Film Review: Hamilton Southeastern vs. Carmel (Part 2)
This season, with all of the social media and internet streaming sites available, I will start reviewing games from earlier in the season, making notes on prospects and teams. One great resource right now is the partnership that IHSAA TV…
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Continue ReadingThis season, with all of the social media and internet streaming sites available, I will start reviewing games from earlier in the season, making notes on prospects and teams. One great resource right now is the partnership that IHSAA TV has formed with several statewide web streaming affiliates. You can go online, search the ihsaatv.com website, and typically find a game from most of your favorite high schools.
In this article, I wanted to focus on four prospects from each school who are probably a little “lesser-known” because they are young, new to Varsity, or maybe they even play Junior Varsity right now. Hamilton Southeastern ended up winning the Varsity game, 52-36, but I also saw half of the Junior Varsity contest between the two schools. Below is a look at those eight prospects. I have already posted an article from this game highlighting eight other girls who I felt stood out in what I saw that evening.
Bailee Poore, 2020, 5-7 W, Hamilton Southeastern H.S.
Bailee isn’t young, nor is she necessarily new to Varsity, but I feel she’s a kid who gets overlooked a lot. She isn’t the ideal height for a small forward, but she more than makes up for it with a great motor, strength, toughness, some length, and very good all-around athleticism. She does whatever is asked of her to help the team win, and this season she is starting & making a major impact. She is hitting shots from the perimeter, attacking the basket for scores, plus she has a knack of coming up with big offensive rebounds. Defensively, she is gritty and can defend all types of perimeter players, plus some bigger forwards. I really like the intangible qualities she brings to the game, and I think she’s a nice “sleeper” for a small college somewhere.
Zoe Bolding, 2022, 6-3 C, Hamilton Southeastern H.S.
This game was my first time seeing, and even hearing about, Zoe. She was a big presence in the Junior Varsity portion I saw. She has a wiry strong frame that could stand to add some strength, but she’s very long, and she rim-runs North/South with great effort. She still looks like a bit of a developmental prospect offensively, but she plays hard, she tries to be physical and play the right way, and she’ll come up with some “scraps” baskets from time to time. Defensively, she blocks shots and alters even more, plus she keeps the ball high when she rebounds. I think she can be impactful at the next level with more work offensively.
Lauren Stewart, 2023, 5-10 F, Hamilton Southeastern H.S.
Lauren didn’t see the floor in the Junior Varsity portion I saw, but she did get a few minutes each half in the Varsity game. She has a wiry strong frame, good length, and she plays with patience and purpose uncommon among Freshmen. She isn’t a big scorer for the Royals right now, but she doesn’t need to be. What she does, is she hustles at both ends of the floor, she grabs rebounds, she takes care of the basketball, and she provides a reasonably short Varsity roster with at least a little size and some presence in the paint defensively. Based on what I saw during the grassroots season, look for her to become a nice mid-post and short-corner scorer as she matures.
Jocelyn Davis, 2023, 5-3 PG, Hamilton Southeastern H.S.
I first saw Jocelyn back in 7th Grade, and despite always being little, she had an “it” factor to her game back then. In the Junior Varsity game against Carmel, Jocelyn showed her great speed & quickness, she has nice length for her height, and she was dynamic off the bounce. She is tough getting into gaps and collapsing defenses, and now when she gets her feet set and has rhythm, she can knock down the outside jumper as well, making her incredibly difficult to defend. Defensively, she is a gnat on the ball, and she really affects passing lanes off the ball. Other than size, I think she is one of the better point guard prospects in this 2023 class.
Riley Pennington, 2021, 5-9 F, Carmel H.S.
Riley is somewhat of an unassuming starter for the Greyhounds, but if you spend time just watching her, you realize she has a niche that not many others on their roster can perform. She is a strong and athletic forward who can defend power forwards, wings, and even some bigger guards. She has good lateral quickness, she plays with toughness and physicality, and she showed little fear defending Sydney Parrish during the early portion of this game. While Riley isn’t going to shoot a lot of jumpers or create offense, she is an opportunistic threat who can score on post-ups off of basket-cuts, plus she gets “scraps” baskets off of offensive rebounds and loose balls. She brings a lot of value to Carmel’s lineup.
Emily Roper, 2022, 6-0 F/C, Carmel H.S.
Emily is another “blue-collared”, “intangibles” kid who just works at her craft. She has a strong frame with some length, she moves her feet well, and she can defend out on the floor a little or battle posts on the interior. Offensively, she’ll need to be more of a threat facing the basket, but she does a nice job of establishing position and sealing her defender for several seconds. I haven’t seen them feed her the ball all that often, so I would like to see what she can do with it once she has it, but she does gain position with effort and ease. At her size, I just love her ability to do a variety of things that go unnoticed.
Hannah Lach, 2023, 5-9 W, Carmel H.S.
Hannah has gotten a lot of opportunity this season on a fairly deep and talented Greyhound roster. She is a solidly built, reasonably athletic wing who is just steady. She takes care of the basketball, she can make an open rhythm jumper, or she can attack the basket straight-line. She plays with a good motor, she’ll work hard at the defensive end of the floor, and she’s a nice pursuing rebounder who doesn’t mind a little bit of physicality. As she ages, she’ll need to be more dynamic offensively as a scorer, but I think she has the skill and just needs to add some aggression and a better situational understanding of the game. Regardless, she is a really nice basketball player.
Mackenzie Thomas, 2023, 6-1 C, Carmel H.S.
Mackenzie is a powerful, big-bodied, true post player. She is relegated to mostly Junior Varsity detail right now, but I think she’ll have a Varsity impact sooner rather than later. She has broad shoulders, some length, and soft hands. She keeps the ball high when she gets it, and she does a nice job of using her body for positioning and to create space to score it at the rim. Despite her size, Mackenzie has some bounce off the floor, but she’ll need to continue working on her speed & quickness for the next level. I really like a lot of what she brings to the table, because there aren’t many powerful posts like herself, and she can be a real mismatch in most games she plays.
The feature image is of Jocelyn Davis of Hamilton Southeastern High School. The image is courtesy of Steve Reynolds of LBI Insider’s Twitter account @LBI_Steve.