FORT WASHINGTON, PA.–The 7th Annual Blue Star Elite Invitational was held on January 20th in the beautiful gymnasium of Upper Dublin High School. There were lots of good match ups and competitive games as put together by the Blue Star Staff. Here is a overview of some of the top performers.
Life Center Academy NJ – Features a slew of high level D-1 talent led by 2014 Aja Ellison, an athletic 6’2 junior and 6’0 2015 shooter Aliah Juene who has verbally committed to Hall of Fame Coach C. Vivian Stringer and Rutgers. Elo Edeforioka, a 6’2 power forward and unsigned senior, is arguably the top free agent senior in the East.
Caravel Academy DE – Top players are both sophomores. Forward 6-0 Caroline Davis is a powerful lefty with a nice touch while 5’7 point guard Ky-Asia Stanford is a solid scorer with a good handle.
Central Bucks West – Sophomore guards Nicole Munger and Makenzie Carroll are a pair of 5’7 guards that lead the Bucks in their up-tempo attacking style of play. Munger dives for more loose balls than any kid you’ll see.
Germantown Academy – Seniors Kieran McCloskey(Lehigh) and Dempsey Cooper(Rhode Island) provide leadership for the Patriots while Kendall Grasela, a 5’10 freshmen guard, insures that Coach Sheri Retiff has more D-1 talent in the pipeline.
Spotswood VA – They ran into a buzz-saw in Germantown Academy but standout players Taylor Dotson, a 5’11 junior, and 5-7 senior Bailey Williams never stopped playing hard.
Upper Dublin – The host Cardinals shocked everyone with an easy victory over Neumann-Goretti. Coach Morgan Funsten runs a very disciplined offense and his defense both communicates and shifts with perfection. Senior 5-5 guard Curtrena Goff is an extremely strong offensive player with a variety of moves and shifty ball handling skills that create a lot of miss-matches. Regan Gallagher, a 5’10 2014 wing, provides another scoring threat for the up and coming Cards.
Rutgers Prep NJ – Coach Mary Coyle Klinger is one of the top skill developers in the Nike Grassroots system. Her team was shorthanded for the event and hampered by missing it’s starting center. However, led by 5’4 sophomore Allison Girardi, they were able to keep it competitive with Wissahickon.
Wissahickon – Coach Rodney Cline’s team plays hard and was able to hold off Rutgers Prep. They were led by ‘5’8 Senior guard Rachel Stone and 5’9 junior Donyea Tate.
Hill School – Deanna Mayza, a 5’5 senior guard who has signed with Hartford, has a sweet stroke and good court vision. In this event 5’11 senior forward Hilary Yoh connected from everywhere and led Hill in scoring.
Prep Charter – Coach Ashley Logue’s guard dominated team plays fast and hard plus can knock it down from distance. They’re led by Cierra Nimmons, a junior scoring guard, and Hannah Timmons, a 5’8 guard who has a picture perfect jumper.
Council Rock South – Led by senior guard and William and Mary signee Alexis Hofstaeder. Other standouts include 5’8 senior Courtney Brown, a strong solid guard with a good jump shot, and Shannon Boyle a 5’9 junior.
Neumann-Goretti – Coach Letti Santarelli has a good problem. Her future top players are 6’8 freshman Felicia Aiyeotan and 6’4 sophmore Christina Aborowa who are both from Nigeria and currently getting the majority of their court time playing JV. Sophomore guard 5’6 Sianni Martin is already on many college lists and freshman guard Alisha Kebbe is a 5’10 guard with incredible bounce. Both will be joined by a slew of other athletes down the road making this group tough for opponents to handle in the future.
