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LBI Quick Hitter: Summer Sizzler Day 1

By LBI Staff, 07/30/18, 2:45PM EDT

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Grand Rapids, MI: MSA Woodland & MSA Fieldhouse was the place to be as many travel teams and college coaches of all levels invaded the city of Grand Rapids for the 2nd Annual LBI Summer Sizzler. Michigan's only NCAA Certified event in July saw some standout 2019 players that already hold numerous scholarship offers and several players in 2020, 2021 & 2022 classes showcasing their skills in hopes of getting on some college coach recruiting board. Coaches from the Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, SEC, Conference USA, Mid-American, Horizon League, GLIAC and many more were on hand checking out the state of Michigan's top teams & players.

Summer Sizzler Noteworthy Performances Day One

2020 5'10" SF Grace Van Namen Grand Rapids Current (MI) 
In a game today against Michigan Premiere White, Grace did her best impersonation of a swiss army knife.  Whatever the Current needed Grace provided in a timely fashion.  She scored the ball in a variety of ways with either hand and played extremely hard on both ends of the floor.  Her slashing style on offense got her to the basket and her pull up was working as she led her team to the victory. 

5'7" PG 2022 Helen Cowan West PA Bruins Dunn (PA)
Helen apparently got up on the right side of the bed this morning as she was the steadying force that propelled the Bruins to victory in the first game of the morning at the MSA Fieldhouse.  From the opening tap Helen was in the driver’s seat of the offense.  The ball was distributed well under her guidance as WPA Dunn got off to an early lead and never looked back.  In the second half Cowan toyed with the pressure defense of MBA Blue.  And, when left open, she buried the three with great efficiency.  Helen finished the game with three makes from beyond the arc en route to scoring 12 points in the win.

2021 5'5" SG Alex Long Michigan Cagers  
And here we have it folks, the Summer Sizzler leading scorer for Day 1 of the tournament.  Alex  started the game off hot against the Michigan Mystics and finished it on fire as she opened up a game that went back and forth for much of the first half.  Not only was she the leading scorer she was also the leading three-point shooter.  She tallied a tournament-best 5 three-pointers during this game.  Four of them came in the second half to enable the Cagers to pull away and put the game out of reach.  Alex finished the game with 30 points in a truly incredible scoring display.  

2022 6'3" C Tadassa Brown Jackson Jets (MI)
Tadassa is already one of the best bigs in her class with soft hands, great body control, and nice footwork. She put all of her skills on display in a game vs Midwest Power today, scoring in the paint off of post touches, cleaning up misses and finishing putbacks in traffic while controlling the paint defensively with at least 5 blocks in this contest. Brown is very skilled and strong, at one point tossing the ball so hard at the referee that it froze him momentarily in disbelief. Look for Brown to have an immediate impact on the High school game.

2022 5'3" PG Jennifer Rowe Midwest Power (OH)
Rowe is a lightning quick floor general with all the shake and bake to go with her great court vision. When left alone she knocked down the open jump shot continuously. Rowe excelled in running the front of the 2-2-1 press causing all types of havoc, along with running the show dropping sweet dimes to her teammates. 

2022 5'10" PF Sydney Vis West Michigan Drive (MI)
Blessed with a number of guards that can handle distribute and score on her West Michigan Drive squad, Sydney was allowed to do a little bit of everything in the game I watched. Vis Rebounded played exceptional tough defense, got her self into position to get buckets and showed her athleticism on a countless number of plays. Sydney is a workhorse that pretty much did what she wanted on the floor, the only thing she struggled with was between games her out of bounds half-court shot attempts during timeouts were a little wide left or short. But her attempts all looked good!!

2022 6'1" SF Lauren Sollom Michigan Mystics (MI)
Lauryn is a smooth talented wing that made multiple plays in the game. Sollom looks much improved and made the game look easy, Scoring regularly in transition with up and under moves, layups in traffic or short pull-ups effortless would be an easy word to describe her.  At 6'1 and moves like a guard she glided through traffic making play after play and was a force on defense gathering steal after steal.

2022 5'6" PG Amanda Roach Michigan Mystics (MI)
Amanda is a hard-nosed point guard that ran the show and got BUCKETS when her team needed her to. Amanda had the jump shot the drive and the dish going against MBA, at one point putting her team on her back and scoring or assisting on 12 straight points. Amanda has a strong handle with great vision and ran her team to perfection. 

2022 5'9" SG Abbey Kimball MBA (MI)
I should have known right away something was up when the opponent was face guarding #1 everywhere she went, after seeing her touch the ball it was definitely understandable. Abbey Kimball is the real deal, her handle her vision her shot her defense her communication just the way she carried herself screamed BIG TIME. Abbey did a few moves that brought me out of my seat and turned it on even more as the game approached crunch time. Not forcing it she made the right play feeding her teammates but found her self-open a few times late knocking down some huge shots for her squad. Abbey carries herself beyond her years and if she continues to improve the West side of the state got them another one!!!

2022 5'8" PG Theryn Hallock MBA (MI)
Hallock has a little sugar and salt to her game, she plays the game with an edge needed to be a great player but her game itself is sweet, as she is able to make most plays a guard needs to make. Theryn has the handle to get to her spot on the floor, a knockdown jump shot, high IQ and is a fierce competitor on both ends. If I am picking teams she would definitely be one of my first choices.

2019 6'1" SF Elie Smith SF Michigan Triple Threat (MI)
Elie Smith could be a great find for a team looking for a girl with sneaky athleticism and great range on her three ball. Early in the 1st half, Smith caught a lob high in the air and was able to finish it off the bump. Later on, she effortlessly stroked a spot-up three from NBA range. Fast forward to early in the second half, Smith used her strength and strong handle to penetrate the lane from the top of the key to score a layup. That’s some offensive versatility some lucky D1 school could use in the 2019-20 season.

2022 6'1" SF Grace Vanslooten Midwest Power (OH)
Let the salivating begin! Grace Vanslooten showed her immense upside and intriguing versatility in Midwest Power’s 50-48 win over a tough Michigan Legacy team. Grace made a great impact on both sides of the court. Offensively, she commanded the high post area where she was able to score off the drive or find open shooters with a couple nice touch passes. Vanslooten also displayed the ability to push the ball and find streaking teammates off of defensive rebounds. In fact, she rebounded on both ends very well. She used her length and athleticism to alter and block shots at critical moments to help her team stave off a furious comeback attempt. Although she did not make a three in her two attempts, you can see the stroke is there. Grace is a big-time talent and worth the effort to consider changing plans to go see before this years July evaluation period is over.

2021 6'3" C Stephanie Ainsworth West Michigan Crush (MI)
Stephanie didn’t start for the Crush, but she played very well and was able to convert some key buckets down the home stretch. Stephanie really was the difference as she was able to catch passes and finish with a soft touch off the glass with either hand. Usually, you don’t want to throw a big the ball at half court in transition, but Ainsworth was able to catch the ball while getting out on the fast break and take two dribbles to a right-hand finish in traffic. While Ainsworth could be more assertive, she has a really good pace to her game. She’s able to pick spots to flash, post, or sit in a short corner effectively. Stephanie is surprisingly agile and has really good size. She is definitely one to watch!

DOWN WITH THE BROWN'S!!

The Brown sisters Olivia Brown, Jillian Brown and Macy Brown were a treat to watch today, with all three coming up big in their games.

2019 5'9" PG Olivia Brown MBA (MI)
Was a treat to watch handle the ball and make plays, deceptively quick she beat her defender on multiple plays setting up teammates or getting a bucket herself. Olivia has all the moves and is polished at finishing in traffic around and over bigger defenders.

2021 5'10" PG Jillian Brown MBA (MI)
Playing off the ball with her sister, Jillian still manages to make eye dropping passes to go along with her pretty stroke from 3. Jillian is a taller guard and uses it to her advantage to see over defenders and make the difficult pass in traffic. Playing the shooting guard off of her sister she has settled into a role of being a scorer which she is handling with ease. One of the top combo guards in the state look for a big year from Jillian. 

2023 5'8" SG Macy Brown MBA (MI)
The baby Brown is the assassin of the group, not bashful at all Macy looks to attack in many different ways making her a hardcover for anyone having to check her. Macy shot the 3, drove to the hoop, hit the pull up and sent one game to Overtime with a rebound putback with time expiring.  Macy uses her long arms to cause a lot of issues on defense getting her hands on a lot of tip balls in the passing lanes. Macy is going to be a good one, STANDBY!!!