Monroe Lady Bulldogs show plenty of bite #PrimeTimeNationals

Great mixture of young talent on this 8th grade squad of players I had a chance to check out. DeZare Stewart is strong, athletic and smart and she along with Tia Perry, Dillyn Pollard and LaFaedra Green all are only in the 6th grade yet showed a lot of fight and fire during the game I caught. Morgan Tucker-Willis controlled the inside, she and Jeralyn Hardy are 7th graders however you never would have known

Shelby Augustine caught my eye immediately, she is going to definitely be someone to reckon with as she's fearless going to the rim and rebounding. Shaniya Merriweather created some problems as well, much of that due to her athleticism and strength, much with her knowledge of the game and a whole lot with her vocal ability as she told her teammates to keep their composure, that simply blew me away

I enjoyed watching these talented young ladies, Amaya Brown would fit the description I heard years ago about speed and with my remix, it goes like this, she's can turn off the light switch and be sleep before it gets dark. She and Mikayla Etienne are super athletic and bring plenty of heat on defense

More on 8th Grade coming up later but also

Always remember there's a lot of people giving advice, make sure the advice you're getting is correct. There are no stupid questions but plenty of stupid answers and I will always keep it real because I've been there and had a chance to watch my daughter play at the highest level possible


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Garland Lady Dream cause nightmares #PrimeTimeNationals

Just watching Porsha Matthews during the warm-ups was enough to know she was going to be a major factor. The 2018 wing was simply all over the place for the Garland Lady Dream and I project she's going to make some noise during her high school career. Takiyah Engilsh was physical on both ends as well as Stephanie Villareal who isn't far away from the magic number

 Candice Parramore does a great job of attacking and also anticipating in that passing lane while Bre Asiajah Matthews was a terror with that wing -span. Ar'netta Taylor, Bungia Williams and Ja Quarah Brown all brought plenty of energy however Naomi Ellis brought that and some as she was simply wherever the ball was on defense and made things happen

If I did a Tip Sheet from 8th Grade #PrimeTimeNationals

All Starz Bree Reece definitely caught my eye during the event at Prime Time Nationals with her size and ability to do what I like to see, put the ball in the basket multiple ways without taking a whole lot of shots. She got the hole whenever she wanted and was an and one waiting to happen. Then she showed range, mid and long, plus she can play perimeter defense

Patin explodes for Lady Trojans #PrimeTimeNationals

Rayven Patin is a 2018 name that you'll be hearing a lot about me, well you already have if you're paying attention and mark my word, national evaluators will be playing catch up as well. Patin is a hard to handle PG that can score and her intensity on both ends is one of the reasons why the New Orleans Lady Trojans made a very nice showing at Prime Time Nationals

Another reason was the explosive scoring from Arianna Cooks, off the dribble, she's hard to handle and in the open court, she's simply a highlight waiting to happen. She's beginning to master the floater, it looks pretty darn good right now but her name is one I've mentioned several times and

Patin and Cooks aren't the only ones that caught my eye. Reagan Crawford is already 6'0, that's the magic number coaches contact me about over and over and with her upside, she's going to be a terror. Kaylor Coleman showed BEAST mentality in the paint on both ends as she rebounds and goes to the rim with authority. Kalin Smith loves playing the passing lanes and I love watching players that understand how to do it. She was somewhat of a silent assassin as well as Mya Phillips and Trimell Hooper

I talk to Coach Patin all of the time, I understood his philosophy when I met him at the John Lucas All Star Weekend event and to be truly honest I couldn't wait to see these young ladies in action and I was not disappointed and I certainly look forward to watching these young ladies progress

Cy Fair Ogwumike hangs on #NikeNationals

How about this shot for the win with .4 seconds to go

Change of plans #PrimeTimeNationals

Okay I had planned on doing a Tip Sheet from each division however I didn't see enough of the 8th graders to do that so as  special treat to the younger players, I think I'll focus on the games I saw providing I have the rosters, so this will be 8th Grade Tuesday

Sports Prep finishes 6th behind Tolbert in 8th Grade #PrimeTimeNationaals

I asked Tia Tolbert if she was healthy when I caught up with her at Prime Time Sports Expo before the games begin and she just smiled and acknowledged she was but I also took a Kreskin mind reading course years ago and what she was thinking was " come and find out". I did and she was and after battling nagging injuries all season, she has definitely taken her game to another level as she helped lead her Sports Prep Team to 6th place finish out of 40 teams in the 8th Grade Division at Prime Time Nationals

Tolbert was one of many bright stars for Sports Prep, the athleticism and energy from Faith Isabelle was vital on defense as well as the long ball shooting from Lisette Whiteside. Elecia Lartigue simply just keeps getting better, I remember watching her as a second grader and I just knew she would be one of the names down the road, well that road has been paved as she and Tolbert form a potent 1/2 scoring combination. Kierra Flowers came up huge as well, she made plays and scored almost at will when I had a chance to catch this team and they definitely have a great nucleus

The avalanche starts tomorrow from #PrimeTimeNationals

I don't know what I enjoyed the most about my coverage at Prime Time Nationals, was it day one when I split between HS and 8th grade, after all, I had a chance to see 2018 Under The Radar stars Rayven Patin and Tia Tolbert go off for their respective teams

Was it Fieldhouse Friday because when I make a promise, I'm going to do my best to keep it and watching the 3rd through 7th graders all day was simply unbelievable and what I saw was not only countless amounts of players that will go on to play college ball somewhere, the basketball IQ on some of these kids was better than seniors heading to D1 programs, just keeping it real

Bracket play Saturday started back off with the 8th graders, caught a glimpse of a couple of teams from that strong D1 Shooters program and let me say this right now. They, along with DC Queens have some of the best young talent in the Metroplex and this was one of those weekends when I wish I could have been cloned because I had to leave and head back to the HS players

Championship Sunday was refreshing and ran smoothly, I saw all three championship games, 9th, 10th and 11/12th Grade Divisions, before heading back to the Fieldhouse to catch the 6th and 7th grade Championships. When I say no one does what I do, hopefully these few paragraphs I've written sum it up. I don't know where I'm going to start but hopefully you enjoy it.

 I have 1000 photos on my Giirlz Prep Report Facebook page and some on Twitter, that's @girlzprepreport which is about basketball not @simmiercolson which is about everything but basketball

Special thanks to Prime Time for again giving me everything I needed to do what I do and I'll be back in action next year as the event continues to grow even stronger

Oklahoma dominates #PrimeTimeNationals

I recall my summer trips as young lad and reading slogans on license plates and the only that still registers was the Oklahoma is OK" and during Prime Time Nationals, teams from the state were a bit more than just okay. With the exception of the 6th, 8th and 11/12th grade divisions that teams from Texas won, Oklahoma swept the others and came in second in another

 Oklahoma Select Red have been sending message all through July however to close out the month, they delivered it personally. I mentioned and tweeted numerous times that Ginger Reece is a BEAST but this BCS prospect isn't the only one that simply just brings it. It's going to take me a minute to process everything but I'll be doing various Tip Sheets from my exciting trip t Prime Time Nationals so be patient, it's coming but I got to hit the road

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