Summer Ball: Mercy Round-Robin Standouts
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Last week was the first full week of summer games for Kentucky’s high school teams. While I wish I could’ve made it to more games, I was fortunate enough to catch a lot of great hoops being played across the…
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Continue ReadingLast week was the first full week of summer games for Kentucky’s high school teams. While I wish I could’ve made it to more games, I was fortunate enough to catch a lot of great hoops being played across the Bluegrass last week. Thursday night at Mercy featured some of the state’s top teams in Mercy, Sacred Heart, and Meade County. Here are some of the standouts from those games. There will be a part 2 with some additional standouts as well.
ZaKiyah Johnson ZaKiyah Johnson 6'0" | SF Sacred Heart | 2025 State KY | Sacred Heart | Class of 2025
Johnson was her usual, unstoppable self as she faced 2 teams that will likely be considered pre-season frontrunners in their respective regions. She just keeps adding more to her game and it’s so impressive to watch. She plays at a caliber you don’t often see in this state, and not because there isn’t extreme talent across the Bluegrass, but rather, she is simply that good. Teams throw 2 or 3 players at her and she still finds ways to score. She is just so poised and controlled. Johnson actually ran the point for her team at times and she even looked impressive as a floor general. I was really surprised to see how much range she has added to our outside shot. She was a good outside shooter, but she often played inside the perimeter and would turned down 3’s to get into the paint or to the rim.
Peyton Bradley Peyton Bradley 5'9" | CG Meade County | 2025 State KY | Meade County | Class of 2025
There aren’t many players I enjoy watching more than Bradley. She is just such a complete player and she consistently shows out against the best of them. In one of the games I watched, she was tasked with guarding a player that is ranked in the top 5 nationally. Despite having a height disadvantage, she did a great job defending her. However, she was getting it done on both ends of the court, scoring at all 3 levels on the offensive end. The range on her shot was insane. See the video below for an example. She’s an excellent ball handler, regardless of how much pressure she faces, and she just keeps adding more skills to her game.
After last game, I was about to say that SHA is going to be nearly impossible to beat but @LadyWaves_Hoops just showed they’re gonna be right there with them after taking SHA down 54-51😳
🎥⤵️@PeytonBradley13 with the deep 3💣 pic.twitter.com/2SAHhYBBt6
— Alyx White (@alyxwhite_) June 9, 2022
Leah Macy Leah Macy 6'3" | PF Bethlehem | 2025 State KY | Mercy | Class of 2025
Macy can be off and her talent will still shine through. She has great strength and she really can do it all. When she decided to take over the game, everything changed. Mercy went on a run and she was extremely hard to stop. She wasn’t settling for outside shots, but rather, she was making tough drives to the basket. She used impressive moves to get into the paint and she was scoring over 2+ defenders nearly every time. She also was hitting pull-up jumpers and grabbing a ton of rebounds.
Angelina Pelayo Angelina Pelayo 6'3" | C Sacred Heart | 2024 State KY | Sacred Heart | Class of 2024
Pelayo gets better every single time I watch her play which really speaks to the work she puts in. She is almost always going to be the tallest girl on the court, especially at the high school level, but I’ve seen tall players disappoint more times than I can count. However, that has never been the case when it comes to Pelayo. She not only has the height, but she has great strength, hands, and touch inside. She switches up her moves so that the defense can’t guess what’s coming next. When her teammates hit her with a high pass, it’s nearly impossible to stop her without fouling. Pelayo also gets so many rebounds and blocks on the other end, adding to her impressive game.
Angelina Pelayo cuts Meade County’s lead to 1… currently 56.4 seconds remaining in the game pic.twitter.com/fl3Eeszeg1
— Alyx White (@alyxwhite_) June 9, 2022
Paige Medley Paige Medley 5'5" | PG Meade County | 2024 State KY | Meade County | Class of 2024
Medley caught my eye this spring when she was playing for her AAU team, Team Firstep, but she showed me last week that she’s a standout for her high school team as well. She is so quick with and without the ball. She has excellent ball handling skills and she does a really good job of changing speeds. Once she gets a step on her defender, she makes stuff happen. She can either shoot the ball, get into the paint, get to the rim, or kick to an open teammate if help steps over. When she shoots, she can shoot with really deep range. She has a quick release on her shot, so she only needs a half second of open space to fire. She is also a really good defender and she makes it really tough on the offense.
Abby Reitzel | Mercy | Class of 2026
This was my first time watching Reitzel play and I was beyond impressed by this incoming Freshman. She has some serious skills and versatility. She can handle the ball, and she was handling it with pressure from some of the best teams in the state. She also was able to play inside or out, and she found ways to be effective no matter where she was on the floor. She moves well without the ball and she makes good drives to the hoop. However, Reitzel can really stretch the defense with her outside shooting abilities as well. She also did a great job defending on the other end of the floor. She uses her quickness to stay in front and the length in her arms to get blocks. She’s a high IQ player that I expect to make a lot of noise these next 4 years.