PGH Freshman Showcase/Top 250-Expo: First Team & Second Team

Over the past two months I have been tasked with covering our PGH/PH Freshman Showcase & Top 250-Expo's, all around the Midwest. I have seen talent from several different states and have evaluated most of the players at each event while providing in-game notes, team write-ups, and much more. Below I am going to briefly covering the players that I would put on my "First" and "Second" teams between all the events combined that I have covered throughout Iowa, Nebraska, & Indiana.   Thanks for tuning in and enjoy!   First Team:   PG - [player_tooltip player_id='766565' first='Myleigh' last='Weers'] - 2025 - Hard-nosed & determined PG. Was unable to be stopped in the open court, while being a constant facilitator to the ones around her on each and every possession. Displayed her grit and attitude on both sides of the floor, leading to a lot of success by herself and her Top 250-Expo team. Someone with a mid- high D2/low D1 ceiling at the collegiate level.   PG/SG - [player_tooltip player_id='750766' first='McKenzie' last='Koch'] - 2027 - Shifty PG/SG. No matter what position you put her at, Kenzie Koch can flat out handle and score the basketball. I put her more as a SG personally because she is very talented at creating space and opportunities for herself throughout a contest but can also shoot it from deep consistently. Definitely one of the most well rounded ball handlers I've seen at this age all year long.   CG/SF - [player_tooltip player_id='751095' first='Lillie' last='Graves'] - 2027 - This is the best girls basketball player that I have seen on the road the past few months at the high school level. Graves game speaks for itself. Going into her freshman year she has 5+ HM/P5 Division-1 offers and that list is only going to grow. Anyone who watches Graves for 5 minutes can tell you, she is simply just a different type of player compared to anyone else. I hate to say this so early on in a players career but I really think she has a WNBA type ceiling on the court at this point looking forward.   SF - [player_tooltip player_id='558218' first='Cora' last='Widel'] - 2026 - A player growing tremendously on the court this past season, put together a really impressive Top-250 Expo in Iowa last month. There wasn't a thing that Widel wasn't able to do on the floor, all while being the most dominate player there with her mixture of skill and size. It'll be interesting where her recruitment goes this winter but from everything I've seen/heard, she is in a good spot moving in her Sophomore season.   F/C - [player_tooltip player_id='751115' first='Payton' last='DuVall'] - 2027 - The ceiling and future potential of [player_tooltip player_id='751115' first='Payton' last='DuVall'] on the court is something that can't be judged at this moment. DuVall is a freshman standing at 6'2 with length, skill, and great movement. During Indiana's Freshman Showcase, the issue was that DuVall's teammates wouldn't find her in the post. Whenever she did have an opportunity, she made the most of it and dominated the smaller player guarding her. Defensively, she created a lot of stops because of her active hands and shot-blocking ability. One of the most promising players I've seen this past 3 months on the road, looking forward.   Second Team:   PG/SG - [player_tooltip player_id='692561' first='Ashlee' last='Baker'] - 2027 - One of the first players to stand out at the PGH Indiana Freshman Showcase was [player_tooltip player_id='692561' first='Ashlee' last='Baker']. Baker stands with great size for her age and she showed some impressive skill moves right from tip-off. She was scoring at Will, helping others get into place, communicating at a high rate on both side of the ball, and diving on the floor for loose balls every time the opportunity presented itself. I would need to see Baker on a varsity floor more to see how far she can be pushed but as for this event, she did more than hold her own.   SG/CG - [player_tooltip player_id='777585' first='Jade' last='Lewis'] - 2025 - [player_tooltip player_id='777585' first='Jade' last='Lewis'], also known as the Swiss-Army knife of her team at the Top-250 Expo in Nebraska a few weeks ago, was impressive in her showing by doing a little bit of everything. She made big plays offensively, got stops defensively, and displayed experienced patience out on the court. There wasn't a situations that Lewis wasn't ready for and that spoke to how in tuned she was with everything going on around her. All in all, a showing to be proud of.   SF/PF - [player_tooltip player_id='432963' first='Grace' last='Linder'] - 2025 - An individual out of Iowa that is set up to have a break-through Junior season is [player_tooltip player_id='432963' first='Grace' last='Linder'] of Valley High School. Linder is a lengthy Small Forward/Combo Guard. She is skilled with the ball in her hands coming down the floor or she can post up smaller defenders that may try to matchup with her throughout the duration of a contest. On a Valley team that is stacked at her position, Linder is going to make every opportunity worth it this upcoming winter.   PF - [player_tooltip player_id='777584' first='Kennedy' last='Johnson'] - 2025 - Talking about players that are always in the right place, at the right time because of their work ethic, next we have [player_tooltip player_id='777584' first='Kennedy' last='Johnson']. Johnson is a someone who never stops moving on the floor, while being very active on the glass. She rebounds with a high motor and usually gets a good amount of put-backs because of that. Johnson was a player that I didn't know going into her NE Top-250 Expo but will definitely be watching moving forward because of how well she preformed at this event.   C - [player_tooltip player_id='766304' first='Paige' last='Andernacht'] - 2028 - One of the youngest players competing at these events was [player_tooltip player_id='766304' first='Paige' last='Andernacht'] of the 2028 class. Andernacht held her own while competing at Iowa's Top 250-Expo a few weeks ago. At this Expo, Andernacht demonstrated to everyone watching that she was one of best players in the building. She displayed sound footwork, an act for aggressive rebounding , and fundamental skill moves that would even be impressive to be performed by a varsity level player. After middle school, Andernacht will join up with the Powerhouse that is the Johnston Dragons, where hopefully she can help keep their winning tradition alive.

Over the past two months I have been tasked with covering our PGH/PH Freshman Showcase & Top 250-Expo's, all around the Midwest. I have seen talent from several different states and have evaluated most of the players at each event while providing in-game notes, team write-ups, and much more. Below I am going to briefly covering the players that I would put on my "First" and "Second" teams between all the events combined that I have covered throughout Iowa, Nebraska, & Indiana.