A Man On A Mission: TJ Haws

Sharp shooter TJ Haws won his third state championship at Lone Peak High School in Utah this past year and is on a mission to win a fourth one as a senior. This past season, Haws played an integral part on the most dominant hoops team in Utah history. Lone Peak went 30-1 and finished the year ranked fourth in the country by Hoopniks.com. They went 16-0 in the state of Utah and won their games by an average of 29 points per game, including a 72-39 state championship win. The Knights also traveled the country winning over fans in Chicago, Florida, and Massachusetts with their up tempo style of play and three point shooting acumen. In a starting line-up that included BYU bound point guard Nick Emery and big man Eric Mika, Haws was the lone underclassman to start for the team. With the graduation of four starters Haws will have a difficult time winning a fourth straight championship, but he is already embracing the challenge. 

While his former teammates graduate, Haws is currently spending his off-season on the AAU and camp circuit working on his game. Last year he was primarily seen running the wing while draining three’s from all areas of the court or finishing at the basket after an athletic move. During the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, VA, he was seen running the point. Standing at 6’3”, Haws usually towered over his opponent as he went up against the 5’8” Tyler Ulis and 5’10” Chris Chiozza in camp games. The shorter and quicker guards tried to bother Haws with full-court pressure but he used his dribbling skills and quickness to break the press and set up the team’s offense. With the departure of Emery, the majority of the ball-handling duties at Lone Peak will eventually fall to Haws.

 “I thought I did pretty well at the point. It was a good experience going against those athletic point guards and will only help me for my future,” Haws said. “My dad played point at BYU and that’s the position I’ll be trying to play when I get there after my mission.”

Known as one of the top shooters in high school hoops, Haws was normally deadly from well behind the college three point line as he hit four three’s in Chicago against Proviso East and averaged just over three made three’s a game in the City of Palms tournament. During the camp, Haws did not get as many shot attempts as normal while manning the point, but he still found times to show off his stroke and quick release. 

“I kind of like playing the point better because I can push the ball and find open looks in transition” Haws noted.

During five games, Haws only averaged 5.2 points per game but kept his teammates such as Myles Turner and Ben Bentil happy with his passing. The opposing guards thought they could take advantage of Haws with their quickness but he was able to stay in front of his man defensively while also getting by their pressure on the offensive end. He produced a modest stat line during the camp, but ran the point against some of the top players in the country and did so with a limited amount of turnovers all while looking like a natural point guard.

In the upcoming July time frame, Haws will suit up for the Las Vegas Prospects and compete in tournaments in Long Beach, Milwaukee, and Las Vegas before returning back to Utah. 

When asked about a four-peat, Haws said “We have a pretty good chance. We won’t be able to compete on a national scale like we did last year, but we should be alright in Utah. We have some players ready to step up along with a transfer from Lehi (upcoming sophomore guard Frank Jackson who scored 30 on Lone Peak this past year).”

In the upcoming season, Haws knows that he will need to shoulder the scoring burden along with a fair amount of ball-handling duties. We already know that the scoring burden won’t be a problem for the prolific scorer, and after his play at the NBPA Top 100 camp playing point guard won’t be much of a problem either. Already a top 50 player in the country, Haws is putting in the work during the off-season to improve his game in and close out his run at Lone Peak with a fourth state title.   

Hoophall Classic: All About Lone Peak

Lone Peak High began their national tour with an 81-46 drubbing of Proviso East (2011-12 state runner-ups in Illinois) back in December and concluded their tour with a 81-46 beatdown of the two time Division II state California champions in Archbishop Mitty.

In front of a packed house in Springfield, MA for the 2013 Hoophall Classic, the two-time defending state champions of Utah brought their A game and wowed the crowd with their pinpoint shooting and ball movement in a route to a win over top 5 senior Aaron Gordon and Co. For anyone who has seen Lone Peak play this year, it is well-known that they are led by their three headed BYU trio of guards Nick Emery and TJ Haws and big-man Eric Mika. While these three players all played up to their lofty expectations this MLK day, it was unsung starter Connor Toolson who stole the show and went 6-6 from three on his way to a team high 22 points. 

Lone Peak jumped out to an early lead as they are prone to do with their deadly three point shooting. Senior guard Nick Emery launched a deep three on the first possession and the route was on. Lone Peak jumped out to a 15-4 lead which quickly turned into a 44-20 halftime lead.

The second half was more of the same as Lone Peak showed off their athleticism and teamwork. Aaron Gordon was able to get his for Archbishop Mitty and finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds but his teammates were rendered helpless. Emery finished with 20 points for Lone Peak while Haws had 18 points and six rebounds. While Toolson stole the show today, he has been a steady first year starter all year and averaged almost 10 points per game while in three games against nationally ranked opponents in the City of Palms Classic. 

As noted above, Lone Peak has taken on all comers throughout the United States in several elite tournaments: 

Chicago Elite Classic – 12/1

Defeated Proviso East (Illinois) 81-46. Proviso East went 33-1 last year with their only loss coming in the state championship to Simeon 50-48.

Great Western Shootout – 12/7

Defeated Denver East (Colorado) 73-54. Denver East is currently ranked #1 in the 5A class of Colorado.

City of Palms Classic – 12/19 – 12/22

Defeated Callaway (Mississippi) 60-42. In the opening round of the City of Palms, Lone Peak defeated Malik Newmann who is one of the top sophomores in the country.

Defeated Chester (Pennsylvania) 73-50. Snapped Chester’s 61 game win streak with a dominant 2^nd half performance.

Defeated #16 Southwind (Tennessee) 67-52. Despite the athleticism of Jonathon Williams and Jujuan Johnson, Lone Peak used another dominant 2^nd half to advance to the championship.

Lost to #1 Montverde (Florida) 45-66. Lone Peak finally ran into a team with too many match-up problems. Kasey Hill and DeAngelo Russell kept the pressure on Emery and Haws all game, while Dakari Johnson battled with Mika down low. The Knights were within striking range for most of the 2^nd half before Montverde pulled away. While Mika and Johnson battled down low, the Knights did not have the size or strength to match-up with Devin Williams down low. 

Brandon Jennings Invitational – 1/12

Defeated Wesleyan Christian (North Carolina) 63-59. Despite not playing up to their normal high standards, Lone Peak came from behind to defeat Theo Pinson and his teammates in Milwaukee. 

Hoophall Classic – 1/21

Defeated Archbishop Mitty (California) 81-46

After this last performance, Lone Peak will now head back to Utah to defend their back to back state championships. Throughout the year, Lone Peak has been beating their Utah opponents by almost 30 points a game. Their closest game came in the first game of the year which was also happened to be a state title game re-match. In this game, Lone Peak only beat Brighton by 20 points after having beaten them by 30 points last year. Needless to say, Lone Peak should win their 3^rd state championship in dominating fashion. 

Other Notes:

·         Emery, Haws, and Mika have all signed with BYU while Talon Shumway will head to BYU on a football scholarship.

·         Lone Peak competed together on the Under Armour AAU circuit as the Utah Reign and they were competitive in all of the main tournaments they played in.

Brandon Jennings Invitational

The third annual Brandon Jennings Invitational held outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin featured nationally ranked teams and players sprinkled with various local top Midwest schools. The event was held at Brookfield Central High school and treated spectators to come from behind victories, upsets, and even a buzzer beater throughout the day. 

 Game 1: St. Frances (MD) 60 Bogan (IL) 44

The opening game of the Invitational tipped off at 11am and it looked like neither team was fully awake early on. Senior guard Maurice White woke up first for St. Frances as they took an early first quarter lead which turned into a 27-15 halftime lead. White will be headed to play for Loyola (MD) next year and finished the first half with 10 points. His backcourt mate, senior Tevon Saddler took over in the second half as St. Frances kept their double digit lead throughout the second half. The future UNC-Greensboro guard finished the game with 19 points and took home the first MVP of the day. St. Frances is normally led by junior forward Dwayne Morgan; however he was kept scoreless during the first three quarters and finished up with six points. In the 4^th quarter Morgan had a nifty left to right cross over for a driving lay-up along with a ferocious dunk showing off his elite potential. Bogan was led by sophomore point guard LuWane Pipkins who finished up with 14 points, but overall the team struggled shooting all morning.

Game 2: Orr (IL) 50 Shiloh (GA) 45

Shiloh had the height with 7 foot junior center Trayvon Reed; however Orr, one of the top teams in Chicago brought the tenacity and jumped out to an early lead they never relinquished. Junior center Marlon Jones stands 6’8” but brought the fight to the more heralded Reed right away. Jones finished with 17 points and out played Reed throughout the course of the game. He also got some help from fellow juniors Tyquone Greer and Louis Adams who both scored 12 points. Adams helped Orr get off to a quick start scoring nine points in the first quarter en route to a 25-15 first half lead. Shiloh tried to mount a comeback in the final minutes and ended up within two points after a floater closed the lead to 45-43, but their comeback stalled and Orr pushed their lead out one more time. 

Game 3: Denver East (61) Minnetonka (MN) 60

Denver East came into their match-up as the top ranked team in Colorado and they needed all 32 minutes to leave Milwaukee with a hard fought win over one of the top teams in the state of Minnesota. While the first two games of the day lacked outside shooting and a fast tempo, this game got off to a torrid start. Star junior guard Dominique Collier knocked in two quick three pointers to start off the game and junior guard Jevon Griffin contributed nine points in building a 24-17 first quarter lead. Minnetonka then rallied back in the second quarter to take a 33-30 halftime lead. In the second half, it was the Riley Dearring show for Minnetonka. While the Wisconsin Badgers were busy reigning threes in a blowout win over Illinois in Madison, the future Badger was reining three’s for Minnetonka. Dearring scored nine consecutive points at one point and 17 total in the second half in a back and forth affair. With both teams taking turns with the lead, it was only fitting that the game came down to the final possession. As the clock wound down, Griffin controlled the ball on the left side of the floor down one point. While most expected Griffin to rise and fire he instead found a wide open Ronnie Harrell alone under the basket for the game winning lay-up. Griffin finished with 21 points and Collier had 15 despite foul trouble as Denver East escaped with a hard fought victory.

Game 4: Brookfield Central (WI) 64 Chester (PA) 56

Chester came into their game against the host school with a national ranking, but left Wisconsin with a shocking defeat. Despite not having their five star senior in Rondae Jefferson, Chester was still the more talented team on paper and used their speed and athleticism to overwhelm Brookfield Central in the first half. Facing a zone, senior forward Richard Granberry had his way down low early and scored nine first half points as Chester enjoyed a 28-20 halftime lead. The second half was a different story as junior guard Riley LaChance caught fire for the hometown squad. LaChance scored 11 points in the first half, but started the second half with several picturesque three pointers and mid-range jump shots. Brookfield Central grabbed the lead in the 3^rd quarter and never looked back. LaChance finished with 29 points and his teammate junior big man Elijah Goodman finished with 20 rebounds. After losing two games in the City of Palms tournament, Chester added a third loss to their resume.

Game 5: Lone Peak (UT) 63 High Point Wesleyan (NC) 59

After running through teams in the City of Palms tournament on their way to a 2^nd place finish, Lone Peak worked themselves up to a top 3 national ranking. Lone Peak is known for their stellar three-point shooting and they opened up the game knocking down a wide open three in a set play off the opening jump ball. Both TJ Haws and Nick Emery knocked down long jumpers to start the game, but then Wesleyan utilized their athleticism to control the game. Junior Theo Pinson scored 15 first half points as Wesleyan Christian led 35-28 at the half. Lone Peak closed the gap to three points entering the 4^th quarter and regained the lead on two Emery free throws in the final minutes. TJ Haws had the play of the game following up a missed Emery lay-up with a two-hand tip dunk giving Lone Peak a 60-57 lead, one they would not relinquish. Emery finished with a game high 20 points and Haws tallied 17 points. Pinson finished the game with 19 points and freshman big man Harry Giles put up 7 points. Despite only being a freshman, Giles went toe to toe with Lone Peak big man Eric Mika and showed off why he is considered one of the top players in the class of 2016. Despite not playing up to their normal standards, Lone Peak gutted out a hard fought victory as they get ready for Archbishop Mitty in the Hoophall Classic.

City of Palms: Championship

The 40^th annual City of Palms championship featured two of the top teams in the country Saturday night at Bishop Verot High School. Lone Peak came into the championship game 3-0 in the tournament having defeated their opponents by an average of 19 points per game. Despite this margin of victory and their three future D-1 players, the championship game more closely resembled the battle of David and Goliath, with Montverde playing the role of Goliath. Montverde had the edge in athleticism with their four high major Division 1 starters, but this advantage had not stopped Lone Peak before. The close to capacity crowd backed Lone Peak in its previous games and was ready to see the public school from Utah take on the private academy from Florida.

Game of the Night:

#4 Montverde 66 #7 Lone Peak 45

As mentioned in the Day 4 recap, the keys to this game were going to be how Lone Peak dealt with the size of Montverde and how they handled their pressure. While Lone Peak previously carved up any type of trapping press that other teams had thrown at them, Montverde went for the full-court man-to-man pressure as their guards had the length and quickness to frustrate the star duo of Nick Emery and TJ Haws. In addition, Montverde featured PF Devin Williams (6’8” 230) as Lone Peak’s PF; Talon Shumway stood 6’4” 200. 

Montverde came out of the gates firing on all cylinders with senior guard Miguel Cartegena and junior guard D ‘Angelo Russell knocking down three’s and Williams dominating down low. On the defensive side it was almost impossible for Lone Peak to get a clean shot in the lane with Dakari Johnson and Williams patrolling the paint and the long arms of Russell made it hard for sharp shooter TJ Haws to get an open look. Lone Peak miss-fired on countless three point attempts and fell behind 22-12 after the first quarter and 39-22 at the half. Russell led the way with 13 points and the big 3 BYU trio of Haws, Emery, and big man Eric Mika only scored 13 points combined.

Despite their struggles in the first half, Lone Peak came out aggressive and angry in the 2^nd half. Coach Quincy Lewis ran a set play for Haws which resulted in a picture perfect three point swish. Lone Peak turned the pressure up on defense and swarmed Johnson and Williams any time they touched the ball resulting in numerous turnovers. Lone Peak held Montverde to only four points in the 3^rd quarter, but could only muster 10 themselves trimming a 17 point lead to an 11 point lead entering the 4^th. Once the final quarter began, the Montverde sized played a deciding factor. Both Williams and Johnson finished with double doubles and Lone Peak struggled to get open looks. Star guard Kasey Hill was quite on the offensive end for Montverde but finished off Lone Peak with a steal and two hand reverse jam that got the Florida faithful out of its seat.

Williams finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds on 6-8 shooting while Dakari Johnson had 10 points and 11 rebounds. TJ Haws was the high scorer with 21 points, but needed 19 shots to do it. Emery was held to 8 points and Mika was held to 5 points on six shots. Montverde utilized its size and athletic advantages to ensure that David did not pull the upset of Goliath in the 40^th City of Palms championship game.

Top Performer:

D ‘Angelo Russell: 15 points, 3 steals

Russell had a quiet semi-final game with 4 points, but made his mark early in the championship game. Russell went 3-3 from the three point line in the first half knocking down corner threes from both sides of the court. He also added two impressive drives to the basket. As mentioned earlier, Russell also drew the defensive assignment of TJ Haws, who scored the second most points in the tournament. With his long arms and quick feet, Russell contested every jump shot Haws took. Russell dominated both the offensive and defensive sides of the court in the first half and was a key reason Montverde jumped out to a 17 point lead. 

Breakout Performer:

Miles Reynolds, Whitney Young (6’3” Junior Guard)

With the transfer of guard L.J. Peak to the Whitney Young Dolphins this year, most people have referred to Whitney Young as having a junior led trio of Jahlil Okafor, Paul Young, and L.J. Peak. Now, it will have to be called the Big Four. Junior guard Miles Reynolds made a name for himself in a 3-day stretch. He started off the tournament scoring a team high 18 points against Montverde including three free throws to send the game into overtime. In his second game against a tough and athletic Omaha squad, Reynolds went for 15 points on 5-6 shooting and was a perfect 3-3 from the three point line. In his final game of the tournament against Chester, Reynolds scored 17 points in the first half going 3-4 from the 3-point line.

Overall, Reynolds finished the tournament shooting 79% from the field and 72% from the three point line. This hot shooting came against teams that are all ranked in the top 15 nationally as well. Not only can Reynolds shoot the ball, but he also can slash to the basket with his speed and quickness. Reynolds caught the eye of LSU on Thursday and picked up an offer from them. Expect more offers to be coming soon.

Other Notes:

Long Beach Poly defeated Southwind (TN) to take home 3^rd place. Senior forward Jordan Bell led the way for Poly as he had 20 points, 14 rebounds and 7 blocks. Jajuan Johnson led the way for Southwind with 23 points but needed 24 shots.

Huntington Prep easily took home the Signature Series championship over Arlington County Day with a 74-57 victory. Andrew Wiggins, the #1 player in the country went for a cool 20 points, but this was not one of his finer games. Instead it was big man Moses Kingsley who did the most damage to Arlington County Day on 11-14 shooting for 26 points.

Junior, Guard / Forward Justin Jackson scored over half his team’s points (28) in a loss to Kiski. Jackson has his floater game down pat and scored many of his points with shots in the paint.

Whitney Young dominated Chester in the 5^th place game to hand Chester its 2^nd loss of the tournament.

Paul VI dominated Callaway 50-34 in the 9am game and frustrated star sophomore guard Malik Newman all day long. Newman went 1-8 from the three point line as Paul VI hounded him all day long. Big man Quadree Smith scored 16 points to lead the way for Paul VI.