Brylee BartramPHOENIX – The 2018 Nike Tournament of Champions is the 22ndyear of providing the marquee platform for national high school basketball in the winter. This year the 96-team field is as impressive as it has been in years.
National Spotlight
The PHHacility was home to the action for the Joe Smith Division. Some of the nation’s top prospects were on hand battling in opening round of games. The marquee matchup of the day was between two Stanford commitments in Cameron Brink of Southridge (Beaverton, Ore.) and Haley Jones of Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.). Both battled foul trouble as their future coaches, Tempie Brown and Kate Paye, watched from their seats right next to our team.
When they weren’t confined to the bench, Brink and Jones put on a show for the crowd on hand. Brink showed an array of post touches that put her in an exclusive category nationally as she continues to improve her game from our previous evaluations at the Elite Is Earned Spring Invitational and Check Me Out Showcase. Jones did the same in the backcourt showing her versatility making plays on both ends. At the next level, she is capable of playing any perimeter position and being impactful while doing it. Expect both Brink and Jones to be in the mix for Naismith High School Player of the Year.
Checking In From Kroc
The Salvation Army Kroc Center hosted several of the brackets at this year’s event on its three courts, giving a peek at some of the talent outside the celebrated Joe Smith Division. Though the teams in these division are not ranked nationally, that didn’t mean good basketball wasn’t being played.
Florida signee Brylee Bartram of Seffner Christian Academy (Fla.), showed off the exact reason the Gators recruited her. With assistant coach John McCray in the attendance the 5-8 guard put her deep range on display. She has range well beyond the high school 3-point arc, in fact she was knocking down shots beyond where the NBA line would be. She converted the rare four-point play as well, getting open in the corner and taking the hard closeout hit from her defender. Her play helped SCA to a 67-58 win over Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco, Calif.) and a matchup with Oak Ridge (Tenn.) on Thursday in the quarterfinal round of the Mike Desper Division.
Sabino High School (Tucson, Ariz.) is playing without standout sophomore Kiya Dorroh for one more week and adding her to the Sabercats backcourt should set the team up for a good run in district. The duo of Kam’Ren Rhodes and Kamryn Doty was sure fun watch. The shifty play at the point from Rhodes and the relentless attacks of the rim by Doty made Central Catholic (Portland, Ore.) earn the victory on the opening day of play.
Kamryn Doty of Sabino High School in Tucson, Arizona, attacks the basket an opening round game at the Kroc Center. *Photo by Chris Hansen.
Canadian Influence
The ladies from Crestwood (Ontario, Canada) secured an overtime victory versus Millennium (Goodyear, Ariz.). The class of 2021 duo of Latasha Lattimore and Shayeann Day-Wilson provided the knockout punch for the ladies from north of the border. Lattimore is a 6-5 post player with a polished offensive skillset. She scored over both shoulders while posting up on the low block. Then she knocked down 3-pointers off the bounce when she caught in the pinch post.
Day-Wilson is a dynamic floor general. She is adept at delivering dimes with either hand in the half court. Equally as impressive is her ability to scoot past on ball defenders with a quick change of pace. Both players are on the early watch-list for the International ELITE 25 conversation.
AROUND THE RIM
Class of 2021 guard Kaitlyn Orihel is a perfect fit for coach Mike McDonald’s offense at Archbishop Wood. The 5-10 guard is a confident perimeter handler who also has size to score in the paint on slips and cuts.
Illinois State secured an early hometown commitment from class of 2020 guard Maya Wong of Normal Community (Ill.) The 5-8 guard displayed an attacking style in a match-up versus Bishop O’Dowd on Wednesday evening.
St. Mary’s (Calif.) squeaked out an overtime win over Xaverian (N.Y.) in an opening game at the Power House Hoops facility. UNLV class of 2019 signee Anna Blount provided the offensive punch in the game’s final moments to secure the win.
Xaverian’s forward Julia Fabozzi was effective in this match-up. Her shooting, passing and defensive abilities were a highlight in this game.
Keep an eye on class of 2021 wing Taylor Bigby of Centennial (Nev.) in upcoming evaluations. She is a 6-1 athlete who is merely scratching the surface of her potential. She showed a nice blend of open floor speed and half-court skill in an opening round match-up versus Salesian (Calif.).
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