State Tournament: Top 10 Performers
Mason Asher
In this article:
With the state tournament over, we are not going to go through each class and talk about some of the standouts that we saw. There were some very good offensive displays but there were also quite a few very good defensive performers from the week. In this article we will look at the top performers overall from the entire tournament regardless of class. There are multiple deserving players who are left off this list but I had to look at overall body of work for their team along with consistency. The list is in alphabetical order by first name so we do not show bias.
Anaya Barney
Anaya
Barney
5'11" | SF
Cedar Falls | 2021
State
IA
- 2021 - 5’11 SG - Cedar Falls - Northern Iowa commit
Barney was solid in almost leading Cedar Falls to a win over Johnston. She scored 24 points in the game and also grabbed seven rebounds. She’s a long and lengthy athlete who showed the ability to make plays happen on her own. Handled the ball nicely and has quick hands that allow her to get her hands on the ball defensively. Barney’s single game of 24 points was actually the 2nd most in 5A during the entire tournament. I was impressed how much quicker her jumper looked this week.
Audi Crooks
Audi
Crooks
6'3" | C
Bishop Garrigan | 2023
State
#42
Nation
IA
- 2023 - 6’2 C - Bishop Garrigan
Crooks once again was dominant this state tournament much like she is in every game she plays. Crooks averaged 22 points a game and grabbed 13 rebounds a game. She had two games of 25 points and was the only player in the tournament to score 25 points or more twice this week. She has become more agile and gets position really well on the inside. She has very soft hands allowing her to corral entry passes at any spot. Just a dominant force on the inside for Bishop Garrigan and will likely hold some career state tournament records once she graduates.
Brooklyn Meyer
Brooklyn
Meyer
6'2" | PF
West Lyon | 2022
State
#74
Nation
IA
- 2022 - 6’2 PF - West Lyon - South Dakota State commit
Meyer cemented herself as one of the top 2022’s in the country this year after having a great state tournament. She can play in the high post or in the low post but can also bounce out and control the ball on the perimeter at times. She had the lone triple-double of the tournament as well with points, rebounds, and blocks. Meyer has the ability to seal her defender off really well and has a very strong lower body allowing her to solidify her spot on the block. Excellent rebounder who can go and get the ball out of her area.
Jada Gyamfi
Jada
Gyamfi
6'1" | PF
Johnston | 2022
State
#76
Nation
IA
- 2022 - 6’1 F - Johnston - Iowa commit
Gyamfi was incredibly instrumental in helping her team get to the 5A state title game. She had 18 rebounds in each of her first two games of the week and ended up averaging over 14 rebounds over her three games. Besides her rebounding, she ended the week as the second leading scorer in the 5A tournament as she scored 40 points across the three games. I thought that she played as good as I’ve ever seen her in her career. She’s going to be a big reason that Johnston is right back at the Well next year.
Janie Schoonhoven
Janie
Schoonhoven
5'10" | PF
Unity Chrisitian | 2021
State
IA
- 2021 - 5’11 F - Unity Christian - Dordt commit
Schoonhoven was as important as they come for her team as she had a great week on both ends of the court. To start, she led all of 3A in scoring for the week and not to be understated she also led all of 3A in rebounding, and in the process broke her school record for rebounds in a career. Her best performance of the week came in the final game of the season when she had a quiet 17 points and 16 rebounds in the title game. She does everything so efficiently and well you don’t even realize she has had a monster game. She reads the defense very well and slides quickly into space.
Jenna Hopp
Jenna
Hopp
5'11" | SG
Glenwood | 2023
State
IA
- 2023 - 5’10 SG - Glenwood
One of the first things that stand about Hopp and her game is her pure toughness. You wouldn’t think a guard would lead 4A in rebounding at the tournament but Hopp did. In the first game, she struggled with foul trouble and played just 13 minutes but still scored six points, grabbed five rebounds, and nabbed four steals. She had a double-double against both North Scott and Ballard where she averaged 14 points and 10.5 rebounds in those games. Hopp is always going to fill the stat sheet because of her prowess on both ends and willingness to do the dirty work.
Katie Dinnebier
Katie
Dinnebier
5'7" | PG
Waukee | 2021
State
IA
- 2021 - 5’8 PG - Waukee - Drake commit
Dinnebier had one of the best games of the tournament in the final game of her career as she scored 29 points in a dominant win over Johnston. She was 11-of-14 from the floor as well making this 29 point game an awfully efficient game which sums up her entire career. She also dished off four assists making her final stat line even better. She was able to use hesitation to get to the rim easily and was great off the catch. Dinnebier is so good at controlling her body around the rim to score the ball.
Macy Sievers
Macy
Sievers
5'7" | SG
Newell-Fonda | 2022
State
IA
- 2022 - 5’7 PG - Newell-Fonda
Sievers is a very good player who runs the show for Newell-Fonda when she’s on the floor. She is a well rounded player who averaged 14.7 points a game and 5.3 assists a game during the tournament while adding in 4.0 steals a game. Those numbers might not jump out at you but when you realize she played no more than 14 minutes in game those are insane numbers. Sievers is an under-the-radar talent who you can trust run your team. Her state tournament proves her ability in every facet of the game.
Payton Petersen - 2024 - 5’10 F - Dike-New Hartford
Petersen is another kid who had a great all around tournament and she’s the only freshman on this list. I thought that her second game was her best game as she scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against a tough West Branch team. She was the only player in 2A that averaged a double-double during the tournament and grabbed 11 more rebounds than the next best player. I thought that her athleticism was the difference maker for her team on the inside.
Taylor Veach
Taylor
Veach
5'11" | SF
Central DeWitt | 2022
State
IA
- 2022 - 5’11 SF - Central DeWitt - Illinois State commit
In her first state tournament game, Veach was pretty excellent. She didn’t turn the ball over in her game and scored 20 points and hauled in seven rebounds. I like the way Veach plays because she is so versatile with her size and strength. She can play along the perimeter and knock shots down but her ability to go inside and post up makes her a very tough player to defend. Veach is one of the toughest players in the state to defend because of that versatility and it showed with her 20 point game at the tournament.
Anaya Barney
Anaya
Barney
5'11" | SF
Cedar Falls | 2021
State
IA
- 2021 - 5’11 SG - Cedar Falls - Northern Iowa commit
Barney was solid in almost leading Cedar Falls to a win over Johnston. She scored 24 points in the game and also grabbed seven rebounds. She’s a long and lengthy athlete who showed the ability to make plays happen on her own. Handled the ball nicely and has quick hands that allow her to get her hands on the ball defensively. Barney’s single game of 24 points was actually the 2nd most in 5A during the entire tournament. I was impressed how much quicker her jumper looked this week.
Audi Crooks
Audi
Crooks
6'3" | C
Bishop Garrigan | 2023
State
#42
Nation
IA
- 2023 - 6’2 C - Bishop Garrigan
Crooks once again was dominant this state tournament much like she is in every game she plays. Crooks averaged 22 points a game and grabbed 13 rebounds a game. She had two games of 25 points and was the only player in the tournament to score 25 points or more twice this week. She has become more agile and gets position really well on the inside. She has very soft hands allowing her to corral entry passes at any spot. Just a dominant force on the inside for Bishop Garrigan and will likely hold some career state tournament records once she graduates.
Brooklyn Meyer
Brooklyn
Meyer
6'2" | PF
West Lyon | 2022
State
#74
Nation
IA
- 2022 - 6’2 PF - West Lyon - South Dakota State commit
Meyer cemented herself as one of the top 2022’s in the country this year after having a great state tournament. She can play in the high post or in the low post but can also bounce out and control the ball on the perimeter at times. She had the lone triple-double of the tournament as well with points, rebounds, and blocks. Meyer has the ability to seal her defender off really well and has a very strong lower body allowing her to solidify her spot on the block. Excellent rebounder who can go and get the ball out of her area.
Jada Gyamfi
Jada
Gyamfi
6'1" | PF
Johnston | 2022
State
#76
Nation
IA
- 2022 - 6’1 F - Johnston - Iowa commit
Gyamfi was incredibly instrumental in helping her team get to the 5A state title game. She had 18 rebounds in each of her first two games of the week and ended up averaging over 14 rebounds over her three games. Besides her rebounding, she ended the week as the second leading scorer in the 5A tournament as she scored 40 points across the three games. I thought that she played as good as I’ve ever seen her in her career. She’s going to be a big reason that Johnston is right back at the Well next year.
Janie Schoonhoven
Janie
Schoonhoven
5'10" | PF
Unity Chrisitian | 2021
State
IA
- 2021 - 5’11 F - Unity Christian - Dordt commit
Schoonhoven was as important as they come for her team as she had a great week on both ends of the court. To start, she led all of 3A in scoring for the week and not to be understated she also led all of 3A in rebounding, and in the process broke her school record for rebounds in a career. Her best performance of the week came in the final game of the season when she had a quiet 17 points and 16 rebounds in the title game. She does everything so efficiently and well you don’t even realize she has had a monster game. She reads the defense very well and slides quickly into space.
Jenna Hopp
Jenna
Hopp
5'11" | SG
Glenwood | 2023
State
IA
- 2023 - 5’10 SG - Glenwood
One of the first things that stand about Hopp and her game is her pure toughness. You wouldn’t think a guard would lead 4A in rebounding at the tournament but Hopp did. In the first game, she struggled with foul trouble and played just 13 minutes but still scored six points, grabbed five rebounds, and nabbed four steals. She had a double-double against both North Scott and Ballard where she averaged 14 points and 10.5 rebounds in those games. Hopp is always going to fill the stat sheet because of her prowess on both ends and willingness to do the dirty work.
Katie Dinnebier
Katie
Dinnebier
5'7" | PG
Waukee | 2021
State
IA
- 2021 - 5’8 PG - Waukee - Drake commit
Dinnebier had one of the best games of the tournament in the final game of her career as she scored 29 points in a dominant win over Johnston. She was 11-of-14 from the floor as well making this 29 point game an awfully efficient game which sums up her entire career. She also dished off four assists making her final stat line even better. She was able to use hesitation to get to the rim easily and was great off the catch. Dinnebier is so good at controlling her body around the rim to score the ball.
Macy Sievers
Macy
Sievers
5'7" | SG
Newell-Fonda | 2022
State
IA
- 2022 - 5’7 PG - Newell-Fonda
Sievers is a very good player who runs the show for Newell-Fonda when she’s on the floor. She is a well rounded player who averaged 14.7 points a game and 5.3 assists a game during the tournament while adding in 4.0 steals a game. Those numbers might not jump out at you but when you realize she played no more than 14 minutes in game those are insane numbers. Sievers is an under-the-radar talent who you can trust run your team. Her state tournament proves her ability in every facet of the game.
Payton Petersen - 2024 - 5’10 F - Dike-New Hartford
Petersen is another kid who had a great all around tournament and she’s the only freshman on this list. I thought that her second game was her best game as she scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against a tough West Branch team. She was the only player in 2A that averaged a double-double during the tournament and grabbed 11 more rebounds than the next best player. I thought that her athleticism was the difference maker for her team on the inside.
Taylor Veach
Taylor
Veach
5'11" | SF
Central DeWitt | 2022
State
IA
- 2022 - 5’11 SF - Central DeWitt - Illinois State commit
In her first state tournament game, Veach was pretty excellent. She didn’t turn the ball over in her game and scored 20 points and hauled in seven rebounds. I like the way Veach plays because she is so versatile with her size and strength. She can play along the perimeter and knock shots down but her ability to go inside and post up makes her a very tough player to defend. Veach is one of the toughest players in the state to defend because of that versatility and it showed with her 20 point game at the tournament. 
