Stepping Up & Taking One For The Team

If you want to be good at taking a Charge on the Basketball Court, you need to have a balanced mixture of knowledge of where to go, knowledge of when to step up for it in the right moment, the knowledge of how to "sell it", and the willingness to sacrifice your body for the good of the team. In this article we are going to highlight five individuals that did a better than average job of stepping up to take Charges last Winter and they are looking to do more of the same throughout the next eight months.   Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!    [player_tooltip player_id='977526' first='Hailey' last='Pitzl'] took 5 Charges as a Junior because of her mixture of smarts, willingness to step up, and frankly - her size. At 5'1, as long as someone doesn't care about her size, I'm sure she gets a lot of looks throughout contests that could be called Charges because opponents go through her. Pitzl was someone that did a little bit of everything last year and she is going to look to do that again but to a higher extent. She averaged 5.5 PPG, 3 RPG, and 1 APG last Winter in 21 games. I'm sure she will be near that once again this time around but who knows.     Benson High School and the [program_tooltip program_id='715719' first='Unity' last='Stars'] AAU program have some talented young guns, that are going to turn out to be very talented prospects on the hardwood by the end of their careers with the right guidance. [player_tooltip player_id='928979' first='Jaeli' last='Franccini'] was a standout as a Freshman on every floor she competed on at the Guard position. With Benson, she ended up taking 3 Charges on the season, showing her effort on the defensive side of the ball. Franccini is going to have a lot to bring to the table come this upcoming season. If last Winter was any indication of what she might be able to do down the line, she is going to be successful and so will the Benson team as a whole.     [player_tooltip player_id='305777' first='Elsa' last='Vedral'] is still someone out of the 2025 Class that is uncommitted at this point in the process but she has some choices, so it's just a matter of time until she ends up committing in the near future. Last year, Vedral recorded 6 Charges throughout her season, just speaking to what she is willing to do on any given night for the betterment of the squad. I have a feeling that Marian is going to have another good upcoming season and Vedral will be a big piece to that. She is going to play her unselfish play-style per usual, so as long as her teammates come prepared, they should do pretty well.     [player_tooltip player_id='977528' first='Emma' last='Diers'] may of only taken 3 Charges last season as a whole but she made a considerable step up from her Sophomore year at the Varsity level, to her Junior year at the Varsity level. She went from scoring 1 PPG to 5 PPG, from .5 RPG to 2 RPG, and 0 APG to 1 APG. These might not be massive differences in numbers but they are noticeable ones. When you combined that with the fact that she was a Top Charge Taker throughout the A Class last Winter, you start to see that she could do some good this upcoming year without hurting her team too much in the grand scheme of things. Which is really all you can ask for when you are playing someone from a coaching perspective.     Next month when the Player Rankings Update for the state of Nebraska and the 2026 Class is published, [player_tooltip player_id='758842' first='Lucy' last='Fierro'] will put moving up a few spots on that list once again. Fierro embodies what this entire article means when you really think about it. She is your selfless PG, that would do anything to help out a teammate and she makes the most of every opportunity she is given. I'm expecting her to have a nice Junior season at Westview at the Varsity level once again this next eight months. If she competes on the high school floor, like she did during the AAU season, she is going to put up big numbers in a small amount of time, all while helping out her team in other ways as well. She ended up taking 3 Charges during her 2023-2024 campaign and she should be able to build on that moving forward.

If you want to be good at taking a Charge on the Basketball Court, you need to have a balanced mixture of knowledge of where to go, knowledge of when to step up for it in the right moment, the knowledge of how to "sell it", and the willingness to sacrifice your body for the good of the team. In this article we are going to highlight five individuals that did a better than average job of stepping up to take Charges last Winter and they are looking to do more of the same throughout the next eight months.