Washington Well Represented This Past Weekend

Several teams from Washington made stops to different parts of the country including Idaho, Arizona and Alabama with the latter two locations hosting big time tournaments. 28.5 League/Nike TOC in Arizona hosted the majority of Washington programs and Alabama's Battle in the Boro hosted teams such as Tree of Hope and Way to Win. An overwhelming amount of teams and players performed at a high level. I was able to catch <em>some</em> of the teams and players this past weekend and below is a shortlist of those that especially stood out. Tree of Hope 2024 won the 11 team division of the Battle in the Boro getting revenge on Woodz Elite from their pool play loss, rebounding to beat them by 8 in the championship game. This Tree of Hope team also had some 2025's playing that will be players to look out for in the near future! Tree of Hope also had a 2022/2023 team participate in the 2022 Platinum Division, which was the top division for juniors and below. They finished in second place of the loaded 20 team division, falling to the Alabama Southern Starz 2023 team by one in the title game. 2023 5'8 G [player_tooltip player_id="115417" first="Isabel" last="Sullivan"] was impressive in several games for the 2022/2023 team. The lefty shooter is more than just a shooter. She can handle it, make plays off the bounce and she possess a great basketball IQ as well. 2022 6'2 SF [player_tooltip player_id="27922" first="Drea" last="Brumfield"] had some strong games including 20+ point performance. Her length and versatility cannot be taught and she is growing more comfortable with the physical play at these level of events. 2022 5'8 G [player_tooltip player_id="27939" first="Mackendra" last="Konig"] handled the ball well, assisted and scored it. Konig showed off her great shooting ability connecting from the perimeter many times throughout the weekend. All Out Basketball represented strongly in Arizona, finishing 5-0 on the weekend with wins over Troop West, Vegas Bulldogs, Arizona Elite Gold and more. Some of the top players from this roster include 2022 5'11 SF [player_tooltip player_id="144532" first="Jada" last="Walters"], 2021 5'10 SF [player_tooltip player_id="20255" first="Taliyah" last="Clark"] and 2022 5'10 SG [player_tooltip player_id="27959" first="Kiana" last="Yesiki"]. Each of these players bring solid size and versatility from the wing. There are some other sleepers in this group as well. The Northwest Blazers sent a handful of teams to Nike TOC in Arizona and finished 15-2 as a program. The best game of the event went down between Blazers Orange and Cal Storm Taurasi with Blazers leading for 95% of the game, but Cal Storm hanging on and sending the game into OT and going on to win by 5. 2021 5'11 SF [player_tooltip player_id="20229" first="Tamia" last="Stricklin"] (Fresno State commit) showed the ability to create her own shot throughout the weekend. 2021 5'11 SG [player_tooltip player_id="20225" first="Talia" last="von Oelhoffen"] (Oregon State commit) scored at a very high level all weekend, including versus Cal Storm. 2021 5'6 PG [player_tooltip player_id="20230" first="Ashlyn" last="Wallace"] (Idaho commit) had some good moments knocking down shots and scoring in transition. [program_tooltip program_id='716198' first='Pacific' last=''] 2022 also played really well in Arizona with a couple of major standouts in 2022 5'11 PF [player_tooltip player_id="27926" first="Catelyn" last="Deaver"] and 2022 5'7 CG [player_tooltip player_id="27943" first="Kaimyla" last="Nolen"] (feature image). Deaver has proven to be a double-double machine this Summer/Fall and played her way right into the radar of Division 1 schools. A throwback forward that finds ways to get things done. Nolen had a couple of strong games from the guard position scoring and dishing. She has been a mostly steady presence on both sides of the ball the entire Summer/Fall. A stock riser in the 2022 class!