Cherokee Invitational: Standouts from the Smokies

Several players from North Carolina stood out from the competition at the 2025 Insider Exposure Cherokee Invitational. These players all made huge contributions to their team's success in different areas of the game. These players also showed a lot of heart and toughness with their style of play, diving on the floor for loose balls and taking charges.    Duley controlled the paint for Hickory Ridge on the defensive end of the court for the majority of the game I saw. She has good leaping ability and very quick hands and did a great job getting blocks and rebounds. Duley was excellent tipping the ball out to her teammates or to herself off of missed shots, giving her team multiple extra possessions. Duley did a nice job running the floor, often times beating her defender to the basket where she finished on the break or got fouled. Opposing teams have to account for Duley because of her constant movement and activity.     Ritter played as hard as anyone I watched at the tournament. She plays with a ton of energy and seemed to be in the middle of the action all game long. Ritter played excellent defense. She moved her feet well and did a good job staying in front of or cutting the ball handler off. Ritter took advantage of her size on the boards and got several rebounds. She has one gear and plays with toughness and a little bit of an edge. Ritter isn't afraid to do the dirty work and is a very important player for Hickory Ridge. She will be a good player on the next level with her combination of size, skills, and toughness.     Another player that really impressed from Hickory Ridge was freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1575630' first='Aubrey' last='Cranford']. This was my first time seeing her play and she did not disappoint. Cranford is very fundamentally sound on offense. She kept it simple with head fakes and using the triple threat position really well. Cranford had her defender off balance several times and also used her jab step effectively to get to the rim. Cranford has really good size and the contact at the rim didn't bother her at all. She popped right up off the ground and calmly went and shot her free throws. Aubrey is a very talented '29 prospect with a very high basketball IQ.     Londyn played really well for Providence Day in the game I watched. She is a very quick player and was able to get by her defender multiple times. Carson knocked down a three on a catch and shoot sequence and ran the floor really well in transition either spotting up on the wing or sprinting all the way to the basket. She did a nice job pushing the ball in transition herself. On defense Carson brought energy to the game with very active hands and pressure on ball defense.     Lola plays the game with a maturity beyond her years and nerves of steel. In matchups against teams like nationally ranked Montverde and Georgia powerhouse Holy Innocents, Vanore never flinched. She stayed cool, calm, and collected against future division players that were three years older than her. She really has the ball on the string and directed the Grace Christian offense like an experienced veteran. Lola shot the ball really well all tournament long proving that she was a threat to score herself.

Several players from North Carolina stood out from the competition at the 2025 Insider Exposure Cherokee Invitational. These players all made huge contributions to their team's success in different areas of the game. These players also showed a lot of heart and toughness with their style of play, diving on the floor for loose balls and taking charges.