2024 Playoffs: State Fire-Starters – Day 1 (Class 5A)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Today marked the tip-off of the 2023-2024 Girls High School State Basketball Tournament across all Classes for the State of Iowa. In Day 1 we had a little bit of everything. Large margins of victory, close battles that went down to the wire and everything in between. In the article below we will highlight a handful of prospects that stood out at their first day at State. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["777225"],"_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":"Dowling Catholic took care of business in their Round One matchup on Monday afternoon against the defending 5A champs, The Pleasant Valley Spartans. Someone that was a major factor in this win was Freshman, [player_tooltip player_id='777225' first='Katie' last='Muller']. Muller is the third Muller to pass through the DC program the past few seasons and she is going to be quite the talent. When I saw her originally this season, she played really well, shooting it from deep at a very impressive rate. Well, on Monday it was more of the same. Muller was lining it up from behind the arc and knocking it down on almost every attempt. The Muller sisters are a big part of the future of the Maroons and they are going to be an important piece if they want to continue on this winning streak for the rest of this week. Muller showed out in this game and I'm impressed. When the 2027 Rankings Update for this state comes out at the end of the week, definitely look for Muller to be on that list in a higher spot than before.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["638015"],"_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='638015' first='Maryne' last='Szalo'] was a prospect that we featured a week or so ago because of her persistent this Post-season and she is being featured again because of her fantastic game play in her teams First Round upset against Ankeny Centennial, 46-44. This game started with a 10-0 Jaguars lead but that all changed when the Warriors took over at the end of the first quarter, finishing the half on a 28-11 run and going into half-time with a count of 28-22. I give a lot of credit because Szalo kept this group in it when things could have gotten out of hand at start the game, even more-so than they were. If this contest started 15-0 or even 20-0, I'm not sure if the Warriors pull it out. Szalo is a D2 talent at the moment in my eyes and she proved that in a big way on Monday morning. If she continues to work on her game and evolve to a higher level, skill-wise, she is going to be a real problem over the next two season before she steps on the collegiate floor. Wherever that may be.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_player":["246163"],"_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":"Everyone is going to talk about [player_tooltip player_id='246163' first='Grace' last='Knutson'] and her performance from Monday afternoon so I'm not going to say too much about it other than, wow. 34 Points on 52% shooting for the entire contest and helping lead her team to an upset victory was the most impressive performance of Day 1 in my opinion. In a game that brought in Dawn Staley to come and watch the #9 prospect in the 2025 Class in the Country in [player_tooltip player_id='311381' first='Divine' last='Bourrage'] on Davenport North's side, Knutson stole the show. She is a household name in Iowa at the high school level at this point and that's going to be the same once she graduates. She is committed to Drake for her collegiate future on the hardwood and with her shooting ability, I'm sure she is going to shine when she gets her opportunities.","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_3_player":["557354"],"_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":"I needed a few statement games out of [player_tooltip player_id='557354' first='Jenica' last='Lewis'] this winter in the Post- season and today she had one of those in her teams matchup against Valley High School. In a contest where the Dragons led from start to finish, Lewis ended with a team high 19 points, along with a few other positive numbers to stuff the stat sheet. Last season when the Dragons lost the State Title, everyone could have played better. If you remember correctly, there were 56 points scored by Johnston and the combination of [player_tooltip player_id='246121' first='Aili' last='Tanke']/[player_tooltip player_id='246101' first='Aaliyah' last='Riley'] had 46 of those with Emma Hampton chipping in another 7. The reason I have such high expectation of Lewis is because of her potential. She is a high end, Division-1 recruit with 30+ offers already. There is no reason that she shouldn't be showing her ability to dominate each contest so I'm glad that she is already demonstrating what she can do on Day 1.","_player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_4_player":["246149"],"_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":"Another top end prospect that will be a future Truman State Bulldog after this season comes to close, who played really well today is [player_tooltip player_id='246149' first='Sophia' last='Hope'] of the Waukee Warriors. Hope is a versatile Combo Guard/Forward, that can score from all three levels at a high rate either off of the dribble or catch. Offensively today, she was knocking down shots from deep at a high rate and scoring in the post whenever a mismatch would present itself. If this Warriors team wants to keep their season alive after the Semi's, Hope and company are going to have to have the game of their season. Something that is possible but we will just have to wait and see how it all turns out.","_player_evaluations_4_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":5,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-65dd227be69ae"} /-->