Tess casually showed her range this weekend. She showed that she can be a leading scorer when she needs to be; or she can strictly be the distributor when her teammates are hot.

Tess has absolutely elite passing skills. Her court vision allows her to easily find an open teammate, or thread the needle through the defense. She sees the court extremely well, and can drive and kick the ball to a shooter on the outside.

Tess’ two games on Sunday were a contrast. In the first game, she scored 18 points on 7 field goals. And in her final game, she scored just 2 points, and was content to feed one of her teammates who had a hot hand.

Tess prides herself in controlling the game and getting teammates open shots.

A player who plays twice her size on every possession, and there is no quit in her game whatsoever. She can score from all spots on the court, but I think she is at her best when she is in the open court or creating for others. She has full confidence in her ability as a playmaker, doesn’t hesitate to make tough reads, and is always heads up on the break. Defensively, she brings a HIGH IQ and the pesky on ball pressure that can speed players up and make them uncomfortable. She is active, disruptive, and knows how to make plays without gambling too much. She will only get better.

Tess contributed in every area of the game for Illinois Spartans 15U on Sunday at the Great Lakes Kickoff. She played hard on both ends and was the team’s court general, effectively facilitating the offense. Tess had a burst on her drives, kept her dribble alive under pressure, and fired quick, crisp passes to open teammates, which led to many assists. She drained a smooth straightaway triple off the bounce and another three in the corner. Tess created space to attack with her shifty inside-outs and crossover combinations. She split defenders and accelerated to the rim for layups. Tess crashed the glass to secure multiple offensive rebounds and generated steals with her scrappy pressure. She scored an and-one layup in top gear with her left, turning in a complete performance.

Regardless of her size, Walsh had many possessions in which she was key to why points were being put on the board. She has a strong handle and knows how to spread the floor for action to happen.

This is a PG with great vision, orchestrating skills, and a lot of self awareness. This is someone who seems to always be willing to pass, almost to a fault. She is also a skilled shooter from deep off the catch or at least she was last night in her team’s first contest of the weekend. All in all, someone who might not score 40 a game but she still consistently produces and that’s noteworthy. 

Loved her game! Maybe the best PG I saw in this age group. She’s aggressive and a really strong ball handler. She has a nose for being in the right spot and she anticipates game very well, able to defend pick and steal and finish at the other end. Love her on ball defense, she’s a tough one!! Headed to Loyola Academy and expect a good future! (Feature photo above)