Hoopin Up: Young Top Performers Playing in 17U

Prep Girls Hoops is hosting their Southeast Kickoff this weekend in Hickory, North Carolina. I've been able to catch teams from George, North Carolina, and South Carolina. While following the 17U teams, I've been impressed with some athletes who have been playing up. Here are some of those top performers.    [player_tooltip player_id='748211' first='Madison' last='Pojani'] jumped into passing lanes to get the steal and push it the other direction finding her open teammate for the bucket in transition. She was scoring on all levels hitting her shot from deep, attacking the basket, and pulling up for the midrange. She handled the ball well making adjustments to get the pass to her teammates. She was making nice cuts relocating after the pass getting the ball right back to make the play. She did well getting her hands in the way extending her hands up to block the pass, and she knew what to do with the ball to push it the other direction.     [player_tooltip player_id='925565' first='Samiah' last='Boatwright'] was tough on the glass grabbing rebounds and going right back up with the offensive boards. She made a nice play cutting hard to the basket and finishing the old fashioned three point play. She hit her shot from deep showing her ability to score on all levels. She runs the floor well getting into position to score some points in transition.     Yevrah Mack was a shot blocking machine making tough blocks from all over the court quickly closing out around the perimeter and getting inside to protect the basket. She was battling for rebounds on both ends of the court. She was doing well getting around a post player opponent trying to grab the steal and prevent her from scoring. She was aggressive in the paint drawing fouls and even making shots through contact. Her moves on the block were fun to watch with her quick feet. She could attack the basket herself using a spin move to create the opening and score off the glass. She was strong grabbing rebounds on both ends.     [player_tooltip player_id='989336' first='Makenna' last='Reynolds'] kept showing off her range shooting the ball off the quick release around the arc. She was running the floor well being ready for the pass in transition late in the game to close the gap from her opponents. She had a nice touch around the rim attacking the basket with toughness but putting up the soft shot to score her points. She knew how to anticipate what her opponents were going to do jumping in the passing lanes to grab steals.     [player_tooltip player_id='1806926' first='Kylie' last='Hayward'] was tough attacking the basket with speed banking it off the glass on fast breaks. She hustled back on defense making sure her opponents don't have easy baskets in transition. She jumped in front of passing lanes grabbing steals and exploding up the court getting some points on the other end.     [player_tooltip player_id='1790775' first='Dawn' last='West'] was tough on the block making the right adjustments pulling up quickly to score some points banking it off the glass. She went up high for rebounds on both ends. Her ability to run the floor and get some fast break points was definitely an asset. She was using her tough power dribbles to get her space and score some points off the glass. She made a nice move in the paint hitting the floater for two points.

Prep Girls Hoops is hosting their Southeast Kickoff this weekend in Hickory, North Carolina. I've been able to catch teams from George, North Carolina, and South Carolina. While following the 17U teams, I've been impressed with some athletes who have been playing up. Here are some of those top performers.