2023 Fall Rankings: Senior class stock-risers

<figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/05/Webster-County-State-Tournament-3-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-285734" width="103" height="103"/><figcaption>Photo: Landon Persinger</figcaption></figure>   [player_tooltip player_id='153421' first='Sydney' last='Baird'], Webster County, CG, 5-8, Sr. (from 7 to 5) - Baird (at left) needed a lot to happen in order for her to jump up two spots. And what a coincidence. Everything ended up happening. She played great AAU ball. She added more to her game. She became more experienced as a leader. Not to mention, she blended it all together into a wonderful mix of abilities, buzzer beaters, and wild action moments in AAU ball. I am not kidding. This kid made everything look good over the summer. Quite frankly, she improved more than perhaps anyone on this list just to get up those two spots. Believe that.   <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/06/Zoe-Davis.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-441567" width="390" height="259"/></figure>   [player_tooltip player_id='371590' first='Zoe' last='Davis'], St. Marys, W, 5-8, Sr. (from 14 to 12) - Baird isn't alone among the most improved in the Mountain State. Not even close. Davis (right) earned that honor. No doubt about it. Fully healed from a knee injury, Zoe went about reminding us exactly what she could be when healthy. Turns out, she can be a dominant force, one you don't see coming until she's on you and then you have to adjust on the fly. Just look at the different ways her game improved over the summer for more proof. Not only does she finally have full range of motion back in her knee, but she's an overall stronger human being, perhaps doubly so. If that sounds weird, just watch her drive to the basket and finish with people hanging on her and hacking her. It really is a powerful display. Once she gains a head of steam, she never really cools off until her follow through and sometimes she takes her opponent down with her. The finish isn't intentional of course, but her relentless drive serves as a great microcosm of how her entire game vastly improved over the summer.   <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/09/28-Kerigan-Salmons-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-504238" width="99" height="149"/></figure>   [player_tooltip player_id='496349' first='Kerigan' last='Salmons'], Tolsia, W, 5-8, Sr. (from 34 to 24) - Salmons may still be wearing a leg brace from her knee injury, that is true. However, she isn't much hampered by it anymore. As the months have gone on, she's showed why Tolsia can think state championship when the Rebels step back on the floor in November. Along with teammate [player_tooltip player_id='410466' first='Autumn' last='Block'], Salmons formed the physical core of a defense that gave eventual state runner-up Gilmer County all it wanted and more in the regional final. And she wasn't even on the floor, then. Now, she'll be on the floor when Tolsia throws the ball in the air for the first time and will be a danger shooter with a physical presence not a lot of Class A girls can handle on the block.   [player_tooltip player_id='153411' first='Keanti' last='Thompson'], Woodrow Wilson, PG, 5-4, Sr. (from UR to 3) - Thompson possesses all the skills to end up at the top of the 2023 rankings at seasons end. The only question is: Will she, do it? After missing last season following a tantalizing state tourney performance in 2021, the Flying Eagle has a little work to do to get back on track. She's got new teammates to gel with, new opponents to learn, and a new teammate in [player_tooltip player_id='379519' first='Abby' last='Dillon'] who can just as easily share the point guard spot with her. Maybe it sounds like a lot to overcome, but I wouldn't count her out. We've seen her be in this exact position before in that much balloyhoed state tournament debut mentioned earlier. You know, the one where she put her name on the map as an up-and-comer. Performing at such a high level hopefully gave her a confidence she can remember and recall, because Woodrow is poised for a big run after playing so many young players last season. Plus, Brian Nabors and company certainly could use more of her slashing and penetrating attack along with her everywhere-all-at-once defensive game as they compete in a Region III with just one state tournament bid left.   [player_tooltip player_id='153412' first='Sierra' last='Mason'], Parkersburg, CG, 5-5, Sr. - What Mason is PHS getting after she spent one-year away from the Big Reds? That's second year head coach Chris Murray's biggest question heading into the season. When Mason is on, she's one of the most explosive point guards in the state. But when she doesn't want to play, things aren't nearly as rosie. Hopefully for Murray's sake, she's always choosing to be on and playing at a high level. There's no better outcome. Simply put, receiving all-state effort from her night in and night out is like adding two separate but equal players to your team. Not only are you getting a scorer, but you're also receiving one of the best sighted PGs. She sees plays before they happen and delivers the ball on time, sometimes before time. Or she rolls down the lane for easy buckets and trips to the free throw line. Adding it to a PHS team with shooters and in need of a PG should make the Big Reds a fringe contender for the state tournament. Yes, Mason brings that much to the floor - every single time out.