2024 Playoffs: Players Getting It Done (Class 2A)
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On Wednesday evening we had eight more teams punch their ticket to the State Tournament next week in Des Moines. In this article, we evaluate a handful of players and their performances from last night. These performances were ones that…
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Continue ReadingOn Wednesday evening we had eight more teams punch their ticket to the State Tournament next week in Des Moines. In this article, we evaluate a handful of players and their performances from last night. These performances were ones that stood out in a handful of ways to anyone paying attention.
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Payton Foster Payton Foster 5'7" | PG Dike-New Hartford | 2027 IA
Payton Foster Payton Foster 5'7" | PG Dike-New Hartford | 2027 IA
The Dike-New Hartford Wolverines have been rolling this year yet again and a big part of that is due to their upperclassmen. This group is one that has been together for a few season at this point and they really understand each other but to still find the type of success that they have had, is impressive. A prospect that has been consistent towards the end of this season for the Wolverines, who is not included in their upperclassmen group is Freshman, Payton Foster Payton Foster 5’7″ | PG Dike-New Hartford | 2027 IA . Foster has been seeing the floor at a steady rate and knocking down a lot of shots. In their contest last night, she ended up leading her team in scoring with 19 Points, going 7-12 from the field and 5-8 from behind the arc. While also grabbed 2 Rebounds and disheing out an Assist. For the time being, Foster just has to play her role this season. She needs to do what she does best and keep it simple. She is on a team that is prepped for another State Title run next week. If they stay out of their own way, they will be lifting the trophy once again by the time next Saturday roles around.
The Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont Rockets competed last night against a tough North Mahaska team and came out victorious by a final of 61-41. It may seem that the score is lopsided but it was just one bad quarter to start for the Warhawks that sealed the deal early on in this one. For the Rockets, their standout Molly Shafer Molly Shafer 6’0″ | PF Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont | 2025 State IA , did her thing. Her team set her up for success and she capitalized. When the final buzzer sounded, Shafer had 23 Points (9-13), 7 Rebounds, 1 Assist, and 7 Steals to lead her squad. This was a great showing for the Rockets moving into State but if they want to win some games next week, it’s going to have to be more of a team effort. The competition they are going to play, is going to be tough. I think that this group could win their Round One matchup and give the DNH Wolverines a run for their money in Round Two but that is only if they execute properly. As for the game last night though, Shafer was hands down the best prospect on the floor, through and through.
Caitlin Martin
Caitlin Martin
The Regina Regals fell just short yesterday in their contest against Cascade to move onto the State Tournament but the good news is that this group has something to build on moving forward. We have highlighted this team a few times this season because of their top two players but someone that did a good job of making their presence known last night against Cascade was Caitlin Martin. Martin isn’t going to jump off the screen with her scoring ability but it’s the hustle plays that make her successful. She works hard, doesn’t take plays off, and she isn’t afraid to mix it up with bigger opponents. Martin ended this one with a team leading 8 Rebounds and a team leading 5 Assists. In a program and on a team when you have a very skilled player like the Regals have in Morgan Miller Morgan Miller 5’9″ | PG Iowa City Regina | 2025 State IA , sometimes it can be hard to stand out but Martin did a great job of that last night. Like I said, the future is bright for the Regals. Next year, they bring in a very good Freshman to join this group, while only losing two upperclassmen. If they do things correctly, they will be back in this same position next year with another shot to make it back to the Well.
Tyme Boettcher Tyme Boettcher 5’11” | CG Panorama | 2024 State IA of Panorama High School had herself a game last night to help lead her team to a win by a final of 59-55. Boettcher ended the contest with 28 Points (11/25), 7 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steal, and 1 Block. If you know anything about the Panorama Panthers, they have been a group this season that has just had too many weapons offensively for their opponents to handle. Boettcher is pretty skilled on the offensive side of the ball but she also has done a good job of getting everyone else involved at a consistent rate. Moving forward, things become interesting for this group. When you look at the stat lines last night, you notice that the Panthers took 53 shots as a team and 25 of them were from Boettcher. That strategy is not going to bring them home a State Title. When you take into consideration the path they have to take, the players and teams that they will have to match up against, and everything else. You start to see that the efforts will have to be more evenly spread out or else it’s going to get messy. Programs at this point understand how to scout. The question that the Panthers will have to answer every game moving forward is, “When Tyme is triple teamed, who is going to step up?” If the answer is everyone, then we are looking at a team who could shock the state over this next week.
Highlights
Kaylee Helm
Kaylee Helm
Another player from the Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont Rockets that put together a productive game last night in their win was Shooting Guard, Kaylee Helm. Respectfully, when you have heard about EBF this season and their success at the Guard position, you haven’t really heard about Kaylee Helm but she is becoming more and more of a problem for other teams to deal with. You can say that it’s simple to work off of the perimeter as a Guard, when you have the Post presence that this team has but you still have to show up and make it happen. In their game last night, Kaylee Helm’s did just that. She was the Rocket’s second leading scorer with 14 Points on 50% shooting and she also had 5 Rebounds. After this group starts firing on all cylinders, they are tough to stop. As you can imagine, they have several Guards who can kill you in a number of ways. Last night it just happen to be Helms but next week it could be Ava Eastlick Ava Eastlick 5’4″ | SG Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont | 2025 State IA or Kate Shafer Kate Shafer 6’0″ | SF Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont | 2025 State IA . It doesn’t matter. The point being, if you don’t scout this group properly and execute against them defensively, it’s going to end in a Rockets win. Plain and Simple.