High School Team Showcase: District-1 Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"small"} --> <p class="has-small-font-size"><em>The featured image is of [player_tooltip player_id='999408' first='Hillary' last='Labis'] (2028) from Westville High School.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Over the last few years, the NCAA has instituted a "Scholastic Live Period" over one June weekend, where college coaches are allowed to view potential recruits. Prospects may participate in events operated by their high school association or their state's coaches association. The Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) has entrusted this to the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA), and the IBCA has operated both the Top 100 individual showcase, and a team showcase held at Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern high schools. Friday marked the first day of the team showcase, and with 117 teams from around the state participating this year, there was plenty of action taking place all day Friday and Saturday. The event serves as a great opportunity for players from the North to be seen by the rest of the state, and below are five such prospects who I felt played well when I was able to see them.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><font color="FFFFFF">.</font></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["890813"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6a369cd09a88e"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">DeKalb is not a very tall/big team, but they are very quick, competitive, and feisty, with Abbie out front leading the charge. She has always been enjoyable to watch at the grassroots level, but seeing her lead her team this weekend was also entertaining. She is quick on quick, tough-nosed, and skillful. She can create offense for herself or teammates, initiate the offense, or play off the ball and knock down shots consistently. Defensively, she battles, oftentimes against opponents much bigger than herself. She uses her strength to gain leverage and takes the ball from them when the opportunity presents itself.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["751059"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6a369cd09a916"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">During the Spring of 2025, Eva started to "figure it out", and she has only raised her game since then. She has been spectacular at times this Spring, and she has improved her recruiting significantly. She is incredibly long, bouncy, and fast. She plays with a great motor, and she is willing to lay her body on the line to save a possession. She has gotten stronger, is absorbing contact much better, plus she has improved her handle and become a knockdown 3-point shooter. Ultimately, she has transitioned from being a forward at a younger age to being a pure shooting guard who is a genuine threat outside.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1690460"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6a369cd09a977"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Bri'Tanya transferred to Wayne from South Side this Summer, and this weekend she showed that Wayne could be a problem in the Fort Wayne are during the 2026-2027 season. She has good strength at her size, she is very quick and shifty, and she can change gears North/South and get downhill in a hurry. She is great creating offense off the dribble, whether that means finishing in the paint or on pull-ups herself, or finding open teammates in positions to score. She is also a very good on-ball defender. As she continues to make her jump-shot more consistent, she will be an even bigger problem.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["999408"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6a369cd09a9d3"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">There are two sides to Hillary, one with her grassroots team(s), then another with her high school team. With her grassroots team(s), she shows the ability to make shots from the perimeter and to act primarily as a wing scorer. But this weekend, it was good to see her with the Blackhawks, because she does a great job of using her physicality. She'll body smaller defenders and play through contact off the bounce. She'll also go to the block and post hard off of cuts. Seeing such a physical side to her, especially offensively, means she's working hard on her total offensive game, which is needed for the next level.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1263977"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6a369cd09aa2d"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Malia is really starting to come into her own this Spring &amp; Summer, and she has a really good opportunity to affect the Spartans' Varsity rotation this coming Winter. She has gotten stronger, more explosive, but also much more skilled. While last Summer she looked to play almost entirely around the block, this year she is very good in the mid-post, she's handling it well around the perimeter, and she's proving to be a fairly consistent perimeter shooter. Her ability to play inside-out just gives Homestead another weapon even they haven't had to pair with all of their wings and guards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->