Phenom Lady Rumble: Saturday’s 2024 Top Performers

It is still early, relatively, on the grassroots calendar – but the travel teams and players of the Carolinas look to be in midseason form if the level of competition is any indication. Carolina Courts in downtown Concord, North Carolina played host to one of the first club events of the year two weeks ago with the LBI March Madness event. Another travel event also emanated from the Cabarrus County hoops venue as the Phenom Lady Rumble took place the first weekend of April. Prep Girls Hoops was on site in the Charlotte suburb throughout the weekend to take in the entirety of the multi-day festivities. Sophomores from the Palmetto State displayed how deep its talent pool is. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/04/IMG_5597-scaled-crop-2504x1644-1649032396.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-408306" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/04/IMG_5597-scaled-crop-2504x1644-1649032396-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="268140" first="Ahri" last="Scott"] – 2024 – Westside HS – FBC Carolina Hawks Elite 16U Parks</strong> – Scott rode a wave of momentum into the travel season as she played a key role in lifting the Rams to a second consecutive 4A state championship. Scott has already done a lot and she is nowhere near finished. She has proven herself to be an important player off the bench for Westside and will get the job done on the defensive side. Her 3-point shooting prowess was particularly on display throughout the event. Scott figures to be an even bigger focal point for coach Jackie Roberts’ Rams offense following the graduation of other vital players such as [player_tooltip player_id="124094" first="Destiny" last="Middleton"], Branya Pruitt and [player_tooltip player_id="253666" first="Aziyah" last="Bell"]. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="173132" first="Alexandria" last="Bennon"] – 2024 – Legacy Early College – FBC Carolina Hawks Elite 17U Parks</strong> - Bennon’s high school career has seen her wear a number of different colored uniforms – the purple and gold of the Lions, the red of SC76ers who she ran previously with in the grassroots realm and the light blue of FBC Carolina Hawks Elite 17U Parks. Bennon had plenty of success with her ball handling and driving to the basket in her team’s lopsided victory over Lady Team Hickory 17U in the early portion of Saturday’s contests. She led her team to victory by virtue of her 17-point outing. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/04/IMG_5482-scaled-crop-2352x1545-1649032652.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-408308" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/04/IMG_5482-scaled-crop-2352x1545-1649032652-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>Meya McKinney – 2024 – Easley HS – FBC Carolina Hawks 16U Horn</strong> -  Meya can play(a). FBC Carolina Hawks brought six teams to Concord’s Carolina Courts – and McKinney was one of the go-to guards throughout the entire operation that shined very brightly. McKinney is listed as a 5-foot-6 guard and she does a great deal of work to ensure the ball is taken care of. She will also have a number of games where she hauls in the rebounds and comes through as well on defense with rejected shots and collecting steals.  The sophomore competed in 25 games this season after seeing her sneakers make contact with hardwood on 18 occasions in 2020-21 that was marred by the pandemic. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/04/IMG_5478-scaled-crop-1287x845-1649032821.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-408311" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/04/IMG_5478-scaled-crop-1287x845-1649032821-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>Ayana Howell – 2024 – Westside HS – FBC Carolina Hawks 16U Horn</strong> – Howell’s play usually leaves many opposing players and coaches asking one word – how? For example – How did we allow Howell to get away with dropping 12 points on us as what happened to Charlotte Dream Elite 16U early on throughout Saturday’s lineup of matchups. In addition to what she does with putting points on the board, she came through for her team on the boards. She later followed that up with an eight-point outing in a FBC Carolina Hawks 16U Horn victory over Lady Attack Elite 16U Dutka by a final tally of 43-32.