2018 Capital City Top Girls Invitational Exposure Camp MS
Layla Conley, Aysia Proctor & Skye Stephens played in both MS & HS sessions
LEANDER, TEXAS – Austin Elite has been an innovator in girls’ basketball for like, well forever and when I say that, I’m talking about the 20th century so when they told me about the Capital City Top Girls Invitational Exposure Camp, I was certainly down to cover both sessions because one more time, talent is everywhere if you know what you’re looking at and when I cover an event like this, I’m actually taking a look at as many players as possible and breaking down their games, been doing it forever, well since last century and as I love saying, “I ain’t been wrong yet” so let me start with the middle school session, and I’ll post the high school session later, be sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram because I’ll be dropping pics and tidbits as well
Natasha Stafford & Titania Jones
2023
Layla Conley-guard- first step definitely grabbed my attention the first time I saw her as well as her ability to drop the long ball but she sees the floor and creates her shot so well that she’s hard to defend, very nice pull-up in traffic
Aysia Proctor-guard-wasn’t 100% the first time I saw her but I saw enough to know what was coming and since then…. Smooth and athletic, under control, explodes to the basket while finishing strong, scores from outside, sees the floor
Skye Stephens-guard- first look was definitely a good one as she got to the basket at will in 3 on 3 drills but when the bright lights of 5 on 5 came on…. Saw the floor, made plays on both ends and scored from outside while handling ball under pressure
Kayla McGarity-wing- love her upside, long and athletic, got to the rim with ease and finished with contact plus she runs floor and rebounds on both ends
Natasha Stafford-guard-athletic ability showed as she found ways to get to the basket, took the lick and finished, also shot the midrange very well, big upside
Titania Jones-forward- strong and loves contact, showed midrange and finishes extremely well, saw the floor and played pressure defense baseline to baseline
Senaida Barrientos-guard-attacks relentlessly, stays with it off the boards, sees the floor and speed enabled her to go coast to coast numerous times for easy baskets, oh yeah, she finishes strong
Beth Holmes-guard-midrange shooters were in abundance and she was among the top plus she defends on the perimeter as well as the length of the court
Senaida Barrientos & Julissa Bollinger (defending)
2024
Roxanne Willaims-guard- I have a saying that I hashtag a lot #sizedontmatter when you can play and as good as Williams looked in the drills, she showed out in the games using speed and a nice midrange jumper to do some damage
Mariah Houston-guard- her name preceded her and her game solidified a lot. Huge upside, athletic, attacks strong and finishes the same way, creates her shot and nails it with defenders on her
Madison McKinnon-guard-BB-IQ beyond her years, plays within herself, is under control and handles pressure while showing she could apply it but that mid to long range was clicking all day
Madison Hurta-guard-she brings so much to the table and her stop and pop pull-up, going full speed, with accuracy, is something hard to deal with, she creates her shot quite well in tight situations
Mya Guzman-guard- athletic, grasped the skill session with ease which told me a lot, loved to defend and scored multiple ways, plenty of upside
Emily Breann Carranco-forward-long, deflects passes with good timing, knows how to attack from the wing and finish, rebounds well on both ends
Bailey Guzman-guard- follows her own shot which is “old school” attacks basket strong and showed she could hit the outside shot and defend
Cyncere McDonald-guard- speedy and under control with the ball is always a good thing at this age plus she gets to the basket and finishes with contact
Miranda Garcia-guard- attacks the basket from every angle, sees the floor under pressure, creates her shot but more importantly “gets it”
Vivian Gonzales-guard- creates her shot, hit the midrange consistently as well as took defenders off the dribble. Good upside
Kiara E’Monee Poole-guard- talk about taking it up a notch, she looked good in the skills but when it was SHOWTIME, she delivered. Midrange , attacks well, sees the floor but B2B jumpers from the outside with defenders hanging on her was on point
Julissa Bolinger-guard/forward-this young lady has a lot of weapons on the offensive end, smoothly gets wherever she wants and can nail the mid or take defenders off the dribble plus her pull-up going full speed at this age is huge
Alyxa Martinez-guard-I can’t reiterate how important it is to play within yourself and understand the game, she does both, creates under pressure and showed a fade away numerous times, nice outside game plus tied ball up and (or) made numerous steals
Mariah Houston
2025
Natalie Dominguez-guard-the acronym SDM, size doesn’t matter; fits to a tee. Comprehension is way ahead of her years, sees the floor, makes right decisions and attacks the basket well
Kennedi Smart-guard-another young that “gets it” and let me emphasize again when you comprehend things and put in work, it will happen and she has plenty of upside. Made right decisions and scored
Gia Mitchell-post-I love watching young players battle, especially against older players and she did just that. Strong frame, rebounds and defends, also finishes well
Ezra Tobias-guard- small guard, very good speed, with the ball and is under control so when you throw in good BB-IQ and ability to run a squad, plus score, that’s a lot
Alaysia Gude-guard-speedy and under control, very athletic and attacks well but that range, mid to long range and her defense all are something to deal with