Shining Performances Of Week 1

The first week of high school basketball in Iowa has finally come to a close and we were blessed with a lot of great individual performances to begin the 2024 - 2025 season. In this piece we briefly talk about seven prospects that really stood out this week for one reason or another. Each player put up some better than average stat lines and they are looking to build on that moving forward for the rest of the Winter.   Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!    [player_tooltip player_id='901710' first='Avah' last='Underwood'] of St. Albert High School started off her Junior season with a bang on Tuesday in her team's victory against another ranked opponent. St. Albert really led this one a majority of the game, from start to finish. At half they were up big and that's when Underwood really started to go to work. She capped off the evening scoring a game-high 26 points, 22 of which came in the second half. This doesn't come as a shock to anyone who understands what Underwood can bring to the hardwood. She has lengthy arms at 6'0, she has a three level scoring ability offensively, and she can switch onto any type of opposition on the defensive end to get a much needed stop. From the looks of it, this is going to be a season to remember for Underwood and company. There is a lot of promise here and they are slowly starting to display that, piece by piece.     Ever since I have been the scout for Iowa, Dowling Catholic has started off their Varsity season by traveling to Minnesota to play some of the top team's from throughout the state, that did really well the year prior. This season when they went on this trip, they did not have their star PG - [player_tooltip player_id='311396' first='Ava' last='Zediker'], so therefore others needed to step up. The one prospect who really took it upon herself in their first game was CG - [player_tooltip player_id='671472' first='Layla' last='Trytten']. Trytten finished their first game with a game-high 27 points, while helping lead her team to a resectable victory over a Minnesota powerhouse by 2. The honest situation with Trytten is that when she is the primary ball handler and controller of the offense, she can be very productive. She has shown that for several years on the AAU scene with her [program_tooltip program_id='712377' first='All' last='Iowa Attack'] program and she is demonstrating it now as well. With Zediker back now, I'm not sure where things go from here but I'm sure this locked up more playing time moving forward for Trytten.     All the hype that [player_tooltip player_id='557354' first='Jenica' last='Lewis'] has received over the years comes down to this next two seasons for me. Lewis is obviously a Power-5 college talent, who has her choice to go almost anywhere she wants to for her collegiate career but this Winter, Johnston's success will ride on Lewis in big moments. This is very skilled roster with several future college players but Lewis is the one that we have hyped up for years now as being the next best thing. So for that to be true, her leadership this Winter will be a major key. Earlier this week, Lewis did exactly what I'm talking about by taking over their first Varsity game of the season, eventually putting up 32 Points against Cedar Falls. It's not all about scoring but that you can score at Will, for a prospect like this, means something. Following this outburst, Lewis put together another well rounded contest a few nights later. This Johnston group is #1 in the state for 5A for reason. They can really play and I'm happy to see that on full display thus far.     North Mahaska High School Varsity program doesn't get the viewers that they should for the talent level they possess. Over the past few seasons, this program has had D2 commit - [player_tooltip player_id='311368' first='Breckyn' last='Schilling'] and she is locked in on having a Senior season to look back on. Schilling is a 5'11 SF/CG, that really does everything for her squad and that was obvious in their team's monumental victory on Tuesday evening over Montezuma. She led her team in scoring, she grabbed a few boards, and she dished out 8 Assists to the others around her for easy buckets. At the next level, Schilling is going to move around the 3 and 4 spot for her Western Colorado team. If she can work within their system early and show her coaching staff that she means business, she might be someone that see's the floor, sooner rather than later once on campus.     [player_tooltip player_id='582829' first='Adriana' last='Howard'] of Centerville High School posted one of the most impressive stat lines I've seen in a few months this past week with her performance against Davis County. In her efforts, Howard competed at the Forward position and she OWNED the glass on both sides of the court. She finished off the night with 16 Points, 24 Rebounds, and 4 Steals, among some other small positive stats. Centerville's motor the past few seasons has been Howard so that she is leading this group is not a surprise but to post a stat line with over 20 rebounds is noteworthy. If she keeps up with just half of this production, she will finish off her Senior season with one of the best stat lines that the state of Iowa has to offer this Winter.     On Friday evening the Johnston Dragons took care of business and kept their continuous winning streak alive with another big W against Waukee High School. In this one, the force that could not and would not be stopped is [player_tooltip player_id='311351' first='Amani' last='Jenkins'] in the post. Jenkins, a Virginia Tech commit, dominated every single matchup that was thrown her way, from starting tip to the ending buzzer. She played an overall smart game of basketball and that led to her ending with 23 Points and 18 Rebounds. To almost record a 20/20 game, at the highest Class level in Iowa is nothing short of impressive. I just hope this showing really demonstrates to everyone what a prospect like Jenkins can really do. She plays with a lot of confidence and when everything is clicking, you better watch out because she is an extremely tough opponent to handle.     Nakia Ollivierre put on a show on Friday night in her contest against Western Dubuque. So much so that it will be considered for Performance Of The Year by the time that we get into March. Ollivierre put up the first 35+ point game of the high school season with 37 Points on 14-27 shooting, including 5-12 from three and 4-4 from the free throw line. Not only did she kill her competition with scoring, she also registered a triple-double with 10 Rebounds and 10 Assists. When the ref's blew their whistle at the end, the opposing team only put up 39 points themselves so that just gives you an idea of how dominant this performance really was.

The first week of high school basketball in Iowa has finally come to a close and we were blessed with a lot of great individual performances to begin the 2024 - 2025 season. In this piece we briefly talk about seven prospects that really stood out this week for one reason or another. Each player put up some better than average stat lines and they are looking to build on that moving forward for the rest of the Winter.