Queen of the Rock: Sunday’s Action (17s & 16s)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This weekend marked the annual Queen of the Rock tournament. This year, the event was headquartered at the PSM Fieldhouse <em>(formerly SportOne Fieldhouse)</em> in Fort Wayne, Indiana. There were a number of quality programs in action, from shoe company teams to independent teams, as well as geographically from Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and other states. Below is a quick look at a handful of players who stood out when I was able to see them during Sunday's tournament action.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><font color="FFFFFF">.</font></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='670343' first='Anna' last='Sachire'], 2026, 6-1 F, Penn H.S., [program_tooltip program_id='716173' first='Always' last='100']-Wright Black 17U</strong><br>- When you get a chance to see Anna, her height and length stand out immediately. Over the years, she has done a nice job of developing her all-around skillset. She can handle the ball in transition and occasionally initiate the offense, plus she has worked on her shooting touch and consistency to as deep as the 3-point line. She probably still needs to play a little lower and more physically, but she does look noticeably stronger and more aggressive this year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='422604' first='Emma' last='Schoen'], 2026, 5-7 G, Silver Creek H.S., West Virginia Thunder-Perry S40 17U</strong><br>- Emma's team was extremely shorthanded, so it was good to see her play a lot of minutes, and a lot of minutes handling the ball and running offense. She has always been a high-level shooter with deep range, but I felt like yesterday she put it on the floor and attacked the basket more than I'm used to seeing from her. She did a nice job of drawing the defense and kicking, plus she worked her way to the charity stripe well. She also used her quickness well defensively.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='751299' first='Brianna' last='Brown'], 2027, 5'11 F, Brownsburg H.S., [program_tooltip program_id='1002297' first='IGB' last='']-Curry GUAA 16U</strong><br>- In middle school, Brianna was taller, stronger, and more athletic than most of her peers. Now, she is having to adjust to taller opponents each game. She is a really nice athlete, and she looks like she's playing with much greater urgency this season over last. She has some bounce to her, nice length, and an athletic frame. Offensively, she is really good in the mid-post, and defensively, she pursues rebounds outside of her area, plus she can defend wings and some guards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='750718' first='Adah' last='Hupfer'], 2027, 6-3 F/C, Pendleton Heights H.S., [program_tooltip program_id='1002297' first='IGB' last='']-Morse GUAA 17U</strong><br>- For the last couple of years, I'm used to seeing Adah show off her skill and her touch, burying 3-pointers each game. But yesterday, I felt like she was intent on using her size and strength to bury defenders around the block and make easy angle scores. Her ability to do that inside, finish with either hand, plus step out, ball screen, and pop or roll are huge assets for her game. She probably still needs to play a little lower defensively, but she does work/run hard.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='751057' first='Emily' last='Robison'], 2027, 5-6 G, Silver Creek H.S., [program_tooltip program_id='716173' first='Always' last='100'] Elite 3SSB 16U</strong><br>- Emily is the second Silver Creek Dragon on this list, but she actually moved in from New Albany ahead of the 2024-2025 school year. She has a wiry-strong frame, solid all-around athleticism, and she plays with a really nice motor. She has typically been a traditional PG in the past, with a solid handle, good vision, and a nice IQ for the game. But now she is playing off the ball more and helping her grassroots team as a shooter/scorer, in addition to PG duties.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->