Five 2022 Breakout Scoring Candidates

Up next in our daily season preview articles are the five sophomores who I look to have a break out season. The sixth article in a series of 73 highlights the five 2022's who averaged less than five points a game that I think will be breakout scorers this season. Up next will be the 2021's but let's see who has a great chance at deflecting a sophomore slump. <hr /> <strong>Meredith Rieker — 5'10 SG — Valley HS — 4.3 PPG last season</strong> (Featured Image) Rieker is a fantastic candidate to see a huge jump in scoring next season. With some very key graduations from a 5A State Title team, Valley is going to have to lean on some players who haven't really had to show that much yet. Rieker is likely going to be Valley's leading scorer this year if she continues her momentum from this past AAU season. A really solid guard who can score both on and off the ball I would not be surprised in the least to see her triple her scoring total from her freshman campaign. Rieker's scoring is going to have to be there this season for a Valley team that is going to be right back in the mix. <strong>Emmy Lewis — 5'5 PG — Boone HS — 4.0 PPG last season</strong> Losing your season leading scorer is never easy, but I think that Lewis will alleviate a bit of that pain in an extended scoring role. She actually shot the ball at a pretty solid clip from behind the arc last year as she was second on the team with a 30.1 percent rate. At times it seemed as if she was a little timid to get her shot off since she was sixth in shots attempted but fourth in scoring on the team last year. Confidence will go a long way for her and if she gains that early I think she could easily be up around 10 points a game this season. She likely won't lead the team in scoring but I think she can be a really good second or third option. <strong>Jada Williams — 5'10 PG — Mason City HS — 2.5 PPG last season</strong> It's never easy to replace a player like Megan Meyer <em>(Iowa),</em> but when there is a player like Williams who is likely to step into that last guard role it makes that transition a little easier. I am not sure if she'll get the nod as the starting point guard this season but with the improvements that I saw this summer, I think she could easily handle it. There are still a ton of really good scorers on this team as seniors and Williams is the fifth highest scorer returning to the lineup. I am not sure that matters though because this summer she proved she can flat out score. I think she could lead the team in scoring if she gets the nod to start. <strong>Trinidee Moore — 5'5 PG — Waverly-Shell Rock HS — 2.3 PPG last season</strong> Moore really impressed me this summer both in AAU and in team camps. She's primarily a pass first guard who enjoys dishing the ball off to teammates but when she wants to she can score it easily. Moore has a very solid looking jumper with the ability to blow by her defenders. I love her willingness to pass it and as soon as she shows the willingness to score she's going to become that much more dynamic. She's a player who can really help out this Waverly-Shell Rock team as they look to go deep into the postseason. It all starts with Moore at that lead guard spot and her ability to get the ball to teammates and in the basket. <strong>Lainy Thoren — 5'11 SF — Grundy Center HS — 1.6 PPG last season</strong> The moment I started to pick through names for this article, I knew one name would have to come from Grundy Center. A dynasty in recent memory might be ending as they graduate nine seniors, eight of which were their top scorers. With only 6.1 points a game coming back from a team that averaged 62.2 a game last year, there is some reason to think that a down year is in order. While Grundy Center isn't going to run through the season like normal, I suspect that Thoren will really set the tone this year. She's a scorer at all three levels and she'll really be able to score it. She has the mindset to score it, and do so in bunches. Watch for Thoren's scoring to explode this winter. &nbsp; &nbsp;