The first stop on my high school Jamboree visit was to the gym of the Class 3 power, Cardinal Ritter Lions. The Lions have a storied program and is no stranger to post season play. This season, it seems that a major obstacle for Cardinal Ritter has been removed from their path to state with news that perennial power Vashon has been moved up to Class 4. Nevertheless, the journey is by no means guaranteed because there are still several strong teams to be encountered along the way. However, from the looks of it, Cardinal Ritter has reloaded and is up to the task. PARTICIPANTS: GATEWAY STEM | CARDINAL RITTER | MILLER CAREER ACADEMY
2020 Garry Clark, Cardinal Ritter
The 6-7 forward made it look easy tonight. He did a great job with movement off the ball, screening, cutting etc. Clark is a SF/PF type that showed his versatility by scoring in a high-low set as well as attacking off the dribble, hitting the glass for boards and knocking down jump shots. Clark is deadly accurate with the face up shot from the short corner and elbow areas. He has nice bounce and is a joy to watch finishing in transition.
2021 Josh Robinson, Cardinal Ritter
The 6-9 junior Center adds a valuable piece to the Lion’s inside/outside attack. Robinson has a great pair of mitts that allowed him to catch and hang on to post entry passes while surrounded by collapsing guards. He did a terrific job on the defensive glass and finished a high percentage of his shots near the basket.
2020 Kionte Cole, Gateway STEM
The 5-11 guard is the offensive leader on an inexperienced Gateway team. He did a great job of balancing his scoring with running the offense. Cole has a nice looking jump shot out to three and has a quick first step and finish that provides him with offensive options. Look for Cole to move up the charts in area scoring this season due to the lack of offensive depth on the Jaguars and his ability to score the ball when needed.
2022 Eric Calicutt, Miller Career
The 6-5 PF was a scoring force near the rim. The aggressive forward was tough to defend in the lane because of his tenacity on the boards and ability to explode up quickly with offensive rebounds. His ability to rebound outside of his area and anticipate misses gave him a leg up on defenders which typically resulted in easy put back baskets or a trip to the foul line.
2021 Dajuan Fields, Miller Career
Fields is a quick 6-0 combo guard that can create havoc on defense and get his team easy buckets by capitalizing off of forced turnovers. Fields has a high motor and keeps pressure on the basket by consistently testing the lane and scooting past the defense for easy baskets.