Duel for the Dynasty: 16U All-Tournament First Team

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Prep Girl Hoops Duel for the Dynasty Tournament event did not disappoint! Over the next few days, I will be publishing more articles that cover players these skilled and competitive young ladies. These next few articles will break up the 16U and 15U divisions by All-Tournament First Team and Second Team players.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>These are the top five 16U players had extremely noticeable talent and rose above all in their division!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/brooklynn-thomas/">Brooklynn</a> Thomas 2026 | 6'0 F  (Houston Lady Ravens Elite)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thomas really understands "big man" basketball. She is continuously working without the ball. Sealing in the post, flashing to high post working the lane, Thomas is a great distractor for other teammates to pursue a basket because the defense has to respect her presence. When she does catch the ball, she consistently turns and squares to the basket. She makes great finds on the perimeter as the defense collapses on her. She is quick and strong enough to get to the basket and draw the contact to get the free throw line- where she is solid from the stripe. In the short corner, she favors a crossover to go baseline and attack. On the defensive end, I watched her outmuscle opponents on the block all weekend to front her man. Shot blocking skills and dominant rebounder. Young and athletic forward!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Whitney Jense 2027 | 5'11 F (Team Triumph)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Glue player for her team that influences teammates on both ends of the floor. She uses her length to get deflections which often lead to steals. She pushes the ball out in transition and made really smart decisions of when to find open teammates or finish at the rim herself. Jense can also pull up in transition and nail the three point shot. She also gets inside to rebound, and created a lot of second chance opportunities just by crashing the boards. Jense plays within herself and is a <strong>game changer </strong>for her team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/norah-llayman/">Norah</a> Layman| 5'8 G (Team Platinum 2026 S40 Bartlett)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fierce competitor that gets her team going! In the half court game, she zips beautiful diagonal skip passes to find teammates. I saw her anticipating steals to finish in transition. She also was very smart on 2 on 1 situations. Understanding spacing and how to convert on transition situations where the offense "has numbers" must be explicitly taught, and Layman has it figured out. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1183249' first='Nia' last='Edwards'] 2026 | 5'9 F ([program_tooltip program_id='712373' first='All' last='Arkansas Red'])</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Edward's solid frame makes her lethal first step seemingly deceptive. With her ability to get an inside step on her defender, she makes it look easy to get to the basket. Speed combined with strength, Edwards can get to the cup and finish, or draw the foul. She was a dominate force for her team that went 3-1 on the weekend, falling short by 3 in the single loss.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='935780' first='Jada' last='Weaver'] 2028 | 5'9 G ([program_tooltip program_id='715917' first='Texas' last='Flyte'] Elite)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Weaver was playing up as she's not even in high school yet but you would never guess by watching her game. She makes great reads off the wing. When given a screen, she understands how to make a read to get inside the paint or get her teammates involved when doubled. She shoots and drains the three effortlessly. Go to player for her team because she's a <strong>playmaker</strong>. On the defensive end she is a pest! Young player to watch out for!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":904987,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/05/28JW.jpeg?w=768" alt="" class="wp-image-904987" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->