’22 Top 150: Brooks Conquers All

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The dynamic duo from the Brooks School and Lady Rivals is on top of the Prep Girls Hoops rankings for the second straight update. [player_tooltip player_id="263832" first="Taina" last="Mair"] and [player_tooltip player_id="263799" first="Samantha" last="Dewey"] have been out of this world the past few months, leading to a very successful summer for The Rivals. Their chemistry and cohesiveness on the court is a thing of beauty. Let’s look at what made Dewey and Mair deserving of the top 2 spots in New England.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span> <span style="font-size: 18pt;"><b>#2</b></span> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-325724" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/09/IMG_9223-scaled-crop-1702x1118-1631498122-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> <b>[player_tooltip player_id="263799" first="Samantha" last="Dewey"] - Lady Rivals/Brooks - 6’2’’ - PF </b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Dewey has been one of the most impressive players to watch, not just for her elite skill set, but her work ethic, conditioning, and durability set her apart from her peers. It is inconceivable that a player at her position and size never misses a game and plays the most minutes on the team. Every weekend from spring until now, Dewey has put on the Rivals jersey and played at a consistently high level every game. No matter what time I pull up to a Rivals practice, the common denominator is that [player_tooltip player_id="263799" first="Samantha" last="Dewey"] is present, outworking everyone. That speaks to her reliability on a day-to-day basis. Dewey runs the floor harder than anyone, is dominant on the block, can beat her defender off the dribble, and is a good three-point shooter. Her defense was on full display as she proved to be one of the best rim protectors in the region during the July live period. Dewey was so impactful that the Big Ten Conference took notice this summer. She caught the eye of the University of Illinois, and not only received an offer, but made her official commitment to the school last month. </span> &nbsp; https://x.com/SamanthaDewey5/status/1427376075760410624 &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 18pt;"><b>#1</b></span> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-325732" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/09/51334452325_648f2033a2_o-scaled-crop-1637x1075-1631499116-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> <b>[player_tooltip player_id="263832" first="Taina" last="Mair"] - Lady Rivals/ Brooks - 5’8’’ - PG</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Mair missed a lot of the action during the spring; but she returned during the July Live period and was undoubtedly the best player in New England. When running the show for the Lady Rivals, she raises the ceiling of a team that is already flooded with top 5-20 talent up and down the roster. Throughout the summer, I noticed multiple players on the Rivals 17U team whose stock rose exponentially. I believed the Rivals were the best team without Mair in the lineup. They become an absolute juggernaut when you insert her at the 1 alongside [player_tooltip player_id="264770" first="Victoria" last="Morales"], [player_tooltip player_id="267052" first="Oluchi" last="Okananwa"], [player_tooltip player_id="264678" first="Rachel" last="Ullstrom"], and [player_tooltip player_id="263799" first="Samantha" last="Dewey"]. The main reason being Mair’s playmaking off the bounce. I have not seen anyone capable of sticking to her one on one consistently throughout a game; and once she gets by the first defender, it’s a bucket or an assist opportunity. The countless open shots she generates for her teammates are insane, and her patented step-back jump shot is one of the most unstoppable moves in New England. Mair is a winning basketball player, and her impact trickles down to the rest of the team.</span> &nbsp; https://x.com/SelectEventsBB/status/1413154886200578054