Homestead Youth Tourney - 8th Grade Division Standouts

Homestead High School's Girls Basketball Program hosted their annual youth tournament on Saturday, February 28th. The event had over 50 3rd-8th Grade teams, representing 20 High School Youth Programs across Northeast Indiana. Year after year, this event provides an early glimpse into the next wave of talent in the area. With so many programs competing, it allowed for a clear look at which players are trending upward heading into high school. Here are some 8th Grade Division standouts who separated themselves throughout the day.   *** Players listed in alphabetical order by last name    Baker, just a 6th grader, played up two grades with Huntington North's 8th grade group and made an immediate impact. She's a crafty point guard with an advanced skill set for her age. Her IQ and overall feel for the game is beyond her years. Baker consistently makes the simple play, keeps the ball moving, and knocks down open shots when given space. She finishes effectively around the rim with either hand, showing touch on both layups and floaters. Defensively, she applied consistent on-ball pressure and competed on every possession.     Brinker is a versatile forward who helped lead Columbia City to a tournament championship. She possesses a strong frame with a combination of height, strength, and physicality that allows her to impact the game in multiple ways. She ran the floor hard and was active at the back of her team's press, consistently making hustle and winning plays on both ends. She set solid ball screens that created easy looks for both her teammates and herself. It was clear that she is fully bought into doing whatever her team needs to win and be successful.     Flowers is a solid combo guard with good length and long arms, which allow her to impact the game on both ends of the floor. She plays with a strong feel for the game and showed a nice balance between facilitating and scoring as her team's lead guard. In pick-and-roll situations, she consistently made the right reads, keeping defenders honest while creating opportunities for herself and her teammates. Flowers is a confident shooter with range and is comfortable stepping into open looks. Defensively, she competed in a low stance with active hands and feet, applying steady ball pressure and disrupting passing lanes.       Fordyce possesses impressive height, size, and length, especially as the primary ball handler for her Dekalb squad. But even though she was the point guard, she never dominated the ball or over dribbled. She played with noticeable patience and poise, never appearing sped up even when facing pressure. She consistently made the right, simple play which generated a lot of trust and confidence into her teammates. She also shot the three-ball really well, knocking down several timely perimeter shots. Defensively, she was active and disruptive, using her length to generate deflections and force turnovers.     Toll is a very versatile wing that can play and defend several positions on the court. She has a very high basketball IQ. She not only understands the game at a high level, but also plays it the right way too. She doesn't force anything and consistently makes the simple play. Her versatility forced several mismatches against man-to-man defenses and allowed her to be aggressive attacking the middle of zone defenses. Defensively, her anticipation and activity in the front of her team's press led to multiple turnovers, which quickly turned into easy offense for herself and her teammates.

Homestead High School's Girls Basketball Program hosted their annual youth tournament on Saturday, February 28th. The event had over 50 3rd-8th Grade teams, representing 20 High School Youth Programs across Northeast Indiana. Year after year, this event provides an early glimpse into the next wave of talent in the area. With so many programs competing, it allowed for a clear look at which players are trending upward heading into high school. Here are some 8th Grade Division standouts who separated themselves throughout the day.