Murray State College mixes it up

One thing I love to see is explosive teams that can put up numbers quickly, especially when the weather is changing from nice to gloomy and you know a storm is brewing. Murray State College showing they had an arsenal of weapons and as bad as the weather was yesterday, watching five or six of their players flooding the nets with threes should have been an omen for today's onslaught of rain rising all over the city

A couple of their players really stood out, 5'3 PG Jordan Garver simply was someone that definitely kept my glued to her after she crossed a player and in the same motion spun between two defenders for a lay-up, people love to talk about this or that but when players have the ability to do things instinctively, that's always a plus. Garver also dropped numerous threes while her pin point passes accounted for numerous baskets. Nigerian Amaka Nwakamma's athleticism is through the roof and watching her in the open court definitely was something to see. She got to the rim wherever she wanted, that first step is a killer and with her speed and acceleration, she got to the line for several and one opportunities

Local stars galore playing for SWCC

SWCC showed they could be competitive and when you factor in a couple of key players from the area, Faith Ohanta (Bush) and Megan Perry, Goose Creek Memorialare out with injuries, well that's key pieces to their puzzle. Tiffany Arceneaux (North Shore) made her presence felt early while the ever so athletic Kiara Calloway showed signs of being dominant. Aaliyah Brown (Hastings) Ashley Stokes (Elkins) and De Zhia Foster (Thurgood Marshall) are other former area HS stars that will play big roles in how the season goes

Richard returns home in San Jac Invitational

San Jacinto College definitely made some noise last season as they were among the top ranked NJCAA teams throughout the season and were both entertaining and exciting every chance I got to see them play. Michael Madrid takes the helm this season as the new head coach and I'll get a chance to check the new look squad out during the San Jac Invitational starting tomorrow

Murray State vs SW Christian  2pm
SABU vs LSU Eunice  4pm
San Jacinto vs Cisco  6pm

Former Goose Creek Memorial star Amber Richards returns home with her LSU -Eunice squad and after an impressive freshmen season last year, Richards is ready to build on that  read more

Saturday's games also start at 2pm

Cisco vs SABU
LSU-Eunice vs Murray State
SW Christian vs San Jacinto

'16 Jones one of best guards in Texas

When you talk about powerful guards that can hit the midrange, finish with contact with either hand, shoot from NBA range consistently and defend baseline to baseline, San Antonio Reagan's Mailee Jones automatically pops into my head simply because she's shown she can be overpowering playing either guard spot. Her basketball IQ is among the best in the state and the thing that I've noticed over the past couple if years is that she keeps adding little things to her game

Jones is one of those players that simply won't let you outwork her and watching her take charge during the stretch of several games sold me early. Here's an updated video of the talent SFS guard that you may not know about but should

Tip Sheet from #ItsAllAboutTheGirls

Freshman Elizabeth Scott appears to be more than ready to go against the big girl's and she joins a number of other standouts on my Tip Sheet from last weeks All About The Girls event held at The Gym

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Ferry helping make Humble scary #ItsAllAboutTheGirls

Amanda Ferry is simply one of those players that has the potential to do big things, primarily due to her size, almost at the magic number, her athleticism, her skill set but even more more importantly, her mind set and when you "get it" an early age, everything will fall into place. Ferry and fellow freshmen Chyndall Daniels are the heart of Humble's future and will form a pretty potent dynamic duo  but this team has several bright spots after watching them in the "It's All About The Girls" event on Saturday

Karrington Donald has always been a player I enjoyed watching, she was one of those middle school ballers that more than held her own against the older players and she can do damage on both ends with ease. The aggressiveness from Cydnee Hill in the paint was also good to see but so was the heat brought by NeNe Brooks and Tiaja Jackson

1A Chireno leaves lasting impression #ItsAllAboutTheGirls

I love watching teams do two things, one battle and two, not back down from anyone and 1A Chireno definitely came to Humble on Saturday and battled 5A Humble and 6A Klein Oak in the inaugural, that means first, "It's All About The Girls" event held at The Gym

I went on and on about Lainey Lee on Twitter Saturday,  I've watched her and her older sister play for some time now and I knew both had the ability to play somewhere at the next level at an early ages. What I didn't know is how well Double L shot the long ball, she made 97 three pointers last season and the way she started the first game off with four or five in the first half, I was just dumbfounded and scratching my head.

Lee has a good frame and can stroke the long ball but several key players fill in the missing pieces and if this team stays healthy, they could make a deep run in the playoffs all the way to Austin, wait, I mean San Antonio. One of those pieces is the "you won't outwork me" mentality Chloe Woodson brings to the table and with a scrappy group of surrounding players that play within themselves, it was refreshing to see this team in person

A Healthy 2016 Channelview can definitely make run

The game has and always will start at the one, that's just common sense and the abundance of athletic guards that Channelview has plays into my theory of "you better be able to handle the heat." Marshell Hollins is not 100% and played sparingly in the "It's About The Girls" event while ultra athletic Kianna Hall won't be back until next month which will definitely be a boost and the way Deidre Dobbins played on Saturday tells me she's ready to end her high school career with a bang

That statement can be said for many Falcons, Taylor Alexander's game has evolved from just being a back to the basket player and Cashe Ervine is ready to do whatever the team needs to fill in the blanks. Many of those blanks have already been filled,as big improvement over the summer for many of the players including Kia and Kayla Cobbs but the biggest jump may have come from Ta'Shawnna Riggs who appears to have the making of one of the most explosive guards in the area

Quinennesha Whiting gave solid minutes and she too is another athletic guard that can bring pressure so you definitely better be ready to play this squad. Their biggest challenge inn district is probably North Shore, plenty of PA Memorial's offense left with do it all guard Joyce Kennerson and again if the Falcons stay healthy, they could be a threat. Ari Taylor definitely created some issues over the weekend, her continued work on facing the basket to score is definitely showing

Klein Oak impressive in #ItsAllAboutTheGirls inaugural event

I knew Klein Oak would be better than the previous seasons simply because of talented freshman Elizabeth Scott, a young lady I tagged "Great Scott while she was in the 6th grade. I saw her Fire and Desire and even without Teena Marie hitting the high notes, I knew this young lady was a HIT. Fast forward to what seems like an eon ago and the young lady, who was a 5 that I thought could play a 3 in college now how's me second guessing that because her improved ball-handling and outside shooting not to mention BB-IQ, has me thinking she just might be able to play some 1 and 2 to go with that 3 and 4 and that my friends is double platinum

I truly got a kick out of watching this team, Nia Gusman did plenty of damage in the paint and faced the basket for points several times plus Marci Gabrielse definitely opened my eyes with a couple of deep step backs. I'll catch KO, probably in the Conroe Tournament, as they attempt to throw a TKO and with this squad being led by several talented players other than Scott, they are going to do some damage along the way. Scott, Anna Singer and Randi Blackburn all made the Tip Sheet from yesterday and you can read it here

Barbers Hill still strong for 2015 #TXInvitational

When you look at Barbers Hill record of 26-4 last season, you really don't get the true picture of how good this team was and when you look at the losses Cy Woods ( 6A State Champion) Dekaney who lost in playoffs to 6A runner-up Skyline, Rudder who represented R3 at state and Westside who lost to State Champion Cy Woods, that's pretty impressive

Barbers Hill lost a lot however they have one of, if not the top 2018 player in the country, Charli Collier as well as athletic and underrated Jakilla Phillips flying over everyone from all over the court however one of the biggest keys will be Leah Silva when she returns. Are they good enough to make another run, well I'll have a glimpse next month at the TI, no Tiny

SCHEDULE

K&C bringing more Sunshine to "It's All About The Girls" event today

Karrington Donald ( Humble) and Jaylyn Clay (Tomball Memorial) are ready to help lead their teams today in the inaugural It's All About The Girls event at The Gym. Donald caught my eye while she was still in middle school, she was playing up with the big girls and blended right in and hasn't looked back since

Clay was only a freshman when I first saw her, that also surprised me simply because she was already standing at the magic number and was relentless in the paint, on both ends and that's something you just can't teach. Glancing at the schedule, plenty of talented players are spread across the board so it should be an exciting afternoon and I'll drop a Tip Sheet for you after the event

SCHEDULE

'17 Dove ready to help Saginaw fly higher this season

2017 is a very talented class throughout the state of Texas and if you follow me, I said it was a monster class and that was before any of these talented players were in high school. No matter where I look, it seems like another blossoming star appears and over the summer, I had a chance to see yet another,5'9 guard Alexis Dove (Texas Fire) do several things that caught my eye

Off the bat, I loved watching her play the passing lanes but the more I watched her the more I saw the variety of things she could do offensively like score off of the dribble, with either hand and drop the mid and long range consistently, let me also add she attacked and scored while taking contact

Dove had a great HS season last year for Saginaw averaging double digits and I'm sure she'll putting up numbers again this season so I can't wait to see her team down the road, in fact Alexis' younger sister Aniyah is a freshman this season so I'll definitely be on te lookout for her but until then, here's a highlight of Alexis' Super Sophomore Season

ALEXIS DOVE

Channelview run not out of the question this season

Channelview has the cast to be a sleeper team this season provided everyone stays healthy and when you look at some of the players they have on the squad, their district fight with North Shore should be interesting to say the least. First of all, they have Taylor Alexander and if you don't know who she is, you should but the same could be said for numerous players on their squad.

Diedre Dobbins and Marchel Hollins was one of the toughest small back-courts in the area while Kia and Kayla Cobbs "Sister Act" over the the past two seasons has been enjoyable to watch and while I'm on the subject of relatives, Ari Taylor solidified her spot as one of the top 2018 players in the state

This is probably the team to beat in tomorrow's "It's All About The Girls" inaugural event but I'll be there to capture the action at The Gym and remember, you'll get the real because I roll with #NoAgenda whatsoever because #TalentIsEverywhere


SCHEDULE

1A Chinero ready to tackle bigger schools this weekend

Chinero is making that long trip down for the "It's All About The Girls" event this weekend so I'll definitely be looking forward to catching up with some old friends as well as talented players. One player in particular, Laney Lee, is a talented young lady who made TABC All State last season as well as District MVP, I guess if you drop close to a hundred three's (97) in a season, that will create some buzz but this is a team that returns four starters from last season, including TABC All Region Chloe Woodson who was the Offensive MVP for the district

Schedule can be found on GPR website

"Great Scott" It's All About The Girls October 17th

I had heard this and that about Elizabeth Scott so I couldn't wait to see Liz perform and after watching the talented SIXTH grader, the first article I ever mentioned her in I tagged her "Great Scott" because I knew BCS was in her future. Now there are those who say you can't call a player a D1 lock or whatever that early, well you can if you know what you're looking at and what you're talking about so I knew this young lady simply had the tools to be one of the top players in her class and as usual..........

Scott and her Klein Oak squad join Chinero, Humble, Channelview. Tomball Memorial and MacArthur this weekend at The Gym starting at 2pm and you can click on the link below to view schedule

EVENTS

Tompkins one of favorites in 2015 #SBISDTourney

Let's see, you have the Goss twins, Kendall Rollins, Brittany Panetti, Sydney Makowski and a host of other talented players on Tompkins squad that if they remain healthy throughout the year, could conceivably make a run at Seven Lakes for the district title. To be honest, I haven't seen everyone in the district but based on who I think is where, those teams should be the front-runners which leads me to believe the Falcons have to be one of the favorites to win the SBISD Tournament

Panetti, a former GPR Under The Radar player, landed nicely on her feet after coming back from an ACL injury and the 6'3 forward/post committed to New Mexico after numerous offers and is definitely one of the top players over six feet in Texas  read more

Westside, Cy Falls and Klein Forest were in the mix with Tompkins at last seasons SBISD Tournament but all will have a different look either from graduation, Westside and Klein Forest or early season injuries, Cy Falls , however I've become accustomed to expecting the unexpected so you never know how things play out this early but it should be a good event

SCHEDULE

Clear Springs raising temperature at 2015 #TXInvitational

Clear Springs has been one of those teams I'd pay to see since they opened the doors and that was before "The Chosen One" arrived on campus and nothing has changed from this high energy squad since she did everything I said she'd do before, well anyone else. Let's see, this seasons squad has a couple of the states top 2017 players in Tasharian Robinson and Sierra Cheatham, Robinson regarded by myself as one of the top defenders in Texas and Cheatham is an explosive scorer from multiple spots on the floor that stands around the magic number

They also have Dymond Gladney, definitely one of the states top 2018 PGs and after catching a glimpse of her last year, I knew she was going to create some problems on the court and after a spectacular summer, she's ready for whatever which also is great news for the Chargers as they could conceivably make a run. Labraye and Brianna Jackson, Destini Hall and JaNay Redic will definitely be among the pieces to the puzzle however I'll have a better glimpse on what to expect in a few weeks

D-17 invading 2015 #TXInvitational

With four teams from District 17 playing in this season's Texas Invitational, including defending state champ Cy Wood, to say the best district from the area in this century is representing would be an understatement. Think about it, Cy Fair won multiple state titles, in fact they went to state four straight seasons and Cy Woods as I just said won last season, Cy Falls has also made it to state in this millennium and if Cy Ranch stays healthy, they have a pretty good shot at doing the same thing

READ MORE ON RANCH

The D1 trio of Nancy Mulkey, Jasmine Williams and Kate Reece are the returning starters for Cy Woods, Cy Fair a D1 duo of Angela Harris and Kyler Wyatt while Cy Falls is battling early season injuries already with Kiara McElroy and Jae Branch ready to bring firepower along with Joanne Taylor, also a D1 trio, so it should be interesting

TEAMS

Godley's Forsythe makes decision on next level

Maci Forsythe is just one of those players that you enjoy watching play and over the years, I've watched her continue to not only add things to her game but also elevate the positives she already showed me countless times with her Lady Big Dogs club squad. One thing she could always do is shoot the long ball, that was apparent the initial time I saw her but her ability to catch and shoot from bta kept getting better as well as her midrange but probably the thing that impresses me more than anything else is how she has been able to create her shot and take defenders off the dribble because if you can shoot the long and mid-range well and add attacking the basket with defenders on you, well that's sort of hard to handle

After weighing several options and where she'd like to play, Forsythe has decided on Mary Hardin Baylor and here's why. " I liked the size of the campus and just felt at home there when I first visited. I am looking forward to continuing my education while playing basketball, meeting my new teammates and the direction of the program" said Forsythe

It appears the direction of the program is going to be strong as MHB has landed some very talented young ladies from the Houston area, Kendall Rollins and Melissa Rodriguez and now that Forsythe has decided that's where she will be playing, it appears that offensively this team will definitely be something to see in the future

Brennan Bears not hibernating as they head to 2015 #TXInvitational

SA Brennan made it all the way to state two years ago winning over 30 games and last season they moved up to 6A and still had a more than respectable season winning over 20 games before losing in the third round to R4 state representative SA Wagner. This season has the making of another state run, after all they have one of the top long range shooters in the state, Megan Valdez, who committed to Houston Baptist a few weeks ago, she's only a junior, as well as Monique Terry, an athletic and underrated star who gave the thumbs up to San Diego State a few months ago

To top that off, they have even more in their arsenal of explosive players that can score including Kenzie Heinerman and Camille "SUPER" Cooper so this seasons Texas Invitational should be a good test for the talented squad as the TI is once again loaded

Jaelyn Richard-Harris commits to SEC program

One or thing you can always bet on is that I will pull for the underdog especially if #sizedontmtter plays into it and the first time I saw Jaelyn Richard-Harris at Dekaney as a freshman, I knew she had something going for her however when I caught her with the Houston Lady Roadrunners that same summer, there was no doubt she would be a D1 player.

Richard simply blew up this past summer with AD Elite however if you follow me, I said two years ago she was the best PG in the area and I based that on not only heart and desire but basketball IQ and the will to want to do what a true PG can do, make her teammates better. She can handle under pressure, she can defend but whether her team is up or down 20, she’ll never quit on you and when you have as many attributes as she has, things simply will fall into place

Richard-Harris sent me a thank you note for believing in her as well as putting her out there which was nice but she made everything easy for me and was simply a joy to watch. Several MAJOR D1 schools obviously felt the same way as offers galore were on the table however she decided LSU would be the right fit and I asked her what made her choose the Tigers

“I chose LSU because they presented a challenge. Standing at 5'1 many coaches have discontinued their recruitment with me but they didn’t, they saw something else in me. Not only did they believe in me but they showed that my strive for success, my intensity, my aggressiveness, and my leadership is something they want. Welcoming me with open arms I felt secure & saw myself as a valuable contribution. They let it be known that it won't come easy, but it'll definitely be worth it.”

Duncanville ready for anything at 2015 #TXInviatational

Duncanville has plenty of history, use the search bar on here and you can check it out or better yet, Google how potent they've been, not just in this century but since, well forever. One of the top Texas programs who has garnered national attention even if they didn't play in the out of state tournaments has simply been impressive for me to watch this millennium as they've consistently had some of the top talent in the state

You can't see her face but 00 is all you need to member and Zay Green  is one of the top 2018 players in the country. She along with 2016 Cierra Johnson, one of the posts in this class, lay the foundation down for the team heading tot he Texas Invitational next month, 19-21.  Rosie Davis, Aaliyah Caldwell and a host of other talented players will be in the mix of star studded tournament

2022 Iyanna McCown is definitely getting better

I love this picture of '22 Iyanna McCown because it can be as deceptive as her first step but after observing her almost a year ago, I knew she had some tools and that all important "desire to get better" and here's a glimpse on what she's bringing to the table




Keep in mind she's only in the 6th grade and last year she did plenty of damage playing two years up at  MAYB  Nationals but always remember you can't teach speed and I haven't been wrong about a young player yet, I won't be this time either.

2015 Texas Invitational loaded again for Nov 19-21

The 2015 Texas Invitational will have a little bit of everything this season featuring some of the areas top squads, if you read my blog you'll see I've already touched on some of local squads but some of the schools want to show they're just not in the rebuilding mode. Alyssa Okoene (North Shore) exploded and elevated her game to go along with her 6'3 height over the summer and many coaches jumped on the bandwagon for this exciting player I've been raving about the past two seasons but at the end of the day North Carolina is where she decided she wanted to go read more

Kyler Wyatt (Cy Fair) is one of those success stories I love seeing and writing about, I've been watching her since she was about 9 or 10 and one thing you could never teach that she always had was heart and when I hashtag this #sizedontmatter she is definitely one to think about as she has become one of the top defensive guards in the state, both teamed up with the Houston Lady Phenoms this summer and Wyatt's accomplishments gave her an opportunity to get on the map, via 290 West she will be playing for Prairie View after high school

You have some action coming at you, I'll try and break down at least 10 squads over the week as I crank things up to another level but here are the teams that are playing

TEXAS INVITATIONAL

"It's All About the Girls" event October 17th

The Gym (2325 Atascocita Road, Humble, TX  77396) is inviting local Varsity and JV teams to participate in their “It’s All about the Girls” pre-season basketball event on Saturday, October 17, 2015.  Games will begin at 2:00pm.  Each team will play 2 games in round robin style.  The entry fee is $75 per team, and each player will receive a tournament memoir.  Regular high school rules will apply.  The door entry fee will be $5 per attendee, and the snack bar at The Gym will be fully staffed.

Coaches, you could utilize this pre-season event as an evaluation tool for roster purposes to see how your girls play against other teams as opposed to inter squad scrimmaging.

For more information, contact Anissa at 281-540-4496 OR anissav@ourgym.net.  Space is limited, register early.  Be sure to tell her you saw this on Girlz Prep Report.