News & Notes from Saturday (6/3/17) at the Georgia Cup Finals
Contributed by Trent Markwith (@TMarkwith14)
WE Elite
After close battles to win their first two games, the Marist War Eagles crew had another strong outing against the Georgia Kings. Led by Derek McDonald, WE was able to get great looks in the half court and get out in transition frequently. McDonald does it all for WE; just in this game I saw multiple 3’s, high post jumpers, full-court transition finishes, offensive rebounds, and big blocks on defense. He finished with 27 points but WE has some other weapons also. Charles Fleming is an assassin from deep, hitting (3) 3’s in the first half; Luke Benson runs the show at PG where he excels at facilitating; and Richard Reynolds is a solid forward who is tough inside but can also stretch the floor with his shooting. It looks like Marist has some good ones coming up to the high school level.
Walton Flames
This Flames team has 4 perimeter players who gave them great production in a nice afternoon win over Hoops 360. Combining for 66 of their 79 points, Grant Shobe, Jason Edwards, Charles Bradley, and Gabriel Farmer all proved themselves scoring the ball. To start off, Shobe has a very unique offensive game. He totaled 18 points from (3) 3’s and also made some difficult push-shots, floaters, and reverse layups that seemed to surprise everyone that was watching when they went in. Edwards is extremely shifty and had a variety of wild finishes inside while also showing that he would not hesitate to shoot from way beyond the line, ending with 16 points. I really liked Bradley’s efficiency on offense; he is reliable on catch and shoot opportunities, but when that is taken away he uses just 1 or 2 dribbles to get to the rim and also gets putbacks, finishing with 18 points. Farmer did not waste any opportunities either, hitting 3’s, weaving through the defense and getting easy baskets off of sneaky cuts for 14 points. The Flames are an explosive team when all 4 of these guys are in a groove.
MTXE
The group of St. Pius boys had a tight game on Saturday night against the Warner Robins All-Stars that made for an entertaining matchup. MTXE is a well-rounded, fundamental group that gets contribution from nearly everyone. They had 10 different players score with one who stood out above the rest: Kyle Seramur. Seramur connected on 5 threes for a total of 18 points and did this while only missing a few shots. Other main guys for MTXE are Carter Williams, Daniel Beverly, and Jack Verrill. Williams is a sound PG with outside shooting ability and makes sure to control things on offense for MTXE. Beverly is an athletic forward who makes a lot of energy plays, uses his length to finish, and plays with an edge about him. Verrill is an intriguing young player; he has great height and length for a player his age but is still raw and has to grow into his body. Verrill did display soft hands and some touch inside on offense, and altered shots consistently on defense.
Warner Robins All-Stars
The Warner Robins squad recognized an advantage in strength and athleticism over MTXE early on and had success throughout the game using these qualities. The 3 standouts for the All-Stars would have to be Gregory Jones, Rashaun Tomlin, and Andrew Grane. These 3 combined for 40 of Warner Robins’ 60 points and were key down the stretch for their team. Jones (11 points) and Tomlin (12 points) were huge inside for Warner Robins. Jones made hard drives in both transition and the half-court often, where he absorbed contact and finished consistently. Tomlin was a beast on the offensive glass, grabbing everything in his area and then putting it in the basket. Grane (17 points) displayed an advanced offensive skill-set, attacking fearlessly but knowing when to quickly pull-up and use his mid-range jumper, which he did multiple times. This attribute kept the defense guessing when Grane had the ball and resulted in easy looks for him.
Warrior Elite
Out of Cleveland, GA, Warrior Elite is another team with a lot of depth. They carry 9 players and all of them get solid minutes. There is not much, if any, of a drop-off between the team’s starters and reserves; 7 Warrior players scored 6 or more points in a late Saturday night bracket play win. The team plays an unselfish brand of basketball and thrives in transition because of their surplus of smart, athletic players. Dakota Orr and Cooper Turner were very impressive for the Warrior team. Orr presents a great combination of height, athleticism, and touch for 14U player. As he continues to add strength and develop his awareness, he could turn into an attractive prospect. Turner is a fast, physical guard who seeks out contact whenever he gets in the lane where he draws fouls and finishes through hits with regularity. Another Warrior player that got my attention was Eli Pitts. This may have not been his best scoring performance but he showed high IQ and good penetration ability that resulted in solid passes to open teammates. In other games, this penetration may have provided scoring opportunities for Pitts but he recognized that dishing to others was the best option in this game.