The Class of 2024 All-Hustle Team

This is part two of our "All-Hustle Team" breakdowns, building off last week's "<a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/2021/07/the-class-of-2023-all-hustle-team/">The Class of 2023 All-Hustle Team</a>". As I mentioned in the last feature, hustling is one of the most undervalued and least talked about skills that a player can have. It goes a long way for any coaching staff at the next level and can be a deciding factor by decision-makers when picking between similarly skilled players. Shining a light on those that give it their all should be a far more common practice. We dove into the incoming juniors in the last article, and now it's time to shift our focus towards the hard-working incoming sophomores. <hr /> [player_tooltip player_id="205643" first="Aniyah" last="Riddell"] Riddell is a bruiser in the interior, as she was a double-double machine that created a ton of second-chance opportunities for herself and her teammates alike. She led all qualified freshmen (last year) in double-doubles with 10 in just 15 total contests, making the most of her time on the court. Aniyah stands near 6 feet tall, giving her the ideal size for a power forward or center in the high school scene. To go with her 14.7 points and 12.5 rebounds a game, she also posted 2.3 steals and 0.7 blocks per game. The next step in her game will be using that size and length to block shots at a higher rate, and I think we start to see that as soon as her sophomore season. Riddell is our 7th ranked player in the state in the Class of 2024 rankings and should continue to solidify her top 10 status through her combination of skill, physical attributes, and work ethic. [player_tooltip player_id="263393" first="Cayci" last="Muessig"] Muessig is a 5'9" guard that impacts the game in a variety of ways on both ends of the court. Not only can she fill it up (17.1 points per game) but she was also a menace in the passing lanes averaging 4.2 steals per game. Cayci grabbed 5.1 rebounds per contest, displaying that she was far more than "just a scorer". Muessig is currently ranked 41st on our Class of 2024 rankings, and I expect her to make a push for the top 20 by the end of the year given her current trajectory. Keep an eye out for the incoming sophomore to make a major leap. [player_tooltip player_id="263397" first="Belinda" last="Gradias"] While Gradias doesn't jump off the page in one single statistic, she fills the stat sheet up quite nicely in the impact metrics despite only averaging 6.1 points per game. The 5'11" post player from Yuma put up 9.0 rebounds, 2.9 steals, and 1.9 blocks per game. That type of defensive impact combined with the tenacious activity on the glass made her an easy choice to join this list. If she continues to produce stocks (steals + blocks) at this rate then she'll have a case for being one of the highest impact defenders in the state of Arizona as soon as next season. [player_tooltip player_id="263400" first="Nayeli" last="Nidez-Acuna"] Nidez-Acuna is another unsung hero who did a ton of Sunnyside's "dirty work" during her freshman season. Standing at 5'8", the forward provides a fairly balanced attack across the board. Nayeli does a nice job carving out space in the interior and using her instincts to grab rebounds (9.4) at a terrific rate for her size. She was second among qualified freshmen in rebounds per game. She also put up 1.8 steals and 0.8 blocks per game to go with the high-level rebounding. She averaged 7.1 points a game and I expect that number to climb during her sophomore campaign. [player_tooltip player_id="205662" first="Katelyn" last="Best"] Best brings size to the table standing at 6'2". She uses that size to her advantage to dominate the interior about as well as a freshman could, averaging 13.4 points on 55% shooting from the field. Along with that, her defensive instincts stand out as illustrated by her 2.0 blocks and 6.1 rebounds per game. As she continues to grow into her size and mature I expect her to further dominate the interior at an even higher level. Keep an eye out for the incoming sophomore for the Northwest Christian Crusaders. <hr /> In the coming days, we will have a Class of 2022 All-Hustle team out to complete this three-part series, covering all of the hard-working girls in the state of Arizona.