Class 4A – Region 7: 2022’s who can Breakout

As we look for other ways to cover prospects we thought it would be beneficial to cover players in a way that allows us to cover those we don’t write much about. We will be using the region’s from last season as they were constructed. Obviously, these regions will change into next season but for these stories it was the easiest way to divide players and teams as equally as possible. We will be writing a series of three stories for each region in the state and the categories are as follows: 2023’s to put on Your Radar, 2022’s who can Breakout, and 2021’s Who Should be Valued by Colleges. We will continue to go through each region and aim to hit as many players as we can that we haven’t talked about previously. Here are five 2022’s who could be primed for big seasons. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="128996" first="Ava" last="Hawthorne"] - Gilbert</strong> Despite her youth, Gilbert’s Ava Hawthrone was big-time last year. Hawthrone led the team in scoring at almost 17 per night along with four assists. She finished her sophomore season with 384 total points and 94 assists, holding nearly a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. A 50 percent shooter from the field, Hawthrone knocked down 32 three-pointers and also produced 122 rebounds, 58 steals and blocked seven shots. <strong>Meredith McKnight - Grinnell</strong> A quick look at the year-ending stat leaders for Grinnell will show you just how good Meredith McKnight was last season. The Class of 2022 prospect led the team with 12.9 points. 5.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists a night a year ago, helping them finish second in the Little Hawkeye Conference and win 16 games. McKnight shot over 42 percent from the floor, made 36 three-pointers and knocked down 75 percent of her free throws. She also had 26 steals. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="163339" first="Katelyn" last="Lappe"] - Bondurant-Farrar</strong> Despite coming off the bench, there was no stopping Katleyn Lappe from producing. Lappe had 169 points for the Bluejays, shooting almost 58 percent from the field and 64 percent at the free throw line. She also recorded 116 rebounds with 23 assists and 22 steals. <strong>Jayna Kenney - Perry</strong> Perry turned to young players last winter in hopes of putting together the building blocks for a solid foundation. Jayna Kenney is a key piece to that process as the Class of 2022 prospect produced 132 points, 106 rebounds, 40 steals, 29 assists and made 15 three-pointers last year. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="163322" first="Ivey" last="Schmidt"] - Grinnell</strong> A second piece to the success Grinnell had last year was Class of 2022’s [player_tooltip player_id="163322" first="Ivey" last="Schmidt"]. Schmidt accounted for 284 points on 44 percent shooting from the floor with 34 made three-pointers. She also had 126 rebounds, 74 assists and 56 steals.