Southern Illinois Top Interior Defenders/Rebounders

In this article we explore the top  interior defensive players and rebounders in Southern Illinois. These girls have some obvious traits in common. They are strong and they <span style="font-size: 1rem;">are long and have mental toughness about them. Offense is fun and gets attention in the newspaper/online. Defense  and rebounding wins championships. The key to winning is often not just getting that defensive stop, but securing the defensive board to end the opportunity for the offense. These girls excel at one or both of these tasks.</span> &nbsp; <ul> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="123603" first="Bella" last="LaPorta"] </strong>is a 6'0 2021 Forward from Highland. Bella does a good job of using her length and athletic ability to defend in the post. She excels at rebounding where she averaged 9.4 boards per game including 6.5 defensive rebounds per game. Bella was a big part of ending defensive possessions with her rbounding.</li> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="123579" first="Amelia" last="Bell"] </strong>is a 6'0 2021 Forward from O'Fallon. Amelia uses her length and lateral quickness to be able to defend all over the floor. She is able to switch on ball screens and defend the point guard if needed. Amelia can block shots and pulled down 6.8 rebounds last year.</li> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="158287" first="Quincenia" last="Jackson"] </strong>is a 6'1 2021 Post player from Decatur MacArthur. Quincenia consistently controls that boards and can start the fast break with a pass or dribble herself. She has long arms and is agile enough to control the paint and protect the rim against drives to the basket. Quincenia was consistently over 10 rebounds per game.</li> <li><strong>Tyler Butler </strong>is a 5'9 2021 Forward from Belleville East. Tyler is a very active player that uses her motor to produce results. She defends well in the post because she is smart and stays active. Tyler is hard to seal and pin because she does not stay in one spot for long. She will work her way around the offensive player to take away an advantage. On the boards she averaged 9.9 rebounds per game.</li> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="160144" first="Claire" last="Christeson"] </strong>is a 6'0 2022 Forward from Civic Memorial. Claire is poised to have a breakout year. She garnered playing time as a sophomore off the bench due to her outstanding defensive ability. Claire is long and agile and can defend anyone and anywhere on the floor. She is aggressive on the boards on both ends. With increased playing time she will likely double her 4 rebounds per game from last year.</li> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="124895" first="Jillian" last="Hamilton"] </strong>is a 5'11 2022 Forward from Pana. Jillian is a strong and athletic player that can defend inside and out. She will usually guard the post from the opposing team but does a great job of finding chances for steals in their press defense. Jillian averaged 8.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.</li> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="148149" first="Alycia" last="Triplett"] </strong>is a 5'11 2023 Forward from Charleston. Alycia is very strong and fast which she uses well to defend on the bottom part of the Charleston zone. She will take advantage of poor passes to get steals off the backside. ALycia averaged 7.6 rebounds per game and this should increase as she moved in to her sophomore campaign.</li> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="124862" first="Izzy" last="Hardiek"] </strong>is a 5'11 2022 Forward from Teutopolis. Izzy is a strong and athletic player that can defend any of the front court spots for T-Town. Because of an injury Izzy had the responsibility to defend inside most of the year and did a good job. She averaged 5 rebounds per game and shows signs of being an excellent big 3/ undersized 4 by the time she is done.</li> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="160139" first="Rilee" last="Riggs"] </strong>is a 6'3 2023 Post from Mt. Carmel. Rilee has the height and great length in her arms that make her a defender with great natural tools. She has a good feel for blocking shots and protecting the paint. As Rilee gets stronger and plays more minutes her rebounding totals will improve. Coming off the bench in her freshman campaign and averaging over 3 blocks per game shows signs of huge numbers her last 3 years.</li> <li><strong>Nikya Harston </strong>is a 5'9 2021 Forward from Hillsboro. Nikya uses her length and footwork to be a good defender in the post. She can block shots and does a good job on the helpside to slow down any drives into the paint. Nikya averaged over 2 steals per game and pulled down 10.3 rebounds. She averaged over 6 defensive boards per game to help end defensive possessions for the Lady Hilltoppers.</li> <li><strong>Ella Bockhorn </strong>is a 5'8 2022 Forward from Waterloo. Ella is an undersized inside player that delivers results on the boards consistently with her heart and brains. She can get good position and does a good job Ella averaged 8 rebounds per game and gathered 30% of the teams defensive rebounds for the season. She averaged almost 6 defensive boards per game at 5'8!</li> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="148169" first="Sophia" last="Loden"] </strong>is a 5'10 2023 Forward from Mascoutah. Sophia is long and very active on the defensive end. She will battle on defense both inside and out and does a good job using that length to disrupt her opponent. Sophia makes this list due to her rebounding. She averaged 7 per game, but 5.5 of them came on the defensive end. Sophia did a commendable job clearing the defensive glass for a team that was not big and needed her to fill that role.</li> <li><strong>Emma Slagle </strong>is a 5'11 2021 Forward from West Central. Emma has great length which she uses to contest all shots. She can defend inside and out because of her agility and quickness. Emma averaged over 8 boards per game as a 3 playing as the 5. She is tough and is willing to mix it up inside to help the team.</li> <li><strong>Serenity Price </strong>is a 6' 2021 Forward from Springfield Lanphier. Serenity was a big part of the team that made a state tourney run this year. She can be dominant down low, especially on defense. Serenity averaged over 10 rebounds per game to go along with 3 blocks per game. She has the length and athletic ability to affect the game in multiple ways and can defend multiple positions.</li> </ul> These players all show the heart and hustle it takes to be effective inside the paint. Many of these players are undersized yet getting it done against bigger players. That will translate to the next level.