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By Mark Miller Wishoops.net Editor





Some observations and thoughts from the Swish & Dish Tournament held at Wisconsin Lutheran College and Milwaukee School of Engineering last weekend.





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The Wisconsin Playground Warriors 16U squad looked impressive in victories over the D.W. Wildcats and Madison Spartans.





Coach Larry Balestreri's squad features some of the top talent in Wisconsin's class of 2008, led by Whitefish Bay Dominican guard Kwamain Mitchell.





Mitchell's speed with the ball in the open court was unmatched against the Wildcats and Spartans, and he appears to have an improved perimeter jump shot.





While the super quick Mitchell (6-0) may be the marquee name among guard prospects on the Warriors' roster, he by no means is the only player with loads of talent and potential.





Wisconsin Lutheran's Brandon Whiteside (6-0) might end up being the best guard prospect in the class of 2008 beyond Mitchell and Milwaukee Rufus King's Korie Lucious (6-0).





A super athletic two-guard, Whiteside figures to be the go-to guy for coach Dale Walz at Wisconsin Lutheran the next two seasons.





The Warriors boast a pair of steady, if not spectacular, point guards in Slinger's Austin Kearns and Dominican's Michael Panaggio.





Dominican wing J.D. Wise (6-2) attacks the basket well from the wing and figures to team with Mitchell and Panaggio to give coach Paul Wollersheim a talented trio the next two years.





Port Washington's Chris Prom (6-4), Wauwatosa West's Giovante Jackson (6-4) and Mequon Homestead's Brett Werner-Powell (6-4) are strong, athletic forwards who can score in the lane.





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The Spartans 15U squad may have lost to the older Playground Warriors, but they certainly held their own for much of the contest.





The Spartans were led by three talented freshmen in Madison Memorial's Jeronne Maymon (6-5), Janesville Craig's JoJo Pregont (6-5) and Evansville's Andrew Keister (6-0).





Maymon scored primarily on drives along the baseline, Pregont is an excellent rebounder who gets out and runs the floor and Keiser is a skilled, intelligent combination guard.





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Stay In The Game's 16U squad posted a narrow victory over Net Gain Sports of Minnesota in a 16U pool play contest behind some strong play from Milwaukee Vincent's Patrick Davis, Catholic Memorial's Tom Neary, Milwaukee Riverside's Carl Robinson and South Milwaukee's Trey McKinney-Jones.





Davis is a long, lanky 6-8 forward who played on Vincent's junior varsity squad alongside class of 2009 prospect Steve Stovall (6-6). Davis blocked several shots and was able to finish in the lane with a nice jump hook.





Neary (6-4) is one of those players who has a nose for the ball on both ends of the floor. He sank the game-winning free throw with no time on the clock and should be a key component for Catholic Memorial coach John Burns next season along with Conor Smith, Patrick Butrym and Dayton Young.





Robinson (5-11) is a physically strong point guard who knocked down some big shots for Stay In The Game, while McKinney-Jones (6-0) is an athletic wing player who can score off the dribble or from the perimeter.





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The Running Rebels' 16U squad certainly opened some eyes on Saturday.





Running Rebels coach Steve Smith has an all-star lineup led by Vincent's Marvin Fitzgerald, Milwaukee North's Terrance Edwards and Milwaukee Messmer's Cliff Curtis.





Fitzgerald (6-4) is another outstanding prospect from a Vincent program that figures to enter the 2006-07 season ranked No. 1 in the state.





Coach Tom Diener has a roster loaded with potential collegiate players, including seniors Diante Garrett (6-4), Bryquis Perine (6-3), Yusef Gray (5-11), Shavon Scott (6-1), Dominique Sharp (6-5), Arsenio Eaton (6-4), Latrell Smith (6-2) and Cameron Madlock (6-8); juniors Darryl Dent (5-10), Fitzgerald (6-4) and Davis (6-8); and sophomore Stovall (6-6).





Fitzgerald is a skilled wing player with excellent size, strength and intelligence. He is ranked No. 4 in Wisconsin's class of 2008 by Wishoops.net.





Edwards (6-4) is a long and skilled forward prospect who earned honorable mention all-league honors in the Milwaukee City Conference.





Curtis (6-4) was an absolute dunking machine in victories over Nothing But Net and the Illinois Speed. Curtis played at Milwaukee Madison last season, but has since enrolled at Messmer.





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The Fox Valley Skillz 14U squad features some of the top talent at that age group in Wisconsin.





The team's headline player is Stanley-Boyd eighth grader Evan Anderson (6-10), who appears to be further along than former Appleton West star Brian Butch at a similar age.





Anderson's shot-blocking skill is perhaps his biggest asset at this point of his development. In a hard-earned victory over DTA, Anderson's presence in the lane and his timing in blocking shots played a huge role in the Skillz' victory.





In the 14U championship game Sunday, Anderson finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds, 10 blocked shots and two dunks in a victory over the All Iowa Attack.





Sussex Hamilton's Kameron Cerroni (6-0), Mayville's Seve Strook (5-5), Maple Northwestern's Steve Tecker (6-3) and Oshkosh North's Taylor Cameron (5-11) also played extremely well for coach Scott Bork.





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Thanks to Swish & Dish Tournament Director Anthony Curro for the following information:





Open Division 1st Place: Illinois Wolves


Open Division 2nd Place: Madison Spartans





Division MVP: Carlton Fay -- Illinois Wolves





16u Division 1st Place: Playground Warriors


16u Division 2nd Place: Running Rebels





Division MVP: Kwamain Mitchell -- Playground Warriors





14u Division 1st Place: Fox Valley Skillz AAU


14u Division 2nd Place: All Iowa Attack





Division MVP: Evan Anderson -- Fox Valley Skillz





12u Division 1st Place: All Iowa Attack


12u Division 2nd Place: NetGain Sports





10u Division 1st Place: Running Rebels


10U Division 2nd Place: Ray Allen Select





Tournament M.V.P. - Carlton Fay - Illinois Wolves