New Names and Faces: VT’s 2028s Making Noise

New Names and Faces: VT&#8217;s 2028s Making Noise

Cody Quattrocci

February 3, 2025 @ 10:31 AM

Let's check in on the freshmen around the state who are setting the tone early in their Varsity careers. Get to know VT's up and comers!   Ryley Tatro, 5'5 G - BFA St. Albans Class of 2028   A feisty presence on the floor, Ryley has slid into a starting role and excelled. Tatro has quickly shown impressive instincts on both sides of the floor, anticipating actions and passes intuitively on D and finding seams offensively to exploit. In the open floor she's dynamic with her finishing. And in the halfcourt too she's shown flashes of knifing through defenses for nice finishes at the rim. Also, Ryley is an aware organizer and knows how to string together the offense. Tatro is breaking out.   Lexi Paquette, 5'6 G - South Burlington H.S. Class of 2028   While SB is having a tough year in the W/L column, it provides Paquette the opportunity to go out and play with minimized pressure. In turn, Lexi has become a consistent top scorer for this squad. She's someone who can score in a variety of ways considering her sound jumper from range and finishing within 10-feet. An adept ballhandler too, Lexi has shown she can facilitate, create, and get the offense organized. With a long wingspan and good floor awareness, she's a sly defender who forces tough decisions. Solid and developing quickly.   Evelyn Bushey, 5'11 F - Milton H.S. Class of 2028   Phew, Bushey has put up some numbers early in her varsity campaign. Evelyn's combination of size, toughness, and skill coalesces in considerable impact on the court. She's put up multiple double-doubles with her scoring and activity on the glass, with those buckets feeding off of her second chance opportunities. Yet she has the footwork around the rim to wiggle around and slip into space, showing nice feel. Defensively wise and with power, she holds it down around the rim and is quick to clean anything up inside. A strong presence on both ends.   Orly Nathan, 5'7 G - Burr and Burton Academy Class of 2028   The composed PG down south has a lot of tools in her bag. She's a savvy floor general who reads defenses and in turn, knows how to attack. Her passing is crisp, able to slip feeds through various zones and m2m defenses into those gaps which she knows are dangerous. Plus, she's got finishes at the rim, the open jumper feels good and has the wherewithal to know when to create in transition, slow down, or take a mismatch off the bounce. Defensively, she's light on her feet, has good feel for positioning and is measured, keeping players in front. Sound player who's going to be quite good.   Rowan Thomas-Demeritt, 5'6 G - Burlington H.S. Class of 2028   When Rowan comes off the bench, you know it. Thomas-Demeritt brings good energy to the court, providing the pressure and peskiness that her role often requires. She pressures well, forces opponents into tough spaces, and uses her hands to bother. Offensively, she's shown comfort with the ball in her hands on this guard heavy team, able to push the break and make a play. Yet she's strong off the ball too, moving fluidly into open spaces and knocking down the open look. Rowan will be a guard to keep tabs on going forward, especially if space clears in the rotation.   Amelia Rockwood, 5'7 G - Windsor H.S. Class of 2028   I won't be surprised if Amelia becomes a top D3 player in a short period of time. She's starting on D3 powerhouse Windsor and has showcased a skillset that'll bloom. With her handle and passing, I like how she navigates ball pressure and zone defenses. She's able to drive by and collapse the opponent, hitting open shooters, or she'll make the dominos fall with keen passing to the elbows. Her finishing is coming along and her jumper solid. With good defensive instincts too, Rockwood has all-around game that's coming together nicely.

Let's check in on the freshmen around the state who are setting the tone early in their Varsity careers. Get to know VT's up and comers!