Northwood Shootout: Top 5 Teams

(Chris Jones is ready to make Heritage a contender for the SVL)

(Christian Vaughn has played solid with the ball in his hands so far in June)

Midland, MI- First off credit has to be given to Coach Mike Thomas and the rest of the Northwood staff for putting togther a wonderful camp in a top notch facility. Close to 30 teams from around the state of Michigan gathered for the two day event. Below are my top 5 teams based only on there performance at Northwood.

1. Saginaw Heritage Yes, Heritage! The Hawks seem to be turning a new leaf with their basketball program. The kids enjoy playing for newly hired coach, John Wilson. Heritage did have their complete team at Northwood and were able to pull off wins against Carman-Ainsworth, Saginaw, and Arthur Hill. The Hawks still have a long way to go till they can pull wins off like this in the season but the foundation is set to be competitive. Chris Jones, AJ Thomas, and Lavario Smith give the Hawks a strong guard rotation.

2. Saginaw High the Champs were without Mike Green but all that did was give players like Tommie McCune, Jimmy Davis, and Christian Vaughn an opportunity to step up. Vaughn continues to develope more and more into a combo guard than a wing forward. McCune played more aggresively and demanded the ball more than he did at Michigan State last week. Coach Lou Dawkins had a bench full of about 17 bodies and gave everyone minutes.

3. Arthur Hill the Jacks were missing a majority of their team due to football 7-on-7's but the younger players looked good. Maurice Jones was still there to lead the way even though he played very few minutes. Kwincy Tucker is starting to develop into a reliable post player for Coach Greg McMath. McMath is spending June minutes to develope his bench and that'll pay off come winter.

4. Carman-Ainsworth post players Dee Chapman and Jaylen Larry continue to compliment each other well. Larry shot the elbow jumper well whenever he popped up. Point guard Glenn Cosey will also play a key role as he replaces Jon Lee at the point. This year's Cav team plays more physical that what we have seen in the past.

5. East Grand Rapids- East will be led by a fantastic junior class that knows how to play the game. everyone knows who Colin Voss is, and the 6-7 forward will draw most of the attention from opposing defenses but East has players that can spread the floor and shoot the ball.