WAUKEGAN, Ill. – That the Sports City U 17 6.0 squad captured top honors at USJN’s 11th annual Windy City Classic won’t go down in history as unusual.
But this much might make folks take notice: Sports City won Sunday’s title game in Pools A-B without the girl who might be its best player.
Bexley Wallace, a 6-foot-3 post from the Class of 2018, is one of the top players in the nation in her age group. But, battling a minor ankle injury, she didn’t play in Sports City’s dominating 58-43 victory against the Nebraska Cornhusker Shooting Stars 16 Bison.
“Nothing major,” coach Jerry Hester said. “She’ll be back with her high school team this month, and she’ll be back in our May workouts.”
Wallace was dressed for Sunday’s final, but she wasn’t needed. Sports City bolted to an early lead and was never threatened, leading by double figures the entire second half.
“We have a little history with this team,” Hester said of the CSS Bison. “We’ve met them several times in this exact game here, and we’ve met them in the Battle of the ‘Boro, we’ve met them in Washington. They do a heck of a job.
“We saw them play Friday night and we told our kids, ‘Y’all get ready, if we get to (the title game), this is who’ll be there. Sure enough, it was. I think we had them built up for it. It was going to be a good (opponent), so we needed to come out ready to go, and we did.”
Sports City has produced its fair share of talented players recently – including Syracuse’s Alexis Peterson – and the current batch fits right in. Wallace gets a lot of attention, but she’s not alone.
“(Abby) Prohaska gets a lot, (Zia) Cooke is a young kid (2019). (Taylor) Mikesell. They’re all getting a lot,” Hester said.
Mikesell is a 2018 guard. Prohaska is a highly regarded lefty shooter with an equal amount of grit.
Indiana Flight Notches Title
The Indiana Flight 17 Thunder team used a dominant final 10 minutes to rally past Blue Star St. Louis 16 Lovette in the final for Pools C-D, 65-51.
The Flight finished the game on a 27-12 run over the final 8 minutes, 35 seconds.
“The biggest thing is we finally got physical and decided to rebound,” coach Tony Marlin said. “We’re just not a physical team, but I think we took it to them.”
The Flight have several players who are slight of build, which might be one reason they typically don’t employ a physical style. But those players have plenty of skills and smarts, not the least of which is point guard Amy Dilk, a 5-10 Class of 2018 prospect. Dilk led five players in double figures with 16 points and added four steals. Her highly regarded backcourt mate, 2018’s Cassidy Hardin, added 14 points.
“If there’s a better point guard out there, I haven’t seen her,” said Marlin, whose team outscored Blue Star St. Louis 40-17 in the second half.
“They’re all great girls. They’re very unselfish. Our average GPA is 4.2. They’re smart enough to (run) what I draw up, and they’re smart enough to know that what I’ve drawn up isn’t very good,” he said with a laugh.
Team Penny Captures Pools I-J
Team Penny 17 Black from Tennessee defeated Wisconsin Flight Elite 17 Adidas to win the title for Pools I-J, showing off their offensive skills in a high-scoring semifinal victory before using their defense to win the finale.
“We love to press, we love to get out and run, and we give a lot of help defense,” coach Andre Pruitt said. “Scoring, we don’t have a problem with scoring, we just have to stay on them about defense.”
Team Penny isn’t lacking talent.
“We have a newcomer, Tesia Thompson (2017), that nobody knows about. A big guard, she’s hard to stop going to the goal,” Pruitt said.
“Our shooter, in the semifinal game, Selena Pruitt (2017), had like 10 threes. Antoinette Lewis (2017) controls the paint for us. We have to get on her every now and then, but she has a lot of colleges after her.
“Myah Leflore (2017), she’s a driver to the goal, with a mid-range pull-up. Damiah Griffin (2017) has a mid-range jump shot and she can play inside also. She can handle the ball very well. She controls the floor for us.”
This is the third year that former NBA star Penny Hardaway has sponsored the team.
“What he’s doing for these girls, nobody has done this for girls basketball in Memphis for like five or 10 years,” Pruitt said. “We’re willing to travel and come north so all the colleges will see them. They think that most girls out of Memphis don’t want to leave that area. That’s why we come.”
Guards Propel Michigan Storm Elite To Title
The Michigan Storm Elite 17 Love squad used dominant guard play to beat Indiana Sky Digg Elite 17 Sullivan for the crown in Pools G-H.
The Storm’s bevy of long, wiry guards were too much to handle. Headed by Western Michigan commit Jordan Walker, the group of 2017 players led from start to finish.
“All those guards we have can turn the corner and get to the basket, and they see the floor well, too,” coach Jerome Love said. “We’re athletic, we’re long and we’ve got speed.”
Walker had ACL surgery last June but made a quick comeback, playing through her high school season.
“The kid’s got grit, desire and a work ethic that’s out of this world,” Love said.
“Kierra Crockett, this is her second year playing with me, one of my most athletic kids. She rebounds like crazy, she can defend the perimeter, she can defend the post. She’s a slasher and she can knock down the mid-range as well.
“Adrienne Anderson is our scoring two guard. She slices the lane, she’s very quick and guards the best offensive player from the other team. We have a player coming off the bench, Tyeshia Bowers, who probably will outscore Adrienne, but she’s a little shorter and we actually need that punch off the bench. When she comes in, she’s like Vinnie Johnson. She always makes the first shot.”
Blue Star St. Louis Making It Look Easy
Blue Star St. Louis 16 Lovette made it look easy during Saturday’s first day of the Windy City Classic.
Kris Lovette’s squad had an easy time during its evening game, cruising to a 25-point halftime lead and, understandably, losing a bit of its intensity in the second half.
But the entire experience served to show one thing without question: This is one talented team.
The centerpiece is 2019 center Rickie Woltman (6-foot-3), considered one of the nation’s top prospects in her class. But Blue Star St. Louis is much more than one player.
“Rickie was one of those kids – probably unfair for her — as an eighth grader they’re ranking her third in her class,” Lovette said. “She is so talented but this happens and she’s a 13-year-old kid. It’s a lot (to handle). But also, how great (is it) for all these other kids? Kate Martin, I’m telling you right now, she’s a top 100 kid. She is very good.”
Martin is a 6-1 2018 prospect with an outstanding shot.
“Our little point guard, Kourtney White (2018), I’ve coached her since third or fourth grade, and she’s the toughest kid I’ve ever been around in my life. She is the leader, and everybody on this team will tell you that. She doesn’t say a lot, but if you had to pick one kid to go to battle with, they’re picking her every time.”
Blue Star St. Louis will show up next at USJN’s Gateway Challenge in St. Louis May 14-15. And you’ll likely be seeing them as a group for a while to come, considering they’re all 2018 and ’19 prospects.
“These girls are playing up a year or two, so we’ll be together next year as well,” Lovette said. “Everything about this group is great. Great families, great players, which makes it so much fun.”
Playing Hard Is Second Nature For Canadian Team
Coach Richard Nurse’s Hamilton Transway 17 squad from Ontario knows only one way to play: Maximum effort.
You might see a few teams with more talent, but you’ll have a very hard time finding one that plays harder than Transway.
“They play hard all the time,” Nurse said. “It’s what I expect them to do, and they play hard.”
The top individual is Hailey Brown, a 6-2 post from the class of 2017.
“Brown is probably our BCS kid,” Nurse said. “A lot of Big Ten schools have interest in her. I think she’s a stretch 4 so I want to see the ballhandling develop more. She struggled a little bit to shoot the ball this weekend but she can shoot the 3. Her compete level is off the charts. I’ve coached her since the eighth grade and her leadership is developing right now.”
Nurse said guard Hanna Hall (2017) “will go through a wall for you and has a motor that doesn’t stop. And is a true leader. She is unbelievable as a leader.”
Brown, Hall and Halle Bovell (2016) will be part of various teams in Canada’s national program this summer.
Arkansas Mavericks Hitting Their Stride
Coach Billy Dixon’s Arkansas Mavericks 17 Blue Star team was playing in its second tournament of the young season this weekend, so continuity remains a work in progress.
But it’s clear the Mavericks have talent, and they’ll be a handful to take on as the season strides into summer.
Yo’myris Morris, a 6-2 prospect in the Class of 2018, is the headliner.
“Everybody calls about her,” Dixon said. “She runs the floor well, gets up and down. She defends inside extremely well.
Three other players to watch this summer: Point guard Tayton Hopkins (2017), guard Savanna Owens (2018) and forward Lycia Peevy (2017).
The Mavericks are in their first season under the Blue Star banner, and you can catch them at the Battle of the Boro, Blue Star Nationals and the Big State Flava Jam.
Kathleen Doyle Narrows College Choices
Guard Kathleen Doyle, an alum of the talented Chicago Hoops Express program, signed with Nebraska in November. But former coach Connie Yori’s recent resignation has allowed Doyle to reconsider.
CHE coach Jerald Davis said Doyle has narrowed her choices to Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana and Vanderbilt.
