W.Va. players who made the most of May: Part 2

<strong>[player_tooltip player_id="153413" first="Jazmyn" last="Wheeler"], Cabell Midland, PF, Jr., 6-1</strong> - Wheeler’s picked up the pace in her defensive approach. A lot. She’s really taking to becoming an all-around player. The biggest improvements from her are her foot speed and awareness on the defensive end of the floor. She’s moving much better and making it to help assignments while bringing a big obstacle to contend with. Does she still have her offensive game, yes? But that’s been there the past two years, her defense hasn’t. Now, with her putting it all together, it’s going to make it that much harder getting her off the court come high school season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="379499" first="Ella" last="Simpson"], University, SF, So., 5-7 -</strong> Simpson looks much more decisive in her decision-making on both sides of the ball. When she makes her mind up, she quickly acts. Drives to the basket come in the blink of an eye, rebounds are pulled down in no time, and her defense trips up opponents faster than someone can say ’Ella.’ Her develops make her look much more comfortable on the floor, and that much more of a threat. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="379504" first="Haleigh" last="Crum"], Spring Valley, SG, So., 5-10</strong> - When I watched Crum during the high-school season, she approached the game with an aggressive attitude and took what defenses gave her. Now, the speedy and lanky Spring Valley Timberwolf has started to dictate her own terms. Using her quickness and long and lanky body, Crum is getting baskets when she wants to thanks to new energy and tall confidence. She’s using screens, but also giving defenders the slip and calling for the ball in opportune positions. It’s the last thing teams in the Mountain State Athletic Conference probably want to hear, but her growing game compliments teammates [player_tooltip player_id="384100" first="Dria" last="Parker"] and [player_tooltip player_id="384101" first="Allie" last="Daniels"], well. <strong>Amara Jackson, Huntington, PF, So., 5-11</strong> - Jackson played the game with intelligence and passion before <img class=" wp-image-398993 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/Amara-Jackson-289x300.jpg" alt="" width="131" height="137" />the AAU season started with the Highlanders, now she’s turned that up to a 15. When you watch her, she’s reading defenses and offenses and reacting before her assignment usually does. On defense, she’s in passing lanes earlier, and on offense she knows what she wants to do with the ball before she even gets it from a teammate. That kind of reaction time and thinking have made her even more of a handful and she’s only improved over the course of the opening weeks of AAU ball. I really can’t wait to see what July brings this young lady. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="153421" first="Sydney" last="Baird"], Webster County, CG, Jr., 5-7</strong> - Baird has continued her maturity into a full combo guard through the first month of the AAU season. No kidding. She’s rising higher and higher every tournament. Her vision has reached another level, and she’s much more comfortable and clued in with her teammates, maybe more so than ever. Is her scoring still there? Oh, yeah. But her handling of the ball makes her so much more attractive to coaches looking for a combo guard with her height. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="153432" first="Kadie" last="Colebank"], Tucker County, C, Jr., 6-1</strong> - I am not <img class=" wp-image-426276 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/05/Kadie-Colebank--197x300.jpg" alt="" width="111" height="169" />sure how much credit I can give this young lady next to the amount I have already given her. She’s taken her game and transformed it into something I haven’t seen from her these last three high school years. Quite simply, she’s taking the fight to her opponent and is one of the leaders on a Dragons team that just doesn’t know how to quit. She’s channeling her passion for the game into a focused attack that’s turned her into a tough to stop post player. Perhaps she knows that Tucker County really can challenge Cameron for the Class A title, but only if she’s mean and ready to bang down low against the Dragon’s 6-foot-3 Ashlynn Van Tassell. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="342235" first="Lily" last="Jordan"], Morgantown, SF, So., 6-1</strong> - Jordan always wants to represent on the basketball court. Sure enough, she’s done just that in the opening weeks of the AAU season. She’s showed off a much-improved game with post moves galore. While playing with the Dragons’ top team, she’s using her guard skills to get in the lane and then using her post moves for easy baskets and headaches. The biggest thing you can see from her are the moments when the game slows down and she’s completely at peace on the court. In those times, she looks unstoppable on the court.