Live at the Lakes: Noteworthy Performers

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Since games were mainly in Kennedy High School, I saw most of the kids I wanted to see in Minnesota, which means there are plenty of kids to highlight, so let's talk about some more action from Live at the Lakes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='915001' first='Jillian' last='Kunert']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There was plenty to like about what Kunert did this past weekend. In the game, I sat down and watched. She used her length effectively on both ends of the floor and had an incredible block late in the game to preserve a narrow lead. I went back and watched bits of her previous games and saw that she knocked down some perimeter jumpers. I thought she had a solid overall weekend and showed different facets of her game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='448246' first='Addison' last='Baumgart']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After a mishap of not having the correct jersey and the opposing team refusing to flip their reversible jerseys, Baumgart missed the first eight minutes of the game. However, in the last eight minutes of the first half, Baumgart ripped four three-pointers and energized her team's offense when it looked dead in the water. Having a kid who can space the floor like Baumgart makes the other four players around her better due to the attention defenses give her away from the ball on the perimeter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='386578' first='Elaina' last='Rager']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Guards with a certain level of quality with the ball in their hands are rare. Rager has this innate ability to make things happen with the ball in her hands for herself and her teammates. Rager is equally as likely to score twenty as she is to create ten open looks for her teammates, which is part of the reason why scholarship-level programs have offered her scholarships over the past year. Rager's a kid who'll improve the amount of quality possessions once up to speed with college basketball. She had a couple of scoring outbursts that caught my eye in passing.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='338951' first='Natalie' last='Mueller']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I've always been impressed with how consistent a shooter Mueller is ever since I first saw her before her freshman season at Homestead. She rarely misses anywhere short or long and tends to make shots whenever she's allowed space to let it fly. She made multiple threes when I saw her play on Saturday, which she's always been able to do at a high level, but her consistency has always stood out. Few kids are as consistent as her over the past three years. She'll add floor spacing wherever she plays at the next level.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->