Day 1 Wichita I-35 Showcase Notes, the 2024s
July 10th I had the opportunity to attend Day 1 of the I-35 Showcase that was held in Wichita. Teams from surrounding states and as far away as New Mexico and Texas attended. Make sure to flash back to the previously covered 2022s and 2023s. What follows are notes on 2024s who caught my eye.
Jadyn Buttery Jadyn Buttery 5'11" | SF Tahlequah | 2024 State OK , 5’11”, W, Tahlequah, Oklahoma Fusion 2024 – Consistently Buttery showed a quick first step out of her mid-range game and an ability to zip right to the basket and finish.
Maxine Doering Maxine Doering 5'8" | SG Manhattan | 2024 State KS , 5’8”, SG, Manhattan, SSA Gameball Ingram – Doering had a terrific day and I enjoyed seeing her in her first game. Doering worked her crossover dribble to perfection in creating shots off the bounce for herself and her teammates. She showed herself to be a good mid-range shooter off the catch and used high glass to loft a shot over a big to finish a drive.
Eryn Dolan, 5’9”, CG, South Coffeyville, Tulsa JYD – As if her sweet mid-range jumper wasn’t enough to catch my eye, the fact that she looked off defenders off a transition catch to hit it was really nifty.
Erika Felker Erika Felker 5'6" | CG Scott City | 2024 State KS , 5’6”, PG, Scott City, Western Kansas Elite 2024 Hope – I really liked Felker’s elevation for her mid-range jumper and her solid half court vision.
Austin Hall, 5’2”, CG, Republic, Showtime SWMO 16U and Odom – There are plenty of players with transition speed with the ball but Hall can flat get it. Her teammates best hustle if they want a chance with her leading the break.
Jera Kruleski Jera Kruleski 5'7" | SG Holcomb | 2024 State KS , 5’6”, G, Holcomb, Western Kansas Elite 2024 Hope – Kruleski is going to one to watch develop in the upcoming year. Her physical strength will come but already there is her hand speed and her headiness.
Amani Lipscomb Amani Lipscomb 5'2" | PG Houston | 2024 State TN , 5’4”, PF, Andover, Dynasty 2023 Blue – Lipscomb can create and score but where she shined was in leading breaks and distributing off the drive – frequently using no-look passes that her teammates set up for.
Jalyiah Manual, 5’10”, PF, Wichita East, Dynasty 2023 Blue – Manual has a good build and is long, fast, and showed flashes of making athletic basketball plays. She is only going to get better but where it needs to start is improvement catching the ball in transition and protecting it off the rebound. Definitely a raw forward to watch in the year ahead.
Madisyn Matthews Madisyn Matthews 5'6" | PG Tahlequah | 2024 State OK , 5’6”, CG, Tahlequah, Tulsa JYD – Matthews is a nice combination of a very solid build, decent athleticism, and good speed. She really stood out with her quick release on the perimeter three ball. She proved to be able to take advantage of match-up problems opponents had.
Addison Mootry Addison Mootry 5'5" | CG Inola | 2024 State OK , 5’6”, CG, Inola, Tulsa JYD – Mootry showed she can flat play. Strong handles, quick hands, quick jumper off dribble and catch, and the ability to string multiple moves together to try to get to the lane really made her tough to handle. On the other end she shined with her strength and quickness. The only leak in her game I saw was her passing decisions versus the press in the back court can be iffy. That is a problem I would not expect to persist.
Aleah Moree Aleah Moree 6'2" | C Winfield | 2024 State KS , 6’1”, C, Winfield, Dynasty 2023 Blue – Moree is a nice combination of good size and strength. She spent most of her time on the floor with two or three defenders hanging on her while she tried to score or rebound. Her post game is there as is her ability to score at the second level consistently. Her 3-ball game is ramping up also. She is a walking traditional three-point play and does a great job of staying with a missed shot to gather it back.
Misora Nambara, 5’3”, PG, Republic, Showtime SWMO 16U and Odom – No matter what situation she found herself in on both ends of the floor, with or without the ball, Nambara showed herself to be pesky quick and did a good job of irritating the other team with her disruptiveness.
Kori Rainwater Kori Rainwater 6'1" | C Tahlequah | 2024 State OK , 6’0”, PF, Tahlequah, Oklahoma Fusion 2024 – Rainwater is a very solid power forward who finished well around the hoop on the move, showing her good hands in the process. She showed solid transition speed but her quickness was most evident out of the half court offense. Defensively, she needs to translate that offensive quickness to the other end a little better as she gamely got the worse end of her battle opposing posts with strong mid- and inside games.
Anna Stramel, 5’10”, W, Colby, Western Kansas Elite 2024 Hope – Stramel looked to get to the basket and showed off her ability to can the wing three but what really stood out is her pursuit of offensive rebounds. She hurt opposing teams who did not do a good job of finding her when a shot went up.
Snowda Waite, 5’3”, PG, Stillwell, Oklahoma Fusion 2024 – Among the best your floor leaders I saw was Waite. She was heady, fast with the ball, finished well, and terrifically distributed the ball to open teammates.
Makenna Yokley Makenna Yokley 6'1" | PF Owasso | 2024 State OK , 6’1”, W, Owasso, Tulsa JYD – I found Yockley on the wing the majority of the time but whenever she found herself inside she used her size and strong back-to-basket game to hurt opponents…which happened frequently. I really liked her ability to finish in transition with length.
Featured image: Andover and Dynasty 2024 Amani Lipscomb Amani Lipscomb 5'2" | PG Houston | 2024 State TN . Photo: Prep Girls Hoops.