Brady’s Day Two Nots: Center Court

<span data-preserver-spaces="true">On day two of the Race for the Legacy, I split my time between Mequon and Waukesha. Today I want to talk about kids I saw in the afternoon and night at Center Court in Waukesha.</span> <strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true">[player_tooltip player_id="206575" first="Lexi" last="Bugajski"]-Wisconsin Impact 2023 Witt</span></strong> <span data-preserver-spaces="true">For this Wisconsin Impact team to go undefeated in pool A, they needed a narrow win against a good Playground Club team. With the game tied and a second to go, Impact ran a corner sideline inbounds pass that saw everyone but Bugajski run up and behind the 3-point line. The inbounds pass went over Bugajski’s defender, who was fronting her. She then caught it and put it in the basket for the win. That was likely the best moment in an excellent weekend for Bugajski overall. The New Berlin native showed how versatile her game is. From leading a transition offense with her grab and go ability, passing, ability to take care of the ball, and shooting. All that doesn’t even include how well she defended on the perimeter and the number of blocks she had without fouling. Overall this was an outstanding weekend for Bugajski.</span> <strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true">[player_tooltip player_id="206729" first="Mya" last="Hartjes"]-Wisconsin Impact 2023 Witt</span></strong> <span data-preserver-spaces="true">The University School guard may not be the fastest point guard, but she changes directions at an elite level. Anytime she deploys her right-to-left or left-to-right crossover, she loses her nearest defender. She takes good care of the ball and isn’t shy about making an aggressive pass. What stood out was her work off the ball. She seemed to find space for open shots and punished defenses when her teammates found her. Her team has nothing but players who pass and shoot at a high level, so any space to help on a drive gives away an open three. Hartjes both created those looks with her dribble penetration and scored with her catch-and-shoot ability. </span> <strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true">[player_tooltip player_id="156097" first="Reagan" last="Pahl"]-Wisconsin Impact 2023 Witt</span></strong> <span data-preserver-spaces="true">What Pahl did in the middle of Impact’s game against Let it Rain was unbelievable. I had always known the Cedarburg guard was an elite shooter, but seeing her go berserk in person was special. She ended the game with six 3’s, but when she hit one, it almost felt like she expected them to go in every single time. That level of confidence requires an unimaginable amount of work. That was obvious, but I also want to talk about Pahl as a lead guard. She’s as strong as anyone, and it’s nearly for her defender to push her off where she wants to go. I had a high opinion of her coming into the Race for the Legacy, but I left with even higher regard for Pahl.</span> <strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true">[player_tooltip player_id="209618" first="Gracie" last="Gopalan"]-Wisconsin Impact 2024 Kelley</span></strong> <span data-preserver-spaces="true">To start with Gopalan, I want to address the statement that, I’m sure, has annoyed her for years. If you haven’t seen Gopalan play before and you see her, you know that she’s a short guard, which is true. However, she takes every team she plays on to another level. She played on an excellent Waupun team that won state, with plenty of kids who will play at the next level. In my opinion, Gopalan is who took that team over the top. In a world where plenty of guards may have more desirable projectible physical tools, you can’t argue what Gopalan has done in two years of high school. Whenever Gopalan had the ball in Waukesha, it felt like a good look was coming at the bare minimum. She shot the ball with confidence and overall just did [player_tooltip player_id="209618" first="Gracie" last="Gopalan"] things. She will help take a team to the next level when she gets to college.</span> <strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true">[player_tooltip player_id="329604" first="Grace" last="King"]-Let it Rain 2023 Black</span></strong> <span data-preserver-spaces="true">King was a late addition to a Let it Rain team ravaged by injuries. Although they lost to the 2023 Impact team, it felt like King found her footing within that group. The Whitnall guard turned up the pressure on the defensive end and caused her opposition to getting more uncomfortable with her on the floor as time went on. The more jaw-dropping thing I saw was how comfortable she was creating a shot off the dribble. King hit a stepback 3-pointer that was an eyebrow-raiser. Seeing her compete and be on a similar as these kids this weekend for someone added a few weeks ago is insane.</span> <strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true">[player_tooltip player_id="156072" first="Allison" last="Hampel"]-Wisconsin Fuel 2023</span></strong> <span data-preserver-spaces="true">Wisconsin Fuel has a large contingent of Greenfield kids, and Hampel has continued to do what she’s familiar with, dominate. It’s weird to see her stretching her game out because I’m so used to seeing her play in the paint, but she was versatile offensively this weekend. She’s likely going to be stronger than most kids she comes up against, but to have them guessing where she’ll look to attack from makes her even more difficult to guard. I love seeing players expand their game, and Hampel is doing that right now. Although she has one year left at Greenfield, her senior season could look dominant.  </span> <strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true">Reese Rogowski-Wisconsin Blizzard 2023 Hawley</span></strong> <span data-preserver-spaces="true">I was excited to see Rogowski play in person for the first time, and she didn’t disappoint. The Wittenberg-Birnamwood guard made things happen. I enjoyed her ability to help her teammates succeed and balance that with finding her shot. Playing where she does in high school means I’ll likely never get to see her in person during the school season. However, seeing her excel against kids who will play college basketball has me confident she could excel at the next level. The more I get to see her, the more I think she’ll excel with more talent at the next level. Rogowski has a knack for making difficult shots look easy, and that is one reason I think college coaches will love her. </span>