Katie Borowicz | Roseau HS (MN) / MN Stars | 2021 |
PBR #99 Nationally | MINNESOTA
Competitive and focused Point Guard.. Displays leadership qualities at all times; She is very skilled fundamentally and brings that feistiness and hustle to the floor + the intangibles any coach appreciates. She pressures defensively and is smart on and off the ball.
Katie Borowicz with the Minnesota staff. Image from @katieborwicz via Twitter
Zayla Tinner | Amarillo HS / Lady Drive Nation | 2020 |
PBR #87 Nationally | SOUTHERN CAL
Strong athletic wing who shoots the three well.. Straight line driver/slasher when she puts the ball on the deck .. competitive defender who will mix it up and rebound; won two state championships in HS .. Fantastic late sign for USC
Kiersten Nelson | Ursuline HS (LA) / Pro Skills | 2020 | SAMFORD
Good frame at the four and very skilled. Ability to handle the ball, basically played some PG at times in HS. Ability to hit the 3-ball from in the trail position. Showed a nice mid-range touch.. Love the offensive versatility..
Tatyana and
Taliyah Wyche | American Heritage HS (FL) / Team Knight | 2021 | FLORIDA
Athletic with major P5 frames.. Serious athletes. They have room in the skill development area, but have massive potential. Good on the glass and defensively.. Solid in ball screen actions. Room to grow.
Trinity Gooden | Choctaw HS (OK) / Pro Skills | 2021| RICE
Good size and athleticism on the perimeter. Skilled, ability to score on all 3 levels. Versatile and physical defender. Good feel and IQ for the game.. Continues to get better. Game is maturing. Overall skilled player. Good early get for Rice to go with Jordan Hobbs (OH).
Trinity Gooden consults with Coach Taylor Johnston of Pro Skills at The PRIME event in August. PC: Brittany Graham
Jasmyne Roberts | Bishop Kenny HS (FL) / FGB | 2021 | MIAMI
Strong and explosive guard.. has that scorer’s mentality. Nice touch all the way out to the three. Will defend and get on the glass and leave her mark. Won a state championship in FL this year. Natural all around game.
Kiya Dorroh | Sabino HS (AZ) / West Coast Premier | 2021 |
PBR #48 Nationally | MISSOURI
Competes and is active on both ends.. Good skills at the guard spot. Good bball IQ and feel for the game. Good player.. Good size at the guard spot. Nice early get for Mizzou.
2021 Kiya Dorroh is committed to Missouri. Edit Credit: Brittany Graham
Mackenzie Curtis | El Capitan HS (CA) / EBO | 2021 | NEW MEXICO
Utility forward .. provides skills and spacing for her team.. Works the glass..
Jillian Brown | East Grand Rapids / MBA | 2021 |
PBR #53 Nationally | NORTHWESTERN
Poised and shows leadership skills. Keeps her team in things competitively; Showed the ability to run her team from the PG position, but also be aggressive and fundamentally attack the defense. Good player.. Valuable intangibles .. She makes others better .. important! Crisp passer, good shooter. Joins Hailey Weaver as an early commit to Northwestern. Good gets!
Jillian Brown with the Northwestern staff. Image from @jillianbrown_4 via Twitter
Laila Jewett | Bishop Ireton / Team Takeover | 2021 |
PBR #68 Nationally | CENTRAL FLORIDA
Tough and competitive.. J has shown some improvement. Knows how to play and is a good piece on a really good team – both in HS and the club scene. Competitive perimeter defender with good size. Really good 2-way player. Great early get for UCF.
Laila Jewett from SHE GOT GAME Classic - DALLAS in December. PC: Brittany Graham
Important part of the Leicester Riders (pro) and Charnwood (scholastic) program for 7 years. Has grown a program from ground up and has been successful within coaching multiple teams.
With Charnwood he has managed to win over 12 national titles while also helping over 30 students gain scholarships in the USA.
He has also been part of the National Team - working with Great Britain U20 Women team for the last 3 years, Finishing 4th last year in European Championship.
Has taken the girls from Charnwood to the international stage, having a successful AAU tournament trip with Premier Basketball - ALL girls from that team gaining scholarship.
Success within the World ISF games - winning a World Gold medal for 3x3 and also a bronze medal.
Coaches the WBBL team (Pro Level) and has the best finish in program history and also brought first WBBL silverware to the Club. Made UK history as first British-Asian Coach to win national title in any mainstream sport.
Even though the Final was subsequently cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns, the CHSAA was able to get in the Semifinals on March 12
th. And what a Semifinal it was.
Grandview and Valor Christian both have one of the top 2022 post players in the country in Lauren Betts and Raegan Beers, respectively. They both have Division 1 bound point guards in Tomia Johnson (Grandview | FGCU signee) and 2021 Kindyll Wetta (Valor | Colorado commit).
2022 Lauren Betts of Grandview
2022 Raegan Beers of Valor Christian
Although the CHSAA system had the seeds as Valor #1 and Grandview #4, I would have given the early edge on paper to Grandview due to depth and overall size.
What may have tipped the scales on paper is also what proved to be a huge key in the second half for Grandview, 2022 Marya Hudgins. She had a huge game with five threes and added another bucket, for a total of 17 points.
Addison O’Grady (2021 | Grandview) was in a bit of foul trouble, but her presence alone made it hard to send double teams and rotations at Lauren Betts when they were on the floor together. Grandview has a solid third option at the post as well in 6’1 Dasiya Jones.
(Running Score)
1Q
2Q
3Q
4Q / Final
Grandview
7
17
30
49
Valor
11
20
31
42
2022 Marya Hudgins of Grandview.
2021 Kindyll Wetta of Valor Christian (University of Colorado commit).
Team Notes
Grandview – Defensively
Grandview primarily played M2M defense throughout. They showed a soft press after some makes, but it didn’t seem to be a big part of their game plan. I think the biggest adjustment they made at halftime was that they turned up their on-ball pressure which disrupted the shot selection decisions of Valor and limited their ability to get good touches inside for Beers.
Valor Christian – Defensively
Valor started in M2M with the traditional matchups, true to position. They showed some full court pressure at times, which was interesting to me because it seemed they wanted to play at a deliberate pace in the ½ court offensively where Grandview seemed to want to push the ball when they could. It takes a very well coached team to throw different styles at an opponent and be able to execute. At a few points in the game, Coach Jessica Caldwell had her PG, Wetta, front Betts as they had help and rotation from the back side for the lob. They executed very well, and the value of being able to change looks and rhythm on a team cannot be overlooked.
Grandview – Offensively
With the lineup they have, Grandview is able to play in a continuous ball screen offense with wing pick and rolls + post rise and high-low looks. They do it very naturally and their posts are good passers and decision makers, so it works well. They also seem to really play out of a particular 1-4 high set with a few options including an initial backdoor from the wing. Most of all Grandview pushed the ball and the bigs really run the floor… It paid off for them late and they got easy buckets to separate. Credit Coach Josh Ulitzky for keeping them calm and teaching them how to believe in a system.
Valor Christian Coach Jessica Caldwell in an early season huddle with her team.
Valor Christian – Offensively
Valor really did a great job spreading the floor and getting Betts away from the rim so they could get better looks. I could hear Coach Caldwell calling different actions at different times and they moved as a unit and really executed. Wetta led the way distributing the ball and Beers is their most potent weapon, and 2021 Jenna Siebert does a really good job both shooting the ball and attacking the rim. Junior Sydney Mckibbon started the game off for them with a three ball. The two-man game with Wetta and Beers was effective, especially in an elbow-elbow area 5-1 ball screen that they looked at a few times. Beers struggled early in post ups vs Beers, but settled a bit and got patient and used her body, frame, and left hand to be effective. She is an effective three-point shooter, especially in the trail/slot area…smooth stroke!
Grandview Head Coach, Josh Ulitzky, and Lauren Betts.
Ultimately, late in the game the difference was a few untimely turnovers and shot selection for Valor that gave Grandview some easy buckets compared to the rest of the game. Credit Grandview for ramping up their defensive ball pressure, rebounding, and for executing in transition the entire game. Many times, if teams do not get easy looks early, they abandon it. Betts ran the floor the whole game and it paid off in the second half.
I thought Coach Caldwell’s game plan was excellent. Her players were locked in and they always respond amazingly to her. They got great looks early and defended well. A learning experience for sure as 3-4 minutes of the game was the difference in them hanging on for the W.
Coach Ulitzky does such a good job with keeping cool on the sideline. His team did not come out playing their best, but halftime proved valuable for them. Teams that stay with things even when they are a little scattered are strong teams and well coached. Coach Ulitzky managed this game really well.
Player Notes
Tomia Johnson | Grandview | FGCU Signee
Quick and fast .. really can get out quickly in transition; applies defensive ball pressure
Addison O’Grady | Grandview | 2021 |
PBR #82 Nationally Great frame for a power forward/post .. Has nice touch out to the perimeter. Got in
a little bit of foul trouble in this one, but presence was felt
Marya Hudgins | Grandview | 2022 |
PBR #50 Nationally Stock riser all year long .. First year in CO after moving from GA; Great size at the
forward or wing position .. Has proven she can really shoot it. In this particular game,
she hit 3 corner threes off of relocation, a three off the bounce in a drag-dribble
situation where she created space, and also a straight on wing three off the bounce ..
impressive
Lauren Betts | Grandview | 2022 |
PBR #1 Nationally Not to be taken lightly when we say amongst the truly
ELITE of her class.. If size is a
Premium, what is skilled size? Betts is skilled size.. Over the course of the last year, she
has gotten really good.. Her FT jumper is smooth and crisp, she has gotten patient in the
post, and passes well out of inevitable double teams.. what stood out the most in this
game? She consistently sprinted the floor.. fantastic. As she adds strength to her frame
and to her core, watch out. Defensively, she just makes it so hard to score inside..
whether 1 on 1, or as she looms in rotation and help.
Kindyll Wetta | Valor Christian | 2021 |
PBR #73 Nationally Glad to see Wetta back off of the stuggle of multiple knee injuries. She has a break
down handle and does a really good job distributing the ball and getting to the rack.
She can shoot the ball from the perimeter and she uses that well to keep defenses
guessing and as she changes tempo.
Raegan Beers | Valor Christian | 2022 |
PBR #4 Nationally Another in the
ELITE category.. Size, frame, and skills are hard to compare. She is
strong in the post up and has a feathery touch out to the three and also has a very
advanced handle .. She sees the floor very well and is a skilled passer .. In this game she had
trouble scoring vs Betts 1 on 1 initially, but adjusted and was able to produce for her team.
She is a tough matchup ..
Jenna Siebert | Valor Christian | 2021
Overall very skilled and smart.. can shoot the three or fundamentally attack with her
handle off the dribble.. A good player on a good team. D1’s should be checking in.