Futures report: Top up-and-coming players from MGBR Classic in the North

The fun thing about covering a tournament like the Midwest Girls Basketball Report’s Classic in the North is that it’s less about seeing established stars, and more about seeing the future. If you watched the various PR1DE teams — John Weyer and company had all four squads in attendance at Mt. Pleasant’s Morey Courts facility — along with Greg Grant Elite and North Oakland Wolfpack’s squad, you got a good idea of which high school squads in the north half of Oakland County are going to be good for the next couple of years. Same with the Northern Pride and Championship Sports squads, with respect to high school programs between Saginaw Bay and the Mackinac Bridge. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the younger players who stood out at the Classic in the North, with a nod to how they might help their high school teams in the very near future. Greg Grant Elite’s [player_tooltip player_id="189291" first="Emily" last="Grulke"]. (Photo by Matthew B. Mowery) [player_tooltip player_id="189291" first="Emily" last="Grulke"] (Greg Grant Elite) — As long as you didn’t look at the roster, nothing would appear amiss with the 5-foot-10 wing being the best player on the floor for many of the games her team played in the 2021 division. You know, until you look down and realize her school is listed as St. John Lutheran, which goes through grade eight. And then you look next to it, and realize she’s in the class of 2023. The younger sister of Kaily and Molly Grulke, who have both gone through the Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest program, it’ll be a couple of years before Emily is available to Crusaders coach Jimmy Mehlberg. She is listed as a shooting guard, and can drive and shoot, but could even play inside for Northwest, if needed. There’s plenty of time for the seventh grader to polish up her repertoire — which is already impressive. Michigan Finest’s [player_tooltip player_id="147793" first="Haley" last="Henion"]. (Photo by Matthew B. Mowery) [player_tooltip player_id="147793" first="Haley" last="Henion"], [player_tooltip player_id="138375" first="Jacqueline" last="Semerly"] (Michigan’s Finest 2021) — A pair of youngsters from the Okemos program — Semerly is a 2021 wing, Henion a 2022 point guard from Chippewa Middle School — this twosome could be the next generation of stars in a program that’s already got some at the upper levels. With Michigan State commit [player_tooltip player_id="126233" first="Jasmine" last="Clerkley"] (2020) and Northwestern commit [player_tooltip player_id="2392" first="Laya" last="Hartman"] leading the way, the Chieftains to a second-place finish (behind Class A runner-up East Lansing) in the Capitol Area Activities Conference last season, and if things swing right, Henion could be the one getting them the ball next winter. The 5-foot-2 playmaker was chosen to play in the 2018 Elite Girls Basketball Middle School All-American game, and is one of the top up-and-coming point guards in the state. Bailey Vissman, Savannah Vissman, London Eldridge (Championship Sports Elite Gold) — All three are 2021s, coming off their freshman year of high school at Central Montcalm. Bailey Vissman was the starting point guard for a Hornets team that went 20-0 in the regular season, before losing in the first game of districts to Big Rapids, and she’s certainly the most advanced of the three. She can penetrate, shoot from the outside, and handle the ball. None of the three are big — coming in at 5-foot-6, 5-2 and 5-7, respectively — but they’re fast and quick, fitting in with exactly how the Hornets (who had eight of 10 returnees playing summer ball) want to operate. Championship Sports Gold’s [player_tooltip player_id="147750" first="Jada" last="Garner"] (right). (Photo by Matthew B. Mowery) [player_tooltip player_id="147750" first="Jada" last="Garner"], Katelyn Murray (Championship Sports Elite Gold) — Two 2021s who played prominent roles for a Midland Dow team that finished second in the Saginaw Valley League’s North Division, behind eventual state champion Saginaw Heritage. Garner had to carry some of the load of ballhandling before the return from knee surgery of 2019 Maizie Taylor midway through the season, but proved more than capable of the task (as she’s continued to show this summer, splitting the point duties with Bailey Vissman). Murray can play bigger than her listed height of 5-foot-7, defensively, but is more of a shooting guard on offense, albeit with an interesting (but definitively effective) sidesaddle shooting stance. The twosome helped contribute to the Chargers being one of the top five shooting teams in the state (34.97 percent from behind the arc), and will combine with DI-level 2019s Taylor and [player_tooltip player_id="22328" first="Molly" last="Davis"] to make a run at Heritage again in 2018-19. Greg Grant Elite’s Elena Rodriguez. (Photo by Matthew B. Mowery) [player_tooltip player_id="138394" first="Maddie" last="Dolenga"], [player_tooltip player_id="138354" first="Olivia" last="Kubik"], Elena Rodriguez (Greg Grant Elite) — Dolenga, a 2021 prospect played at point guard for Rochester Adams as a freshman, earning her lumps in a tough Oakland Activities Association Red Division. Fitting in spring/summer ball around her obligations to the high school soccer team — she’s a goaltender for the Highlanders — should make the penetrating ballhandler just that much better when she hits the high school hardwood again in next winter. Kubik (2021) started at Utica Ford II as a freshman, earning all-conference honors in the Macomb Area Conference White Division. Rodriguez (2021) played as a freshman on the district champion Waterford Kettering squad that made it to the regional finals. The trio of penetrating guards share the bulk of the ball-handling duties for the Greg Grant squad this spring/summer, each bringing a slightly different skill set. Roza Bonner, [player_tooltip player_id="138316" first="Elizabeth" last="West"], Katherine West, Sydney Feig (Michigan’s Finest 2021) — A quartet of 2021s from Williamston looking to make a name for themselves in the spring/summer, hoping to earn themselves a slot with a Hornets program that has gone 41-6 over the last two seasons. Even with the graduation loss of three seniors — including college-bound all-staters Maddie Waters (Western Michigan) and Allison Peplowski (North Dakota) — there won’t be a ton of room on varsity, considering the Hornets already had five sophomores on the top squad. That group includes all-state honorable mention point guard Kenzie Lewis, and 6-foot forwards Evey Peplowski and Paige Basore. Bonner is a 5-1 point guard, and Katherine West a 5-4 shooting guard, while [player_tooltip player_id="138316" first="Elizabeth" last="West"] (5-10) and Feig (5-9) are small forwards. Northern Pride Blue’s Aaliyah Reno (14). (Photo by Matthew B. Mowery) Aaliyah Reno (Northern Pride Blue) — The Kingsley Bucks had six seniors and five juniors on their varsity squad for last year’s 26-win historic run to the semifinals, leaving little room for another sophomore like Reno. But the graduation of that big senior class likely leaves an opening for a player like the 2020 Reno, a 5-foot-5 penetrator who can complement a 2020 class that already includes honorable mention all-stater [player_tooltip player_id="126255" first="Brittany" last="Bowman"], along with Maddie Bies, Austyn DeWeese and Jane Dunlap. [player_tooltip player_id="126279" first="Taylor" last="Heaton"] and Alexis Linton (PR1DE 2019), [player_tooltip player_id="138357" first="Olivia" last="Toderan"] (PR1DE 2021) — This trio from Clarkston High School are the next wave of Wolves, filling in after the loss to graduation of the big three of [player_tooltip player_id="2260" first="Kayla" last="Luchenbach"], [player_tooltip player_id="2329" first="Molly" last="Nicholson"] and [player_tooltip player_id="2293" first="Maddie" last="Beck"]. All three were on varsity last year — Heaton and Linton as sophomores, Toderan as one of four freshmen — getting plenty of seasoning in last year’s historic season, when the Wolves won a share of the Oakland Activities Association Red Division title, and their first regional title since 2005. It’ll be up to them — along with the rest of last year’s freshman cast, [player_tooltip player_id="177300" first="Kaelyn" last="Kaul"], [player_tooltip player_id="138406" first="Sam" last="Aris"] and Piper Bosart, as well as (eventually) 2022s Izabella Hadley, [player_tooltip player_id="147767" first="Madison" last="Skorupski"], Madelyn Frendo and Savannah Frendo from the PR1DE 8th grade team — to keep the program’s roll going. Heaton is a leader at point guard, while Linton is an undersized post. FORCE 2021’s [player_tooltip player_id="2522" first="Hadley" last="Miller"]. (Photo by Matthew B. Mowery) [player_tooltip player_id="2522" first="Hadley" last="Miller"] (FORCE 2020) — The 2020 shooting guard earned honorable mention Class B all-state honors from the Associated Press as a sophomore, helping lead Three Rivers to a 19-win season and the district finals, where they lost to a 22-win Edwardsburg squad. A 5-foot-9 shooting guard, she can hit from downtown, or put the ball on the floor and take it to the basket. [player_tooltip player_id="147743" first="Maeve" last="St. John"] (PR1DE Bernas), [player_tooltip player_id="28029" first="Meagan" last="Tucker"] (PR1DE 2021) — The Howell High School Highlanders will be reloading in 2018-19, after graduating eight seniors from last year’s team, but it’ll help that they have kids like St. John and Tucker to build around. A 5-foot-8 shooting guard in the 2021 class, Tucker was on varsity last year as a freshman, while St. John (2022) was located 300 yards west at Highlander Way Middle School, as an eighth grader. Greg Grant Elite’s Makaila Proctor (34). (Photo by Matthew B. Mowery) [player_tooltip player_id="138355" first="Makayla" last="Fuerst"], Mikaila Proctor (Greg Grant Elite) — The pair of 2021s from Waterford Mott both played on varsity as freshmen, helping the Corsairs to a 12-9 season, and a middle-of-the-pack finish in the inaugural season of the Lakes Valley Conference. The 6-foot Proctor is a load to stop on the blocks, with a variety of post moves, and can rebound the ball, while Fuerst is a shooter, giving the Corsairs a good inside-outside combination to go with returning honorable mention all-LVC guard Arianna Harden.