Saturday Standouts: Top Players in D1 Quarterfinal Contests
Saturday hosted a couple of prime time D1 matchups with #4 Essex High School facing #5 St. Johnsbury Academy in a high scoring shootout, and with #3 Mount Mansfield grinding one out vs #6 Rutland High School. EHS overcame St. Johnsbury with a barrage of threes to secure a 68-50 victory, and across county, MMU eked out a win against RHS in a physical 36-35 finish. So, which players came to play in the heat of playoff basketball?
Mount Mansfield Union High School:
Jada Diamond, 5’5 PG – Class of ’22
The best way to describe Jada’s defense is wasp-like, swarming players with intense on-ball and off-ball pressure. She got the job of taking RHS’ top player, Bellomo, and worked her tail off to deny when MMU was in their matchup defense. Jada swiped one or two steals on ball and picked up a couple more with sheer quickness and anticipation as passes came out of traps. She got MMU into their sets and picked up numerous backdoor lay ins within MMU’s sets. Always poised, Jada is the backbone to MMU’s grit and grind system.
Cherise Shamp, 5’10 G/F – Class of ’23
Shamp will always play hard, you can count on that. She’s constantly hawking the ball and tonight she picked up a few strips in the process. Her length is insane, and it allows her to reach in swiftly or snatch a rebound over the top. Cherise finished her looks inside and got to the line as well. Offensively she can play one through four, and you’ll see her bring the ball up then demand the ball in the post in the same possession. If she adds a little muscle she’ll be difficult to contain.
Rutland High School:
Karsyn Bellomo, 5’7 G – Class of ’23
Karsyn is a hooper, flat out. Bellomo’s got great change of pace, a cunning crossover and a sweet stroke. She got by MMU’s guards with an array of moves and finished nicely with both her left and her right among the trees. Bellomo can dig in defensively and has a great sense of when to push the pace in transition or get RHS into a set. It was tough to get any clean looks from deep, but she hit one with 10 seconds left to pull RHS within 1 point. It wasn’t quite enough to get over the hill, but she definitely willed this team to a near semifinal appearance.
Kathryn Moore, 5’9 G/F – Class of ’22
Moore is RHS’ swiss army knife senior leader and is gritty as they come. Kathryn is adept at cleaning the glass and will fight to secure any loose ball that happens to pop free. Moore plays a vital role as RHS’ post defender while also having the ability to switch out and move her feet; she locked down various wings and forwards throughout the game. Offensively, Kathryn plays a physical post game but can operate inside or out. RHS tried to go to her in the final seconds of the game, but without any timeouts, the clock expired before the ball got to her hands.
Essex High School:
Paige Winter, 5’6 PG – Class of ’22
Winter just came back after a month-long absence due to injury, but she came back ready as ever. She stuck five threes in her return, mostly off of clean catch and shoot looks. She’s the driver of Essex’s offense and it was clear she shifted them into another gear this game. Her knockdown shooting forced St. J to play the shot, and in doing so Paige adjusted, finding open looks for teammates. Winter has great tempo to her game and her scoring mentality is just what EHS needs as they enter the semifinals.
Emilyrose Mercier, 5’10 F – Class of ’22
Mercier came out red hot, dropping a quick 12 points with a variety of finishes. Emilyrose worked the low and high post, had a few slashes from the wing for lay-ups and dropped in a jumper or two. She’s comfortable stepping out to three-point land to make a move one-on-one, or she’ll swing the ball quickly to keep the offense moving. A big who runs the floor is a coach’s dream and Mercier was rewarded with a few transition buckets due to pure hustle. EHS will need another big game from Mercier next week.
St. Johnsbury Academy:
Kaia Anderson, 5’7 G – Class of ’24
Kaia is a combo guard with sound fundamentals. Incredibly patient offensively, Anderson uses her strength and footwork to ward off any pressure in order get clean shots or passing looks. A couple times she picked up her dribble in the paint, made a pivot or two looking for a pass, then stepped through for an open bucket. However, more often than not the pass was there, and Kaia made sure to hit her teammates for clean looks. Anderson is a stout defender and cleans the glass well; she’ll be fun to follow as her game develops.
Hayden Wilkins, 5’7 G – Class of ’24
Wilkins is St. Johnsbury’s primary ballhandler and she handled EHS’ pressure well alongside Kaia. Hayden comes with a nice bop in her step, and she can get downhill in a hurry. She had multiple tough finishes inside and made some nice passes out of the dribble drive too, never forcing her shot. She’s another solid defender that hustles for loose balls. A prospect to keeps eyes on for sure.