Monday Night Across The State: Best Unranked Guards

Monday night was loaded with incredible guard play across the state of Wisconsin. Here were the best performances from the unranked backcourt players on December 6th: [player_tooltip player_id="356447" first="Saige" last="Radke"] -- Milton -- Class of 2022 Radke is one of the most stable point guards in the Badger conference and Monday night she showed why. She found cutters on the move, savvily shook off handsy defenders, and controlled the pace of play against. Clinton. Her finishing and ability to attack at certain angles put pressure on the rim and also help her create for others. Even when attacking the basket, Radke is aware of her surroundings in the event of an open shooter or big down low. But her presence isn’t limited to the offensive end. With active hands and quick feet, her most pervasive way of commanding the pace of play is by forcing turnovers defensively. In isolation, she’s oftentimes quicker than her attacker, opening up the ability to poke at the ball. In the flow of a defense, she guides her matchup to traps and poor angles. One of the best unranked guards in the state through the early parts of the season. Elli Teubert -- Clinton -- Class of 2022 Opposite Radke was Teubert, who demonstrated impressive resolve against a tough matchup. Though she got beat in isolation, her work rate on the defensive end helped keep Clinton in the game for as long as they were. She has serious speed and maneuverability around the basket, which enables her to push pace and get easy looks. She’s electric as a scorer on the break and plays much bigger than her size. Her shooting on the wing is her most valuable asset. It set up the Clinton offense’s ability to drive to the basket. And with the lack of size on the Milton front, this was where Clinton had their best chance to win the game. Teubert hit a pair of threes en route to an 11 point, 3 steal outing, but her impact as a spacer, facilitator, and pace-pusher extended beyond the box score. Taylor Jacobson -- Bangor -- Class of 2022 Jacobson torched Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau on both ends of the floor. Offensively, she always looked under control, exercising patience before unleashing her attacks on the basket. Her attack-mode mentality caused endless problems for the GET defense. Despite her 5’4" frame, she constantly found ways to get to the rim, oftentimes simply exploding by her defender, but utilizing a series of feints, spins, and off-angle shots to score when she needs to. This isn’t to say that Jacobson is a selfish player. Within her game is the ability to create for her teammates. And while her creation is most useful on the break, she consistently found passing angles in the halfcourt that lead to clean looks on the low block. She finished with a cool 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists with 4 cookies to boot. And that’s where she throws one last wrinkle at the opposing team. Her defensive work rate was unmatched. Whether it be flying in the passing lanes or just sticking her matchup at the point of attack, Jacobson found ways to turn defense to offense. Olivia Miller -- Manitowoc-Lincoln -- Class of 2023 What stood out about Miller’s performance against Two Rivers was her finishing ability and patience around the basket. Though appearing slight of frame, she often bullied her matchup down low and found ways to get open looks within the flow of the offense. She uses the contact that she initiates to hand in the air and settle herself. Her physicality fueled Lincoln’s big run that gave them the lead before the first-half buzzer. She also demonstrated patience in playmaking in what was at times a chaotic game. Her handle is tight enough to avoid simple mistakes in halfcourt sets, and she reads the pick and roll well enough to make simple yet effective reads. She caught her opposition off-guard multiple times with her athleticism and creativity in the half-court and was a bright spot despite Lincoln’s loss. Miranda Firari -- Dodgeland -- Class of 2022 What an appropriate last name for a player who looked twice as fast as anyone on the court in Dodgeland’s drubbing of Wayland Academy. Firari showed strength and physicality cutting to the basket, but added subtle feints and small movements to turn small openings into opportunities to detonate. Her explosiveness on both ends of the court was overwhelming -- getting to the rim at will without sacrificing body control. Her fluidity and athleticism at the cup, b-lining to the basket without letting contact bother her, was extremely impressive and the main reason Dodgeland got out to a 25-6 start against Wayland. Firari also looked comfortable letting the offense flow through her as a cog in the half-court set. She knew what she wanted to do and where she wanted the ball to go a step before the defense and manipulated the space around her to open up the floor. But where Firari was most devastating was as a defender in the passing lanes. Her speed translated to the defensive end and when she was stationed at the top of Dodgeland’s 2-3 zone, she found her hand in the cookie jar a couple of times. And when she managed to misdirect a pass, it was lights out on the other end. Mickey Stampfl -- Belleville -- Class of 2022 Stampfl was the engine behind Belleville’s win against Benton. And it wasn’t that one part of her game dominated the competition, she just simply out-executed her matchup and got the offensive machine at Belleville up and running. She facilitated extremely well, and though she registered 4 assists, she was often the driving force behind the second or third pass that eventually lead to a basket. Especially in transition, where her speed and willingness to attack the middle of the court caused fits for Benton. What did stand out as a cut above was her defensive anticipation. She swiped 4 steals and each demonstrated an impressive level of readiness. She would see where the pass was coming from ahead of time, cheat on her assignment--whether in a zone or off an out-of-bounds play--and poke the ball away in one seamless motion. This led to easy twos on the other end and through off the Benton offense. One of the best two-way performances of the night. Steffi Siewert -- Deerfield -- Class of 2023 I could go on a tangent about her tendencies and discipline, but ultimately there’s one figure that tells the story. 8 steals against Williams Bay. 8 steals. 8. Steals. And they came in every which way. Her length made passing over the top or trying to get an angle off the side impossible, her reaction-time limited the oppositions ability to throw over the top, her anticipation landed her cookies in the passing lanes, and, when called on, she wasn’t afraid to simply take what was hers and rip the ball out. Her determination and pride on the defensive end were on full display and deserves the credit for Deerfield getting out to a strong start in the win. Offensively, Siewert demonstrated nifty handles and the ability to create space on the fly. Her up-and-under move down low was particularly effective as her opposition struggled to contain her length. And her ability to quickly transition from offense to defense using her-- I’ll say it again-- 8 steals was particularly valuable in Monday night’s contest. The best defensive performance from a guard I saw on Monday.