Gabby Fajemirokun
Maayan Gorin leading the charge for a loaded Crestwood Prep squad. *Photo by Chris Hansen.
PICKERINGTON, Ohio – The Classic in the City showcase over MLK weekend has a terrific lineup with teams from North of the border to Chicago and down to Clarksville, Tennessee. Some takeaways from a weekend in the gym.
Crestwood was impressive against a talented Example Academy team. In the paint, 6-foot-6 post Gabby Fajemirokun of Ontario, Canada, is coming into her own. Her length and mobility really kept strong downhill attacking from Malika Jenkins and the rest of the Example crew.
Avery Arije is arguabley
the top guard in all of Canada
. *Photo by Chris Hansen.A new player making a huge difference for Crestwood is Maayan Gorin. The Israeli-born player has national team experience in Europe at the under-16 level and she ran the point often for Crestwood with supreme confidence. She finished with a game-high 19 points on just seven shots and also chipped in four steals.
This depth makes Crestwood a tough out as star guard Avery Arije of Ontario, Canada, showed off her high I.Q., game and kept the ball moving while drawing the focus of the opposing defense. Crestwood won 70-52.
After a blazing start for both Reynoldsburg and Olentangy Liberty in the first quarter, an 8-minute stretch that saw the teams hit a combined 10 3-pointers on just 15 total attempts, the game settled in. The pace was controlled by a short-handed Reynoldsburg who played with just six players due to injuries. Strong lead guard play from Naomi Merriweather and some long range exploits Raegan Parham and Kendy Bowens, who combined for 10 made threes, allowed Reynoldsburg to pull away and cruise to a 54-39 lead.
Westerville South duo of Londyn Brewer and CirRye White powered a 62-55 win over Crestwood Blue. Things got dicey in the fourth quarter when Brewer fouled out and Crestwood went on a run to cut the lead. White finished with a game-high 25 points while also grabbing eight rebounds. Crestwood Blue got great play from Kendall Veevers.
Defending Ohio state champions, Pickerington Central cruised to a win against Kings Christian with key contributions from Blossom Wallace, Gabby Plair, Deyon Smith and Zoe Coleman. This squad looks poised to repeat.
All eyes were on No. 12 ranked Lauren Hassell of Clarksville, Tennessee. Her role with her high school requires her to put on more hats than when she plays club ball. She handles against the press, creates for teammates and flies around defensively.
AROUND THE RIM
Milee Smith of Unioto scores 29 points in a win.
*Photo by Chris Hansen
Dayton commit Milee Smith was terrific in the 60-48 win over Olentangy Berlin. She scored 29 points including an efficient 4 of 5 from behind the arc.
Stanford commit Jordyn Wheeler showed her versatility and ability to lead for Niagara Prep.
Addy Pyles of Olentangy Liberty is a 6-1 forward who was stretching the floor on offense and working the glass on the defensive side.
Tara Nachbar is a 2028 who played well for Western Reserve. Her length and agility was on display throughout. WRA senior guard Maliyah Lofton showed poise and a knack for playing through contact.
Kelsey Brubbs, a sophomore for Olentangy Berlin was all over the court. She finished with 17 rebounds but she also handled the ball against pressure, scored it, got deflections on defense and really gave her team energy.
Monday morning games had some young talent in the 2029 class that are usually teammates doing battle with Ja’Kyiah Cook of Chaminade Julienne (OH) battling Charlotte McCurry of John Hardin (KY).
Whitney Stafford of Olentangy High, is a Kent State commit who decided to fill it up. She’s chasing 1500-plus career points and we got to see 32 of them on Sunday.
Chris Hansen is managing editor of ProspectsNation.com and serves on the McDonald’s All-American and Naismith Trophy selection committees. He was a co-founder of and the national director of scouting for ESPN HoopGurlz from 2005 until 2012 and is the director of the Check Me Out Showcase and ELITE is EARNED events. He can be reached at chris@chrishansenbasketball.com.
