Second Day of the Film Room
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We’re onto day two of the film room. We have a new batch of players to highlight. We won’t waste time and get right into it. Olivia Olson Olivia Olson 5'8" | PG Cuba City | 2025 State WI We’re…
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Continue ReadingWe’re onto day two of the film room. We have a new batch of players to highlight. We won’t waste time and get right into it.
Olivia Olson Olivia Olson 5'8" | PG Cuba City | 2025 State WI
We’re talking about a player’s performance in one game. It’s Olivia Olson Olivia Olson 5'8" | PG Cuba City | 2025 State WI ‘s excellent sectional-semifinal game against New Glarus at Lancaster High School.
At Cuba City, Olson tends to have the ball in her hands and makes every decision for the Cubans. That makes all the sense when you watch Cuba City play. In this game, you can see Olson has her hands in every aspect of the game.
When the Cubans get into what they do on the offensive end of the floor, if they play well, it means Olson is playing well. In games like this, where that means she’s scoring the ball at a high level, the Cubans will be nearly impossible to beat. In this game, Olson shot 7/13 from the field, 5/7 from the three-point line, and 11/11 from the free-throw line. Anytime you have a kid who can score 30 points on 13 shots from the field, you’ll find your way to more wins than losses.
There’s a confident aura when she has the ball in her hands. She tends to calm everything down when she gets the ball in her hands, and her teammates trust her to get them the ball when they’re open. Although Olson may not have double-digit assists, she created plenty of open shots for the Cubans.
Defensively, Olson makes due while being a slightly undersized lead guard at a listed 5-7. She plays the gaps and manages to find her way to the ball to make plays on it, whether she’s guarding the ball handler or not. She’s usually in the right place at the right time.
Lecce is most comfortable when she can get two feet in the paint, and it doesn’t matter if that means she’s attacking off the dribble, offensive rebounding, cutting, or anything else.
Her ability to score in traffic gives her St. Joe’s team an outlet to make things happen when things aren’t going well. She has a solid handle on the ball and does well at navigating through traffic and pairs that with a floater that she can rely on at any time in the game. The threat of her getting to her floater forces defenses to react and send help earlier than they would, and she reads defenses well enough to make passes that lead to layups.
She’s improved over the past two years behind the three-point line, which only adds to the threat she brings to that end of the floor. Most of her shots come from catch-and-shoot situations, and she’s become a reliable shooter from beyond the arc. She may always be a low-volume shooter in high school due to the makeup of the conference and the way teams play there, but she’s looked like a better shooter.
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The way that Cooper plays will draw oohs and ahhs from around the gym from people who don’t know her. She has the ball on a string and does a tremendous job creating shots off the dribble.
Ever since I first saw Cooper, it was clear that she’d be one of the premier ball handlers in her class, and this year, she got to display her game at the high school level. Cooper has a quick first step, and that step is what gets defenders off balance. They may bite at a head fake a dribble or two later, but it’s because they’re playing catch-up while trying to keep her in front, and they panic. The 2027 may be an undersized kid, even compared to her older sister, but she creates enough space off the dribble to the point where size doesn’t matter as much as it would for other guards.
On the offensive end, expect to be more of a creator who gets downhill than someone looking to pull up from the three-point line. Cooper is also not a score-first guard. She’s always wanted to create for others but uses that to attack the gaps defenses leave, fearing her ability to pass.
Defensively, she has active hands and has the lateral quickness to stay in front of quick guards. EYBL kids this summer will look to take advantage of her physically, but I suspect she may pick some of those kids’ pockets who are too careless with the ball.
Ella Francois Ella Francois 5'7" | PG West De Pere | 2025 State WI
It’s rare to talk about a 5-6 guard’s versatility, but for Francois, it may be my favorite quality of hers.
She’s played with Faith Walder Faith Walder 5'5" | PG West De Pere | 2025 State WI their whole lives, and they’ve molded their games to each other. Francois has excellent qualities for an on-ball and off-ball guard. You may see her initiate an offensive set on one possession and watch her run off off-ball screens the next. Part of the reason she’s as versatile as she is is her physical traits. She’s quick, powerful, has excellent footwork, and can score at all three levels.
Her physicality as a guard makes her a challenge for most kids. It’s rare to find a 5-6 kid who can run through the hip of a defender, score over them, dribble past them, and finish through contact. She’s not the go-to option on her high school or AAU team. However, she’s as reliable as anyone when her number’s called. By being on the floor, she elevates the ceiling of her team on the offensive end of the floor.
On the defensive side of the floor, she’s a fun player to watch. Francois has solid instincts and knows when to improvise and try to make a play and when to stay connected to her assignment. Due to the physicality she has, you can also switch one to three, or four at times, at the high school level and survive. At the next level I assume she’ll be able to defend either guard spot due to her power to keep other guards in front.
A knee injury took her junior season away, but expect her back at some point this summer.