LBI Hoosier Summer Invitational Review

Last weekend Lady Ballers Insider hosted another event in Northern Indiana. This time it was the Hoosier Summer Invitational at Warsaw High School’s campus, including using their beautiful new 4-court fieldhouse. The event was loaded with most of the best teams/programs from the state of Michigan, and while there were only a handful of teams from Ohio present, there were several nice prospects from the Buckeye state. Below is a look at eight Ohio prospects who stood out in Saturday’s action when I was able to see them.   [player_tooltip player_id="32554" first="Aubryanna" last="Hall"], 2021, 6-1 SG, Huber Heights Wayne H.S. I’ve seen "Bree" a number of times over the last couple of Summers, and this year she looks a little taller, stronger, and even more explosive, if possible. She is a matchup nightmare because of her height, length, and athleticism. She is skilled with the ball in her hands, she is a pure perimeter shooter with range beyond the 3-point line, and she can defend all different types of guards and wings. She has already committed to the University of South Carolina, and she should fit in nicely with a lot of their concepts, both offensively and defensively. [player_tooltip player_id="162142" first="Haley" last="Thierry"], 2021, 5-9 PG, Laurel School The smaller of the Thierry girls, Haley is a really nice, long, wiry strong, and athletic point guard prospect. She has a bounce in her step, good lateral quickness, plus she’s a dynamic playmaker off the bounce. She can get to the basket, find open teammates, or knock down open rhythm jumpers. At times the game looks effortless to her, but she could play with a little more of a sense of urgency, especially defensively, where she could be a lockdown on-ball defender all the time. I think she has a lot of upside and should not go overlooked. [player_tooltip player_id="159013" first="Taylor" last="Thierry"], 2021, 6-0 W, Laurel School Taylor gave a July commitment to The Ohio State University, and she looked every bit the part on Saturday. She is extremely long, strong, and athletic. She’s more of a North/South athlete than anything, she can get downhill and score it at the rim through contact, but she also showed nice touch from the perimeter. I was really impressed with her motor and attention at the defensive end of the floor, as she was one of the more effective trapping defenders for her Sports City U team. Her combination of versatility and athleticism should allow her to see some time as a Freshman. [player_tooltip player_id="32606" first="Chance" last="Gray"], 2022, 5-9 PG, Lakota West H.S. Watching Chance the last couple of Summers, I kind of feel like she’s the quiet assassin. She is a really nice athlete with length and wiry strength, she understands her role as a traditional point guard, and she does a really nice job of waiting for the defense to attend to her teammates. Then she cuts your heart out by going on scoring runs of her own, burying 3-point shots or slicing through the defense for easy scores. Chance is a really nice on-ball defender as well, and she just continues to play like a veteran with great poise and instincts. [player_tooltip player_id="32611" first="Cotie" last="McMahon"], 2022, 5-11 W, Centerville H.S. WOW! That’s the only word that really needs to be said after her play Saturday. Cotie has gained so much strength since last Summer, she is unbelievably powerful and athletic, and she has really good balance and change-of-direction at her size. She was a monster in both games I saw, taking the ball from her opponents and getting to the rim at will for and-1 after and-1. She is a disciplined on-ball defender, a strong rebounder, and you aren’t keeping her out of the lane. If anything, she still needs to shoot it better outside, but she does most everything else well. [player_tooltip player_id="32623" first="Grace" last="VanSlooten"], 2022, 6-2 CF, Notre Dame Academy Grace is another high-level prospect who has drawn a great deal of top college interest because of her unique skillset at her size. She is tall, long, and wiry strong. She actually looks leaner and more explosive this year, and she was incredibly active Saturday, collecting rebounds and steals, pushing the ball in transition on occasion, and scoring it at all three levels. She was first known as a nice-sized perimeter shooter, but now she’s starting to diversify her game and contribute in many different ways beyond being just a shooter/scorer. [player_tooltip player_id="164654" first="Madison" last="Greene"], 2023, 5-6 PG, Pickerington Central H.S. This was my first time seeing Madison after hearing several nice things about her, and she showed a great deal of athletic potential and a nice all-around skillset. She is a wiry strong, extremely quick, fast, and athletic point guard. She first stood out to me with her on-ball defense, dictating which way the opposing point guard would go. But she handled the ball well, got it where it needed to go on time/on target, and she was even able to get into the lane and score or knock down the occasional open rhythm jumper. She also seems like a quietly tough-nosed kid. Mary Meng, 2023, 6-3 C, Christian Community School Mary didn’t necessarily stand out to me because she put together strong performances, but watching her from a neighboring court, she showed a great deal of upside for the next level. She is obviously tall, she has tremendous length, and she is a fairly fluid athlete in all directions. Most girls at her age and height show some robotic movements, but she changed directions well and ran the floor North/South well. She definitely needs a lot of strength, but she might still be growing. She also showed some skill and touch in the mid-post and around the block.