Watertown Holiday Shootout Day 2: High Upside Underclassmen

Through two days of the Watertown Holiday Shootout, I noticed that the young guns were having a tremendous impact on the competitiveness of games. Teams with high-level youth players were almost always on the winning side of things or close to. This isn’t to insinuate a correlation between youth and victories, but rather to provide a snapshot into something special that the Shootout showcased. Here are some of the top underclassmen talent with upside that I saw at the Shootout: <strong>Kristina Ouimette | Lakeland | Wing | Class of 2025 | Watchlist</strong> The talent is there for [player_tooltip player_id="338940" first="Kristinia" last="Ouimette"]. She rarely looks out of her depth even when asked to play different roles. For just a freshman, she’s shown confidence and fluidity offensively beyond her years. Her comfort handling as a primary ball-handler and her positional feel immediately stood out. With her frame, developing that handle will give her the keys to the kingdom. The shooting is quite simply not that of a freshman. 44 was fearless from beyond the arc and helped Lakeland claw back from a 17 point early deficit to make the game competitive at the half. She has the skill set, range, and confidence to be an elite prospect down the road. That’s an excellent foundation, but further developing her handle, and bending that to aid her shot creation, is the next step. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="209900" first="Sydney" last="Cherney"] | Reedsburg | Guard | Class of 2024 | #27 Overall Prospect</strong> 22 will go through the natural flow of the game without making a peep. And then, whether it be on offense or defense, she’ll do something that’ll make your jaw drop. Appearing out of nowhere to get in the passing lane, add a lightning-fast side-step to her assaults on the rim, things you just don’t see from your average sophomore guard. She also has that unteachable aggression and relentlessness that will assuredly aid her development. Offensively, developing her dribble package and tweaking her jumper such that it’s a reliable tool in her arsenal is a clear next step for the Reedsburg sophomore. For as athletic as she is, she plays an interesting style of defense. She sags off her primary assignment, relenting space to handle or shoot. But she does so to better position herself on the swing and pass-back. This kind of awareness allows her to play cornerback and free safety simultaneously, putting pressure on her matchup without relenting driving lanes. As she gets stronger and savvier on that end of the floor, she’ll have the chance to be able to guard one through four in some lineups, a key aspect of her growth as a two-way player. She’s a player that stands out on the court and has the upside to be the next standard-bearer for Reedsburg. <strong>Lucy Leininger | Germantown | Wing/Forward | Class of 2024 | Unranked</strong> Leininger has become one of my favorite players to watch this season for the sole reason that she’s a defensive back hole. She engulfs her matchup and plays with a ton of nuance as an on-ball defender. It should say spades about the confidence Germantown’s coaching staff has in her that she was the primary defender against someone who I believe to be a top ten scorer in the state in [player_tooltip player_id="132376" first="Jacy" last="Weisbrod"]. And she held her ground. Weisbrod hit a couple of ridiculous shots and there’s only so much you can do as an individual defender to stop her, but Leininger’s length and physicality definitely disrupted Weisbrod and the entire Aquinas offense at times, which has been a theme in Leininger’s development all season long. And offensively, everything seems pretty milk toast until she pulls out a series of pull-up midrange jumpers with great arc and backspin, or the ability to adjust to contact when attacking the rim. There have been flashes all season long of Leininger as a legit hooper down the road, and as long as her defense continues on this upwards trajectory, she should have no problem staying on the court and developing her offensive skillset. She’ll need to find consistency from beyond the arc and commit a few post moves to memory, but Leininger is one of the few defensive players with a high offensive upside. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="209617" first="Kayl" last="Petersen"] | Waupun | Forward/Center | Class of 2024 | #6 Overall Prospect</strong> I’ve written about Petersen and her diverse skillset multiple times so far this season but it would be just unfair to her to leave her off a list of highest upside players in this tournament. She is the complete package offensively and has a nose for rim protection defensively. As a foundation with another two and a half years of varsity basketball to go, that’s ludicrous. As Michael Jordan would say, the ceiling is the roof for her. And if there’s any doubt to my stating that she’s the "complete package" consider this. There are times when she’s the rim runner in transition, but more often than not <em>she’s the outlet</em>. To an outside observer, this tells me three things. 1. She’s comfortable handling the rock and initiating offense 2. Her vision is good enough to find the rim runner, trailer, or shooter, and 3. If need be, she can bulldoze her way to the rim and get a bucket or free throws. Her versatility is admirable, the only nitpick I have is hardly even a nitpick. But because we’ve already seen flashes of a potentially elite postgame, there’s no reason why she couldn’t add even more strength and go-to moves to become a true force in Wisconsin state hoops. &nbsp;