Making Waves Across The State

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We are two weeks into the high school season as we walk into Winter break. Throughout these first two weeks we have had some impressive performances, some surprising stars have emerged, and there is a lot of successful basketball being played. In this article we highlight five individuals that have started off their Winter's with a bang and some incredible stats at the Varsity level.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1116158"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-676625de3a091"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Someone to know out of the 2027 Class so far this Winter is [player_tooltip player_id='1116158' first='Pyper' last='Ickes'] from St. Mary's. Ickes has been the PG, that everyone wants to be this Winter. She is helping her team run the offense, she is controlling how pace is being played around her, and she is finding her teammates at an extremely high rate. She is currently averaging 7.8 APG in her efforts and that says everything. It says that is doing what she can to make everyone else around her better, no matter the given situation. At this age, progression is still everything moving forward but I like what iv'e seen out of Ickes thus far.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["766561"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-676625de3a10b"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Coming off of an impressive Varsity Volleyball season, [player_tooltip player_id='766561' first='Zaili' last='Benish'] has stepped on the floor this Winter for her Varsity Basketball team, absolutely killing it in every sense of the phrase. Benish is averaging just under 30 PPG in her team's 6-0 start to the season. This is a player that would be described as a play-maker on both sides of the ball but definitely on offense. With her 29 PPG average, she is doing this at a 54% shooting rate, including being a hot 81% from the charity stripe. Benish has always been a top ranking prospect out of her 2025 Class up until this point and with this current production, that's not going to change any time soon.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["766581"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-676625de3a180"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='766581' first='Rease' last='Murtaugh'] has been someone that we have talked about for a few years now because of her ability to score at a high rate, while being a better than average defender. Murtaugh, a Jewel Women's Basketball commit, has hit the ground running this winter for her Senior season. As of most recent, she recored a career high 36 point outburst in her efforts to help her team secure another W. (Which they did.) With the motor and mental game that Murtaugh has, I think she will see the floor early on in college. If she does and plays to her full abilities, it'll be tough to pull her out of the game in most situations but only time will tell how that will play out. For now, I'm sure she will continue with this current momentum.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["820523"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-676625de3a1f4"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sometimes impressive numbers are just that. You have to take them for what they are and who they are recored against - competition wise. Sometimes impressive numbers are impressive no matter what. In this case, I'm referring to [player_tooltip player_id='820523' first='Elie' last='Bstandig'] and her 16.8 RPG to begin the 2024 - 2025 high school season. Whenever you see that someone can almost grab 20 boards a game, you know how hard of a worker that they have to be. Doesn't matter if they have a height advantage or not. Bstandig is someone that is going to be able to grab 10-12 RPG by the time we get to the end of the season and if she does that, I'm sure she is going to love how the year goes as a whole. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1116159"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-676625de3a267"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">A statistic that is more impressive than most is Blocks. When you consider what you have to do to record a clean block, it's tough. It takes natural size, good athletic ability, knowledge of when to go for the ball and when not too, and the mental ability to be able to read your opponents moves. [player_tooltip player_id='1116159' first='Sophia' last='Schulze'] of Hampton High School has begun this Winter being a MONSTER in this category, recording over 5 BPG throughout their first few contests. I don't expect this number to stay this high all Winter but this is still noteworthy. Especially considering that she is only around 5'10 and not over 6'0. I'm hoping that Hampton can do more work this Winter and win some more contests. If they do, a big part of that will be because of the defensive play making ability of Schulze, in more aspects than one.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->