Day-2 Playmakers at “The Clash”

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>April 25th-27th has come, which means the girls' grassroots season is in full-swing, and the first "live" period is upon us. As there are any number of tournaments across the country currently taking place, many of the Indiana grassroots clubs have sent teams to The Clash in Hamilton, Ohio, at the Spooky Nook Champion Mill location. After returning for Saturday's action, below is a look at six ladies who were making plays for their teams when I was able to see them.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><font color="FFFFFF">.</font></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='419439' first='Lillian' last='Barnes'], 2026, 5-11 SF/PG, Valparaiso H.S.</strong><br>- It's not uncommon to see someone make a big jump in their game from their Sophomore to Junior year, but when someone who enters high school with so much skill does, it stands out. Lillian looks so much more explosive than she did a year ago, and it's really helping her get the corner on defenders and navigate driving lanes, not to mention she is much better in transition. She looks leaner, stronger, and quicker laterally as well. She really stood out Saturday with her play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='486487' first='Kennedy' last='Holman'], 2026, 5-9 PG, Hamilton Southeastern H.S.</strong><br>- Kennedy is such a long, wiry, rangy point guard prospect with nice shiftiness in her game. She has great vision, the ability to find open teammates just about anywhere on the floor, plus she has all of the speed/quickness tools she needs, and she is an elite defender. Where she stood out Saturday was by shooting the ball well from the perimeter. Not only did she make shots, but she also got rid of it quickly, and she made contested shots, including from the deep corner.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='761179' first='Carley' last='Moellering'], 2026, 5-9 CG, Homestead H.S.</strong><br>- I've seen Carley play multiple positions over the last couple of years, but it was funny to hear someone mention how well she looked when she handled the ball and played a more natural point guard position this weekend. Carley came up as a PG, she has a strong handle, creativity, and vision. It was the combination of (1) growing a lot, (2) consistently improving her jumper, and (3) playing alongside smaller PGs at Homestead that has allowed her to play off the ball a lot more recently.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='486479' first='Addison' last='Penziol'], 2026, 5-4 PG, Marquette Catholic H.S.</strong><br>- I'm a little surprised more schools aren't on Addison more aggressively. She checks a lot of boxes as a traditional floor general, and while height might not be one of them, she is powerful, strong with the ball, and she has a unique sense for the position to offset it. She is tough, physical, and can keep defenders at bay with her frame. She has touch to '3', a nice mid-range pull-up, plus she can get to the line. But it's her handle, vision, and ability to make the tough pass that stand out.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='751048' first='Carly' last='Holmes'], 2027, 5-8 SF, Franklin Central H.S.</strong><br>- I have seen Carly a few times over the last 18 months, but I'm not sure I've seen her on the ball as extensively as I did Saturday afternoon. She has a strong frame and a little length, but she showed off a point forward type of game that really stood out to me. She handled it in transition and initiated the offense quite often. She was aggressively attempting to get downhill, but she was more than willing to give it up. She will need to get quicker defensively, but offensively she can make plays.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='751088' first='Korinne' last='Nickolson'], 2027, 5-3 PG, Pike H.S.</strong><br>- Korinne's team did not have anywhere near a desired outcome when I was able to see them, and while she was noticeably frustrated at times, she did not stop playing hard, and I felt like she was a bright spot in her ability to stay aggressive and create scoring opportunities for her team. She has a strong frame at her height, she has North/South speed, plus she has the quickness to get into gaps and put a lot of pressure on a defense. She's also a talented on-ball defender.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->