Let’s talk about The PYBL Girls Experience! I had an opportunity to watch the rising stars and elite level girls play this past weekend. This is a basketball enthusiasts dream: regular-season games with a playoff feel. Crowds going crazy while witnessing a highly competitive match. The young ladies who may have just picked up a basketball a couple of years ago are starting to make a name for themselves. The one thing I like most about this league is that it really is about showcasing the kids. The kids are able to play different positions on the floor, as opposed to having to play one position because it is what is best for the team. With this method, you are able to see how versatile the players are. When I come out to evaluate players, I tend to pay attention to every small detail, ranging from how the players are warming up, their body language on the bench, are they looking at the coach when he and/or she is talking, are they being a good teammate, to does this player understand why she is attacking this particular area on the floor. When you are talking to coaches, rather it be High School and/or College coaches, it is good to be able to give them a very detailed evaluation of the players.   

DMVelite Spotlight Players

Prince George’s

#13 Laila Reynolds- Laila seemed a tad bit shy, but showed she was capable getting to certain spots on the floor. I remember one play in particular when she caught the ball on the wing and as the defender closed out on her low side, she recognized that and was able to rip to the middle of the floor and pull-up at the elbow to knock a shot down. Just in that, I would like to see her be a little more aggressive on the offensive end.

#5 Natalie Washington- Natalie is smooth. There was one possession where she caught the ball on the right wing and started to attack the basket where she was met by a defender. She was able to take the contact and finish an acrobatic layup. So of course I say to myself, sometimes players get lucky. As I continued to watch her, she continued to find gaps in the defense  which allowed her to get open around the rim. When you allowed her to get to the rim, she made you pay for it. So in saying that, that obviously wasn’t luck. She showed her ability to shoot behind the arch. She had good court vision in transition, as she would rebound the ball and push the ball up the floor finding teammates for easy baskets. She took really good shots which resulted in shooting 70% from the field. She posted a statline of 15 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 steals vs. Loudoun.

#2 Makiah Scott- Makiah is relentless on the floor. She is one of the better on-ball defender I have seen. She has quick hands, plays the passing lane very well. She showed she could knock down the 3. I did noticed she plays extremely hard and with a lot of passion. I would love for her to channel some of that emotion she shows when she gets frustrated into raising her level of play on the floor. She finished with a game-high 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 steals vs. Loudoun.

Honorable Mention

#4 Tamia Washington- Tamia posted 9 points and 10 rebounds vs. Loudoun.

Loudoun

#23 Renee Timbers- Renee is tough. She looks to attack the basket anytime she can. She knows one word and that is “GO”. She looks to push the tempo every opportunity she gets. She can take a beating and keep on moving. Renee finished with 9 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 6 steals vs. Prince George’s.

#30 Angelina Nice- One thing I noticed about Angelina, she was one of the smaller players on the floor but she finished the game with 10 rebounds (8 Offensive). She was not afraid to get in there and mix it up with the bigger players. She did a nice job of controlling the tempo of the game when she was at the point position. There was a play where she attacked the basket and scored over one of the bigger players in the lane, then turned around and showed she could knock down the 3. Angelina finished with 7 points and 10 rebounds and 3 assists vs. Prince George’s.

#3 Jenna Steadman- I noticed that in pressure situations, Jenna did not allow the defense to speed her up. She is very fundamentally sound. She knows her limitations which allowed her to play a solid game. She seemed to make the right plays at the right time. Rather it been making the right pass to her teammate creating an opportunity for them to score or just knocking down a shot. She finished with 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 steals vs. Prince George’s.

#0 Joi Williams- Unfortunately, Joi’s team was outmatched this particular game vs. Anne Arundel, but that didn’t stop her from playing hard from start to finish. When faced with adversity, she never gave up. She has the ability to shoot behind the arch and pass the ball. Even if her teammates finished the basket or not, she made sure she made the right pass.

Alexandria

#3 N’jya Hopkins- N’jya is like a blur on the court. This young lady is extremely fast going baseline to baseline. She has really good court vision and she is always looking to get her teammates the ball in positions where they can score. She definitely knows how to utilize her speed to get in the passing lanes. She accounted for creating 18 extra possessions for her team.

She finished with 9 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 steals vs. Southern Maryland.

Honorable Mention
#25- Cai Smith- Finished with 9 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks vs. Southern Maryland.

Southern Maryland

#15- Simone Lewis- Most players when they rebound the basketball, they wait for it to come to them. When Simone rebounds the ball, she goes up and gets it. She is a fairly quick jumper, which gives her an advantage on the glass. When she rebounds the ball, she keeps the ball high. Any shot that goes up offensive, just know that Simone will get her team second and third chance shots. Defensively, she alters a lot of shots in the paint. Once she gets stronger, she will be able to finish better around the basket. She finished with 6 points, 13 rebounds (10 offensive), and 4 blocks vs. Alexandria.

#6 Kennedy Clifton- Kennedy has good length. She has the ability to block shots and alter shots in the lane defensively. She is a good help side defender. She gave her teammates a sense of comfort knowing if they got beat on the perimeter she was in help side ready to defend. Offensively, she runs the floor very well, she has the ability to rebound the ball and start the break. Kennedy also showed she could knock down the 3 and use her length to get to the basket quickly. Once she gets stronger, I would love to see her use her length more to post up smaller guards. She is able to play multiple positions, which is always a positive. She finished with 11 points and 5 rebounds vs. Alexandria.

#3 Madisen McDaniel- Coming from a former point guard point of view, it was refreshing to see a floor general out on the court. It was very rare that I said to myself where was she going with that particular play. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought Madisen was an upperclassmen, starting on a high school team. The amount of pose she displayed was impressive. She is a pass first point guard. She is constantly surveying the floor in transition and in the half court set. You could see her assessing the defense. Definitely seems to have a good understanding of the game. She is a good help side defender as well. She finished with 7 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists vs. Alexandria.

Fairfax

#1 Shreya Sivaram- Shreya got out to a hot start scoring 12 of her team’s 24 first half points. If you leave her open, better believe she will make you pay. I noticed a lot of the offensive sets went through her. She made some pretty good reads on the offensive end which allowed her to get wide open shots. She finished with a team-high 15 points vs. Anne Arundel.

Honorable Mention

#25 Daisya Brown- Finished with 4 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 steals.

Anne Arundel

#0- Tamir Whittle- The first play of the game against Loudoun, Tamir’s teammate came and set a screen on the top guard (that was defending Tamir) of Loudoun’s 2-3 defense. Tamir set the defender up to come off the screen, a help side defender came over, she quickly hit the gap, started down the lane to draw more help defense. Once help defense came, she made a bounce pass to her teammate for a layup. At that moment, I said to myself, “This young lady knows what she is doing!”. She controlled the tempo of the game from start to finish. She knew what she wanted to get accomplished on the floor. The type of attention she demanded on the floor, one would have thought she was this 6-foot guard, but she was one of the smallest players on the floor. She knew how to utilize her change of speed to avoid traps. She made some great passes to her teammates to set them up for easy baskets. Tamir used that quickness to get into the passing lanes for steals that led to easy baskets on the other end. She finished with 6 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals.

#25 Anailh Jenkins- Anailh is a monster on the glass. Seems like she loves rebounding the ball. Once the ball goes up, she will go get it of the glass. She has nice soft hands around the basket. In the game vs. Loudoun, she did not miss very many put-back layups. She provided extra possessions for her team. She finished with 9 points, 13 rebounds (7 offensive), 3 steals,  and 2 blocks.

#33 Kamari Sims- There was one possession when Kamari caught the ball on the left wing, the defender closed out, she ripped middle going right down the lane, she jumped in the air to go up for the layup using her right hand and in mid-air she switched the ball to her left hand for the finish. Not sure I have seen too many girl basketball players switch hands in mid-air and actually finish the layup. She ran the floor very well in transition when she didn’t have the ball in her hands. When she did have the ball leading the break, she had very good court vision, setting her teammates up for easy baskets. The most impressive thing about this young lady is the fact she communicates on both ends of the floor. She is constantly talking to her teammates. She finished with 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals vs. Loudoun.

Savannah Brown- The first time I saw Savannah explode to the basket, I said she is like a female version of Russell Westbrook. She plays with so much passion and explosiveness. She is an in-your-face defender. Her lateral quickness is one of a kind. She keeps coming at you on both ends of the floor. You better believe that any 50-50 balls, she will get it. I had the pleasure of speaking with this young lady after their game against Fairfax. I said to her that once she increases her basketball IQ, she is going to be a problem. She goes out and plays the game like no other. Now I want her to get a good understanding of the game and how to dissect it. She finished with 3 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals vs. Fairfax.

Paris Locke- Paris just gets the job done. She scored a game-high 18 points against a good Fairfax team. She rebounds the ball extremely well. She shoot over 50% from the field. She pulled down 11 rebounds including 8 offensive rebounds. She can grab the ball off the glass and start the break. She does whatever it takes to win.

#10 Kendell Dudley- Kendell is long and athletic. She uses her length to her advantage. She can get to the basket, hands are constantly in the passing lanes on the defensive in. Definitely has a nice mid-range game, which seems to be non-existent in basketball these days. She shot 60% from the field against Loudoun. She finished with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 steals.

#30 Makela Quimby- Makela is the type of player you would love to have on your team. She is extremely versatile. She can score the ball, rebound, pass, defend. Every time I looked up, this young lady was making a play. Rather it been knocking down a 3-point shot, finishing around the rim, getting in the passing lane, and/or making a good pass to set up her teammate for a shot, she just found a way to make a play. She also showed her ability to handle the ball under pressure. She finished with 9 points, 6 rebounds, 3, assists, and 7 steals vs. Loudoun. She finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds vs. Fairfax.

Honorable Mention
#35 Olivia Brooks- 7 points and 12 rebounds vs Loudoun.