Houston Fury #HoustonSummerSlam

 I'm still in shock over the passing of Coach A but I wanted to make sure I caught both of the Houston Fury's teams as much as I could so let me give you a breakdown starting with the 14U

Aliyah Woodard is turning into a nightmare to defend as she brings the trifecta of offense, scores off the dribble, drop the mid to long-range, and sees the floor yet in between she shows solid on the ball defense as well plays the passing lane

Nia Williams is an athletic guard that brought the heat on the defensive end while Bella Rogers and Kameah Matthews are both long and athletic and they too were solid defensively but Cassidy Mouton added a little more than the L/A I speak about all the time, she scored off the dribble

Moriah Gray left no great area showing her pull-up jumper, on top of that her court vision was nice while Emily Stevens did a good job of both defending and rebounding yet the BUCK didn't stop there as Ziyuna Buck understands something very important, how to use her body around the basket to finish and she rebounded on both ends 

The high school squad had some key players missing, notably Leslie Forum who is long and athletic and scores however she wants but I got a kick out of Zaya Adagbada dropping the long-range and showing her athleticism on both ends. Inonda Patterson also used her athletic ability well, especially on defense 

Several of their 17U players went after the boards well, Autumn Coonfield and Lauren Stevens both did a good job rebounding on both ends, Stevens also finished strongly, after contact and showed some nice moves around the basket while Erika Gipson is both tall as well as long and athletic and hit the boards nicely as well

Paris Anderson mixed it up for me, first of all, she played the passing lane, did I mention I love that, yes, countless times but her ability to not only drop the jumper but catch and shoot showing the pull-up was equally gratifying and she did it "in the clutch" but Evan Carpenter also showed a nice pull-up jumper to go along with using her body around the basket to score. She rebounded, scored off the dribble and guess what, she played the passing lane 

Clear Creek Basketball Camp 2031-2034 Tip Sheet

BROOKE KUNEFKE

 

I didn't look at grades ahead of time, I rarely do because I have a knack for certain things in this girls basketball arena, after all I'm not a novice so here we go

Brooke Kunefke- the youngest player at the camp yet you would never know by her diving on the floor for loose balls, 2034 people, as well as understanding how to defend on the perimiter

2033

Lacey Arthur- handles the ball, attacks the rim 

Ellie Kazin- creates her shot, goes after rebounds

Ava Grace Saadat- heady, showed she could shoot from outside as well as attack the basket

2032

SKYLAR BRANNON

This was a nice trio of incoming 3rd graders because they already get certain things like, THE BASICS, so everything else will be gravy. On another note I watch the Saddat sisters mom when she was around their age, she was one of the top guards from the area, how about that

ANNABELLE SAADAT

Skylar Brannon- handles the ball well under pressure, nice first step to attak the basket yet she already understands how to create her shot and knocks it down

Annabelle Saadat-already finds ways to put the ball in the basket, nice HEZ off the dribble and changes direction is the open court. Scored off the pull-up, also defends well

Laikyn Schmaltz- heady player that doesn't force anything, did a good job defensively and showed she could attack the basket from multiple angles 

2031

ANIYAH RUSSELL

Aniyah Russell- her mom was one of the first players I caught when I became involved, I remember her dominating on both ends so it's no surprise that her baby already "gets it". She battles for loose balls, dives on the floor but she also battles for rebound sand did a good job scoring on putbacks and off the dribble

Savannah Morton- attacked the basket from multiple angles, finished and did a good job on the defensive end

Vivienne Thomas- didn't mind going after loose balls, rebounded, created her shot for the pull-up or attacked the basket 

AUTUMN MILLER

Autumn Miller- was one of the standouts in the skillset as she scored an abundance of buckets in the allocated time, attacks the rim and shows the pull-up 

Jaelen Cooper- scored off the dribble, nice on the ball defense plus she understands how and when to switch on the defensive end

Sienna Palmer- one of the top players going coast to coast with the ball and finishing after the defensive rebound but she also scored well in the set by attacking the basket

Savannah Holt- did a good job scoring off the dribble and finishing after contact. She does things instinctively, that's always a good sign and has nice upside

SIENNA PALMER

Clear Creek Basketball Camp 2029/2030 Tip Sheet

 

SCARLETT PALMER

I definitely got a kick out of covering the Clear Creek Camp today, this took me back to why I started doing this over a decade ago so watching young talented players at the early stages has always been enjoyable because of their energy and continuing to watch their progression has also been rewarding for me. Here are some of the standouts heading into the 5th and 6th grade, I'll start with 2029(6th grade)

CABRINA VANDERFORD

Scarlett Palmer- She already is showing the HEZ in the open court which is going to create some problems, she creates her shot to score off the dribble as well as drop the jumper

Cabrina Vanderford- she understands the game and did a good job of keeping the defender leaning, She also creates her shot to attack the rim as well as hit the outside shot plus she sees the floor

LILLY SANCHEZ

Lily Sanchez- is a solid ballhandler that got to her spot and dropped the jumper yet she also has a deceptive first step which enables her to get to the rim from multiple angles. Good upside

Andee Mitchell- goes after the ball off the rim but she also did something I love and that's "followed her shot". Her rebounding was strong, she scored around the basket and on putbacks 

HONORABLE MENTION

Claire Kazin

Faith Vargas 

Julia Brown

Lacey Brown

Savannah Sabin

Emma Thomas

Alexis Murray 

Olivia Olsen 

2030

MAKYLI ETHRIDGE

Makyli  Ethridge- she immediately caught my eye in the pregame skills session because of her SWB, speed with the ball, and factor in she's long and athletic, those are huge pluses for her age. She attacks strongly off the dribble, the first step will develop into a problem and she defends as well as plays the passing lane

HONORABLE MENTION

Mackenzie Blanton

Layla Duckworth

Kennedy Brannon

Lala Garcia

Tessa Lacourt

Kristin Skendziel

Adyfson Skendziel

Juliet Thomas

2022 Houston Summer Slam MS Tip Sheet

MARIYAH ALFRED

I caught a couple of middle school teams that turned in rosters at the Houston Summer Slam, totally missed Houston United 2026 as they played Saturday only so I definitely have to make that right but Kenner Angels and Cy Fair SETX did provide what I needed so here you go

Mariyah Alfred(Cy Fair SETX) I labeled her #D1Lock on Saturday, she is actually a 2027 playing up and I see her game continuing to go up, up, and away because of her explosive first step as well as her ability to hang in the air and finish but along with her body control, she can drop it from outside 

Kennedi Griffin (Cy Fair SETX) athletic guard that not only "sees the floor" and makes solid on the money passes but she also does a good job of both scoring off the dribble, finishing after the lick, as well as applying heat defensively 

Keri'Ana Williams (Cy Fair SETX) her nickname is SHAQ, need I say more. She's strong and showed nice moves around the basket but her finishing consistently after contact along with her rebounding strongly on both ends of the court was nice

Makalan Foster (Cy Fair SETX) scored off the dribble consistently, a deceptive first step sets that up yet I enjoyed watching her not only create her shot but show the pull-up jumper from mid to long-range. She also saw the floor and handled the ball under pressure 

KENNEDI GRIFFIN

Kirsten Johnson (Kenner Angels) scored around the basket, and did a good job of rebounding on both ends, yes her putbacks were nice but so was her defense around the basket. She also battled for loose balls, nice upside 

Molly Baker (Kenner Angels) court vision is a huge plus for her age and watching her handle the ball almost effortlessly under pressure was just as big but what really grabbed me was her diving on the floor for loose balls as well as her taking the defender off the dribble to score

Tamia Cole (Kenner Angels) her deceptive first step set everything up as she attacked the basket from multiple angles but she also did a good job on the defensive end, including playing the passing lane where she showed she could handle the ball in the open court 

I actually asked the name of one of the players, 2027 Jacelyn Schmidt, who made my NFR Tip Sheet on Prep Girls Hoops 

Honorable Mention

Arianna Brown (Cy Fair SETX)

Emma Miller (Cy Fair SETX

Janiayah Anderson (Cy Fair SETX) 

Teyana Cole (Kenner Angels) 

Milan Smedley(Kenner Angels) 

Antoine Cass (Kenner Angels) 

Cherisse Simmons (Kenner Angels) 

Molly Avard (Kenner Angels) 

Julia Kirsch (Kenner Angels) 

Lucie Pratinni (Kenner Angels) 

2022 Girlz Got Game 2026 Tip Sheet

 

I always players to TAKE pictures at INDIVIDUAL SHOWCASES yet one more time, following directions play a part in attempting to play at the next level so based on who actually took pictures, unless I knew who you were, these are the 5 heading to HS

Taylor Hicks- overpowering on both ends of the court, her power around the rim is next-level ready because of her strength and mindset yet watching her score with players literally hanging on her always thrills me, and so does her rebounding and defense 

SaMiyah Bowers- amazing upside coupled with her progression she shows every time I catch her has me smiling. She battles for everything off the rim and finishes after contact yet her interior defense is good as well as her timing to block shots 

Arissa Alaniz- smoothly creates her shot under pressure and delivers both from mid to long-range yet she also uses the same creativity to attack the basket in the set as well as the open court and finishing using good body control, with either hand 

Shyla Hancock- HUGE upside as she's already over "the magic number" which is 6'0 however she moves her feet well on defense, rebounds on both ends, and runs the floor yet her "hands and footwork" are a couple of things that will help create problems for defenders around the basket

Brenda Sloan- probably isn't related to Jerry, back in the day Bulls player, yet her "on the ball" defense definitely stood out, and so did her court vision yet she also knocked down outside shots as well as scored off the dribble, finishing after the lick

2022 Girlz Got Game 2027 Tip Sheet

 

Faith Etienne

When I cover Individual Showcases I ask players to take pictures for a number of reasons and following instructions is huge if you want to be not only a better player but have aspirations of playing at the next level so my car was broken into, everything was stolen including the notes however I had uploaded the pictures from the camp, this helps so based on who took their pictures, here you go

???

I have no idea who the young lady is pictured above, yet she was long athletic, attacked off the dribble, and played the passing lane her timing also stood out, as well as her rebounding 

Faith Etienne-long and athletic seemed to be the trend as several players fit that profile yet her upside is scary, she does things instinctively which is always a plus. The first step creates problems, and so does her scoring around the basket

Addison Burnett- a heady player that plays within herself, creates her shot nicely under pressure and she also did a good job of not only handling the ball under pressure but seeing the floor. Good upside

Ameriah Moore- long and athletic, she is way ahead of the curve and watching her ENJOY not only play defense but play the passing lane just grabs me. Nice pull-up jumper and she scores well off the dribble

Shamiah Taylor

Shamiah Taylor- has taken her game to yet another level, yes she is long and athletic but her explosiveness off the dribble alone makes her hard to handle. Good body control on finishes, she also does that after contact and knocks down the jumper

Kaylnn Blackmon-long and athletic is mentioned so many times because that is and always will be the base when I start a profile and I enjoyed both her timing to block shots as well as to go after the ball off the rim. She also runs the floor and finishes well, plus she played the passing lane

Miya Johnson- is also"long and athletic" and did several nice things, especially in the open court but her on the ball defense was nice, she played the passing lane and she did a nice job attacking and finishing plus she showed the jumper 

2022 Girlz Got Game 2028 Tip Sheet

ZONAI COOK

I love excitement, I love entertainment but even more importantly, I love progression so continuing to see some of the players I had seen over the past couple of years take their games to yet another level had me smiling, remember, I'm doing this from memory, if your daughter DID NOT take a picture, she will not be listed 

Zonai Cook- I'm ready to drop #D1Lock, her energy coupled with dazzling ballhandling has her way ahead of the game, she drops the jumper, scores off the dribble, and sees the floor

Darryn Sorrells- long and athletic is still the base, slices to the basket well from various angles, good defender, and rebounds on both ends but she can face the basket and score as well

Lexie Cruz- good defender, strong rebounder and scored both by attacking the basket, yes she finished after contact, and also scored off putbacks, good upside 

HAVEN POINTER

Haven Pointer- scary upside, love her being "vocal on the court" I'm huge on things you can't teach and that includes her mindset as she THINKS the game. Explosive off the dribble, nice pull-up jumper

Meagan Paulk- creates her shot "under pressure" and showed she could knock it down. Nice court vision, handles the ball, also under pressure, and can score off the dribble

Pia Karthik- rebounds well on both ends, and does a good job finishing around the basket but her interior defense was also nice as she showed lateral movement and doesn't mind the physicality

Valentina Cantu- finished strongly, after contact, and got after it when the ball came off the rim. She also scored facing the basket in the paint, runs the floor, good upside 

VALENTINA CANTU

 

2022 Girlz Got Game 2029/2030 Standouts

PEINI JANG

I ask players for front and back pictures for numerous reasons, mainly because I'm visual and even without notes, I can look at pictures and things pop back into my head, it helps that I'm a REAL: evaluator and not a novice and after my car was broken into and all of my stuff, including notes, were stolen, taking the pictures have definitely helped so remember, part of being a player is learning to follow instructions and as I start with the babies, they are definitely on the right track

 2029

Zoe Polk- handles the ball well, sees the floor, and scored off the dribble but her on the ball defense was nice, well very nice at this stage 

Sophia Wolf- watching her create her shot under pressure was nice, and so was her attacking off the dribble, heady and good upside

Breeze Maxwell- long and athletic is the base, I speak about that often and she attacks the rim and plays the passing lane, good defender

ARIANNI HODGE

2030

Peini Jang- does so many things ahead of her years yet comprehension and handling the heat are off the chart. Scores both off the dribble and from outside

Arianni Hodge- never takes a play off type of player, pressure on defense yet applies pressure on the defender as she handles the ball to score both off the dribble and with the pull-up jumper

Amaya Nachtigall- long and athletic, good timing already to block shots but she also rebounds and scores around the basket as well as defends and runs the floor