PGH Top 250 Expo: Teams 7-9 Standouts
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I’m going to dive deeper into this event as the week goes on, but I wanted to at least get some quick hitters out, so I’m going to pick 3 standouts from each team from the expo and discuss what…
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Continue ReadingI’m going to dive deeper into this event as the week goes on, but I wanted to at least get some quick hitters out, so I’m going to pick 3 standouts from each team from the expo and discuss what I saw from them on Saturday! Before I start, I want to be transparent and say that I only caught 1 game for each team, so I could’ve caught some players worst game and some players best game. For teams 3, 4, 11, and 12, I saw them play significantly less as the last 2 games of the day were 12 minute halves (running clock with no halftime) versus the 1st 4 games that were 20 minute halves. So, all of these factors definitely played a role into who I’m going to discuss in these quick hitters, but I will get into more detail throughout this week. Some of these groups were extremely tough to pick only 3 players from because there were so many players deserving of recognition out there.
Team 7
Czarnecki gets better and better every time I watch her play. She has excellent height and length, but she is versatile with that length. She is consistently running the floor and hustling to get rebounds. Czarnecki is a really good rebounder because she doesn’t just rely on her height, but rather, she sees where the ball is coming off of the rim and she goes after it. I’ve never once questioned her effort whenever I’ve watched her play, and Saturday was no exception. She was playing so hard every second she was out there. Czarnecki has good touch around the basket, she made some really impressive passes, and when she stepped out on her teammates drives, she showed she can knock down jump shots as well.
Highlights
I really liked the effort I saw from Coffey on Saturday. She was constantly moving without the ball, and it wasn’t ever meaningless movement. She was making hard cuts and cutting with a purpose. Coffey showed the ability to finish on both sides of the rim, even with a defender on her. She did a great job of using her body to keep the defender on the inside to get better looks at the basket. She played hard on the defensive end as well and she did a good job crashing the boards.
Her team might’ve been struggling to score in the game I caught, but Triplett was still knocking down 3’s all game long. Another player that seems to improve every time I watch her play, the sophomore sharpshooter was showing off her ability to score at all 3 levels. Not only was she hitting deep shots, but she was also making good drives to the basket and finishing floaters in the paint. She was also getting out into the passing lanes on the defensive end and she was consistently running the floor. Triplett made some nice passes and showed a lot of versatility.
Highlights
With the team above, I also want to mention one more player, Ma’kiya West Ma’kiya West 5'11" | SF Louisville Male | 2023 State KY , who was certainly a standout as she was grabbing nearly every rebound when she was in the game. I know some other scouts were going to include her in their articles, so I didn’t want to go into too much of her game, but I didn’t feel right leaving her off of this list!
Team 8
Isom was easily one of the best point guards I saw Saturday. She showed off her strong PG skills while also showing her scoring ability. Her handles were really tough and she was handling pressure like it was nothing. Isom made some excellent passes, including some through traffic. She was making strong drives to the basket, and she made great decisions on when to take it all the way and when to give it up. She was also knocking down shots and making the defense defend her at all 3 levels. Isom brought a lot of intensity on the defensive end as well.
I was really shocked to hear that Brittle had just recently returned to the court from an ACL injury after watching her play because she was one of the best defenders I saw. She picked up immediately and even if she was tired, she played with the same high intensity. She was making things really tough on the offense, sliding her feet to stay in front and blocking shots when someone tried to take it to the hoop on her. Brittle is strong and showed that she can finish with contact around the rim. She made good drives and she can shoot the ball. Best of all, Brittle showed a lot of leadership out there.
The thing I really like about Gish’s game is that she doesn’t have to score to make a major impact on games. However, she can definitely put the ball in the basket, so that’s not to say she can’t score by any means. Gish is a true 2-way player. She brings a lot defensively. She reads the passing lanes really well and she goes after the ball without fear. Gish has good handles and some strong moves to get to the rim. While she can finish on her drives and knock down shots, she brings so much more to the game and that is really impressive from a 2026 player.
Highlights
Team 9
Simpson is one of my top overall standouts from Saturday. It was the first time I had gotten to watch her play and impressed is an understatement. I can’t imagine there are many players anywhere that are outworking her right now. Simpson wants to put in the work to be the best and she has all of the potential in the world to be just that. The way she was elevating for rebounds was elite. It felt like she had 20 rebounds in the first half alone. Simpson made some strong drives to the hoop and was finishing through a lot of contact. She also showed her ability to knock down jump shots. Her passing and defense were both strong as well. The class of 2025 is one of the most talented classes Kentucky has had in a long time, so saying I think Simpson will be amongst the top of them by the time her high school career is over is a big statement, but one I fully believe in.
When you watch Williams, you can just see how high her basketball IQ is. She’s such a smart basketball player and she consistently plays hard. Defensively, she slides her feet and can come up with multiple steals in any given game. Offensively, she is a true floor general. She sees the floor extremely well and she makes good decisions. If she can drive, she recognizes that and gets past her defender. If the defender gives her even a little bit of space, she can knock down shots. When she doesn’t have anything there, she gets the ball to her teammates. She creates for them as well. Williams does all of the little things and she does them really well.
Woods was doing a lot of good things on the floor on Saturday. She can handle the ball well and she has good speed. She was crashing the boards and grabbing rebounds despite being a guard with multiple tall post players on her team. Woods showed her ability to take the ball to the basket, and she was really doing a good job of getting a step on her defenders. She can also knock down shots and defend.