Winter Break Wrap-Up: My Top Players Thus Far (Part 2)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Going into winter break I wanted to highlight my top players up until this point in the season. These will not be in any certain order at the moment and will feature players through-out all grades at the high school level. This will be a five part wrap-up with 5-10 athletes included per article.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["246099"],"_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_0_evaluation":"[player_tooltip player_id='246099' first='Callie' last='Levin'] returned to action for her junior season at Solon high school with a state tournament run as one of her major goals coming into the season. The start that herself and the teammates around her have given themselves puts them in a favorable spot to achieve that goal and make it to state where they would compete to bring home a championship. Levin has been putting up a little over 19 PPG and 5.9 RPG on average through their first 8 games thus far. In these 8 games they put together a very successful start to their year with a 7-1 record, their only lose coming in the form of an away game against a top ranked CCA Clippers team right before break. I expect Levin to keep up the consistent success she has been seeing on a nightly basis as this season progresses and give her team a real chance to make it to state. If her teammates can keep up the consistency and everyone does their job, they will have a shot at it in the end. Before the playoffs come around the Spartans will have a couple of games that will be interesting and could cause potential match-up problems but only time will tell if it'll play a factor for the entirety of a game or if they will adapt and come out on top.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["311389"],"_player_evaluations_1_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"[player_tooltip player_id='311389' first='Haylee' last='Stokes'] and ELC high school returned this season as the top 3A team in the state and they have kept that spot going into break with an overall 7-0 record. Stokes has led the team with 19.6 PPG on 53.5% shooting while also dishing out 5.9 APG, showing that she is getting her teammates involved whenever given the opportunity. In their first seven games she has shown that she can be dominate in a number of ways on the offensive end, wether it be getting to the basket off of the dribble, shooting the ball off of a catch and shoot, or hitting a nice little floater in the middle of the lane over a bigger defender. As the start of her season, up into break, has been one of the best throughout the entire state, I am more interested how she competes in the next two contests they have as they will face their two biggest tests of the season up until this point in playing 2 top-ten ranked teams back to back to start the month of January. I don't expect just one good defensive player to bother Stokes much but if a team consistently throws a double or triple team at her on the drive during the entirety of a game, she is going to have to keep finding the open teammate and hope they can make some shots.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_player":["311381"],"_player_evaluations_2_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"[player_tooltip player_id='311381' first='Divine' last='Bourrage'] has been a diverse point guard to start this season for the Davenport North Wildcats. Bourrage, just starting her sophomore season, is soon to be on every college scouts radar if she isn't already by the time this high school season comes to a close. She is a diverse athlete with great size and speed. She is a mis-match even at the point guard position because of her athleticism and decision making. She likes to crash the boards on the defensive end and take it all the way to the other side for an easy lay-up for herself or a teammate. Bourrage starts with another great player in sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='311365' first='Journey' last='Houston'] next to her to help lead the charge. I expect these two individuals to be one of the best back court's in the state over the next two seasons going forward as they are almost impossible to guard at the same time. If they can find some rhythm and get another younger player to step up, the Wildcats will be a problem for anyone they cross going into the playoff's this season.","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":3,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63a63098c94cb"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["63019"],"_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_0_evaluation":"[player_tooltip player_id='63019' first='Audi' last='Crooks'] starts her seniors year as the #1 player in the class of 2023 once again after coming off of a great AAU season for CY select and a state championship with her high school team. To begin this season her high school team went out of state to play a tournament and see what it would be like against some different competition. This strategy seemed to pay off as they lost their first game by double digits and haven't lost since. Under the leadership of Crooks it will be hard for anyone in the state of Iowa to step up and beat Bishop Garrigan this season at the 1A level. Crooks comes into break leading the state in PPG and FGM as she is unstoppable down low in the post. A big part of her game is her ability to pass the ball to an open teammate on the outside when she is receiving too much attention and she's really been showing that off this season up until this point. The only way that I see this team losing a game this year will be if they do it to themselves because if they just all do their jobs and play as a unit, they are almost unbeatable. You never know though, anything can happen once that ball is tipped so you always have to be ready.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["311391"],"_player_evaluations_1_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"[player_tooltip player_id='311391' first='Morgan' last='Miller'] has put together an impressive start to her sophomore season at Iowa City-Regina high school. She has begun the year showing off that she is a consistent scoring threat from all three levels, is a floor general when it comes to calling out plays, and she can lead a team to victory in crunch time when it comes down to it. The Regals have had a good beginning to this season with Miller at the point leading the action on offense and running the ball in transition when she can. Their hardest tests will comes at the end of this season and into the playoffs as teams tend to scout a little differently and really focus in on the opponents best player. It'll be intriguing to see how everyone else adapts once they come up against a team that really knows what they are doing, but with the intelligent coaching of the Regina staff, I think we will be seeing the Regals at state once again. The ability of Miller paired with the scoring and offensive ability of [player_tooltip player_id='63024' first='Grace' last='Gaarde'] and Alli Clark will be too much for a good majority of teams they will see this season. They just need to keep their composure and everything else will take care of itself.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":2,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63a63e011bb52"} /-->