Preseason Top-50: #5 Hamilton Southeastern
We are finally to our Top-5 teams on our Top-50 list, regardless of class. For the next few days we will preview each of those teams in their own article. This article focuses on our Preseason #5 team in the…
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Continue ReadingWe are finally to our Top-5 teams on our Top-50 list, regardless of class. For the next few days we will preview each of those teams in their own article. This article focuses on our Preseason #5 team in the state, Hamilton Southeastern. With regards to our Top-50 teams in general, we took in to account several different factors, most notably, but not limited to, last season’s record, Sagarin rating, and strength of schedule, graduation losses, newcomers, improvement of existing roster members, and coaching changes. Stay tuned to see who our remaining four teams are…
#5 Hamilton Southeastern H.S. (Fishers, IN)
Last Season:
Hamilton Southeastern posted a 16-8 record last season with some ups and downs mixed in. They began the year with a 6-game winning streak that included wins against Ben Davis, Southport, Valparaiso, Lake Central, Perry Meridian, and Fort Wayne Carroll. They then fell to Brownsburg and rival Carmel, before going on a 7-game winning streak that included wins against rival Noblesville, Greenfield-Central, Pendleton Heights, Avon, New Castle, rival Fishers, and Plainfield. Now sitting at 13-2, they finished the season just 3-6, but it was a brutal stretch for them. Mixed in there were wins over Westfield, Class 4A State Runner-Up Zionsville (in overtime), and rival Fishers again in the Sectional. The losses were to a solid Springboro team from Ohio, Indianapolis North Central, Class 4A State Champion Warren Central, Lawrence North, Pike, and once again rival Carmel in the Sectional Final. The Royals started four Juniors and a Sophomore last year, and they typically played eight to ten girls on any given night.
Senior Guard Malea Jackson
Guards:
Hamilton Southeastern’s backcourt returns intact, and they have some really good ballplayers around the perimeter. 5-7 2019 combo guard Malea Jackson (9.1 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.8 apg, 36 made 3s) is a strong, tough-nosed, physical, and aggressive player. She has the touch and finesse to hit jump-shots and run offense, but she’s also strong to the basket and showed a much more aggressive attacking style offensively last season. She was the Royals’ second leading scorer in 2017-2018. What I like the most about her, though, is that she’s a very good on-ball defender, and she can comfortably pick up 84-feet against most opponents. 5-7 2019 combo guard Molly Walton (6.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 4.0 apg, 2.2 spg, 17 made 3s) is tough-nosed, incredibly unselfish, and she does whatever it takes to help her team win. She’s a pass-first kid, but she can knock down an open jumper or attack the basket and finish. She plays with a great motor, and she has a nice IQ for the game. 5-8 2020 combo guard Jackie Maulucci (2.9 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 11 made 3s) missed her Freshman season with a knee injury, but last season she was a key perimeter sub for this group. She has really good length and fluidity, she can handle it and run offense, she’s a capable perimeter shooter, and she’s a gliding athlete to the rim. Defensively she can be really good at times. 5-4 2020 point guard Lauren Morris (1.4 ppg, 5 made 3s) also played a role off the bench last season, but I anticipate her opportunity being greater this time around. She is extremely quick, strong for her size, and she has good length. She can get into gaps in the defense that other girls on this team just can’t. Look for her to primarily be a facilitator this year, but she is capable of knocking down shots to keep defenses honest. She is the daughter of 1987 Indiana Miss Basketball Lori (Meinerding) Morris-DeVries. 5-6 2020 combo guard Ella Zingraf (0.1 ppg, 0.2 rpg) and 5-8 2021 wing guard Lydia Self (0.3 ppg, 0.2 rpg, 1 made 3) both saw action in nearly every game last season, but I would still consider them on the outside of the core rotation in big games. Zingraf is a combo guard who can handle and distribute, but she’s also a very good perimeter shooter. Self is another perimeter shooter with some size.
Junior Wing Sydney Parrish
Forwards & Posts:
Hamilton Southeastern possesses one of the most talented, most versatile starting frontcourts in the entire state, and they are terribly difficult to match up with. 6-2 2020 small forward Sydney Parrish (15.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.8 apg, 2.2 spg, 32 made 3s) is one of the top players in the state, regardless of class, she’s a coveted prospect nationally, and she is tremendously skilled. She can handle the ball and run offense, she’s a pure shooter with range, and she’s good attacking the basket for scores. She played through pain a season ago, so it will be nice watching her play healthy this year. 6-1 2019 small forward Tayah Irvin (6.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.6 spg, 26 made 3s) doesn’t put up major statistical numbers, but she “makes her money” at the defensive end of the floor. Over the last few years, I haven’t seen many people 6-1 with her lateral quickness, quick feet, and tremendous length who were able to not only defend, but flat out lock down four positions the way she does. She can take on point guards, wings, or face-up ‘4s’. 6-1 2019 power forward Amaya Hamilton (8.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.3 spg) is a long and very athletic forward who can post a little around the block, but she’s great in the mid-post. She needs to assert herself more offensively, because when she does, she can go for 30 points on any given night. She has started shooting it much better around 17-feet as well. 5-5 2020 small forward Bailey Poore might be in line to step into the Varsity rotation, as the Royals don’t have a great deal of depth. Bailey is a little undersized, but she’s strong, she has a great motor, and she’s a really nice athlete. She did some good things during the grassroots season this year.
Graduation Losses:
The good news for the Royals is that they only graduated two players, and of those two, only one of them played in every game last season. The bad news is that 5-8 forward Shelby Ford (3.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg) played a lot of minutes as their first sub off the bench, she was maybe their best pure athlete, she has a lot of length, and she played with a great deal of energy and brought some toughness to the floor. The other graduate was 6-0 post Erikka Ededuwa (0.6 ppg, 1.0 rpg). She is a big, strong, true back-to-the-basket post, and she liked to throw her body around and impose her will physically. But she only managed to play in 11 games last season, so her loss won’t be felt quite as much as Ford’s.
Final Thoughts:
Hamilton Southeastern is one of the most experienced, most talented, and most skillful teams in the state. They have size up front and on the wing, and they’ve played together for a while. With all five starters returning, and having them be four Seniors and a Junior this time around, not to mention having a pair of letter-winning Junior guards coming off the bench, in February they should be staring at their first Sectional title since 2006-2007. I would also think that Bankers Life Fieldhouse is very reachable, but it will just take consistency against the top-tier programs on their schedule. They definitely have an “it” factor though.
Header photo of the Hamilton Southeastern Royals logo; photo courtesy of hseroyalsathletics.com. Photo of Malea Jackson courtesy of DeShonne Jackson’s Twitter account. Photo of Sydney Parrish courtesy of Keith Hollins’ Twitter account.