LBI April Showers: Day-1
The featured image is of Julia Mantyla Julia Mantyla 5'11" | SF Northridge | 2022 State IN of Northridge High School and Always 100 Black-Wright 17U. This weekend is the LBI April Showers tournament in Warsaw, Indiana. During the Summer…
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Continue ReadingThe featured image is of Julia Mantyla Julia Mantyla 5'11" | SF Northridge | 2022 State IN of Northridge High School and Always 100 Black-Wright 17U.
This weekend is the LBI April Showers tournament in Warsaw, Indiana. During the Summer in 2020, LBI found Warsaw as a nice home to host tournaments during the pandemic, and it appears it will be hosting more events here in the future. This event has been one of their biggest/best. Many of the top Michigan teams, along with Indiana programs like 5 Star/MBA Select, Always 100 , IABC, IGB, Indy Magic, and the Region Rebels, plus some of the better teams from Chicago and Northwest Ohio are in attendance. Below is a look at seven ladies who stood out in their games I was able to see Saturday.
Anna Herberholz
Anna
Herberholz
SG
Birmingham Marian | 2022
State
MI
, 2022, 5-5 PG, Marian H.S. (MI)
Anna was outstanding when I saw her against the Indiana opponent I was there specifically to see. She is a strong, physical lead guard, but she has deceptive quickness, plus she’s really good with the ball in her hands. She did a tremendous job of creating space off the bounce and knowing which finish/move to use (drive, pull-up, stop-and-go) each time, depending on how her defender played her. She was just so dynamic and fun to watch, plus she knocked down shots consistently at all levels.
Julia Mantyla
Julia
Mantyla
5'11" | SF
Northridge | 2022
State
IN
, 2022, 5-11 SF, Northridge H.S.
Julia has gotten better each year, and this Spring she is doing even more things to help her team. She looked more aggressive off the bounce, even playing somewhat of a point forward role at times and creating for others. She has always been a fairly smooth and fluid athlete, but she’s absorbing contact better and finishing more consistently inside of 15-feet. Her ability to knock down the perimeter shot, plus her versatility defensively should draw her a lot of college interest over the next few months.
Olivia Smith
Olivia
Smith
5'4" | PG
Fort Wayne South Side | 2022
State
IN
, 2022, 5-4 PG, Fort Wayne South Side H.S.
We saw this last year with Center Grove’s
Mary Wilson
Mary
Wilson
5'10" | SF
Center Grove | 2021
State
IN
(2021), but Olivia is in a unique situation of being the lone upperclassman on her 17U team. She has done a nice job of leading them, whether it’s knocking down shots or finding them on time/on target. She is so quick, and her change-of-direction is instant. She can get to the basket and finish through contact or pull-up in the midrange game. I’ve always enjoyed her grit and toughness at the defensive end as well, where she can hound opponents.
Tori Allen
Tori
Allen
5'9" | CG
Andrean | 2023
State
IN
, 2023, 5-8 CG, Andrean H.S.
Tori put together a really nice Winter on a very good and highly ranked 59ers team. Saturday morning she was on target, knocking down 5-6 3-pointers in her opening game, plus she probably had close to a half dozen assists. She has really good length, fluid athleticism, and solid ball skill. She does a nice job defensively of being in position and using her length to her advantage. Like I said offensively, she is a more than capable perimeter shooter, but she can slice to the basket as well and pull-up in the lane.
Olivia Smith
Olivia
Smith
5'10" | SG
Fishers | 2023
State
IN
, 2023, 5-8 CG, Fishers H.S.
No, you aren’t seeing double. There ARE two players with the same name on this list. This Olivia is actually a twin (
Hailey Smith
Hailey
Smith
5'10" | SG
Fishers | 2023
State
IN
is also a 2023 guard), and she was really good in the portion of their game I was able to see Saturday. She is a wiry strong, very athletic guard who plays with great intensity and a competitive fire. She never stops moving and is always waiting to get into someone defensively. Offensively, she attacks the basket with determination, and she can finish through, around, or over most defenders.
Claire Boomstra, 2024, 6-1 PF/C, Hudsonville H.S. (MI)
Claire was a very intriguing youngster who looks to have a nice future ahead of her. She has a fairly strong, athletic frame, and she is a nice all-around athlete. She has some bounce in her step, and she runs the floor North/South rather well. She showed the tenacity and physicality to post around the block, but she also moved around the floor well and played solidly facing the basket to about 15-feet. I think as she continues to develop her face-up game, she could be a lot of trouble for opponents to stop.
Karleisha Echols, 2024, 5-5 CG, Mishawaka Marian H.S.
This was my first time seeing Karleisha, and she did some really nice things for her grassroots team. She is a quick little guard with a wiry strong frame. She did a really nice job of getting her feet set and knocking down shots from the wing. But she also showed the ability to handle the ball and create some in the open floor, plus she played with a really nice motor and a quiet toughness. If she can transition into being more of a traditional point guard who can also shoot, I think that will help her long-term.