Nevaeh Lee (Lady Knox): Nevaeh was the general for this Lady Knox team. She ran the show with poise and always remained completely under control. She was aggressive and really kept the defense off balance mixing her game between passing and scoring.
Ashley Knox (Lady Knox): Ashley was a three level scorer during the entire tournament. When it comes to scoring the ball she can do it anyway she wants. She defends multiple positions on the floor and possesses all the tools necessary to make it far in this game.
Jasleen Green (Lady Knox): Jasleen really impacted the game in multiple ways. Her athleticism was on full display running the floor, rebounding, and finishing around the basket. She also showed the ability to stretch the floor with her three point shooting.
Eryn Griffin (Lady Knox): Eryn was knocking down shots from every and anywhere on the floor. She showed off her sweet shooting stroke throughout the entire tournament and was a ferocious perimeter defender.
Camille Nesmith (UBC): Camille showed great signs of potential. Her 6’3” frame made it easy for her to protect the basket. She did a great job catching and finishing around the basket her hard work is starting to show.
Gigi Battle (Jersey Shore Elite):Gigi has a unique ability to impact the game in many ways without needing the basketball. Her energy and hustle is unmatched and because of her size and athleticism she can guard all positions 1-5. She is a prototypical player for today’s game of positionless basketball.
Madison Kocis (Jersey Shore Elite): Madison possesses the ability to flat out shoot the ball. She can shoot it off the catch or off the dribble no problem. If you close out on her hard she can get by you and does a good job of finishing around the rim with either hand.
Ryan Carter (Philadelphia Belles): Ryan is one of the few players in the girls’ basketball game at any level that I would say has the “Mamba Mentality” She plays the game hard on both ends and can score the ball however and whenever she wants.
Atlee Vanesko (Philadelphia Belles): If there was a tournament MVP Atlee would have definitely been in the discussion. She was the primary ball handler for the championship team the Philly Belles and the most impressive part of her game was her ability to balance scoring and keeping her teammates involved. She was explosive and crafty in transition and shot the ball efficiently.
Olivia “Big O” Vukosa (Philadelphia Belles): Big O was the most dominant force throughout the tournament. In session one if the belles ever needed a timely score give the ball to her and let her work. She was very physical on both ends and dominated the paint. She continues to improve on her skill set as she was consistently hitting that high post jump shot as well as took a couple of rebounds coast to coast.
Gabrielle Vaughn (Philadelphia Belles): Gabby was a menace all weekend defensively, she was able to guard multiple positions and used her length to disrupt a lot of offenses defensively and create mismatches on the offensive end of the floor. She is starting to show off her shooting ability. She was consistently hitting that corner three all weekend long.
Josephine Pinnock (Positive Direction): Josephine was the complete controller for this positive direction team. She has a shifty dribble that allows her to constantly get in the lane and once she’s in there she’s making the right play 10/10 times. She trusts her teammates and is aggressive offensively but completely unselfish when it’s time to make a play.
Mone’t Edwards (Team Thrill): Mone’t came out from the first game aggressive and never looked back. She showed she is a tough nose on ball defender. She gives you little to no room if you have the ball in your hands. Offensively she showed the ability to make shots and plays downhill.
Autumn Fleary (Team Thrill): Autumn is a dynamic playmaker who just gets it done. Whatever it takes for the team to win Autumn is going to do even if it means she has to facilitate more some games to get her teammates going. She has no problem going to get her own shot as well if need be.
Arianna Harris (Team Thrill): Arianna was a huge force in the middle for team thrill. She was a rim protector and played solid post defense on anyone her size. Offensively she was very active without the basketball, posting up hard, setting good screens, and staying active on the offensive glass.
Dahni Suggs (Team Thrill): Dahni is the type of player every good team needs to win, she is what is called “a glue guy” She does all the dirty/clean-up work for this Team Thrill group who made it to the semi-finals for session one. Rebound, block shots, and finish everything around the rim. That’s Dahni’s job and she embraces it.
Jessie Moses (Top Notch): Jessie plays with the kind of swag and toughness that you would want your guards to have. She’s a taller guard so her naturally high shooting form helps her get her shot off no matter how close a defender plays. She has a good ball handle which allows her to get by most defenders and finish at the rim.
Ava Yoon (Team Final): Ava is an explosive open court player who has great shot making abilities. She gets her shot off quick and knows to move without the ball to get open looks. When it’s time to run in transition she made some incredible plays.
Jaida McClure (Queen City Ballers): Do it all player with great size and physicality. She moves with finesse whenever she has the ball in her hands. Her greatest attribute is her range on her shot, anything over half court is free range for her and she can knock it down.
Jordyn Palmer (CC Storm): Jordyn is a physical player who gets her numbers on the boards every game. She continues to get her team second and third opportunities with her consistent effort rebounding. Once she settles in she also shows some ability to handle the basketball and play on the perimeter.
Jada Lynch (NJ Rise): Jada is someone that reminds me of a player that has been playing up her whole career. Her physicality, athleticism, and the speed at which she plays is much different than everyone she is playing against. Her skill set is mature beyond her years, especially her shooting ability and toughness when attacking the basket.
Ava Fajardo (NJ Rise): Ava is a baller! She is a crafty left handed player who gets in the lane with ease. Her range is well beyond the three point line and she takes advantage of aggressive defense by getting in the lane and finishing well.
Lauryn Downing (New Heights): Lauryn is an athletic tough guard with good size at the guard position. She did a good job displaying her shooting touch this weekend and her ability to play down hill is her biggest asset.
Kiera Kilkenny (Boo Williams): She is a player that has been playing up for a couple of years now and it is her time to run the show and she did that. She was the catalyst for this Boo Williams team and they responded whenever her energy was elevated. Getting into the lane, hitting big shots, and making tough passes all tournament long.
Ashley MacCalla (Top Notch): Ashley is going to be as good as she wants to be in this game. Her natural speed and athleticism is enough to take her far but the raw skills she has, once fully refined is going to take her to a whole different level. She has the ability to shoot the three and in transition she was the most explosive athlete in the 7th grade division, often grabbing the rebound and going coast to coast.
Arielle Lopez (Top Notch): Ari “Yoyo” Lopez lived up to her nickname this weekend. Her ball handling abilities were on full display this weekend. She used her shiftiness to get by defenders all weekend and kept them on edge, mixing up her different layup packages and knocking down the three ball with ease.
Makiah Datil (Harlem USA): Small guard that uses her IQ and toughness to make it happen for her team. She is very much a representative of what a “city guard” is. She gets in the lane and finishes around the rim well.
Journey Atkins (Harlem USA): Journey has some amazing athleticism and length to go with it. She was often out in transition after numerous amounts of off ball steals and rebounds going coast to coast. The result often ended with her at the free throw line because the defense had no choice but to foul her.
Annie Gentile (NJ Raptors): Annie is a high IQ point guard who uses her quick first step to get by pretty much anyone standing in front of her. Once she gets by the first defender she does a great job of reading the next level of defenders and making the correct play.
Micah Ojo (YKS): This kid was arguably the best player in the whole tournament regardless of class. Her size (6’1”) and athleticism combination alone was incredible, but the skill set that she has to complement it was unreal. She could shoot the ball from just about anywhere on the floor she can defend on the perimeter and in the post, and on multiple occasions I saw her catch a couple of alley oops and lay them in. This kid is the real deal!
Sanai Yates (Exodus): The biggest mistake you could make is allowing Sanai’s size to fool you. She is small in stature but has the heart of a lion. She is quick, shifty, and has fourth level scoring range on her jump shot. The next level of her game is going to be developing her passing vision which she showed signs of but not consistently.
Layla Wagner (Exodus): Layla is a player to watch for in the future to be one of the good ones. She has a natural instinct of when to get in the passing lanes where she racked up multiple 5+ steal games during the weekend. She turns defense to offense quickly when she gets a steal she is off into transition. She also displayed some good three point shooting this weekend.
Sophia Benyo (Lady Cougars): Sophia does a great job changing her game depending on where she is on the floor and who is guarding her. She can post up smaller defenders and finish at the rim or she can face up against bigger defenders and go by them. She was a huge factor in the Lady Cougars deep run during session one of Winter Series.
Madison Wallace (Castle): Madison stood out with her effort and energy on the floor. She was defending full court. I saw two games where she had at least 5 steals each game. She does a great job defending on the ball and turning her defense into offense once she causes a turnover.
Abigail Smith (Castle): Abigail did a lot of little things for this Castle team, some which showed up in the stat sheets and some that didn’t. Her effort and energy on the floor was amazing to see, her tanisty on the boards and her ability to stretch the floor and knock down shots made her a matchup nightmare for whoever was guarding her.
Azzure O’connor (For the Love): This kid has the poise and the maturity of a high school senior. I watched the game against Boo Williams Lady Neptunes where they fought back from a double digit deficit late in the second half and she led the charge. Big play after big play knocking down shots, getting steals, advancing the ball to the open player, and bringing the energy to spark the comeback. This kid is a dynamic player and I look forward to seeing her as her game matures.
Melody Vaughn (Philadelphia Belles): Melody played hard from start to finish of each game. She gets a lot of deflections when playing defense because of her long arms and her activity on defense. She is a very aggressive driver to the basket and when her confidence is going she is looking to score everytime!
Giovanna Burress (Harlem USA): Gigi has a unique ability to go into another mode where she becomes almost impossible to stop. She goes on long scoring stretches where it seems like the basket is the size of an ocean for her. Her rebounding ability for her size is amazing and in transition it’s almost a guaranteed basket when she has the ball.
Kendall Medina (Team Outcasts): Kendall was a pleasure to watch. She plays with such passion and aggression, she always makes the right play and is never out of control. Her maturity in her game shows she’s very selective with the shots she takes and not doing too much over dribbling which is rare to see with kids this age.
Crystal Thomas (New Heights): Crystal was such an exciting guard to watch, her ball handling and shiftiness presented problems for so many defenders game after game for this New Heights team. She utilizes the floater well to shoot over taller defenders and has even added a pull up jump shot to her game which makes her more deceptive.