Five Returning Defensive Leaders From The 2A Class

Here we have five defensive leaders from the 2A Class returning from last season to make their mark once again in anyway that they can out on the Varsity floor. If you are looking for some hoopers that EAT on defense, while being really solid overall competitors, this is a group to know!   Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!    Clarahan led the 2A Class last season in total steals with 174. That numbers was substantially higher than the second next on the list. Almost by about 50 Steals. That is eye opening. It's obvious that Clarahan gets after it defensively. She knows how to time her opponents and she is relentless in her pursuit of the basketball. You could compare it to a dog that just caught a scene while hunting out in the woods. When Clarahan has her opponents signature moves down early on in a ball game, it's going to be a long night for the other team. It's also important to note that Clarahan is a producer on offense for her Sigourney team. She is actually their main producer on roster so when you take in account the responsibilities she has on both sides of the ball, you see her full body of work, which is pretty impressive overall.     There is a chance that Izzy Gilbertson of Mount Ayr High School could be the Conference Player Of The Year this Winter within her team's 2A conference. Gilbertson is a household name throughout Iowa by now. She has been the force to reckon with at Mount Ayr for three years and she is looking to finish things out on a high note for her Senior year. Last Winter she was the 2A leader in total Blocks (87). The main area she works on the floor is in the middle of the paint. She is one of her team's tallest and most coordinated prospects so putting her near the hoop makes sense from a coaching standpoint. She is athletic and skilled enough to be able to take from the outside at times but she really dominates in between the blocks. She is a scoring threat, that can work on either side of the paint and produce at a steady rate and she is probably one of the best SF that the 2A Class has to offer over the next eight months.     Ava Mundt finds her way into this piece because of her combination of height, balanced coordination, touch, and strength. We first had the chance to see Mundt last season as a Junior and she was someone that the opposing team had to worry about. Whenever you have a Post player that takes up space, attention, and they are also good around the rim, it's noteworthy. That's what we have with Mundt. She nearly brought in 300 total Rebounds last season as a whole. Considering that their team brought in right around 800 in total on the season, that's around 35% with nearly 200 of those rebounds coming from the defensive side. Whenever you can limit a team's shot attempts to one per possession, you have to do it. It's a key factor in winning games, especially at the high school level and Mundt does a great job of that for her squad whenever she hoops. We know that Mundt does hold a few collegiate offers at this time so now it's just a waiting game to see how things play out as we move into the Fall.     I always love to feature a prospect that is willing to sacrifice for their team in one way or another. Grace Christensen of Ogden High School embodied that concept last season as a Sophomore when she recorded taking 10 Charges in 22 games on the season. That comes out to right around .5 CPG, which is pretty wild stat if you think about it. Christiensen is a smaller Guard so it doesn't take much to make her take a fall and make it look excessive but that still doesn't account for the type of timing she has to have and the understanding of situations occurring in real time. Her placement has to be setup perfectly. If it's a little to the right or the left, it could be called a Block instead. There aren't many prospects out there that average .5 CPG in their career, over one single season, or anything like that so Christensen should be proud. Now we will just have to wait and see how she follows that up this upcoming season as a Junior with the Bulldogs.     The leading Freshman out of the 2A Class in Blocks last season was Harper McGraw of Plesantville High School. McGraw stepped onto the court at 6'0 last Winter and made her mark early on in the season. She didn't start every game but as the season went on, she showed her worth more and more so that by game 5, she was a staple in their starting lineup. From there, McGraw went to work. She used her size advantage every time possible and that helped her show what she can really do underneath the basket. When the season came to a close, she had recorded just under 40 Blocks in total on the year, averaging out to about 2 per contest. That's something that opposing team's had to worry about, which ultimately gave Pleasantville an advantage throughout. I'm hoping we see even more from McGraw this season for her Sophomore campaign. She is already really solid. She just needs to keep stacking the days at this point and she will end up on a college floor before you know it.

Here we have five defensive leaders from the 2A Class returning from last season to make their mark once again in anyway that they can out on the Varsity floor. If you are looking for some hoopers that EAT on defense, while being really solid overall competitors, this is a group to know!