Players to Watch: Bay Conference

As the new Wisconsin High School basketball season approaches, it’s an appropriate time to take a look at some players who have the ability to make an impact in their conference season. This will be specifically looking at players in Wisconsin’s Bay Conference, which plays in the Fox Valley Region. Although in the recent past this conference has been dominated by West De Pere going undefeated the past three seasons within the conference, this season however things seem to be more wide open with the exodus of West De Pere’s talented 2021 class. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="156053" first="Maggie" last="McGinnis"] ’23 - Xavier - </strong>Looking at last season she and her team had a very successful season finishing second in the conference with an 8-3 record. However, the intrigue with this guard coming into this season will be how she caries the load with fellow class of 2023 guard [player_tooltip player_id="156051" first="Sammie" last="Buss"] suffering a torn ACL last May. With her fellow team-leading scorer possibly out for an extended stretch this season, she will be given more attention by opposing defenses and it will be interesting to see how she responds. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="156055" first="Mara" last="Rieder"] ’23 - Menasha - </strong>Following up an impressive freshman campaign for Menasha this forward came back with an even better sophomore campaign. While upping her scoring and helping her team earn a better overall record, even with fewer games played. Even in a conference that has been dominated recently by West De Pere, she has made a claim over her first two seasons in the Bay conference that she may be the most dominant player currently in the conference. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="206582" first="Lizzie" last="Steingraber"] ’23 - New London -</strong> Another excellent talent with aspirations of taking down West De Pere this coming season, this forward is a very fluid player. With her 5’10 size, she has the ability to play inside when defended by smaller guards and outside when guarded by bigger defenders, she looks equally comfortable doing both. With a very simple jumper her shot is very consistent and with her high release will rarely feel pressure. Playing in a very equal opportunity scoring offense her potential to score at a higher level may be slightly subdued, but if they take another step in the Bay Conference she will be a massive reason even if she isn’t a massive scorer. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="262990" first="Abbie" last="Bates"] ’22 - Menasha - </strong>Entering her senior season with Menasha, this guard will definitely be looking to end her high school career on a high by possibly swiping the conference title from West De Pere. This pass-first guard always looks to make her teammates better. With teammate [player_tooltip player_id="156055" first="Mara" last="Rieder"] being as high a level of a scorer as she is with as gifted of a passer that [player_tooltip player_id="262990" first="Abbie" last="Bates"] is this duo is a bit of a match made in heaven if you’re a Menasha coach. I expect the best version of her this year to help Menasha fight for a conference title this season. &nbsp;