West to Southwest Indiana
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The featured image is of Braxtyn Dunham Braxtyn Dunham 5'4" | SG North Vermillion | 2024 IN (2024) of North Vermillion High School. Four years ago, when I first started with Prep Girls Hoops, I introduced different areas of the…
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Continue ReadingThe featured image is of Braxtyn Dunham Braxtyn Dunham 5'4" | SG North Vermillion | 2024 IN (2024) of North Vermillion High School.
Four years ago, when I first started with Prep Girls Hoops, I introduced different areas of the state and their top prospects. I wanted to again work through that this Fall and offer you a much more detailed look at the Hoosier State’s different regions and the prospects who should shine this Winter throughout those regions. With this being the last of those reports, we have one last, odd-shaped area left to cover. This article will roughly focus on a triangle that incorporates schools in or around the triangle of I-70 West out of Central Indiana, I-69 Southwest out of Central Indiana, and where they approach US-41 and the state line that touches Illinois. It specifically includes the counties of Clay, Daviess, Greene, Knox, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Orange, Owen, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, Vermillion, and Vigo. There are 41 total schools spread throughout those 14 counties, and there are schools of all classes with a heavy influence of smaller schools, with five being from Class 4A, seven being from Class 3A, 14 being from Class 2A, and 15 being from Class A.
There has been a great deal of team success when it comes to this area. Over the past 14 years, Linton-Stockton (2020 2A, 2021 2A), Loogootee (2021 A), Bedford North Lawrence (2013 4A, 2014 4A), and Vincennes Rivet (2011 A) have all won state championships. Rivet has made the most finals appearances, having also been the Class A runner-up in 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2018, and 2019. Loogootee (2021 A), Barr-Reeve (2014 A), the now defunct Turkey Run (2011 A), and Owen Valley (2009 3A) also finished in second place in their respective classes. Turkey Run combined with Rockville in 2018 to form Parke Heritage High School. The combination of these 41 schools have also produced quite a bit of talent, with a number of girls each year playing college basketball at a variety of levels. Recently, players like Zoe Stewart (Terre Haute North Vigo 2022), Maycee Lange (Vincennes Lincoln 2021), Chloe McKnight (Bedford North Lawrence 2021), Vanessa Shafford (Linton-Stockton 2021), Jorie Allen (Bedford North Lawrence 2019), Addisyn Blackwell (Bloomington South 2019), Amani Brown (Terre Haute South Vigo 2019), and Grace Waggoner (Vincennes Rivet 2019) have represented their high schools well. Stewart, McKnight, Shafford, and Allen were all Indiana All-Stars in their respective graduating classes. Allen was the Indiana Miss Basketball in 2019.
Still, though, there are a number of girls who go underrecruited throughout their careers, and this is an area where small colleges can find some real gems, plus there is typically a Division-I prospect or two in most graduating classes from these 14 counties. With that said, I wanted to take the time to highlight a handful of girls who may not often grab the spotlight, but who deserve their share of recognition for their basketball abilities. All of these girls are strictly from the counties of Clay, Daviess, Greene, Knox, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Orange, Owen, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, Vermillion, and Vigo.
Brooklyn had a productive Spring & Summer, and she was especially good when I had an opportunity to see her in early July. She is strong, physical, and aggressive. She has some perimeter skill, she’s dominant at times in the mid-post, and she can go to the low-block and score against undersized defenders. I also really like how hard she plays from possession to possession. I think she’s more of a ‘4’ than a ‘3’ at this point, but she “fits” how a lot of the elite small colleges in the Midwest want to play.
Highlights
Audri has always been a very unique style of player. She is a little undersized for how she plays, but she is very skilled and productive. She has a strong frame, solid length at her height, and she has some lateral quickness/shiftiness in her game. She has really nice ball skill and good vision/awareness, so she plays sort of a point forward role at times. She does a nice job of initiating the offense and finding teammates, but she can also get to the basket and finish, earn free throws, or knock down the open rhythm jumper.
Highlights
I had the opportunity to see Bradie a few times in July, and she is another one of those well-rounded basketball players who fits into a lot of environments somewhat seamlessly. She has a solid to strong frame, some length, and she’s a nice on-the-floor athlete in most directions. She can handle the ball and initiate the offense, and she does have some ball-handling responsibilities for her team(s). But she is a very effective, multilevel scorer, who can knock down an open jumper or power her way to the basket.
Braxtyn is yet another versatile, skillful guard who does a little of everything. She’s a solid athlete who moves fairly well in most directions, she has nice length, wiry strength, and she plays with a motor and a quiet toughness about her. She can handle the ball, and she does some for North Vermillion. She is more of a game-manager in that capacity, but I really like her as a scorer. She can athletically attack the basket, absorb contact, and finish/earn free throws. She also has some touch around the perimeter and in the mid-range.
Jalyn made an immediate impression as a Freshman a year ago, averaging 14.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 2.7 steals per game. She also buried 42 3-pointers in 26 games. She has a fairly long, wiry-strong, athletic frame. She can play a point forward role at times, but her ability to shoot/score the basketball should be the priority. She has a natural feel and fluidity for the game, and as she continues to get stronger and more explosive, I look for her to approach a 20 point per game average sooner rather than later.
Additional West to Southwest Indiana Prospects in Our Rankings for 2023-2025:
Mallory Barrow
Mallory
Barrow
5'10" | SF
Bloomington North | 2023
IN
, 2023, Bloomington H.S. North
Jackie Crews
Jackie
Crews
5'7" | PG
Paoli | 2023
State
IN
, 2023, Paoli H.S., committed to Indiana Tech
Faith Fleetwood
Faith
Fleetwood
5'9" | SG
Vincennes Lincoln | 2023
IN
, 2023, Vincennes Lincoln H.S., committed to Bethel-IN
Kenady Hudson
Kenady
Hudson
5'11" | PF
Eastern Greene | 2023
IN
, 2023, Eastern Greene H.S.
Gracie Kramer
Gracie
Kramer
5'4" | PG
Vincennes Lincoln | 2023
State
IN
, 2023, Vincennes Lincoln H.S.
Reagan Martin
Reagan
Martin
5'11" | PF
Owen Valley | 2023
IN
, 2023, Owen Valley H.S.
Preslee Michael
Preslee
Michael
5'7" | CG
Terre Haute North Vigo | 2023
State
IN
, 2023, Terre Haute North Vigo H.S.
Karsyn Norman
Karsyn
Norman
5'7" | PG
Bedford North Lawrence | 2023
State
IN
, 2023, Bedford North Lawrence H.S., committed to Butler
Avery Patterson
Avery
Patterson
5'4" | CG
Bloomington North | 2023
IN
, 2023, Bloomington H.S. North
Madisyn Bailey
Madisyn
Bailey
5'9" | PG
Bedford North Lawrence | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Bedford North Lawrence H.S.
Madelyn Dalton
Madelyn
Dalton
6'1" | C
Washington | 2024
IN
, 2024, Washington H.S.
Anna Herman
Anna
Herman
6'3" | C
Vincennes Rivet | 2024
IN
, 2024, Vincennes Rivet H.S.
Keylee Hudson
Keylee
Hudson
5'10" | SG
Eastern Greene | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Eastern Greene H.S.
Abbie Lucas
Abbie
Lucas
6'0" | PF
Bloomington South | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Bloomington H.S. South
Ava Reitmeyer
Ava
Reitmeyer
5'10" | SG
Bloomington North | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Bloomington H.S. North
Mia Robbennolt
Mia
Robbennolt
6'0" | PF
Bloomington North | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Bloomington H.S. North
Macy Sexton
Macy
Sexton
5'10" | PF
Vincennes Lincoln | 2024
IN
, 2024, Vincennes Lincoln H.S.
Chloe Spreen
Chloe
Spreen
5'10" | SG
Bedford North Lawrence | 2024
State
IN
, 2024, Bedford North Lawrence H.S.
Hannah Bledsoe
Hannah
Bledsoe
6'0" | PF
Barr-Reeve | 2025
State
IN
, 2025, Barr-Reeve H.S.
Olivia Gilley
Olivia
Gilley
6'0" | PF
Washington | 2025
IN
, 2025, Washington H.S.
Mary Herman
Mary
Herman
6'3" | C
Vincennes Rivet | 2025
State
IN
, 2025, Vincennes Rivet H.S.
Alex McKinley
Alex
McKinley
5'8" | SG
North Knox | 2025
State
IN
, 2025, North Knox H.S.
Kenli Sullivan
Kenli
Sullivan
5'11" | SF
Bloomington North | 2025
IN
, 2025, Eastern Greene H.S.