From The Notebook: Hall of Fame Classic, Morning Session

<!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"small"} --> <p class="has-small-font-size"><em>The featured image is of [player_tooltip player_id='486488' first='Antonette' last='Green'] (2026) of Hamilton Southeastern High School.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Friday morning, I checked in on the annual Henry Community Health Hall of Fame Tournament hosted by New Castle High School in New Castle, Indiana. The event highlights the midpoint of the Indiana high school season, and this year it was host to four ranked teams and plenty of talent. Below are some notes on each of the four teams while in Semi-Final action.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><font color="FFFFFF">.</font></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><font size="+1">Hamilton Southeastern (Fishers, IN)</font></strong><br>The Royals had a nice day Friday, winning both of their games at the prestigious event. I was able to see their first game, and they did a nice job of battling South Knox and sort of keeping them at arm's length for much of the game. 6-3 Senior wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='295764' first='Maya' last='Makalusky']</strong> was outstanding, scoring 35 points in the victory. What was more impressive is, she is doing so many different things now than "just" shooting it outside, it seemed like several of those points came pretty easily or even quietly. She did a really nice job of running in transition, moving without the basketball, and drawing contact to earn repeated trips to the free throw line. She is committed to attend Indiana University. I felt like 5-8 Junior point guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='486487' first='Kennedy' last='Holman']</strong> was key in this game as well. She did a nice job of taking care of the ball, getting it where it needed to go, plus she was effective attacking the basket and putting more pressure on the defense. She herself also created transition opportunities and forced tempo, helping the Royals to some easy points. 6-0 Junior forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='486486' first='Kayla' last='Stidham']</strong> has been much more active and has diversified her game this season, but she was left open a handful of times on the wing, and she's just too good of a shooter for that to happen. While she is a talented shooter, she also has a strong frame and is able to defend in the mid-post and rebound effectively. I also feel like 5-5 Junior guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='486488' first='Antonette' last='Green']</strong> and 5-11 Senior forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='828094' first='Addison' last='Van Hoesen']</strong> are a bit under the radar from a recruiting standpoint. Green is a really nice athlete who can get out and go in transition, she is a tough-nosed on-ball defender, and she has worked on her situational basketball. Van Hoesen is just a scrapper who comes up with big rebounds, she can finish around the basket, and she has nice touch facing the basket.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><font size="+1">Homestead (Fort Wayne, IN)</font></strong><br>Homestead has a talented collection of guards and wings, but they arrived to a tough morning matchup with Lawrence Central and their impressive size and skill. 5-11 Junior wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='414465' first='Gabby' last='Helsom']</strong> played well throughout their first game, and she is one of those talented shooters who has range well beyond the 3-point line. She hit several jumpers but also was able to attack and get inside, plus she works the boards as well. 5-10 Junior point guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='492319' first='Myah' last='Epps']</strong> got it going in the second half and created some offense by just putting her head down and attacking the paint. She is long, smooth, and skilled with the ball. She has done a really nice job over the years of transitioning from a wing scorer to a facilitator who can score it. 5-5 Senior point guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='923097' first='Olivia' last='Fry']</strong> is a hard-working water-bug who is seemingly everywhere. She is tremendous at making hustle plays, bringing energy, and finding open teammates. She will defend with effort, and she has committed to St. Mary's at Notre Dame and should be a "steal" for them in recruiting. 5-9 Junior wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='486540' first='Whitney' last='Ankenbruck']</strong> is another nice player who got going in the middle two quarters. She is tough-nosed, hard-working, but also skilled shooting it around the perimeter. She has already given a verbal commitment to Indiana Wesleyan.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><font size="+1">Lawrence Central (Indianapolis, IN)</font></strong><br>It's easy to talk about Lawrence Central's stars, and when I saw them in the Marion County Tournament Semi-Finals, I felt like some of the supporting cast was really good. Yesterday, I thought 6-2 Senior wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='295763' first='Jaylah' last='Lampley']</strong> was great throughout their first game, as was 5-7 Senior point guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='295753' first='Laila' last='Abdurraqib']</strong>. Lampley was ripping the nets from the outside, but she was also actively pursuing rebounds around the basket. Her growth as a player over the past four years has been fun to watch. She will play at Mississippi State University next season. Abdurraqib was electric as always in transition, getting end-to-end quickly and finishing through contact, plus she was great defensively on the ball. She has committed to the University of New Mexico. 6-3 Junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='492321' first='Lola' last='Lampley']</strong> got better and more impactful as the game wore on, and she started to really utilize her size and strength to her advantage on the interior. She keeps the ball high when inside, and she has great touch with an elevated shot-pocket. At the same time, she can handle it around the perimeter, create, or knock down the occasional 3-pointer. I am starting to really like what 5-8 Freshman forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1001646' first='A'Myah' last='Sowell']</strong> has been able to bring to the table for the Lady Bears early this season. She is strong for her age, not afraid of contact or competition, and she will flash a little perimeter skill as well at times, while knowing her role right now is to defend and rebound. She will be very important as her older teammates graduate these next couple of years.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><font size="+1">South Knox (Vincennes, IN)</font></strong><br>South Knox may have gone 0-2 on the day, but they earned a great deal of respect from their Class 4A counterparts at the event. For them to lose by 8 points and 3 points to Hamilton Southeastern and Homestead, respectively, proved they have talent and skill, but also a lot of fight and toughness in them this season. When you talk about the Spartans, you must start with 5-9 Senior guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='570374' first='Ella' last='Bobe']</strong>. The University of Southern Indiana commit does a nice job of using different parts of the game to be effective. Yes, she is a ball-handler, she can run offense, and she can create as well. She has great touch around the perimeter and did hit a couple of jumpers outside. But she also did a nice job of finding mismatches and posting up inside with her strong frame, trying to get easy baskets around the rim. She is very cerebral and just a nice all-around basketball player. One player who I thought stepped up in a unique capacity was Junior forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1256497' first='Madison' last='Parrish']</strong>. She was tasked with defending Makalusky, and while Maya had 35 points, Madison gave up probably 7 or 8 inches and was left on an island a lot in the halfcourt. I thought she battled admirably and was physical and aggressive. 6-0 Senior forward <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='626932' first='Bren' last='Hill']</strong> showed flashes this game (<em>I heard she was much better in the night game</em>), as she is a long, wiry-strong, bouncy, and versatile forward. She can step outside, knock down a 3-pointer, or attack the basket, but she's also active inside of 15-feet, will rebound, and she does a nice job of using her length defensively. 5-7 Sophomore guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='756236' first='Kendal' last='Hill']</strong>, her younger sister, was active on the ball and in transition as well. She did a really nice job of handling pressure so the Spartans could get Bobe open, but Kendal is also an effective shooter/scorer and a nice athlete. I was also intrigued by the play of 5-10 Senior wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1218585' first='Delaynee' last='Coomes']</strong>. She has somewhat of an unorthodox shot, but she is probably the team's most accurate shooter, she has a quick release, and she came in off the bench firing. She could be a nice small college addition somewhere.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->