Alay’ja is an 8th grader who was playing up against older competition this weekend. And still the 13 year old was magnificent every time she stepped on the floor.

This is a kid who shows extreme hustle on both sides of the ball, and is going 100 miles per hour every single play. Defensively, she’s a terror. In the first half of one of her games, I twice watched her just rip the ball right out of the hands of her opponent, then turn and convert it for a layup.

She’s a fantastic downhill dribbler, who has speed and toughness when she’s in transition. Her footwork and her moves in traffic help her get to the basket, even through a heavy defensive presence.

Alay’ja also stays in control of herself at all times. Even when a ball gets tipped away, she doesn’t panic-but is able to gather and set up the offense again. And her passing abilities are off the charts. She has such a crisp and creative delivery; she’ll get several assists each game-but also plenty of passes that should be assists, but just don’t get converted for a basket.

Alay’ja says that she believes she brings energy to the team and likes to be a leader on the court. She’s also just a pure grinder, who’s game attracts attention, even when it’s not the game you’re there to watch.

Alay’ja is another youngster who came up this weekend to compete against more experienced competition. She’s just finishing 8th grade, and could actually be competing against 13U players-but showed today why she belongs in this field.

Alay’ja has extreme hustle on both offense and defense. She can get down the floor in a hurry when she has the ball in her hands, and she terrorizes the opposition when she’s on defense. I twice saw her rip the ball away from the ballhandler in the first half of a win against Illinois Dream . And I lost track of how many steals she came up with.

She’s also very good at staying in control when she has the ball. She never seems to get flustered, and maintains her composure, no matter the situation.