Brady’s Day One Notes: PGH Exclusive
To kick off the PGH Exclusive, I meandered over to Supreme Courts to check out two 15U Legacy Region teams, Wisconsin Blizzard and Quad City Shockers. I want to talk about a few kids who stood out in the first…
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Continue ReadingTo kick off the PGH Exclusive, I meandered over to Supreme Courts to check out two 15U Legacy Region teams, Wisconsin Blizzard and Quad City Shockers. I want to talk about a few kids who stood out in the first two games I viewed this weekend.
Emily Vogel-Wisconsin Blizzard 2025 Chase
The future is bright for St. Mary’s Catholic due to the ceiling that the younger Vogel possesses. The 5-foot-10 wing is athletic and was deployed as a one-person full-court press and disrupted opposing ball handlers. Defensively she’s shown that she can make plays on that side of the ball these last two weekends. For her, it’s going to be all about building off her defense to get even more playing time this winter. Offensively, she has good touch around the rim and does a great job of finding open teammates. The only “knock” I have is that she has a hitch on her jumper. That said, when she shoots it, it’s not inconsistent. Vogel controls it well. She needs to speed it up a little as she ages up to get it off consistently. However, overall she’s had an excellent last seven days.
Hailee Bauer-Wisconsin Blizzard 2025 Chase
The more I’ve seen the Lourdes Academy freshman play, I’ve liked what she does more and more. As a lead guard, I never catch her zeroing in on her target too long. She keeps her head up the floor in transition and hardly turns the ball over. I knew I recognized her from somewhere, and it clicked after I saw Bauer shoot the ball. The freshman earned a spot in Green Bay as one of two Division 5 representatives in the 3-point contest after shooting 44% on the season. So what I know about her is that she’s already proved herself as an elite shooter, plays intense defense, and doesn’t turn the ball over. Yeah, not too bad for a freshman season and the beginning of AAU ball.
Haley Reed Haley Reed 5'7" | PG Freedom | 2025 WI -Wisconsin Blizzard 2025 Chase
I love that Reed doesn’t need to score to leave her fingerprints on the game. Defensively, Reed seems to find the ball every time down the floor. The Freedom guard is a good ball mover and seems to touch the ball on every other defensive possession. She will project well for a consistently good Freedom team because she’ll make winning plays when she cracks the rotation. Reed also projects as a high-level spot-up shooter. She gets her shot up quickly. Although it’s a line drive of a shot, I’ve probably seen it go in over 50% of the time.
Olivia Witkowski-Wisconsin Blizzard 2025 Chase
I might be going crazy, but I don’t remember the Weyawega-Fremont forward from last weekend. Regardless, she left the best impression of the day. Although the 6-foot freshman wasn’t on my radar coming in, her constant threat on the glass on both ends started this thing. Witkowski got her hands on seemingly every rebound, and it became painfully obvious early that this was going to be an ongoing trend. Then I saw her moving her feet defending on the perimeter. That was the scary part. It’s not often you find a young forward who can contain guards without fouling. Witkowski did that multiple times. She scored well around the basket, which is good, but there are things that the freshman has already that make her one to watch going forward.
Jada Tatum-Quad City Shockers 2025
I didn’t get to see every game in the event. However, I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a better shooting performance than Tatum’s. From the first shot she put up in warmups, I knew that she was a good shooter. She knocked down plenty of spot-up jumpers, but she found ways to get into pockets of space that allowed her to continue doing her thing all game long. The bonus with Tatum is that she’s also a great guard to play alongside. Even though Tatum knocked down an absurd amount of 3’s, I’d still say she took a pass-first approach. Outstanding performance by her today.
Macy Reno-Quad City Shockers 2025
One of the beneficiaries of Tatum’s creation was Macy Reno. As a spot-up shooter, I trust Reno to make shots as long she wants to play this game. However, what I liked most about Reno was her playmaking on the defensive end. Reno seemed like she found ways to create turnovers by staying in front of drives and forcing mistakes. Every time someone tried to attack her with a dribble-drive or pull-up jumper, it seemed feudal for the opposition.
Emma Hendershott-Quad City Shockers 2025
The 6-foot-1 forward looked athletic and made herself available in the post every time down the floor. Hendershott did a lot of damage on both blocks. She did this by scoring with a quick post move or kicking out a pass. The opposition didn’t have anyone for her, and although she may not get the plaudits because she didn’t score a ridiculous amount. However, Hendershott made her team’s offense continue running at a high level all game.