Top Guards In Southern & Southwestern Indiana
In selecting the five regional areas for my regional articles, I used the Indiana Coaches of Girls’ Sports Association’s (ICGSA) five districts. Schools are evenly distributed by county and somewhat geographical, though not exact. Counties included in the “East Central,…
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Continue ReadingIn selecting the five regional areas for my regional articles, I used the Indiana Coaches of Girls’ Sports Association’s (ICGSA) five districts. Schools are evenly distributed by county and somewhat geographical, though not exact. Counties included in the “East Central, South Central, & Southeastern” articles include: Brown, Clark, Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Floyd, Gibson, Greene, Harrison, Jackson, Knox, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Orange, Perry, Pike, Posey, Scott, Spencer, Sullivan, Vanderburgh, Warrick, and Washington.
Across the entire Prep Hoops Network, we are exploring ways to bring you different types of content in each of the states we cover. One idea we’ve come up with is “city rankings”, where we highlight some of the better players in each metropolitan area. I felt like in Indiana, however, there are talented kids spread all over the state, so it wouldn’t be fair to solely focus on Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Evansville, for example. Instead, I have divided the state into five regions based on a fairly even distribution of the 400+ high schools available to choose from. It isn’t exact, but it seemed like the best way to make sure all prospects from the Hoosier state were considered. (Please see the italicized fine print above for a more specific breakdown of the counties used in this article.) Without further ado, below is a look at some of the top returning guards in “Southern & Southwestern” Indiana, arranged alphabetically within their graduating classes.
Aubrey Burgess
Aubrey
Burgess
5'7" | CG
Linton-Stockton | 2021
State
IN
, 2021, 5-6 CG, Linton-Stockton H.S.
Aubrey was very instrumental in helping Linton-Stockton to the 2020 Class 2A State Title. She is a quick/fast, incredibly active and energetic guard who does a little of everything for the Miners. She creates havoc at the defensive end of the floor, turns opponents over, and pushes it in transition to creating scoring opportunities for herself or others. She has a solid handle and is a willing passer, but she’s also dynamic attacking the basket. She has a consistent perimeter jumper as well, making her difficult to defend. I think the biggest thing for her going forward is to work on changing speeds a little better.
Kalea Fleming
Kalea
Fleming
5'5" | PG
Loogootee | 2021
State
IN
, 2021, 5-5 PG, Loogootee H.S.
Kalea was a big part of Loogootee’s run to a Class 1A State Championship on February 29th. She is a tough-nosed, gritty, feisty, and somewhat physical guard. She has quickness, and as a defender she gets underneath opposing ball-handlers, making it tough for them to change directions and attack. Kalea is a playmaker off the bounce offensively, and she is capable of scoring the ball at the basket or finding teammates open anywhere on the floor. I just think the combination of her passion, toughness, and understanding of situations could really help a college program.
Chloe McKnight
Chloe
McKnight
5'8" | SG
Bedford North Lawrence | 2021
State
IN
, 2021, 5-8 SG, Bedford North Lawrence H.S.
Chloe saw the Varsity floor for a good Bedford team as a Freshman, and she hasn’t looked back since. Despite a knee injury late in her Freshman season, she has been consistent for the Stars, plus everybody needs a good perimeter shooter, and Chloe can heat up in a hurry outside. She has a quick release and is a threat anywhere inside of 25-feet. She can attack the basket a little straight-line, she has a solid frame, and she plays with a good motor. But it’s likely going to be her ability to make shots and to find space without the basketball that will get her recruited the most.
Hannah Sisk
Hannah
Sisk
5'5" | CG
Princeton Community | 2021
State
IN
, 2021, 5-5 CG, Princeton Community H.S.
Hannah is another talented combo guard, and she is probably best described as a nice mixture of
Aubrey Burgess
Aubrey
Burgess
5'7" | CG
Linton-Stockton | 2021
State
IN
and
Kalea Fleming
Kalea
Fleming
5'5" | PG
Loogootee | 2021
State
IN
(above). Hannah has a wiry strong frame, she has good speed & quickness, and she is a multilevel scorer who can make plays at both ends of the floor. She has the skill and ability to play point guard, but she’s just so good at knowing when/how to score it. If she can get in front of the right college coaches and showcase her versatility this Summer and next Winter, look for her to have a nice small college career.
Karly Sweeney
Karly
Sweeney
5'7" | SG
Salem | 2021
State
IN
, 2021, 5-7 SG, Salem H.S.
Karly is one player I could watch on any given day. People use the cliché that a kid would “run through walls” for them, and I’d bet Karly has gone through a few herself. Her tremendous motor, toughness, and passion are contagious, and they are something every small college in the Midwest should want in their program. Beyond that, she has a solid handle, she can make shots from the perimeter, she finishes inside against taller defenders, she rebounds her position well, and she is a willing & capable defender. She is a ballplayer you win with.
Alaysha Brandenberger
Alaysha
Brandenberger
5'6" | CG
Boonville | 2022
State
IN
, 2022, 5-5 CG, Boonville H.S.
Alaysha tore up the nets as a Freshman, averaging 23.6 points per game, but last Summer I felt like she was more of an undersized scoring guard. After watching her in a workout in early March, I was impressed with her transformation, as she is now a scoring point guard. She has really worked on her handle, quickness, and ability to distribute the ball. She can still score it, as is evidenced in her 20.2 scoring average from this past season, but she also took on more point guard responsibilities and doubled her assists. She is a competitor, and she looks to be developing into a much more complete prospect.
Ali Saunders, 2022, 5-8 PG, North Harrison H.S.
I feel like there is still quite a bit of unfamiliarity with Ali’s name on a statewide level, but I can assure you there are several colleges who know who she is, as she continues to collect Division-I interest/offers. She is a wiry strong, athletic, and skillful traditional point guard. She is unselfish and can find teammates on-time/on-target. She is strong enough to attack the basket and finish inside, but she’s skilled enough to consistently bury shots from the perimeter as well. A big determining factor as to which “level” she’ll ultimately end up at, could be how well she defends the ball in front of college coaches.
Kynidi Striverson
Kynidi
Striverson
5'8" | PG
Silver Creek | 2022
State
IN
, 2022, 5-7 PG, Silver Creek H.S.
Kynidi moved in from Louisville last Summer and provided an instant boost to an already strong Silver Creek backcourt (see below for additional SCHS guard names). Kynidi is the most talented of the bunch, and honestly if she was just a little more assertive and could find a consistent level of output, she would see her recruiting take off. She is long, wiry strong, and very athletic in all directions. She can really defend, plus she’s skilled with the ball in her hands and can make athletic plays to the basket. She could work on her jump-shot a bit, but more importantly, she needs to take over games more often.
Karsyn Norman
Karsyn
Norman
5'7" | PG
Bedford North Lawrence | 2023
State
IN
, 2023, 5-6 PG, Bedford North Lawrence H.S.
It’s not easy for a Freshman to step into the starting lineup of a prominent Class 4A program like Bedford’s, but Karsyn made it look easy at times this season. Yes, she had a “Freshman” moment or two, but all-in-all she put together a really nice start to her career. She is quick/fast, active, and she plays with a tremendous awareness and understanding of the game. She communicates well, finds teammates on-time/on-target consistently, but she also showed great confidence in her ability to shoot/score the ball. Karsyn has already picked up Division-I interest/offers, and she is a legitimate playmaker in 2023.
Bailey Tabeling
Bailey
Tabeling
5'10" | SG
Trinity Lutheran | 2023
State
IN
, 2023, 5-8 CG, Trinity Lutheran School
Bailey was a welcomed addition this year to an already strong Trinity Lutheran team. All she did was average 21.4 points, knock down 57 3-pointers, and hand out 3.2 assists per game. She is a long, fluid, and gliding athlete. She made an impression on me last Spring & Summer with her ability to consistently bury perimeter jumpers, but she also displayed a quiet toughness and physicality you wouldn’t necessarily assume just by looking at her. This Winter she really improved her handle and decision-making, and she took on ball-handling duties a lot for the Cougars. As she gets stronger, she’ll only continue to improve.
Other Noteworthy Guards:
Averi Davidson
Averi
Davidson
5'5" | CG
North Central (Farmersburg) | 2021
State
IN
, 2021, North Central H.S. (Farmersburg)
Irye Gomez
Irye
Gomez
5'9" | SG
Bedford North Lawrence | 2021
State
IN
, 2021, Bedford North Lawrence H.S.
Avery Neff
Avery
Neff
5'4" | CG
Heritage Hills | 2021
State
IN
, 2021, Heritage Hills H.S.
Libby Steinhart, 2021, Mount Vernon H.S. (Posey)
Alana Striverson
Alana
Striverson
5'9" | SG
Silver Creek | 2021
State
IN
, 2021, Silver Creek H.S.
Courtney Williams
Courtney
Williams
5'4" | PG
North Central (Farmersburg) | 2021
State
IN
, 2021, North Central H.S. (Farmersburg)
Kendall Harmon
Kendall
Harmon
5'7" | CG
Bloomington South | 2022
State
IN
, 2022, Bloomington H.S. South
Megan Kain
Megan
Kain
5'8" | SG
Castle | 2022
State
IN
, 2022, Castle H.S.
Keegan Kaiser
Keegan
Kaiser
5'9" | PG
Floyd Central | 2022
State
IN
, 2022, Floyd Central H.S.
Dani Kroeger
Dani
Kroeger
5'6" | CG
Vincennes Lincoln | 2022
State
IN
, 2022, Vincennes Lincoln H.S.
Jesse Ledgerwood, 2022, Washington H.S.
Hadley Lytton
Hadley
Lytton
5'5" | PG
Heritage Hills | 2022
State
IN
, 2022, Heritage Hills H.S.
Graycie Poe
Graycie
Poe
5'4" | CG
North Knox | 2022
State
IN
, 2022, North Knox H.S.
Emme Rooney
Emme
Rooney
5'8" | SG
Silver Creek | 2022
State
IN
, 2022, Silver Creek H.S.
Delainey Shorter
Delainey
Shorter
5'7" | SG
Sullivan | 2022
State
IN
, 2022, Sullivan H.S.
Gracie Shorter
Gracie
Shorter
5'5" | PG
Sullivan | 2022
State
IN
, 2022, Sullivan H.S.
Trinity Britton, 2023, South Spencer H.S.
Abby Fleetwood
Abby
Fleetwood
5'9" | PG
Indian Creek | 2023
State
IN
, 2023, Brown County H.S.
Maddy Hackman, 2023, Brownstown Central H.S.
Laney Hawkins, 2023, Charlestown H.S.
Emily Mattingly
Emily
Mattingly
5'10" | SF
Evansville Memorial | 2023
State
IN
, 2023, Evansville Reitz Memorial H.S.
Kiela Phillips, 2023, Silver Creek H.S.