Four Of This Weekend's Best Players

Yesterday we had a few contests taking place throughout the State. Below we discuss a handful of prospects, that helped their team's win on Saturday because of their efforts on both ends with their respective programs.   Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!    [player_tooltip player_id='1566617' first='Payley' last='Poe'] of Davis County High School is someone that has been flying all over the court this season, leaving her mark on every game that she has played so are. On Saturday Davis County secured another victory and in that showing Poe stood out as one of the best prospects on the floor. Poe finished her game yesterday with the best overall stat line between both teams with 20 points (7-12), 8 rebounds, 1 block, and 6 steals from her guard position. As you can tell Poe really did it all in this battle. She attacked the paint with intent, she crashed the boards hard, and in the end - her team came out victorious because of their effort. Things you love to see from an outside perspective.     [player_tooltip player_id='644557' first='Ari' last='Phillips'] needed a good game following her team's Dowling Catholic Matchup last week for a few different reasons. In that DC game, the strategy again was for DC to let Phillips shoot from the outside and she was hesitant. We saw this same situation last year in the 5A State Title game and Ari made easy work of it but this time around she looked nervous and uncertain. Phillips made up for this showing with a huge contest yesterday against Wayzata High School (MN). Phillips ended with a team-high 22 points (7/10), including going 1-2 from three, with a few rebounds and a few assists. The reality is that Phillips could play at a few different Division-levels once she gets to college. She just needs to find her fit and she should thrive because she can hoop. She is one of the best prospects that this state has to offer at this time so she just needs to keep working.     [player_tooltip player_id='1305404' first='Ella' last='Otten'] of Bishop Heelan had her coming out party yesterday when her team beat Pius X from Nebraska by a slim margin. Otten came into this Winter as a transfer out of SD. She has been someone that has been playing Varsity basketball since she was in middle school and now she has come to Iowa to show that she can compete at a high rate. Otten was the team's main producer in the first half yesterday. She started off the contest on fire and that helped them stay in it because when things tipped off, Pius X jumped out to an early lead but the play of Otten kept things close until others from BH stepped up to seal the deal. The Crusaders only walked away with a narrow 2 point victory in the end but more importantly this game was a good wake up call for a group out of Iowa that has some easy sledding until the Playoff's arise in 2026.     Waukee NW out of the 5A Class has been disappointing to start this season in a lot of aspects. We saw NW give Johnston a run for their money in the 5A State Playoffs last Winter and they return every player so if you think about it, they should be better this time around but that is not the case. It's not too late though. If their stars lock in, I still think this is a group that can go all the way. Especially when they have a leader like [player_tooltip player_id='777233' first='Romey' last='Croatt'] at their starting PG position. Croatt helped NW bring home an impactful W yesterday by a 5 point margin against a powerhouse program from another state. Croatt finished with a game high 20 points, while also impacting rebounding (11) and assisting (5) through. This performance comes as no surprise. Croatt holds 10+ D1 offers at this time and that list is only going to grow.

Yesterday we had a few contests taking place throughout the State. Below we discuss a handful of prospects, that helped their team's win on Saturday because of their efforts on both ends with their respective programs.