Winter Break Wrap-Up: My Top Players Thus Far (Part 5)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>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 level. This will be a five part wrap-up with 5-10 athletes included per article.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["63558"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Going into winter break [player_tooltip player_id='63558' first='Jenna' last='Hopp'] has put together an impressive stat line while leading her team to an overall 6-2 record. Hopp, the South Dakota State women's basketball commit, is currently averaging 26 PPG and 14 RPG, all coming from the guard position. A major contributor to her success would be her athletic build accompanied with a really quick first step against her defenders. She has done a good job this season working with what the opponents are giving her while rebounding like crazy. Coming off of a big win against a top 10 team last time they competed, the Glenwood Rams will aim to keep up their momentum and finish this season on a high note going into the playoffs. While playing in a major 4A class, it is going to be interesting to see where the Rams land once the playoff rankings come out in a few weeks. This is a team that is built from the inside-out and that could really surprise some teams if they don't take them seriously in the long run.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["63032"],"_player_evaluations_1_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"[player_tooltip player_id='63032' first='Kelsey' last='Joens'] hasn't had the ideal start she may of wanted for her senior year at West Liberty high school but that won't slow her down. Joens, the senior transfer who will be playing at Iowa State next season, has been as dominate as you would expect moving down to a smaller school and conference compared to a year ago. Going into break she is currently averaging 24.7 PPG and 11.2 RPG while leading her team to a 4-3 record, ranking them second in their conference behind the Iowa City-Regina Regals, who sit at 10-1 in conference play up until this point. I anticipate that Joens and West Liberty will figure it out before the play-offs start. This Comets team also possesses two other very solid players in Finley and [player_tooltip player_id='311399' first='Pearson' last='Hall']. If they can work on their offensive flow, figuring out their new system and stay hungry on defense, this team will not be an easy out against any team when it's all said and done before the end of the year.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_player":["429855"],"_player_evaluations_2_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"[player_tooltip player_id='429855' first='Lillie' last='Petersen'] came into this season ranked as the #1 center in the senior class and she has been showing us why thus far. Petersen is playing extremely efficiently while averaging 13.6 PPG and 13.1 RPG for her Bettendorf high school team. During games she has been working hard to let everyone see her presence inside the lane while being able to get up and down the floor with good pace for her size. When it comes to scoring the ball this season she would be defined as efficient, like I mentioned above. Currently she is scoring the ball at a 43% rate overall, 44% from three, and 72% from the line when she gets fouled. Right now the Bettendorf Bulldogs are sitting around .500 and looking to make some lean-way coming out of break. I'm sure that if Petersen keeps being consistent in the middle and her teammates work off of her that they will be able to find some success before this season is over.","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_3_player":["127632"],"_player_evaluations_3_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_3_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_3_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"Benton Community has started off this season with an overall 9-1 record and 3-1 in conference going into break, with their only loss coming to Center Point-Urbana high school at the beginning of this season by a final score of 22-27. This is uncommon for both teams in that previous match-up as they both are very good at scoring the basketball against their opponents a majority of the time. This fantastic start for Benton can be attributed to the team work for the Bobcats and the senior leadership of guard [player_tooltip player_id='127632' first='Jenna' last='Twedt']. Twedt, a Kirkwood women's basketball commit, has been lighting it up so far this season by averaging 20 PPG and dishing out 4 APG against some really good opponents. I would say up to this point, the Bobcats and Twedt have had one of the most difficult schedules I've seen this season. With that being said, it makes their overall record even more impressive to the outside viewer. Looking forward I think that it will be tough for anyone else to beat this team the rest of the regular season and going into playoffs. They will have some tough challenges ahead to end the year but they are a good enough team to keep a 1 loss record going into the tournament.","_player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_4_player":["311367"],"_player_evaluations_4_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_4_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_4_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_4_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_4_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_4_evaluation":"[player_tooltip player_id='311367' first='Jayden' last='Kuper'] and the Monticello Panthers have started off this year with an 8-1 record and are feeling great going into winter break. Kuper, who is a versatile combo forward, had a great season a year ago for the Panthers as a freshman and she is picking up right where she left off. Averaging over 20 PPG while also contributing in the rebound and assist categories as well. Going forward over the next two season, it'll be interesting to see what position Kuper plays at the college level once high school is over. She has really good size for her position in the mid-range area, does a lot of good things near the hoop, and is starting to learn how to move her opponent out of the middle and get to where she would like to go. She has a great skill set to accompany everything that I listed above and is a hard worker to add on top of all that. Monticello does run a great program and so respectfully I have to credit some of her success to that aspect of the game but overall, she is going to be a huge get for a college program one day.","_player_evaluations_4_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":5,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63ab6bbf3b1a0"} /-->