UIL 6A-Friday’s Second Round Standouts pt 1
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And then there were eight. That is Elite 8 in all of the UIL regions, from 6A on down, and sadly our monopoly of a paper hasn’t done a good job with the scheduling, well period on the girl’s side…
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Continue ReadingAnd then there were eight. That is Elite 8 in all of the UIL regions, from 6A on down, and sadly our monopoly of a paper hasn’t done a good job with the scheduling, well period on the girl’s side in almost 20 years, I have TRULY been out here that long and it’s verifiable yet I truly appreciate those who are helping grown the game, like Houston Dream coach and director Trey Phillips and let me applaud him for taking the time to keep up with who’s playing and where they’ll be
I had a chance to watch 4 games, aka a quadruple header, from the 6A group and I’ll mix up some stories starting with this one
Jordan was out when I saw them play against Summer Creek yet she’s back and showing why I always say “the game starts at the 1” and her magically running the show has them as one of the favorites to win the region, yet so is their next opponent, Pearland. She’s so smooth and handles the pressure well, her BB-IQ and setting teammates up for easy baskets is a huge plus, so is her ability to score off the dribble and mid to long-range
Alexander went completely off in the 2nd half scoring double digits to help break the game wide open and when you can do things to change or start the momentum, that’s huge yet so is her progression as she is one of, if not the most improved players I had already called #D1Lock as a freshman. She can rebound and go coast to coast to score or hit the “stop and pop” jumper yet transforming from a back to the basket player coupled with being “long and athletic” has her upside high
Gray was coming off an opening round triple double in opening round and her team being a #4 and defeating a #1 was big, yet speaking of triple, her knocking down the long ball consistently and effectively shows me she has been working yet her “work ethic” has never been questioned by me, I’m a REAL EVALUATOR, and peep this, her team has a shot at winning the region next season, I actually mean that because her energy trickles over to her teammates, she rebounds, scores around the basket, has good timing and is “long and athletic”
Highlights
Carlton showed why she is a LEGITIMATE McDonald’s All-American and watching her score from outside after handling the ball in the open court took me back to how much she has continued to add since I didn’t know her name when I first caught her in middle school. I placed her on the cover because she could not be COVERED and watching her score with players literally hanging on her back was delightful for me. She followed her shot, she scored off the dribble, she rebounded and blocked shots
Anumele gave the announcer problems pronouncing her game yet importantly, he got her game right as she played “around the world” scoring from multiple spots to help get the ball rolling, no pun intended. She attacks and finishes so strongly, contact is irrelevant yet she also understands how to get out and ahead on the break and receive passes to score but her diving on the floor and playing the passing lane are things you can’t teach, and aren’t being taught enough
Schultz is closing her high school career out and I thought I wouldn’t be able to say “I see nothing” but a payer yet her younger sister will keep it going. Watching her create her jumper under pressure and drop it from mid to long-range with a hand in her face, will translate over to Prairie View quickly. She attacks off the dribble, with either hand, has solid court vision and does a good job defending both in the set as well as baseline to baseline
Nelson punched her ticket to be added to the Top 100 and please understand, with the countless platforms out there, I can’t see everybody and when you throw in I don’t COPY or CARE what other people say, I base things off of what I see and I saw enough. She’s long and athletic, she stands over “the magic number” and was relentless around the basket to score as well as rebound, on both ends. She handled ball in transition, showed she could drop it from outside as well as attack off the dribble