammates on the money both in the set as well as in transition. I watched her throw 25-foot passes in traffic as she lead her teammates with the pass but she was also vocal and directed them to the right spots. She scored off the dribble and dropped the long ball </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Alexis Cornejo-5'0 PG (Team Kidd Phillips) Summir Shasta [2024]</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cornejo also saw the floor very well, especially in the open court, and watching her throw "on the money" blistering passes between defenders helped get my adrenaline going. She also dropped a few "no looks" to teammates, and showed the slight HEZ to attack the basket yet her range, mid to long was also nice as she did a good job of knocking it down with a hand in her face </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='793204' first='Tyra' last='Sotello']-5'6 CG (SA Lady Hoops 2024 Diamond E40) Brennan [2024]</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sotello ran her team by controlling the tempo and distributing at the right time to the right teammate yet that's nothing new. She scored off the dribble, well she also dished off the dribble yet her body control after contact has gotten better and those finishes after the lick over and over were very nice, She also dropped it from outside, mid to long-range and did a good job defensively </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='249266' first='Kori' last='Rainwater']-6'0 PF ( [program_tooltip program_id='713111' first='Oklahoma' last='Swift'] Mathurin E40) Tahlequah [2024]</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rainwater mixed it up nicely on both ends as she not only rebounded strongly, she went after the ball consistently off the rim. She scored on putbacks as well as around the basket and also took the defender off the dribble from the wing to finish, all after contact. She also did a good job defending inside the paint yet she stepped out of it to apply pressure as well. Nice timing to block shots also needs to be mentioned</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='309979' first='McKenzie' last='Mathurin']-5'10 PG ([program_tooltip program_id='713111' first='Oklahoma' last='Swift'] Mathurin E40) Broken Arrow [2025]</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mathurin came into the event with over 20 D1 offers and I'm not sure how many she added yet she's set no matter what and she showed that she can control a game on both ends. Yes, she has the mid to long-range as well as off the dribble down pat yet her rebounding and going coast to coast and hitting teammates over and over, plus her defense and playing the passing lane were all pluses </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='675503' first='Paris' last='Nixon']-5'6 PG ([program_tooltip program_id='715146' first='SETX' last='Elite']) West Brook [2024]</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nixon continues to dazzle me with her array of talents and watching her understand how to set her teammates up for gimmes has been a treat. She attacks the basket powerfully and finishes after contact yet her court vision off the dribble and hitting her teammates by passing with either hand had me smiling, and so did her mid to long-range jumper. She also applied baseline-to-baseline pressure defensively </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kyra Owens-6'0 PF ([program_tooltip program_id='715146' first='SETX' last='Elite']) West Brook [2024]</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Owens is one of the most improved players I have seen from last season and her relentlessness going after the ball is part of it. She is strong and rebounds with authority, on both ends yet watching her literally score around the basket with players hanging on her is very nice. Her midrange pull-up and attacking from the wing add more to the equation, and so does her lateral movement defending outside the paint </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->