2025 State Tournament Recap: Tournament Notebook

This past week was the 2025 Iowa State Girls High School Basketball Tournament. Throughout the week I saw several interesting prospects play their hearts out and leave it all on the hardwood. While this was happening I was taking some quick notes about what I was seeing, live-in-action. Below I highlight nine individuals and briefly describe what I saw out on the floor in their specific contests throughout the week.   Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!   [player_tooltip player_id='1190087' first='Lexie' last='Darrington'] - 2027 - F - St. Albert High School   "For Darrington's mixture of size and skillset, she is pretty efficient in her movement and production. She is a threat near the bucket with her height and physicality, while being an accurate free throw shooter if she does get fouled at 73% on the season. This is one of those that does a lot of positive things while competing. I don't necessarily think she does one thing better than another but she just seems to do everything above average and with a great attitude. She seems to have a high motor, a hungry near the hoop for rebounding or disrupting her opponent, and some tenaciousness towards her play-style. These are all things that can really help you produce out on the high school floor as we have seen this week first hand."   [player_tooltip player_id='873160' first='Kinzee' last='Hinders'] - 2025 - PF - Newell Fonda High School   "Talk about an absolute competitor. Briar Cliff is getting someone that is going to be able to Will her team to success within certain contests over the next few years. There were a lot of impressive showings this week but Hinders in the 1A Championship has been different. She is getting to the hoop at Will off the dribble going right, finishing over tough contests on each attempt. She is defending the paint with authority on the opposite side of the floor. All while being someone that has had to even bring up the ball at times as her team's PG to break the press and run the offense. When comparing well rounded players we saw this week in Des Moines, Hinders is in the conversation for one of the best. She led her team to a 1A Title Game and that deserves a lot of respect."   [player_tooltip player_id='311384' first='Jada' last='Podey'] - 2025 - SG/CG - North Polk High School   "Podey stands out as a stopper defensively. When you need the ball back or someone to make a big play on defense, you call upon Podey to lock up. She has great awareness, she moves her feet quick enough to move with her opponent going either direction, she has active hands which lead to a ton of tips/deflections, and most importantly - she is disciplined to stay down on shot attempts or pump fakes. All of this together makes for someone that can make an impact on defense each night and Podey did that these past few days."   [player_tooltip player_id='502095' first='Emily' last='Larsen'] - 2026 - SG - CR Prairie High School   "Knock-down. Automatic. Picture perfect. These are three phrases that I would use to describe [player_tooltip player_id='502095' first='Emily' last='Larsen'] and her shooting ability. Larsen is truly automatic from deep with a picture perfect jump shot. It doesn't always go in but it always looks like it's going too, especially when she has an ample amount of time and space. In this tournament Larsen was left open a lot in transition and she made her opponents pay, knocking down several attempts. She also defended pretty well. She was mixed between guards and forwards a majority of the time, holding her own against each at a consistent rate."   [player_tooltip player_id='311392' first='Sidny' last='Pohlman'] - 2025 - SG - Johnston High School   "Your role on your team is what you can do best, while the group finds success. Not just what you do best but sometimes those two things do align and I think that's the case with [player_tooltip player_id='311392' first='Sidny' last='Pohlman'] of Johnston. Pohlman only saw the floor here and there but she came in and made the most of her minutes all week long. She subbed onto the floor and went to work right away, looking for attempts from the outside offensively, while playing some sound defense down on the other end."   Paige Andernacht - 2028 - PF/SF - Johnston High School   "This season was just a preview for <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/paige-andernacht/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Paige Andernacht</a> and what she is going to be able to really do over her high school career. Paige has better than average size, good strength, a soft touch on the ball, and a willingness to learn. The only problem she had this season was that she was behind a D1 committed Forward already in [player_tooltip player_id='311351' first='Amani' last='Jenkins']. In most other places around the state, she would have started. She is someone that handles the paint area well. She knows how to communicate around it, she knows how to be physical and bump people, and she can also step out to defend multiple positions. All positive abilities to build on moving forward."   [player_tooltip player_id='788566' first='Maddie' last='Casey'] - 2025 - SG/PG - IC Liberty High School   "Liberty may of came up short in their first round matchup against the eventual 5A Champs but that didn't stop [player_tooltip player_id='788566' first='Maddie' last='Casey'] from showing off her abilities in the last game of her high school career. Casey was lighting it up from all over the perimeter. Mainly off the catch either in transition as she ran the floor or in the half-court from the top of the key, during a set offensive piece. Either way, Casey made a few of her attempts in her efforts and I'm sure she is going to ride that momentum to the next level when she suits up with Quincy (IL) this upcoming Fall."   [player_tooltip player_id='889547' first='Molly' last='Wise'] - 2026 - F - St. Albert High School   "The scouting report said that if [player_tooltip player_id='889547' first='Molly' last='Wise'] catches on rotation with room, she is going to let it go from deep and that's what happened several times this week. Including in the 1A Championship. In that game wise finished with 12 points going 4-12 overall and 4-9 from behind the three point line. Each one of these three's in this contest mattered as the Saintes pulled out the 3 point victory in double OT. This was a prime example of what Wise brings to the floor. She has height at 5'11 to shoot over smaller defenders, her shooting stroke puts an odd rotation on the ball but it seemingly goes in a lot, and the mixture of those two things turns her into a tough player to defend within the half court."

This past week was the 2025 Iowa State Girls High School Basketball Tournament. Throughout the week I saw several interesting prospects play their hearts out and leave it all on the hardwood. While this was happening I was taking some quick notes about what I was seeing, live-in-action. Below I highlight nine individuals and briefly describe what I saw out on the floor in their specific contests throughout the week.