Winter Break Wrap-Up: My Top Players Thus Far (Part 1)
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Going into winter break I wanted to highlight my top players up until this point in the season. These will not be in any certain order at the moment and will feature players through-out all grades at the high school…
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Continue ReadingGoing into winter break I wanted to highlight my top players up until this point in the season. These will not be in any certain order at the moment and will feature players through-out all grades at the high school level. This will be a five part wrap-up with 5-10 athletes included per article.
Sahara Williams Sahara Williams 5’11” | SF Waterloo West | 2023 State IA and Waterloo West high school go into break with an 8-0 overall record and a great start to their 22′-23′ season. Williams is averaging just over 20 PPG, 10 RPG, 4 APG, and 4 SPG while shooting 53% from the field in a dominating fashion. The Oklahoma Women’s basketball commit is coming off of a Gold Medal summer with Team USA in the 3 x 3 event where she really brought her “A” game. She is using that momentum to keep up her productivity going into the last season of her high school career, where she will give it one more shot at winning a 5A state championship. Williams is one of the best players a college coach could want going into next season and I expect her to make an impact right away as a freshman. I am excited to see how Williams will fair in the state tournament in the spring as she will be marked as the main concern for her opponents when it comes to production. It should be a very good state tournament at the 5A level when it gets to it as there are some insanely good teams overall who will be competing for the title.
Aili Tanke Aili Tanke 6’0″ | SG Johnston | 2024 State IA and the top ranked Johnston Dragons have started their season with a 10-0 record due to their balanced team dynamic and dedication toward each-other. The Dragons have so many weapons with a good amount of experience and some really skilled young players that make them a nightmare to defend. It is hard to prepare for any team that has 7-10 players who can compete at a high level, in this case we are speaking about the Dragons. A real key piece to this team being Aili Tanke Aili Tanke 6’0″ | SG Johnston | 2024 State IA . Tanke, the Iowa State women’s basketball commit, has been on a tear for her junior season. Leading her team in scoring while also getting her teammates involved by distributing the ball. She has been showing off her efficient shooting ability from deep with half of her shot attempts this season coming from behind the arc. She is shooting around 50% from the field overall and 49% from three point range on the way to averaging just above 16 PPG. I expect this team to keep winning and for you to see a few more names from this rooster on this list in the next few days. They will be a fun watch once the play-offs begin this season and they match up with some teams that can really compete.
The Davenport North Wildcats have the best young backcourt in the state and it’s not even close in Journey Houston Journey Houston 5’11” | CG Davenport North | 2025 State IA and Divine Bourrage Divine Bourrage 6’0″ | CG Davenport North | 2025 State IA . Houston being more of an off guard/combo forward while Divine runs the point position for the Wildcats. Houston has been dominate all season leading her team with 19.8 PPG, 10.9 RPG, and 3 APG on the way to an 8-1 record with their only loss coming to Halle Vice Halle Vice 5’11” | SG Pleasant Valley | 2023 State IA and Pleasant Valley high school by 2 at the beginning of the year. As Houston is only a sophomore I expect her and this team to get a lot of attention the rest of this high school season and moving forward for her last two seasons. She is such a diverse play maker who gets it done for her team that I am sure most colleges will come to take a look at her or even offer her at some point down the road. She has superior ability to most her age in basketball skill and mind-set. She can play a number of different positions and do several things on the floor if need be. Making her even more appealing to college scouts as she can fit into many different types of systems that are already established as winning programs.
Highlights
Katy Reyerson Katy Reyerson 6’2″ | PF West Marshall | 2023 State IA so far this season has put together the most complete stat line as a player I have seen thus far to begin her senior season. Reyerson has lead her team to a 8-1 start with their first loss coming in their most recent game to South Hamilton high school by 1. She is averaging 20.6 PPG on 56.1% shooting, 12.8 RPG, and 6.5 APG to lead her team. She is a complete player that is good about making the right plays in the right spots. She has very high basketball IQ and knows how to get her teammates involved. Right now she is currently a big mis-match against teams who try to play man against her West Marshall team. She has good length, speed, and touch around the rim. All of her offensive weapons have been on display this season as she has recorded some really impressive stat lines, some to where she would almost have a quadruple-double on more than one occasion. It’ll be fun to see how the rest of this season finishes up for West Marshall as I expect them to get to the state tournament in Des Moines and really show how good they are with Reyerson in charge. She is going to end her high school season on a tear and plans to keep that up going into her freshman year at the University Of Northern Iowa.
Lindsey Davis Lindsey Davis 5’8″ | SG Nodaway Valley | 2024 State IA is the only player ranked in the top five in the state of Iowa for PPG averaged who is not a senior with 26.8 PPG on average in their 8 contests so far this season. Davis is a dynamic scorer and a top player in her 2024 class for Nodaway Valley high school. She has put up some eye-catching stat lines to start this year including scoring a school record 43 points in a single game but it doesn’t stop there. The dynamic point guard also does a good job of crashing the boards and rebounding for her team, creating several more opportunities for her teammates and herself. It’ll be interesting to see if Nodaway Valley can make a state run this season as it’ll be tough to get there but I have a feeling we will be seeing them compete in Des Moines for a state championship at the end of this season. Davis is a real game changer and she draws some much attentions from other teams that her fellow teammates are definitely capable of getting it done.