Outplaying Expectations: 2A Teams Moving Up

What an awesome month of high school basketball it’s been! There are a ton of teams who came out swinging to start the season. Let’s take a look at which programs have stood out over and above the <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/2021/08/who-returns-the-most-scoring-2a-graduation-adjusted-rankings/">Graduation Adjusted Rankings (GAR) in 2A</a>. The GAR are an index factoring last season’s tournament seeding times the percentage of scoring each program lost to graduation to generate a preseason ranking. <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/2021/08/who-returns-the-most-scoring-2a-graduation-adjusted-rankings/">2A GAR (Click Here): </a> <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 25.0842%; height: 210px;"> <tbody> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 5.68259%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">1</td> <td style="width: 45.6055%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Holyoke</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 5.68259%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">2</td> <td style="width: 45.6055%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Sanford</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 5.68259%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">3</td> <td style="width: 45.6055%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Sedgwick County</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 5.68259%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">4</td> <td style="width: 45.6055%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Rye</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 5.68259%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">5</td> <td style="width: 45.6055%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Heritage Christian</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 5.68259%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">6</td> <td style="width: 45.6055%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Soroco</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 5.68259%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">7</td> <td style="width: 45.6055%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Cedaredge</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 5.68259%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">8</td> <td style="width: 45.6055%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Wray</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 5.68259%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">9</td> <td style="width: 45.6055%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Paonia</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 5.68259%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">10</td> <td style="width: 45.6055%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Limon</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> &nbsp; <a href="https://chsaanow.com/news/2021/12/13/girls-basketball-rankings.aspx">2A CHSAA Rankings through three weeks (Click Here):</a> <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 25.2301%;"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 5.61535%; text-align: center;">1</td> <td style="width: 45.3309%; text-align: center;">Limon</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 5.61535%; text-align: center;">2</td> <td style="width: 45.3309%; text-align: center;">Rye</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 5.61535%; text-align: center;">3</td> <td style="width: 45.3309%; text-align: center;">Sanford</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 5.61535%; text-align: center;">4</td> <td style="width: 45.3309%; text-align: center;">Sedgwick County</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 5.61535%; text-align: center;">5</td> <td style="width: 45.3309%; text-align: center;">Wray</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 5.61535%; text-align: center;">6</td> <td style="width: 45.3309%; text-align: center;">Holyoke</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 5.61535%; text-align: center;">7</td> <td style="width: 45.3309%; text-align: center;">Heritage Christian</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 5.61535%; text-align: center;">8</td> <td style="width: 45.3309%; text-align: center;">Soroco</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 5.61535%; text-align: center;">9</td> <td style="width: 45.3309%; text-align: center;">Cedaredge</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 5.61535%; text-align: center;">10</td> <td style="width: 45.3309%; text-align: center;">Yuma</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> &nbsp; Limon - GAR 10 up to #1 <ul> <li>The Badgers sprinted out to a 3-0 start before dropping one to 4th-ranked (3A) Eaton. Limon’s assist leader is 5’6" sophomore Katellyn Tacha at 3.7 APG and their scoring is paced by 5’11" senior [player_tooltip player_id="315891" first="Trista" last="Marx"] at 15.0 PPG and 6’ sophomore Jentri Marx at 14.3 PPG.</li> </ul> Yuma - GAR 23 up to #10 <ul> <li>Yuma had jumped to #10 BEFORE their huge wins this week over Brush in overtime, 50-49, and Heritage Christian, 48-45, which will likely push the Indians even higher. Emma Rayl (5’5" sophomore) is the Indians’ top assister at 3.8 APG. Lea Richardson (5’6" junior) leads the team in scoring at 11.6 PPG.</li> </ul> Outside of the top 10 but also exceeding expectations are: Rangely - GAR 26 up to #12 <ul> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="331180" first="Ryann" last="Mergelman"] is a big reason for the Panthers’ hot start. The 5’8" sophomore point guard leads the team in points (11.8), assists (1.8), and steals (4.0) per game. Senior Mary Scoggins (height unlisted) gives the Panthers’ balance by adding 9.5 PPG and 11.5 RPG and freshman, Miah Wren, is jumping right into a nice role by chipping in 8.0 PPG and 3.3 SPG.</li> </ul> Akron - GAR 27 up to #11 <ul> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="263611" first="Addi" last="Kessinger"]’s (6’0") rocketing trajectory shows no signs of slowing. She’s jumped from 13.6 PPG as a freshman to 18.5 PPG so far this season. Senior Quincy Basler (5’7") leads the Rams in steals (2.0) and assists (3.2) per game.</li> </ul> Burlington - GAR unranked up to #13 (tie) <ul> <li>Burlington’s young squad wasn’t even on the GAR radar and they’re now earning top 10 votes with the arrival of 5’10" freshman Kiyarra Williams. She’s already the team’s assist leader at 3.0 APG and is scoring 9.3 PPG with 8.7 RPG as well. With 5’11" sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="216680" first="Trinitee" last="Holmes"] scoring 12.0 PPG and 5’9" senior Sydney Cure at 7.0 PPG and 7.7 RPG, Burlington has multiple options and intimidating size.</li> </ul> Hoehne - GAR 22 up to #13 (tie) <ul> <li>The Farmers have jumped out to a 6-1 start with a balanced attack of seven players at five points a game or more. Welcome 5’5" Alessa Cantoria to the class of ’25 prospect list as she leads the team in assists (3.0) and steals (3.9) per game. Senior Nevaeh Martinez (5’7") leads the team in scoring at 10.6 PPG.</li> </ul>