The AAU basketball season is now in full swing.
Last week numerous teams traveled all over the country to places like Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Chicago for top-tier tournaments. Yesterday a few squads headed to Kean University in Union, N.J., to compete in the USJN East Coast Challenge with the National Championship in Washington, D.C., a little more than a week away.
I got my first look at a New Heights White team coming off a championship at Penn State. One player who continues to improve and become a more polished player is Cardinal Spellman Troi Melton. The 5-foot-10 rising senior is beginning to get low-to-mid Division I looks and it’s easy to see why. Her guard skills, especially in the open floor are starting to take shape. In the first half of a win over Philadelphia Belles Lehman she fended off a bump from a defender while controlling her dribble with an outstretched left hand. The play ended with a layup for Melton, who has interest from Siena, Towson, Sacred Heart, St. Bonaventure, Holy Cross, Canisus, Brown, Fairleigh Dickinson and American.
St. Francis Prep’s Jenna Halaby, who is looking for a big senior season, showed some of the aggressiveness that will get her there. She attacked the basket and didn’t shy away from contact. A few times she even maneuvered to initiate it.
If you’re a low-to-mid Division I coach and you haven’t seen Wings rising senior Rykema Stone play, she is worth a look. The 6-foot-1 rising senior has all the physical tools to compete at that level, but is still learning the finer points of the game. Stone has good perimeter skills for a girl her size and can really rebound. There is a raw talent that can certainly be developed.
Speaking of another versatile forward, St. Peter’s Ashley Motrechuk’s stock continues to rise. The 6-foot-1 senior had a break out junior season and again showed why she is such a matchup problem on both ends of the floor. Motrechuk, who plays for the NYC Heat, contests every shot with her quickness and steps back and knocks down 3-pointers on offense.
Another under the radar player is Staten Island Academy point guard C.J. Bernieri. Not many people or coaches get to lay eyes on the junior because she plays in the ACIS and not the CHSAA or PSAL. The two words to best describe her are solid and tough. The Heat guard is always thinking a pass or a play ahead on the court. Bernieri showed off by finding teammates for open looks and even knocked down two 3-pointers of her own. She is getting some local Division II looks, including Queens College, but her list could easily expand as the summer goes on.
One of the last teams I got to see was Edwin (Munch) Llopiz’s No Limit squad. Ashley Castle’s game jumped out immediately. The sturdy Medgar Evers rising senior was able to take hits and scored taking the ball to the basket. She even at the nerves to take a few charges on bigger girls.
It was good to see Christ the King’s Jessica Wasserfall back on the court. The 5-foot-9 forward tweaked her knee in warmups before the state Federation Class AA final. She held her own in the paint against bigger girls, a role she may have to take on next year for the Royals.