Elite Forwards from PGH Dynasty Region Kick Off (2024)
Here is my list of some impressive ladies who really showed off their ability to protect the paint and dominate their competition down low at the Prep Girls Hoops Dynasty Region Kick Off! These are some of the best forwards…
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Continue ReadingHere is my list of some impressive ladies who really showed off their ability to protect the paint and dominate their competition down low at the Prep Girls Hoops Dynasty Region Kick Off! These are some of the best forwards that I saw from the 2024 class.
Brooklyn Cooper Brooklyn Cooper 5'10" | PF Colleyville Heritage | 2024 TX 2024 6’0 Colleyville Heritage High School, TX (Team Stay Ready 2024)
Brooklyn is a highly skilled forward who has an array of post moves and steady foot work that allow her to manipulate the defense with ease down low. She is good at flashing to the front of the restricted area and sealing off her defender and then calmly getting by them with an up fake and then a fading baby hook. She is strong with the basketball down low, and does not allow her opponent to poke it free. She always seems to go up strong to finish when she has good positioning. She is a high level rebounder as well. She knows how to get after her opponents by sealing them off underneath the glass and allowing herself easy second chance opportunities. As much as she lived in the paint, she also lived at the free throw line where she consistently knocked down free throws. I would like to watch her develop a tighter handle on the perimeter, and be more skilled in getting downhill with a live dribble.
Olivia Fauntelroy 2024 6’3 Throckmorton High School, TX (West Texas Shockers 2024)
Olivia is an elite forward who specializes on the defensive end of the floor, and knows how to protect the rim and also cut off passing angles at the same time. I was very impressed with her ability to reject shots at the rim. She truly anchored her team’s defense through her ability to slide over and protect the paint even when her teammates were beaten off the dribble. She is an elite help defender and truly strikes fear in her opponents whenever she slides over. On the offensive end of the floor, she is a good finisher down low. She has good touch on her shot down low and knows how to maneuver her arms around her opponents to finish at the rim. I would like to see her become more consistent with hook shots and other post moves with her back to the basket.
Brooklyn Hurtado 2024 6’0 Cisco High School, TX (Texas Platinum 2024 Bruce)
Brooklyn is a strong forward with a bunch of high level moves in her bag in the post. She bullied her defenders deep into the paint and simply turned around and shot over them. She displayed some tough spin moves with her back to the basket as well. She is a consistent finisher with her back to the basket who is good at using her size to finish over and through defenders and contact. She is good on the offensive glass, she sealed her opponents from ever having a chance of jumping with her and making a play on the ball.
I was very impressed with her ability to play big on both ends of the floor. She protected the rim and used her size to make her opponents uncomfortable for even stepping foot in the lane. She always slid over at the right time to turn away shots or simply make the opponent second guess her decision to go up with it.
Hailey Kuhlman Hailey Kuhlman 5'9" | PF Luther | 2024 State OK 2024 5’10 Luther High School, OK (Oklahoma Aces 2024 Vick)
Hailey is a high level player who showed a strong post presence and consistency in the paint, but also an ability to handle the ball and shoot from the perimeter. I was very impressed with her ability to play out of the pick and pop or make the right decision to roll hard to the basket for an easy look. She stretched the floor from the midrange and beyond the arc. She also displayed a great handle and on court vision when she has the ball in her hands. She made good entry passes into the paint and found cutting teammates with consistency. She made hard passes that slipped right through the defense and accurately found her teammates time after time down the court.
On the defensive side, she looks like she has all the tools to develop into a very skilled wing player at the next level. She showed an ability to quickly move her feet on the perimeter to defend guards, but also work in the paint and defend bigger opponents. I would like to see her continue to work on all aspects of her game, as she has a bunch of valuable tools and basketball IQ in her game already.
Fia Filoialii 2024 5’11 James E. Taylor High School, TX (Texas Cagers Select 2024)
Fia is a dynamic point forward with some real size who reads the game and sees the floor like a point guard, yet finishes in the paint like a forward. She is good out of the triple threat, but truly thrives in the full court when she is able to get a full head of steam and get into the paint. She has the ability to snatch a rebound off the glass and go coast to coast and make the right lead pass to a streaking teammate or a dump off pass after she has drawn the last defender. I was very impressed with her handle in the full court, she dominated her defenders in the open court and finished at the rim at will.
She is able to play outside-in, and dance around her defender to get into the paint or play inside-out and work from the mid post or on the block. I was very impressed with her natural forward like control in the post, and her ability to move without the basketball. She flashed to the high post or the paint for easy looks and always seemed to be in the right spot for a dump off pass for a teammate who was in trouble. Her ability to truly do it all allows her to play alongside another big due to her ability to find space seemingly anywhere on the floor. I was very impressed with her poise and maturity with the basketball and her ability to make something out of nothing.
Ella Martin 2024 6’1 Union High School, OK (Team Griffin Elite 2024 Owens)
Ella is the ideal stretch forward with her ability to play inside out and stretch the floor from the midrange and beyond the arc. She was very impressive and calmly knocked down shot after shot from the perimeter. Martin is good at flashing to the midrange or the arc for an open look, especially off of the pick and pop. She always seemed to make the right decision on whether to slip the screen, get the switch and dominate in the paint or knock down a shot from the free throw line.
Ella did not just dominate on the offensive end, she dominated on the perimeter and in the paint on defense as well. She showed a high level ability to move her feet and keep guards in front of her, and even had an emphatic block on a jumper on the perimeter. She anchors their defense in the back and allows them to pressure the ball on the perimeter and funnel the opponent into her waiting arms.