Top Forwards & Posts In Southern & Southwestern Indiana

In selecting the five regional areas for my regional articles, I used the Indiana Coaches of Girls’ Sports Association’s (ICGSA) five districts. Schools are evenly distributed by county and somewhat geographical, though not exact. Counties included in the "East Central, South Central, & Southeastern" articles include: Brown, Clark, Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Floyd, Gibson, Greene, Harrison, Jackson, Knox, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Orange, Perry, Pike, Posey, Scott, Spencer, Sullivan, Vanderburgh, Warrick, and Washington. Across the entire Prep Hoops Network, we are exploring ways to bring you different types of content in each of the states we cover. One idea we’ve come up with is "city rankings", where we highlight some of the better players in each metropolitan area. I felt like in Indiana, however, there are talented kids spread all over the state, so it wouldn’t be fair to solely focus on Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Evansville, for example. Instead, I have divided the state into five regions based on a fairly even distribution of the 400+ high schools available to choose from. It isn’t exact, but it seemed like the best way to make sure all prospects from the Hoosier state were considered. (Please see the italicized fine print above for a more specific breakdown of the counties used in this article.) Without further ado, below is a look at some of the top returning forwards and posts in "Southern & Southwestern" Indiana, arranged alphabetically within their graduating classes.   [player_tooltip player_id="22694" first="Gracie" last="Adams"], 2021, 5-9 SF/PF, Lanesville H.S. As a coach, Gracie is enjoyable to watch. Her motor, quiet toughness, and versatility help her produce each time she takes the floor. She is strong and physical in the mid-post and when attacking the basket, she can post up smaller/weaker defenders, but she also has a solid handle and the ability to knock down an open rhythm jumper from outside. She thinks the game very well and understands angles/rotations defensively also. My best memory of her is her scoring nearly 30 points last Summer against a much taller and more athletic travel team. [player_tooltip player_id="62554" first="Mariah" last="Dickerson"], 2021, 6-0 C, Evansville Mater Dei H.S. Mariah is a powerful, broad-shouldered post who loves physicality, but who can also play somewhat skillfully in the mid-post. She began a promising high school career averaging 9.9 points and 7.9 rebounds as a Freshman, but she was unfortunately injured and missed the entire Spring and Summer of 2018. She returned midseason for the 2018-2019 campaign and helped Mater Dei to the Semi-State, but it wasn’t until this past season that she finally started to look like herself again. She can take over games because of her strength, plus she finishes well and has solid footwork inside. [player_tooltip player_id="22680" first="Rebekah" last="Gordon"], 2021, 6-0 PF/SF, Heritage Hills H.S. Rebekah is a long, wiry strong, North/South athlete who plays with a tremendous motor. She could stand to get a little quicker laterally, but she does have good bounce to her as well. I have been watching her since the Summer of 2017, and she is one of the better frontline finishers inside of 15-feet. She can pull up, shoot floaters, leaners, and finish around the basket with either hand. I think she is a tremendous mid-post scorer, but she has begun adding a more advanced perimeter game this year, handling it more and knocking down shots outside. Rebekah has already committed to Auburn University. [player_tooltip player_id="35016" first="Sydney" last="Jaynes"], 2021, 6-3 C/PF, Trinity Lutheran School The frontline players in Indiana’s 2021 class are incredibly versatile, but maybe none more so than Sydney. I don’t know if I’ve ever called anyone this, but Sydney is what I would call a "point center". She has a solid handle, brings the ball up the floor for Trinity Lutheran at times, and she’s a really nice passer. She can knock down an occasional 3-pointer, she’s a solid free throw shooter (70%), but she’s incredibly productive in the mid-post and posting up smaller defenders. She has good hands and footwork, and she is highly skilled with the ball. Sydney recently committed to Butler University. [player_tooltip player_id="62534" first="Maycee" last="Lange"], 2021, 6-0 PF, Vincennes Lincoln H.S. Maycee has put together an outstanding career, but not many people talk about her outside of Southwest Indiana. She is on pace to graduate with over 1500 points and 1100 rebounds. She has some length, she’s fairly strong, and she runs and jumps fairly well. She plays with a great motor, posts hard inside, but she’s very active in the mid-post and has nice touch that extends to near the perimeter. While she doesn’t shoot it outside much, she is 37% from ’3’ for her career, plus she’s an impressive 80% free throw shooter the last two seasons. Maycee has already committed to play at the University of Evansville. [player_tooltip player_id="35069" first="Haley" last="Rose"], 2021, 6-0 PF/SF, Linton-Stockton H.S. The [player_tooltip player_id="35069" first="Haley" last="Rose"] I saw this season is nowhere near what I remember from the Summer of 2017. She might have improved as much as anyone in this 2021 class, and without growing much at all. Haley is extremely long, fluid, and somewhat smooth now. She is still a bit slender and will need to get stronger before college, but she can change directions with the dribble now and attack the basket from the perimeter, plus she’s starting to shoot it consistently from 17-feet to beyond the 3-point line. If she can consistently show the ability to defend wings, she could be recruited as more of a wing herself. [player_tooltip player_id="97242" first="Diana" last="Burgher"], 2022, 6-0 PF/SF, North Harrison H.S. Diana is one of the better 2022 frontline prospects, and I think she’s still a little under-recruited. She has good length, wiry strength, and fluidity, plus she runs the floor well and has good lift off the floor. After being more of a center in middle school, she has really worked on her handle and touch in the mid-post. She has nice shooting mechanics, and I think she will eventually stretch her shot to beyond the perimeter. She is comfortable outside, and she can attack and change directions off the bounce. Plus, she’s really effective in the mid-post and finishing around the basket. She also still has a high ceiling. [player_tooltip player_id="97268" first="Kaybree" last="Oxley"], 2022, 5-9 SF/PF, Tecumseh H.S. Kaybree is an absolute warrior for the Lady Braves. She is tough-nosed, strong, and physical, plus she plays with a great motor, she plays much bigger than she is, and she always produces. Kaybree is a really nice all-around athlete who does most things well. She has a nose for the ball and is an outstanding rebounder, she can defend multiple positions, and she’s a playmaker off the bounce and can create scoring opportunities for herself and teammates. The next step in her progression will be to become an effective perimeter shooter, but that’s about the only thing missing from her game right now. [player_tooltip player_id="61034" first="Taylor" last="Singer"], 2022, 6-3 C, Gibson Southern H.S. Taylor is one of those kids who just looks like a ballplayer. She has broad-shoulders, great length, and noticeable muscle definition. She runs the floor well North/South, she can be physically overwhelming inside, and she has good bounce to her. She is still developing her skillset and ability to score the ball away from the basket, but this past high school season she began finishing much better inside, plus she was a real presence at the defensive end of the floor, averaging 2.2 blocked shots per game. She was also a nice offensive rebounder (3.0 orpg) for the Titans. [player_tooltip player_id="128136" first="Alaina" last="Thorne"], 2022, 5-11 PF, Washington H.S. After averaging 5.4 points per game in seven games as a Freshman, Alaina took off this season, nearly tripling her scoring and improving in all other categories. I think a lot of that progress came with confidence, which came with growth and added strength. I also think she still has room to grow another 2-3 inches and continue developing her game. She is very active and productive in the mid-post, and she has a real nose for the ball. She is extremely long, fluid, and plays much bigger than she is. If she can develop any sort of perimeter game, it will really help her recruiting.   Other Noteworthy Forwards & Posts: [player_tooltip player_id="99391" first="Kylee" last="Appman"], 2021, Heritage Hills H.S. [player_tooltip player_id="35083" first="Layne" last="Burke"], 2021, New Albany H.S. [player_tooltip player_id="62559" first="Lauren" last="Carie"], 2021, Vincennes Rivet H.S. [player_tooltip player_id="130413" first="Jocelyn" last="Cox"], 2021, North Central H.S. (Farmersburg) Brooke Jackson, 2021, Mount Vernon H.S. (Posey) [player_tooltip player_id="130369" first="Grace" last="Meyer"], 2021, Seymour H.S. Treasure Nickelson, 2021, Crawford County H.S. Bree Noland, 2021, Perry Central H.S. [player_tooltip player_id="99407" first="Emma" last="Shelton"], 2021, Jasper H.S. Kendra Sill, 2021, Eastern H.S. (Pekin) [player_tooltip player_id="130368" first="Amaya" last="Thomas"], 2021, Evansville Central H.S. [player_tooltip player_id="62571" first="Jasmine" last="Walker"], 2021, Clarksville H.S. [player_tooltip player_id="99395" first="Zoe" last="Zellers"], 2021, Scottsburg H.S. [player_tooltip player_id="128184" first="Cortney" last="Dove"], 2022, Princeton Community H.S. [player_tooltip player_id="128152" first="DeMaria" last="King"], 2022, Charlestown H.S. [player_tooltip player_id="128150" first="Kencia" last="Levasseur"], 2022, Washington H.S. [player_tooltip player_id="128140" first="Kaliah" last="Neighbors"], 2022, Evansville North H.S. [player_tooltip player_id="128176" first="Abigail" last="Ratts"], 2022, Salem H.S. [player_tooltip player_id="128203" first="Grace" last="Schrader"], 2022, Seymour H.S. [player_tooltip player_id="97306" first="Kennedy" last="Wenger"], 2022, Evansville Mater Dei H.S. [player_tooltip player_id="59752" first="Kendall" last="Hale"], 2023, Cannelton H.S. Kaiden Harrington, 2023, Edgewood H.S. [player_tooltip player_id="59774" first="Cadence" last="Singleton"], 2023, Jeffersonville H.S.