NC Prep Girls Hoops Top 250: Akiem’s Primetime Performers (Pt. 2)
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Some of the best ballers from the Hoop State showed up to the Charlotte area with their hooping shoes on. Prep Girls Hoops hosted its North Carolina Top 250 Expo from Carolina Courts in downtown Concord. Much of the area…
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Continue ReadingSome of the best ballers from the Hoop State showed up to the Charlotte area with their hooping shoes on.
Prep Girls Hoops hosted its North Carolina Top 250 Expo from Carolina Courts in downtown Concord. Much of the area was still feeling the after effects of Hurricane Ian, but Saturday’s basketball showcase still went off without any error. Only one other state hosted a Top 250 event this past weekend and that was Illinois at the Romeoville Athletic Center – the site of the Prep Girls Hoops Circuit’s 2k22 event from early July.
Concord is a town known for its High Performance Living. Fittingly enough, several of North Carolina’s premier hoopers lived up to that moniker this past weekend.
Prep Girls Hoops is very familiar with Storm given the number of teams we have seen her travel team – Lady Strong/Strong Center 2024 on the AAU circuit. Storm can display plenty of 3-point shooting ability and can play the game on contact where she will take her chances at the free throw line. She also has ball handling abilities that rival those of many guards and is a solid defender. She stands at 5-foot-11 and is a transfer from 4A Hillside to the Crusaders where she will continue her stellar work alongside another one of the Hoop State’s top 2024s in Sarah Strong Sarah Strong 6’2″ | PF Grace Christian | 2024 State NC .
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Charles is another multi-sport athlete. When she is not making things difficult for opponents on the basketball court, she is doing the same on the soccer pitch for the 3A Grizzlies. She is a 5-foot-11 combo guard who is efficient from behind the 3-point line. Defensively, she stays active with her hands and arms to clog the passing lanes of her opponents. Charles also has the ability to connect on midrange jumpers and displays impressive ball handling skills. She had a breakout freshman campaign for Oak Grove as she averaged 10 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in 26 matchups and was a major reason why the Grizzlies finished with a 20-6 record along with a 9-1 conference record.
Washington is a name that is beginning to ring bells at Ardrey Kell. She is listed at 5-foot-11 and can work on the court as a two guard while also possessing the height of many a four or a five. Washington is a ferocious rebounder and will also make her fair share of tough shots. She has previously ran on the grassroots circuit with Team Curry 14U during the spring and summer AAU months. Washington is defensively versatile, leads vocally as well as by example and possesses impressive ball handling skills. At the middle school level, she wore the uniform of Community House MS.
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Speaking of standouts from the 4A Knights, Burns has participated in grassroots ball with EA Lady Stars 2023 throughout the spring and summer months. If she is open from behind the 3-point arc, she is likely to take and make her attempt from downtown. If she has the ball near the rim, she will find a way to lay it in even if it is against a taller defender. Burns is also a gifted ball handler who can get out in transition and makes the correct passes on the correct occasions to ensure her teammates stay involved in the flow of a game. She averaged 14.2 points per game in the 20 matchups she played for Ardrey Kell last season.