I went too to see the triple-header in Upper Marlboro last night. Surprisingly, I didn't see anyone I recognized as a coach/recruiter.
Good Counsel won the first game rather handily. Riverdale Baptist won the second game handily. The third game was the heavyweight match against 2 of the best teams in the nation, Sidwell Friends and Bishop McNamara.
In a game of runs--to the extreme--Sidwell won. They won the tip thanks to Jadyn Donovan, and Kiki Rice scored on a nice cut at the hoop. Donovan scored on the next possession. At the end of Q1, Sidwell was ahead, 17-9. On a couple of nice plays, they ran a player off a screen and hit open 3-pointers.
Over the next 2 quarters, McNamara outscored Sidwell by 14-8 and 16-7. The athletes on McNamara made things difficult by blocking shots and deflecting several passes. At one point, McNamara had about a 12-point lead, and Sidwell looked to be in big trouble. But then, Sidwell upped its pressure defense and won the 4th quarter by 30-10--and eventually the game by 62-49. That coincided with Sahnya Jah going out for McNamara with an ankle injury. When she came back it was too late. Sidwell got several steals and got to the free throw line multiple times.
There were multiple Division 1 prospects in each game. Sidwell has 3 top-10 players, and McNamara has 6 top-75 players. Jah was big and dynamic. She looks like a future star. Qadence Samuels also stood out, not just for her DiDi Richards hairstyle. For Sidwell, Kiki showed her stuff. She is not the dynamic scorer that Azzi was in high school, but she is athletic, versatile, and smart. She is also a premier free throw shooter, going 10 for 10--only her 9th shot hit the rim. Jadyn Donovan stood out as well by grabbing rebounds and scoring at the rim. She looks like a slightly taller version of Mir. She's listed as a guard/wing. She's not the ball-handler that Kiki is, but she took the ball the length of the floor a couple of times. Her athleticism is spectacular. It was a fun evening.