High school basketball: Girls hoops camps lure region's top talent

Editor's note: This is a revised version of the story. Name spellings are based on event rosters.

OREM — Two Utah high school girls' basketball showcase camps brought in more than 30 scouts and 100 local and Western talents last Saturday.

Between the Utah Swoosh High School Showcase held at Mountain View High School and the Intermountain Hoops' fourth annual camp held at The Factory many of the state's top prospects from freshmen to seniors had a chance to show their stuff to colleges and universities throughout the West.

Twenty-four coaches made it in to the Swoosh showcase behind the names of the likes of Pleasant Grove's Jennifer Hamson and the state of Washington's Mercedes Wetmore, but many of those coaches ended up talking about how good the youngsters looked out there playing against the grizzled vets.

Those young players included 10 freshmen and three sophomores from Utah high schools among 14 freshmen and nine sophomores overall. The entire group consisted of about 70 players, 24 of whom traveled in from out of state. In fact, a few of the collegiate scouts commented on the talent nationwide of the two younger groups of students.

Three freshmen in particular are hitting the Utah basketball scene this season and had a chance to show their skills at the showcase. One of those players will be making her varsity debut with Syracuse High this season in Brittney Martin, whose father and grandfather both played at the collegiate level here in Utah. She's a 5'11" player with solid basketball skills that is not only ready to play at the varsity level, she should be a real impact player with her Titan team.

"She loves the game. She's unselfish and tries not to be a ball hog,"

said her father Darrell Martin, who has been watching his daughter play against the older kids since she was five years old.

Another freshman who should make a big impact on her high school team this year will be Alta's McKenzie Morrison, who has been looking forward to playing high school ball for a long time, according to her father, Terry Morrison.

Morrison enjoyed the showcase, though she did comment on the closeness of the quarters for all 70 girls, coaches, scouts and game personnel.

"There was tough competition here. It was nice to see people coming in to play against all the Utah People," McKenzie noted at the end of the grueling day.