Mason’s Friday Notebook: #PGHChampionsChallenge

On Friday night, I was at the Champions Challenge in Appleton, Wisconsin. The event has over 100 teams from six states and is one of the PGH Circuit's top Legacy Region events. With a full slate of games on tap, I was able to take in some great action on an abbreviated Friday night of action. Here are the some players who stood out quickly to me on the evening. <hr /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="265967" first="Brooke" last="Carlson"] - 5'7 G - 2024 - Batavia HS (IL) - Midwest Elite 2023 EYBL</strong> Carlson is a really shifty guard who can get to the rim at a very high level. Smooth in all directions with the ball in her hands and has the ability to lock down on the defensive side of the floor. I thought she did a lot of things really well and you can quickly tell she's a high level player. <strong>Trinity Jones - 6'0 W - 2026 - Naperville Central HS (IL) - Illinois Rockets 2024 Red</strong> Jones has a great feel for the game for being so young. She plays up two levels on a 2024 team and was dominant at times during the day. I really liked her ability to get to her spot on the floor with ease. It seemed like she processed the game faster than everybody else on the floor. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="156091" first="Alicia" last="Burgos"] - 6'1 F - 2023 - Dominican HS (WI) - Chapman Basketball Academy 2023</strong> Burgos was dominant on the inside for Chapman this evening. She used both hands well and shows excellent footwork in the post. Rebounds the ball at a very high level and gets the ball back up on the rim quickly. Burgos has been really good in every game I've seen of her this spring. <strong>Carleigh Tobey - 5'7 G - 2023 - Central DeWitt HS (IA) - QC Shockers 2023</strong> Tobey shot the ball extremely well on Friday night as she hit six 3-pointers in their contest. She has a quick release where she doesn't need a ton of space to get it off. Plays well in space and has a really nice motor. Didn't try and do too much with the ball today. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="209597" first="Savannah" last="James"] - 5'7 G - 2024 - Grafton HS (WI) - Midwest Elite 2024 EYBL</strong> James was lights out from behind the arc on Friday evening. I thought that she did a great job of finding her way through the defense and shooting the ball off of the catch. She's a shifty guard who has the ability to get to her spots quickly and score the ball. <strong>Emily Schmidt - 5'8 G - 2025 - Lincoln Way East HS (IL) - Illinois Rockets 2025</strong> Schmidt hit seven 3-pointers in the game on Friday night and looked excellent doing it. On a night full of great shooting performances, Schmidt had likely the best one. She's a small guard who has a great feel for the defense and can get a lot done on the offensive end. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="335811" first="Mia" last="Pallaschke"] - 5'7 G - 2025 - Neuqua Valley HS (IL) - Illinois Rockets 2025 (photo)</strong> Pallaschke was a threat on Friday every time she touched the basketball. I thought that she did an outstanding job of picking her spots to score the ball and ended up with 17 points. Scored the ball in a myriad of ways and was really tough to stop on the offensive end. <strong>Savanna Robinson - 5'7 G - 2025 - Kaukauna HS (WI) - 1848 Legends 2025 National</strong> Robinson is a really nice and fluid guard who can take the ball in both directions. She's laterally quick which allows her to defend the ball at a very high level as well. Really good motor and seems like an extension of the coach on the floor. Could be a really high level player. &nbsp;