Take Flight Showcase Top 2021 Prospects
Photo Credit: Michael Cooper On day 2 of my Take Flight recap, I will take a look at the junior-to-be prospects that impressed me from Friday’s Pool play action. With the juniors, there was more confidence in the guard…
Access all of Prep Girls Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingPhoto Credit: Michael Cooper
On day 2 of my Take Flight recap, I will take a look at the junior-to-be prospects that impressed me from Friday’s Pool play action. With the juniors, there was more confidence in the guard play compared to the sophomores, and the posts showed more physicality and inside play. All of these prospects are from SMAC and Dayton Metro, as both teams were well coached and had the most impressive prospects from the day. Take a look below to see which girls made the cut.
Kathleen Ahner– Dayton Metro-Painter- Legacy Christian
Kathleen is one of many talented guards on this Dayton Metro team. She gives Metro a nice dribble drive threat from the perimeter. Able to distribute the basketball or keep on the drive, Ahner has tremendous ball control and handles the basketball at a high level. Her quick crossover allows her to beat defenders off the dribble and she is physical enough to play through contact in the paint. A hard worker on both ends of the floor.
Leah Butterbaugh– Dayton Metro-Painter- Waynesville
Besides Ahner, I would say Leah was the hardest working player on both ends of the floor. She hustles and seemed to be involved in every play in one way or another on the defensive end. A tenacious defensive presence, Leah moves well and keeps the ball in front of her. She is a tough player that plays through contact on the offensive end and excelled in dribble drive situations.
Emma Hall– SMAC Fitz 10th– Westlake
If you were looking for the dead-eye shooter present Friday, look no further than Emma and her sharpshooting abilities. Able to shoot the ball off the dribble, in catch-and-shoot situations, or pull-up, Hall demanded respect on the perimeter and even made Metro pay for leaving her open a few times. She knows how to create space with her dribble allowing her to get shots off in any situations.
Emma Hess– Dayton Metro-Painter- Legacy Christian
One of the taller players on this Metro team, Emma made her presence known early on. On the defensive end, she altered shots with her height. She backs it up as well as she blocked several shots in the paint. She was able to also defend the perimeter and opposing 1 and 2 guards. On the offensive end, I like her shooting touch as she pulled up from beyond the arc, but also took shots in the midrange game as well.
Giselle Johnson– SMAC Fitz 10th– Andrew’s Osborne
I love covering players that hustle and work hard every time they are on the floor. From the first time Giselle came off the bench, she played tough on the defensive end and made it difficult for opposing posts to score. When SMAC was on offense, Giselle contributed some scoring, mainly in the paint through contact. She had a few nice midrange jump shots but her shooting form did not look too smooth. If she can adjust, she can extend her range and become an even more dangerous offensive player.
Ava Lickliter– Dayton Metro-Painter- Carroll
I like watching point guards that act as floor generals and are unafraid to compete. Ava does just this. A high IQ guard, she knows where the defense is and looks to pass the ball when facing double teams and traps. She sees the floor in half court situations and gets the ball to open teammates. Her midrange shot is absolutely dangerous as she is automatic from free throw line extended. Defensively she moves side-to-side very well, but I think she needs to improve on keeping with her assignment on the dribble drive as she had a few possessions where her opponent beat her off the dribble and Ava was unable to get back in front of her.
Taylor Thierry– SMAC Fitz 10th– Laurel
I would say Taylor was the best athlete in the 2021 class that played on Friday. The early minutes of the first half, she came out with some fire, but foul trouble quickly took her out of the game. When in the game, she had very nice ball-handling and looked to move the ball and distribute to the several offensive weapons on this SMAC team. Defensively, she is a lengthy on-ball defender that created some fast break opportunities with getting her hands on some passes. I would like to see her be more aggressive on the offensive end as she didn’t look to shoot the basketball much. She has the athleticism to get points at will.
Ali Ziegler– SMAC Fitz 10th– Beaumont
Ali is a low post weapon on both ends of the floor. A physical PF, she bodied up whoever tried guarding her and although she did not score a ton of points, she made whoever was guarding her fight to front her and deny the entry pass. On both ends of the floor, she was extremely difficult to box out and grabbed several rebounds on the offensive end. On the defensive end, she contested shots and again played physical with whoever she had to defend.