Saturday Guard Play at the S40 Finals/Select Summer 'Ships

The featured image is of [player_tooltip player_id='916552' first='Haven' last='Flagle'] (2028) from New Palestine High School.   Friday marked the beginning of the second "live" period in July. Grassroots teams from all over the state have traveled to Louisville, Chicago, and Hamilton (OH), among other places, to give it one last go before the 2026 season concludes and school begins in August. Playing a little bit of catchup after a busy weekend, below is a look at some guard prospects who stood out during Saturday's action in Louisville at the Select 40 Finals and the Select Summer Championships.   .    Alexis has always been an entertaining little playmaker, and she was back at it again Saturday. She has gotten stronger over the years, but it's her length, speed, and quickness that stand out. She plays fast in transition, she is learning how to change speeds better in the halfcourt, but she's always going to play with an outstanding motor and feistiness. She was definitely looking to attack Saturday, and she was finding open teammates at the same time. She also knocked down a couple of perimeter jumpers, and she showed her grit and feistiness at the defensive end of the floor.     Jayda has improved so much throughout her career, and I think several schools are missing out by not recruiting her. She is a strong guard, she can play either backcourt spot well, and she is tremendously skilled and works hard at it. She is a very good perimeter shooter with some range, she can use the dribble to create space, and she absorbs contact extremely well when on attack. While she isn't the fastest guard around, she does make up for it with her mind for the game and her ability to make shots from all over the floor. She is a very well-rounded basketball player.     I almost didn't recognize Allie from when I saw her in mid-April to this past weekend. She looked a hair taller, stronger, and more explosive. She also looked much more confident and aggressive offensively. She was taking open jumpers without hesitation, looking to attack and draw defenders, and she was even feistier at the defensive end of the floor. Hopefully enough small colleges saw this version of Allie, because this style of play is sure to draw interest. In the meantime, I will be curious to how she fits into the rotation at Plainfield after transferring in from Monrovia this Summer.     This was my first time to see Mya, and she is an intriguing little guard. She has a lot of length at her height, she's a nice all-around athlete (more so fluid than explosive), and she has a solid skillet. She looked most comfortable playing off the ball, and I never really saw her in a point guard role. But knowing what Jeffersonville has on its roster, I'm sure she's more of a wing anyway. She does have some touch outside, she plays with a nice motor, and she will pursue rebounds, plus she does a nice job of defending with positioning and utilizing her length at that end of the floor.     Haven is a strong, physical point guard prospect who always plays with a nice motor. She is a solid athlete in all directions, and she is seemingly always around the action. As a lead guard, she has a good handle, she's a willing passer, and she will run the offense. At the same time, she can knock down an open rhythm jumper, plus she is good getting downhill to finish around the basket. Defensively, she uses her length and physicality to her advantage, but I think she's quicker than she thinks she is, and she can probably challenge herself even more at that end.     Ellie isn't very big, but she plays with a lot of energy and effort, and she seems to be a good teammate and coachable. She has some length at her height, and she possesses some quickness. She does have solid ball skill and the instincts to be a facilitator, however, she needs to get a bit stronger, so she doesn't get bumped off her line as easily. Still, she does a nice job of managing this team and getting the ball where it needs to go. I also think Ellie does a good job defensively, using her length and quickness to help contain/limit ball-handlers from getting to the paint too easily.     Saturday was my first time seeing Noel as well, and she's an interesting prospect. She has tremendous length at her height, she's a fluid athlete, but more than that, she is very shifty. She seemed to have a good grasp of the team's offense, she attacked when it was given to her, she ran the offense when needed, and she found open teammates when that's what was available. Defensively, she uses her length and quickness very well, and even though she needs to keep building strength, she seems to be a quietly tough kid who doesn't mind physicality.     Another Bishir at Northwestern will certainly be good for the Tigers. Jillian is a fairly athletic, strong-for-her-age, aggressive guard prospect. She seems to be on attack on each catch. However, if they take away the shot and drive, she has the ball skill to run the offense and facilitate. I thought she did a great job of switching back and forth between scorer and point guard. Defensively, she plays with some grit, doesn't mind contact, and can defend wings, bigger guards, and most point guards. She seems to always want to be involved, and she will find the basketball if it doesn't find her first.

The featured image is of Haven Flagle Haven Flagle 5'7" | PG/CG New Palestine | 2028 IN (2028) from New Palestine High School.