Big North Shootout: Back to Business

This was my first time covering the Big North Shootout, and I couldn't have been more excited to watch many teams from the Petoskey area for the first time in person. Over 40 teams from various parts of Michigan, including several Northern Michigan-based squads, competed for two days. Here are several 2027 prospects who stood out during the shootout.    Natasha is a soccer goalkeeper who went on the offensive for Elk Rapids at the Big North Shootout. She grabbed an offensive rebound and kissed the put-back off the glass. Natasha hit the deck to wrestle for loose balls and scored layups in transition. She ran through passes, got the edge, and drove hard downhill to cause fouls. Natasha converted free throws at the line and chased down rebounds.     Zoe is an athletic playmaker who will be a breakout player this winter at Stockbridge. She deflected the ball away and took it the distance for a breakaway layup. Zoe blocked a shot, converted a layup off two feet, drained a straightaway triple, and finished a strong offensive rebound put back. Zoe used an effective drop-step to get the angle and finished with a soft touch off the glass. Zoe showed a burst in transition, pushing the ball down the court, then dropping in a floater over a defender. She had a great day at the Big North Shootout.     Addy is a do-it-all guard, and she defended her home court at the Big North Shootout. Her physical toughness and competitive fire were evident throughout the game. She battled to secure offensive rebounds and wrestled for 50/50 balls on the floor. Addy finished a backdoor cut with a left-handed and-one layup through contact, then buried her free throw. She converted many shots from the charity stripe and swiped the ball away to score a floater in transition.     Gracyn missed some time due to injury, but was back in full for Brighton at the Big North Shootout. She scored an offensive rebound put-back, drained a straightaway three, and dished strong skip passes across the court to open teammates. Gracyn picked off a pass for a steal, rocketed a one-handed pass to a teammate for an assist, and used a quick sweep move from the wing to score a layup off the dribble. Gracyn makes smart decisions with the ball, has excellent footwork, and posts up defenders in the post. I'm excited to see her back on the circuit this July!     Myah had a great showing at the Au Sable tourney, and she had an encore performance at the Big North Shootout. She sank a floater off the glass, drained a triple up top, and swiped the ball away to score a left-handed layup. Myah had a shifty burst off the dribble and kept earning trips to the free throw line. She is a very efficient free-throw shooter with an excellent floater game. Myah created steals with her pesky defense and corralled rebounds. One of Myah's highlight plays was when she made a quick ball transfer to her right hand on the left side of the basket to score a tough and-one layup.     Raeann is a dynamic guard who contributed in every aspect of the game for Saranac at the Big North Shootout. She is a dual-threat scorer who can burn teams from the perimeter and at the rim. Raeann drained a triple from the corner and up top. She scored two and-one layups after hard drives to the basket, chased down offensive rebounds, and finished effectively off two feet.     Lydia is a confident sharpshooter from Saranac, and she ripped the nets at the Big North Shootout. Lydia thanked her opponent for the open space by hitting a grand total of five triples in one game. Lydia hit from up top, the corners, and the wings. She put her foot down, used a quick crossover move, and accelerated past defenders to earn free throws--converted both.

This was my first time covering the Big North Shootout, and I couldn't have been more excited to watch many teams from the Petoskey area for the first time in person. Over 40 teams from various parts of Michigan, including several Northern Michigan-based squads, competed for two days. Here are several 2027 prospects who stood out during the shootout.