AAU Spring/Summer Girls Team Preview: Nebraska Attack 17U – UAA
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When you mention the Nebraska Attack Girls basketball program you hear a lot of great things associated with their name. Wether it be that they have a top program in the country every year on the UAA circuit, that they…
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Continue ReadingWhen you mention the Nebraska Attack Girls basketball program you hear a lot of great things associated with their name. Wether it be that they have a top program in the country every year on the UAA circuit, that they compete VS the highest level of competition every year and consistently win, or that they produce maybe the most college level talent as a girls program in the state of Nebraska out of high school. All this stuff could be true but this 17U team that they have this spring is going to show you why it IS true. A group that is made up of smart point guards, lethal shooters, athletic forwards, and players with a post presence in the middle. You pair this along with a group that has been together for a number of years and with some coaches that really know what they are talking about and you are going to find a lot of success. I expect that to be the case with this group this spring/summer.
You can catch them live at any event listed below. Be sure to check them out!
Schedule
April 21-23: UAA Session 1 – Manheim, PA
May 6-7: AIA Clash on the Courts – Coralville, IA
May 19-21: Clash Of The Clubs – Dallas, TX
June 3-4: Battle At The Border – Kansas City, MO
July 1-2: AIA Elite Invitational – Ames, IA
July 6-8: Run 4 The Roses Classic – Louisville, KY
July 9-11: UAA Session 2 – Louisville, KY
July 21-24: UAA Finals – Cincinnati, OH
Roster
Peyton Tritz is a quick point guard who can handle the ball, control pace of a game, distribute to her teammates on a consistent basis, and defensively is one of the best guard defenders I’ve seen on the ball in a long time. Tritz has shown some really nice talent this past high school season and she is looking to carry that momentum into her Spring/Summer sessions with her Nebraska Attack UAA 17u team. She is a guard that displays a smooth scoring ability against other high level competition. One of the best parts about her game is that she spreads the floor and can still impact a contest without the ball being in her hands a majority of the time. Like I mentioned above about her defense, this past high school season I saw that she recorded right around 19 charges for her team on the year, a very impressive number that displays how intelligent she is while protecting the hoop. Keep Tritz on your radar. She has great energy and a solid game. She should be making some big waves this AAU season.
Kenzie Melcher Kenzie Melcher 5’11” | SG Bellevue West | 2024 State NE has game. Plain and Simple. A 5’11 combo guard who is listed as forward most of the time but with her size and shooting capabilities, I put her more at a guard position. Melcher is really solid. She is a competitor who leaves it all out on the floor each and every game while also being a pivotal play-maker for whatever team she is lacing up for. She can score on all three levels and displays an impressive shot from behind the arc. What I mean by that is, her stance is also wide, her balance is always in the middle of her body, and her shooting mechanics are the same every shot. All these things add up to an efficient and fundamental shooter from deep. She is committed to play at the next level in a very good Northwestern Missouri State Bearcats program. A program that is very competitive in conference each season and will look to keep that streak alive with Melcher coming on board in the near future.
Highlights
Molly Ladwig Molly Ladwig 5’9″ | CG Omaha Skutt Catholic | 2025 State NE is a walking bucket. A three level scorer who knows when and where her spots are going to be most open on offense so that she can get the best look possible while trying to score. She displays great fundamentals shooting off of a screen, can put the ball on the floor and beat her initial defender, and has great touch on the ball overall. She is the type of player that during any game she can go off for 20-30 points in a blink of an eye. She showed this a few times this past high school season at Skutt Catholic High School. Ladwig is the only individual on this 17U UAA team that is playing up as she is only in the class of 2025, quiet impressive as I’ve already seen that she hit a buzzer beater for this group this past weekend to win a ball game. I expect big things this spring/summer out of Molly. She can really play and she should be showing that each game. The only person I can see stopping her is herself by getting in her own head. Other than that, good luck to everyone else.
This Nebraska Attack 17U UAA team is loaded. One of their biggest players being power forward Avery Yosten Avery Yosten 6’1″ | SF Norfolk Catholic | 2024 State NE . Yosten is 6’2 and used her body extremely well on the court. She has displayed that she can spead the floor and hit a three or catch it on the outside and take it in for a strong look on the right side of the hoop. She does a fantastic job of getting her back to the basket in someway when she is near the paint with the ball in her hands so that she can feel her opponent on her back. Giving her the ability to slow things down for a moment and make an efficient move, usually ending with a bucket at the rim for herself. Having a big like Yosten is a privilege as a coach in todays game. Someone who can be powerful in the paint over a good amount of the players out there while also being agile enough to move down the floor rather quickly. This group has every weapons to be great this season and Avery is going to be a big part of that.
Players in todays game who can only do one thing well on the floor get passed by rather quickly, that’s why you need to diversify your game as much as you can while you are growing up. A person who did a great job of this is Taylor Hansen Taylor Hansen 5’10” | PF Millard West | 2024 State NE . Hansen is a 6’1 combo forward in my book. She can catch at the three point line and drive to the hoop, usually ending in her signature floater over the other teams center. She has an act for rebounding the ball on both sides of the floor, giving herself and her teammates more opportunities, multiple times a game. When we talk about the defensive side of things it’s good to mention her size and how quick she is moving her feet. She can stay in front of a guard or she can plant and battle down in the post if her team needs her to. Hansen is a hustle player. She gets a lot of her success because she is working harder then the player lined up across from her. A lesson a lot of young players in this game should take notes on.
If we are talking about players who fill up the basket in a hurry on offense then we have to mention McKenna Stover. Stover, a 5’11 combo forward, is a dominate force near the basket who will not take no for an answer while trying to score near the rim. You see this rather quickly by watching her for just a few possessions. You can imagine along with this is her superior ability to rebound over players that are alike in size to herself. She possesses a quick dribble move to help her get past her defender from the outside, creating a lot of nice looking shots at the hoop for herself or one of her teammates throughout a ball game. Stover is a stat stuffer. The player who you may not think it but can give you 20 and 10 in a rather short amount of time, in a bunch of different ways. There are going to be some AAU games this spring/summer where she goes off and I can’t wait to see it.
McKenna Murphy McKenna Murphy 5’11” | SG Elkhart North | 2024 State NE is one of the best overall players on this team. She can score from behind the three point line at a high rate, score from inside the lane at an even higher rate, and does everything else just as good, if not better, then the player lined up next to her. After coming off of a state title this past season at Elkhorn North High School, the motivation is high for Murphy as she really wants to put together a nice spring/summer AAU season to follow. Something that is more than possible when you look at this roster as a whole. All the players on this team bring energy, smarts, and a whole lot of talent, Murphy especially. They are going to hit the ground running and show that this whole roster might end up playing high level college basketball when it’s all said and done. I’m sure there will be recruiters lined up this spring/summer, watching this group compete.
This team consists of two smaller point guards who make up for their size with all the skill they bring to the table. We have already mentioned the first to start this article but the second is Jordan Metzler Jordan Metzler 5’7″ | SG Wakefield | 2024 State NE . Metzler is a quick handling point guard with elite speed and change of direction. She really knows how to handle the ball, when to change how fast she is going, and when to hesitate to shoot VS when to hesitate to drive. Along with this she has a beautiful three point shot that goes in quiet a lot and from usually pretty far away. You can tell that over the years she has really locked into her shot and perfected it, especially in those catch and shoot situations that often arise against a zone. On defense she has nice instincts while guarding the ball and gets her hands on a good amount of tips/deflections. This is on full display when her team turns up the pressure and brings a press. Overall Jordan is a vocal leader, who leads from the from. Something every coach wants in their point guard.
Dani Coyer Dani Coyer 6’1″ | C Bellevue West | 2024 State NE joins this group this season to be the rim protector in the middle. Coyer stands at 6’2 and uses her body really well inside the paint. She is more of a post presence that will stay inside the lane and near the hoop, compared to spreading the floor on the outside. She can get away with this because of her size and skill. As a post player she does lot of things that are undervalued in my eyes. She is really good at doing her work early on the offensive side of the floor, meaning that she is beating her defender to spots and creating an easier look for herself next to the basket. Once she catches by the basket she displays a nice touch on the ball while going up with it. This helps her consistently finish her attempts, usually while being fouled in some sort of way. Now is it ever called? Thats a different story. This program is known to be very good all around with a lot of players being in the program for a number of years, helping build their continuity together. Coyer may just be joining this group this season for a one year run to end her high school career but she is going to fit in perfectly with all the pieces around her.