Tag: girls basketball

3 finalists named for Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year

Gatorade has named three finalists for their 2022-2023 National Girls Basketball Player of the Year award.

Gatorade has named three finalists for their 2022-2023 National Girls Basketball Player of the Year award.

The three contenders for the honor are as follows:

Sierra Canyon (Calif.) G Judea “Juju” Watkins

The No. 1 ranked girls hoops player in the nation, Watkins has helped lead her team to a 31-0 record this season and is averaging just under 30 points per game. She was named the Maxpreps National Player of the Year last year. Watkins has committed to playing her college ball at USC.

Sidwell Friends (D.C.) G Jadyn Donovan

Last season Donovan also led her team to an undefeated record (30-0), while averaging 15.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game, according to MaxPreps. Donovan is ranked third overall in the recruiting class of 2023 and has committed to Duke.

Paul VI (N.J.) PG Hannah Hidalgo

Few players around the country have enjoyed a more fruitful high school career than Hidalgo. From 2019-2022 she averaged 21.5 points, 4.7 rebonds, 3.8 assists and a remarkable 5.4 steals per game. During that time her team went 61-9. Hidalgo has committed to playing for Notre Dame at the next level.

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Vermont HS girls basketball team forfeits rather than face transgender opponent

The Mid Vermont Christian School (Mt.) girls basketball team forfeited rather than play against a transgender opponent at Long Trail School.

The Mid Vermont Christian School (Vt.) girls basketball team was scheduled to play Long Trail School (Vt.) on February 21 as part of a tournament. However, the team decided to forfeit the game rather than play against a transgender opponent on the Long Trail roster.

MCVS head coach Vicky Fogg released a statement explaining their decision, per CNN:

“We withdrew from the tournament because we believe playing against an opponent with a biological male jeopardizes the fairness of the game and the safety of our players… Allowing biological males to participate in women’s sports sets a bad precedent for the future of women’s sports in general.”

The Long Trail team advanced to the next round of the tournament. They did not offer a comment on Mid Vermont Christian’s decision to forfeit, according to CNN.

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4-star SF AJ Swinton commits to Virginia Tech

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A Virginia assistant HS basketball coach impersonated a 13-year-old player, leads to multiple firings

Three coaches were fired after a 22-year-old assistant coach in Virginia posed as a 13-year-old who was out of town during a game.

Multiple girls basketball coaches were fired from a Virginia high school after a 22-year-old assistant coach was caught impersonating a 13-year-old junior varsity player who was out of town during a January game, according to WAVY TV10.

Video allegedly shows former Churchland High School (Portsmouth, Va.) coach Arlisha Boykins posing as the youth player during the Jan. 21 game. WAVY TV 10 gained access to some video clips and aired them during a news segment, which now lives on YouTube. The player, who is presumed to be Boykins, can be seen blocking an opponent’s shot, celebrating a made layup, and grabbing a rebound after her missed free throw.

Boykins has been fired, as was the head coach of the junior varsity team and the head coach of the varsity team, according to the news outlet.

Churchland administration met with parents and players after the incident. Both the junior varsity and varsity teams decided to opt out of the remainder of the season, according to 13 News Now. Both teams were scheduled to play their final game on Feb. 8; the varsity team instead ended the season with an 0-13 record, and the junior varsity ended at 5-3. MaxPreps shows that the JV game on Jan. 21 against Nansemond River (Suffolk, Va.) was a forfeit.

The family of the 13-year-old told WAVY that their daughter does not plan to attend Churchland next season.

“Coaches always preach to the kids about integrity and those types of things, so I was just shocked,” the father said in the video clip.

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The top 25 girls basketball recruits in the class of 2023

Here are the top 25 girls high school basketball players in the country according to ESPN’s rankings.

Basketball season is now in full swing for both boys and girls teams. Let’s take a look at the top players in girls hoops.

Here are the top 25 girls high school basketball players in the country, according to ESPN’s rankings, and which college programs they have committed to.

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Top prospect JuJu Watkins commits to USC

Toby Fournier adds another dunk to highlight reel

Watch: this girl’s trick shot dropped defenders’ jaws

Nation’s top girl’s basketball prospect Juju Watkins commits to USC

Sierra Canyon (Calif.) Juju Watkins: No. 1 girls basketball player in the nation picks USC

It’s been a great recruiting week for USC, which has gotten commitments from the country’s top girl’s and boy’s basketball recruits.

On Tuesday, Sierra Canyon (Calif.) Senior Judea “Juju” Watkins announced on ESPN that she’ll be playing collegiate hoops for USC.

She reportedly picked USC over South Carolina and Stanford. And her new teammates at USC were thrilled at the news:

Watkins is a five-star guard with great size (6-foot-2) and athleticism who can score at all three levels and fill up the stat sheet in every way imaginable. She averaged 24.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 2.0 blocks per game last season, leading her team to a 30-2 record. For her efforts, she was named the top player in California.

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Watch: 4-star girls forward Toby Fournier adds another dunk to highlight reel

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Watch: 4-star girls forward Toby Fournier adds another dunk to highlight reel

Watch four-star forward Toby Fournier throw down a two-handed dunk on a fast break.

Dunking in a dunk contest is one thing – doing it in a live game is another. Crestwood Secondary (Toronto) forward Toby Fournier can do both. She won top prize in April at the BioSteel All-Canadian Dunk Contest. And now, Fournier is continuing to rise above the rim during games.

Watch her throw down a two-handed dunk on this fast break.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck6IHSXOEeo/

Fournier is ranked No. 23 in the class of 2024 according to ESPN.

She has yet to commit to a school. However, last month, she narrowed the possible choices down to eight finalists: UConn, South Carolina, UCLA, North Carolina, Duke, Michigan, Stanford and Arizona.

Watch: Double team defenders’ jaws drop at this girl’s incredibly lucky shot

Sometimes even the best team defense can’t stop a scorer who’s on a roll.

Sometimes even the best team defense can’t stop a scorer who’s on a roll… or has a little bit of luck on their side.

Watch these two high school girls double-team and trap one of their opponents near the sideline, only to watch her hit a ridiculous backwards trick shot from deep, leaving them understandably wowed.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CkbWyeVjeqm/

Eat your heart out, Luka Doncic.

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Basketball Rewind: Watch Tony Fournier throw it down in BioSteel Slam Dunk Contest

Fournier put on a show!

Crestwood Secondary’s (Canada) Tony Fournier not only dunks, but the 6-foot-2 basketball standout makes it look easy—smooth, effortless, and not just on standard dunks.

Fournier put her skills up against some tough competition back in April during the BioSteel All Canadian Dunk Contest, where she faced some of the best basketball stars in the country … from boys teams.

Safe to say, she held her own.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CioIPoxgttD/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

And the results were historical, with the contest crowning two winners—Mambourou Mara and Fournier.

Basketball player who is fully blind makes shot during Michigan high school game

Now this is March basketball at its best!

Zeeland East (Mich.) junior Jules Hoogland is awesome.

She possesses the type of touch on the basketball court that anyone would aspire to have.

She is a 4.0 student.

Perseverance? Yep. She’s got that too.

Although Hoogland slowly lost her eyesight and was fully blind by age 3, she started playing basketball in middle school.

Of course, it wasn’t easy. “It’s a process, but it’s fun,” she told MLive. “It is frustrating at times, but I just keep going.”

That dedication and drive led her to the hardwood of Zeeland’s Unified Sports basketball team, a squad that includes students with and without disabilities.

And on March 22, in front of a crowd of 2,500, she proved that dreams sometimes require a different kind of vision—one that this pure shooter 100%, without question, embraces!

Standing-O, Jules Hoogland. Count us as part of the additional crowd joining in on the awe-inspiring moment…

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cbfs3GaAH4D/?utm_medium=copy_link

2022 GEICO High School Basketball Nationals: Boys and Girls brackets are set

Top programs and talent will compete at the prestigious basketball tournament.

College fan bases and teams aren’t the only ones getting excited this week over brackets—now that the fields have been set, much of the high school-hardwood buzz shifts focus to the 2022 GEICO Nationals.

Eight boys teams and five girls teams will compete in the bracket-style tournament, beginning March 31 at Suncoast Credit Union Arena (Fort Meyers, Fla.). And as expected, both fields are loaded with talent for the tip-off, which keeps up with the longstanding distinction the tourney has showcased since its inception in 2009.

Here’s a look at the seeds for both brackets.

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