Juniors to Watch This Season
In this article:
I talked about some sophomores to keep tabs on this season a week ago. Today, I want to highlight some juniors who could have impactful seasons and possibly lead their teams farther than people may expect. Madison Fitzgibbon Madison Fitzgibbon…
Access all of Prep Girls Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingI talked about some sophomores to keep tabs on this season a week ago. Today, I want to highlight some juniors who could have impactful seasons and possibly lead their teams farther than people may expect.
Madison Fitzgibbon Madison Fitzgibbon 5'6" | CG Homestead | 2025 State WI
Usually, you don’t find kids who’ve accomplished as much as Fitzgibbon has throughout their first two years and think they can achieve more at this level. However, through the unluckiness that can arise from single-elimination tournaments, Fitzgibbon and Homestead have a lot to prove this season. The Highlanders haven’t reached the second weekend of the postseason since their 2025 class walked in the door, and that group has the potential to win sectionals and play at the State Tournament. Fitzgibbon is already a 1,000-point scorer at Homestead and one of the most lethal scorers from the 3-point line in the state. In a scenario where she catches fire heading into the postseason, the Highlanders are as dangerous as anyone.
Haddie Showen Haddie Showen 5'9" | PG Westfield | 2025 State WI
2023-24 will be the only season where The Pioneers will have Showen and Carly Drew Carly Drew 5'8" | CG Westfield | 2024 State WI as upperclassmen, and that backcourt is among the most talented in all of D4. However, the talent pool in D4 is as good as it has been in a few years. In a hypothetical world where chalk holds, I’d expect them to play against Cuba City with a trip to state on the line. In a game like that, Showen can determine the tempo of that game. Showen possesses the physicality to play through contact, the size to shoot over smaller defenders, and the experience of playing deep into the postseason. She competes at a high level in multiple sports and will not shy away from the moment if the time comes for her and her Pioneers team.
The most important thing for Welsch is that she’s finally healthy and had some consistency at the end of the summer with Mac Irvin Fire. Her freshman season ended early due to injury, and she missed her AAU season two summers ago. This past high school season, she had a new coach with a new philosophy and then changed AAU programs over the summer. Now that she has some consistency in her basketball life, I expect she’ll find her footing and hit the ground running in the Classic 8. Whenever she’s been on the floor, Welsch has been successful by making hustle plays even when her shots aren’t falling, but there’s a chance that she ends up being a matchup problem for teams because of how much pressure she puts on the rim this season. She’s one of the biggest unknowns due to health issues in the past, but she has a platform to make a name for herself this coming season at Catholic Memorial.
Addison Miranda Addison Miranda 5'7" | SG Pius XI | 2025 State WI
Pius has one of the most talented backcourts in the state in Tess Wiczek Tess Wiczek 5'7" | PG Pius XI Catholic | 2025 State WI and Georgia Acompanado Georgia Acompanado 5'8" | PG Pius XI | 2025 State WI , but this team will go as far as Miranda can take them, in my opinion. The two lead guards can attack the rim as much as they want, but Miranda will be the kid who can open the floor with her shooting. There are games where she looks unconscious from behind the 3-point line, and those games are where her Wisconsin Shooters AAU team and her Pius team look the best. That Popes’ group lost some long term starters and role players, but they could be sneaky competitive in the Woodland-West. She might be the biggest X-Factor in the Woodland-West and D2.