Hoopers Protecting The Throne This Winter

In this article we have four players that won their Class' State Championship last Winter and they are looking to protect their throne over the next six months on the Varsity floor.   (*Please note: Not all Classes are covered in this piece because two State Championship winning teams didn't post ANY stats last Winter on their way to a State Title....)   Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!    [player_tooltip player_id='747368' first='Kylee' last='Paben'] will return as the life force in the middle of the lane for Millard West as they attempt to return as Class A Champs over the next few months. Paben, the Minnesota WBB commit, is a handful under the hoop at 6'1. She possesses touch, coordinated balance, adaptability, and a ton of promise looking towards her future. Offensively whenever she has her back-to-the basket with some time, she is usually going to score it. She knows how to adapt in a split second and she is also a fairly good passer/facilitator to those open around her when she is doubled or overplayed. All in all, it'll be tough for Millard West to repeat once again but that's not due to a lack of effort. Paben will do her thing and average solid numbers until she graduated, then the real challenge starts to begin once she steps onto the hardwood for the Gophers.     Lincoln Christian dominated most of their matchups over the past couple of years because of their personal on roster. This Winter will be a bit different as they had a lot of production leave due to graduation following last season's State Title. A prospect for them who should put up impressive numbers moving forward is SG - [player_tooltip player_id='1153871' first='Maci' last='Pittenger']. Pittenger averaged just over 10 PPG last season on some efficient shooting from deep. This season she will need to do a little more than that if LC wants a real shot at back-to-back State Titles. She will need to handle, defender, and compete to her fullest abilities on both ends - effort wise. I have no doubt that this is someone that will show up time and time again over the next few months for this program. If that happens, then it's all about who else can step up with her when she needs it the most.     [player_tooltip player_id='896737' first='Sonya' last='Guzinski'] and Oakland-Craig are looking to make it back for another State Title this Winter as they take the floor. Oakland-Craig will lose some production due to graduation but they should have enough talent to keep them in the State conversation for their Class over the next six months. If Guzinski has hunting to do with it, this group should win a lot of contests over the season in the C2 Class. They finished up their year last time around with a six point win against Elkhorn Valley, 51-46 in the C2 title game and they are looking to build onto that moving forward. I'm not sure where Guzinski is going to end up for collegiate ball but it's somewhere. She should have a few option around the Midwest so now it's all about figure out where feels like home.     The pure dominance that [player_tooltip player_id='502331' first='Hadley' last='Walsh'] demonstrated over the past three years has been nothing short of impressive. Walsh, a 6'0 CG/SF, averaged just over 15 PPG and 11 RPG in her efforts last Winter as Pender brought home a State Title. Following that Walsh put together an even better season during AAU on the road, where she was pivotal in her NE Supreme teams success each and every night. So now the question is, how good can Walsh really become? She will kill it this last season of high school ball as Pender tries to protect their throne but how about after that? This is someone that is D2 committed so it'll be interesting to see how far she can take things as a competitor.

In this article we have four players that won their Class' State Championship last Winter and they are looking to protect their throne over the next six months on the Varsity floor.