LBI April Showers: Day-2

<span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>The featured image is of [player_tooltip player_id="200347" first="Adylan" last="Ayer"] of Daviess County High School (KY) and IGB 16U.</em></span> This past weekend was the LBI April Showers tournament in Warsaw, Indiana. During the Summer in 2020, LBI found Warsaw as a nice home to host tournaments during the pandemic, and it appears it will be hosting more events there in the future. This event has been one of their biggest/best. Many of the top Michigan teams, along with several Indiana programs, plus some of the better teams from Chicago and Northwest Ohio were in attendance. Despite covering mostly Indiana, below is a look at five ladies from the surrounding states who I thought stood out in the games I was able to see on Championship Sunday. &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="227599" first="Molly" last="Libby"], 2022, 5-8 W, Lakeland H.S. (MI)</strong></span> Molly was everywhere for her Michigan PR1DE team. She’s hard to label by position because she does a little of everything well. She has a solid/strong frame, she’s a nice athlete in most directions, and she plays with a great motor and a quiet toughness to her game. She showed the ability to put it on the floor, attack the basket, absorb contact, and finish inside. But she was also solid around the perimeter and knocked down a couple of open rhythm jumpers when I saw her. I thought she did some really nice things. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="200347" first="Adylan" last="Ayer"], 2023, 5-10 SG, Daviess County H.S. (KY)</strong></span> When I saw Adylan last Summer, her athleticism really stood out. She’s a run-and-jump kid with great length and wiry strength. This Spring she looks much more comfortable as more of a true guard than a wing, and she is making plays for herself and teammates on most possessions. She is explosive attacking the basket, she can hang and finish through contact, plus she is shooting it consistently from the perimeter. Defensively, she has quick feet and does a nice job of defending the other team’s best player. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="190186" first="Morganne" last="Houk"], 2023, 5-6 CG, Plymouth Christian Academy (MI)</strong></span> Morganne struck me as one of those nice, steady, skillful, and high IQ type of guards. She can handle the ball and run offense, she doesn’t seem to force the action much, plus she is an accurate perimeter shooter who doesn’t need much space or time to get her shot away. She did a really nice job of picking her spots in the game I saw, and she took care of the ball well. If she can get just a little more explosive, I think it would help, especially defensively. I think she’ll draw a lot of small college interest as a cerebral point guard. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="230784" first="Elyssa" last="Kincaid"], 2023, 5-10 F, Riverview H.S. (MI)</strong></span> In the 16U championship game I saw her Factory Orange team play in, Elyssa had a tough matchup throughout, battling a pair of posts who are 6-1 and 6-3. But she held her own and did a really nice job at the offensive end of the floor, using her quickness and athleticism against them. Elyssa is a long, wiry strong forward who plays with great versatility. She can attack the basket and finish athletically, she has a solid mid-post game, and she can knock down open rhythm jumpers. I just like her "never quit" mindset. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Eden Pearson, 2023, 5-7 PG, Wheaton North H.S. (IL)</strong></span> I thought Eden was pretty impressive in a couple of games I saw Sunday. She is an athletically strong point guard with good North/South explosion and solid lateral quickness. She is always on attack, looking to get into the defense and score at the basket. But she also showed the patience to run offense and work for a good shot, plus she herself smoothly knocked down a couple of perimeter jumpers. She plays hard and she was gritty defensively, but I just really liked her consistent attacking style and toughness.