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Saturday, September 10th, was the fourth annual Prep Girls Hoops Indiana Top-250 Expo. With 129 registered participants, it was one of our biggest events yet! The ladies played extremely hard, unselfishly, and showed a great deal of skill and ability throughout the evening. We will have several follow-up articles over this next week talking about everyone in attendance, but I wanted to take the time to highlight seven young ladies I saw for the first time, and who stood out with their play.
I had heard plenty about Sara over the last couple of seasons, but this was my first time actually watching her in action. She has a solid to strong frame, broad shoulders, and nice length. She plays with a motor, runs the floor well North/South, and even has a little bounce to her. I was most impressed with her effort and ability to outwork her matchups throughout the evening. She has a nose for the ball, she plays physically at both ends of the floor, and she does a nice job of positioning herself inside and finishing through contact around the basket.
Highlights
I knew nothing about Mackenzie coming into this event other than seeing her name on a travel roster this Spring & Summer. She ended up being one of the more impressive prospects on this list. She is strong, athletic, and plays with a motor. She handled the ball quite a bit and showed playmaking ability as a point guard. She was also solid off the ball, knew how to move without the ball, and buried tough shots from different levels. I think she’s a kid who elite small colleges would really like, and she will likely find her way into our next rankings update.
At many high schools around the state, Abi would likely already be a Varsity contributor, or she would be in line to be one this Winter. But with Hamilton Southeastern’s immense depth, she is just starting to scratch the surface. Abi has a long, wiry-strong, athletic frame. She ran the floor well, showed nice bounce, and changed directions reasonably well. She looked like a kid who is transitioning from more of a mid-post power forward role to a wing forward role. She has solid skill, but it will likely develop more over the years. She has a lot of upside.
Highlights
Alyssa is a really nice, young, post prospect. She has a solid to strong frame, nice length, and the potential to continue building an overpowering frame. She runs the floor well North/South, she is a decent all-around athlete in the half-court, and she plays with a good motor. She keeps the ball high, hits the boards and keeps caroms alive, and she can finish inside with a variety of moves, plus she absorbs contact fairly well at her age. As she builds her skillset and finishes growing, look for her to become a real problem for opponents in the paint.
Highlights
Anyah is one of those kids who plays much bigger than she is. She has a strong, almost muscular frame with broad shoulders. She has good speed and quickness, and she can get off the floor. I really liked her motor, her willingness to defend the length of the floor with effort, and her unselfishness at the offensive end of the floor. Additionally, when she was left alone, she consistently buried perimeter jumpers when she was on-balance and in rhythm. I really like what she brings to the table, and she could add great depth for the Trailblazers this year.
Highlights
Emma showed as much productivity as most of the post prospects at the event. She has a fairly strong frame, nice length, and she works extremely hard. She is a little undersized for how she plays, but she also plays bigger than she is. She moves around the floor well, boxes out for rebounds, and pursues caroms outside of her area. Emma also showed some skill in the mid-post, knocking down the occasional 15-footer. I think she can develop into a really nice small college front-liner, but I’d like to see her play against top competition regularly.
Haley is a prospect I don’t recall seeing on any travel roster throughout the Spring & Summer grassroots season. She is a long, wiry-strong, and athletic forward. She has nice speed, some quickness, and a lot of bounce. She looks most comfortable in the mid-post right now, being able to attack the basket in a dribble or two and finishing in a variety of ways. She showed some touch at 15-feet as well. I also think she’s athletic enough, that if she can continue developing her perimeter skillset, she could become a full-time wing long-term.