Y.C. Winborn Showcase: Top 15 Performances (6-10)
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The Holiday season means many things – a break from classes, quality time spent with family and friends and midseason tournament and showcase season reaching its crescendo. One of the latest midseason showcases to wrap up right before Christmas Eve…
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Continue ReadingThe Holiday season means many things – a break from classes, quality time spent with family and friends and midseason tournament and showcase season reaching its crescendo.
One of the latest midseason showcases to wrap up right before Christmas Eve and Day was the Y.C. Winborn Showcase. Hosted annually by 5A Rock Hill, it welcomed teams from both sides of the North Carolina-South Carolina state border. One of the teams that took part in the three-day get-together even flew into the United States from Australia.
We at Prep Girls Hoops may not have had to fly into the Charlotte metro for the festivities, but we were there. Following our unveiling of our top five performers, we now present Nos. 6-10.
McCray is one of those underclassmen who plays as if they are an upperclassman. Given she has played at the varsity level since she was an eighth grader, McCray has more experience than the average 2026. It shows in how she plays. McCray dropped 18 points to lead her 4A A.C. Flora team to a 52-38 victory over Butler. The Falcons victory meant that A.C. Flora has gone back-to-back Winborn Showcases where they won all three games. McCray plays with a high basketball IQ and maintains a high level of activity even if she does not have the ball in her hands. She puts plenty of emphasis on taking care of the ball and limiting turnovers. McCray also approaches the game with a fearless attitude as she will attack the rim and go right at defenders.
Highlights
Veteran talent has powered 4A Airport to a 2023-24 where it has already matched its entire win total from last season. One of the reasons for that has been the play of the team’s star junior guard. Booth also assumes co-team captaincy duties for Airport. Booth put 18 points on the board to lift Airport to a 60-53 win over Hunter Huss. The Eagles also picked up victories over two other 4A teams in York and Indian Land for a 3-0 weekend at Rock Hill. Booth is particularly difficult when she gets a full head of steam to the rim and fuses together talent with toughness and veteran instincts.
Given the close proximity between Rock Hill HS and Fort Mill HS, the 5A Yellow Jackets had a healthy contingent of fans on hand to watch their team take on another 5A foe in Spartanburg. Thanks to the 16 points that were put on the board courtesy of Chambliss, those Yellow Jackets aficionados went home happy as Fort Mill defeated Spartanburg by a final score of 53-44. The defense she plays can leave opposing ball carriers prone to coughing up the rock and she will disrupt an opposing team’s passing lanes. Offensively, she is a potent threat to put the ball through the basket at all three levels.
Saunders’ Butler team began this year’s rendition of the Winborn Showcase in auspicious fashion with a win over 4A Lancaster. It concluded in inauspicious fashion because of losses to Fort Mill and A.C. Flora, but Sanders herself finished with a flourish. The skilled junior point guard for the Bulldogs scored 16 points to lead her team. Saunders understands the art of playing at point as she knows how to organize an offense in a halfcourt set. As potent a playmaker as she is, she attracts a great deal of attention from defenses and has a knack for finding a lane to the rim. Saunders has played for Carolina Flames 17U during the travel months.
Makayla Blanton
Makayla Blanton
Sometimes, it is not how one starts but how one finishes. For Blanton and her 4A Cougars, this was the moniker they left Rock Hill HS with. York began this year’s Winborn Showcase with a defeat to another 4A team in Airport before picking up victories over a pair of 1A foes in Great Falls and Bethune-Bowman. In the contest with the Mohawks, Blanton tallied 15 points to pave the way to victory for York. Among the many strong areas of her game is her ability to connect on midrange jump shots and the confidence she has in her ability to knock down her tries from long range.