Battle At The Beach Top 2024s/2025s

Thanksgiving week is always a time for early season tournaments and showcases and Redondo Union High School played host to the Battle at the Beach tournament the whole week. The event featured some of the top teams and talent in Southern California. I was able to attend the event the final day on Saturday Nov. 27 and here’s a look at some of the top players from both the class of 2024 and class of 2025 that I saw. <strong>1. [player_tooltip player_id="104797" first="Kennedy" last="Smith"] - Etiwanda 2024</strong> Smith is a very versatile forward. She can guard multiple positions. She has the quickness and footwork to stay with wings and she can drop down and cover bigs in the paint. She fronts the post well and plays tough interior defense. Offensively she can shoot from both the midrange and from three-point range. In the halfcourt, she can put the ball on the floor and pull-up for a little jumper. She can score inside too. Good rebounder who gets good position. <strong>2. Tajianna Roberts - La Jolla Country Day 2024</strong> Avant-Roberts is one of the top wing prospects in Southern California. She’s very good scorer who is comfortable with the ball in her hands and getting her own shot. She can create off the dribble and she finishes well at the rim. She’s particularly good at moving without the ball though. She’s a great catch and shoot player from distance or she can make strong cuts to the rim. She gets out in transition and can finish on the break. <strong>3. Samari Bankhead - Windward 2025</strong> Bankhead has a versatile skill-set for her size. She’s a natural forward with some guard like abilities. She’s very comfortable handling the ball and attacking the rim. Finishes strong at the rim. She can handle the ball well on the break. Early in the game I saw, she wasn’t making the best reads with the ball in her hands, but as the game went on she started making better passes and decisions off the dribble. She sets good, hard screens. Has tools to be a good defender. <strong>4. [player_tooltip player_id="209985" first="Destiny" last="Agubata"] - Etiwanda 2024 </strong> Agubata is strong forward who can play some small ball center at times depending on the matchup. She’s tough inside; she crashes the glass well against bigger players. She’s one of the ultimate hustle players; she dives on the floor for loose balls and uses her body to snake in for rebounds. Offensively, she can shoot it from midrange and score inside. Passes well out of the post. She moves her feet well defensively and can guard the wing or drop into the post.