Kansas City PGH Top 250 Expo Review : Team #8

Enjoy this look at Team #8 players from the Sunday, October 3, PGH Top 250 Exposure Event at Hy-Vee Arena, Kansas City, Missouri. The evaluations of all ten teams are blends of notes from my colleagues Earl Austin, Phillipe McCree, and me. [caption id="attachment_335590" align="alignleft" width="160"]<img class="wp-image-335590" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/10/45-Avery-Barber-266x300.jpg" alt="" width="160" height="180" /> St. Joe Central 2023 [player_tooltip player_id="335942" first="Avery" last="Barber"]. Photo: Prep Girls Hoops.[/caption][caption id="attachment_335574" align="alignright" width="137"]<img class="wp-image-335574" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/10/21-AmUnique-Cavitt.jpg" alt="" width="137" height="182" /> Wichita North 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="124992" first="AmUnique" last="Cavitt"]. Photo: Prep Girls Hoops.[/caption][player_tooltip player_id="335942" first="Avery" last="Barber"], 5’7", CG, St. Joe Central, 2023 - Barber sets up for and shoots the perimeter jumper as well as anybody I saw, especially in the corners. Good flow, quick release, soft shot. She also can get downhill and finish on the basket attack. [player_tooltip player_id="124992" first="AmUnique" last="Cavitt"], 5’7", PG, Witchita North, 2022 - Cavitt consistently showed off the abilities that have led to her having quite a few conversations with college coaches. She has strong handles, speed and quickness with the ball in transition and in the half court, and is a quality perimeter shooter. Her quick hands are evident on the other side of the ball too, getting transition game opportunities going for her team. Phillipe - <span data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Good athlete who sees and runs the floor well. Handles the ball at a high level. Made some really good passes to set shooters up. "}" data-sheets-userformat="{"2":513,"3":{"1":0},"12":0}">Good athlete who sees and runs the floor well. Handles the ball at a high level. Made some really good passes to set shooters up. [caption id="attachment_337216" align="alignleft" width="161"]<img class="wp-image-337216" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/10/F2CA4BF4-0D72-473B-A9E3-59235DB8BBFC.jpeg" alt="" width="161" height="121" /> Lee’s Summit West 2024 [player_tooltip player_id="335949" first="Cady" last="Huffman"]. Photo: Prep Girls Hoops.[/caption][player_tooltip player_id="207029" first="Cady" last="Huffman"], 6’6", C, Lee’s Summit West, 2024 - I have seen Huffman play a few times throughout the summer and enjoyed watching her game grow. And her growth is a result of her consistent effort. She consistently runs the floor well and works to gain position for and finish interior passes. Her quickness is improving and a quick step defensively enables her to influence potential drives into or through the lane. You cannot teach size and Huffman has that in spades. And with her length and strength, she uses it to her advantage well. She takes up space on the post up and is nearly impossible to get around. Once with the ball, pretty much forget it as she uses good power dribbles to help finish. Rebounding, she keeps the ball up high and otherwise does a good job of clearing it to get to a ball handler. Off the catch inside keeps the ball up high and scores with it well once she does. [caption id="attachment_255066" align="alignleft" width="159"]<img class="wp-image-255066" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/02/Jalyiah-Manual-2024-Wichita-East_2-2.12.21-300x269.jpg" alt="Jalyiah Manual squeezes the game ending rebounding against Kapaun Mt. Carmel" width="159" height="143" /> Wichita East 2024 Jalyiah Manual. Photo: Robert Kelly.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_335614" align="alignright" width="155"]<img class="wp-image-335614" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/10/75-Emma-Mitchell-260x300.jpg" alt="" width="155" height="179" /> Rossville 2024 [player_tooltip player_id="231275" first="Emma" last="Mitchell"]. Photo: Prep Girls Hoops.[/caption][player_tooltip player_id="255499" first="Lauren" last="Luebbert"], 5’11", SF/PF, Marshfield, 2024 - Luebbert is solid inside-outside player. She has a solid build with good height, can score around the basket, and is a perimeter threat. Earl noted her versatility on both ends of the floor, capability to hit the three-ball as well as the mid-range jumper, and defensive ability to create turnovers and block shots. Jalyiah Manual, 6’0", SF, Wichita East, 2024 - Manual is a very long player who rebounded with strength. Made good use of pivoting to try to clear her rebounds also. A solid deterrent defensively inside Phillipe saw that she did a great job on the ball-screen game. [player_tooltip player_id="231275" first="Emma" last="Mitchell"], 5’10", SF, Rossville, 2024 - Right away I liked that Mitchell boxed and otherwise tied up a player boxing out away from the shot about 10 feet from the basket. All day long she consistently boxed well. She also showed quickness with and without the ball and solid transition speed. Matched up on occasion with an opposing point guard she did a good job of using her length to disrupt passing lanes and even to see a clear lane to the basket. Phillipe noted that she had a high basketball IQ, handles, and was a good athlete. [player_tooltip player_id="191489" first="Hattie" last="Pyle"], 5’7", CG, Frontenac, 2023 - I have been following Pyle since I saw her Raiders at Kansas’s Class 3A state tournament, where she was a starter. Pyle can play and getting to see her at our event gave us a great opportunity to see her game. Pyle can score at all three levels. She is athletic, strong, and elevates well on the score and on the rebound. A very solid defensive player. My colleague Phillipe also like how low to the ground she plays and how well she handles the ball. A very in-control player who plays with her head up looking for her teammates. She flat out competes on both ends of the floor. Featured image: Frontenac 2023 [player_tooltip player_id="191489" first="Hattie" last="Pyle"]. Photo: Prep Girls Hoops.