Outside the Huddle and Bounce are counting down who it feels are the top 50 individual girls basketball players in northeast Indiana heading into the 2020-21 season.
Today, we unveil five of the best in the area at positions No. 10-6.
No. 10 – Bailey Hartsough, Lakeland
There is nobody who controls the number 1,000 locally better than Hartsough, one of the strongest athletes regardless of conference or class across our area. She dominated the volleyball court this fall, surpassing 1,000 career digs and will look to do the same this winter where she could become the Lakers all-time leading scorer. She also has surpassed 1,000 kills on the volleyball court and 1,000 points on the basketball court in her career. Hartsough’s athleticism is top notch and she can really fly around. She is certainly a player who benefitted from her work on the volleyball court, where she may actually be better than she is in basketball season.
That scoring title for Hartsough is only 395 points away. In her career, she has scored 1,146 points and is closing in on Abby Neff for that scoring crown. Will she get there? She has only reached 395 points in a single season once, as a sophomore. But this is arguably the best Hartsough we have seen. She is strong, she is smooth and in addition to the scoring hunt, she has Lakeland primed to compete at the top of the loaded NECC. Hartsough averaged 15.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3 steals per game during her junior season.
COACH’S QUOTE ON BAILEY HARTSOUGH
“Bailey will be a huge asset to this year’s team again. She will most likely lead the team in scoring, she is an aggressive defender, will steal the ball, a great rebounder, will find the open player and will block shots. She will be a great all-around player and a great teammate.” – Lakeland coach Dale Gearheart
No. 9 – Destiny Jackson, Snider
The recent Loyola commit has played her way towards Division I level basketball and it is hard to believe there is another year left in her high school career. Jackson is arguably the area’s top triple double threat; maybe even due for a quadruple double before her career is over? Jackson averaged 11.8 points and 2.3 steals per game and team highs in rebounding (9.4/game) and blocks (2.8/game) last year at Northrop. She is constantly a threat in every aspect of the game. She had 5 or more blocks five different times and had a run midseason that saw her get double digit rebounds five straight games. It doesn’t matter who Jackson is up against, she is able to flex her deep talent in a variety of ways.
What type of player will Jackson be after her move to Snider? She will have to take on the role as lead offensive producer but that shouldn’t be an issue. Just because Jackson didn’t led her team in scoring night in and night out last season doesn’t mean she won’t. In fact, Jackson should flourish in this role as a leader because of how smoothly she plays up and down the court. Jackson can defend and play all five spots on the floor and that is something that is impossible to replicate.
COACH’S QUOTE ON DESTINY JACKSON
“Destiny is far ahead of her time, she is demonstrating great leadership skills and showing our younger players the true definition of what leading by example truly means. What a pleasure it has been thus far to work with a player like Destiny Jackson.” – Snider coach Akilah Sims
No. 8 – Emily Parrett, Carroll
If you wanted to gauge the value of Emily Parrett, you don’t have to look much further than last Spring’s Sectional title game. She scored 28 points on 85 percent shooting that night as the Chargers became champions again. Parrett is an ultimate gamer who finds a natural ebb and flow to her game and where she needs to fill in. But when the time comes, she can turn it up as well as anyone in the area. Parrett is the Chargers’ top player going into this season but she really knows when to step back if a teammate is catching fire and she knows how to still alter games even if she is not the top scorer. Parrett can do a little bit of everything; averaging 11 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.1 assists in 2019-20.
Parrett’s constant movement makes her hard to track for most defenders. It isn’t easy to find ways under the radar when you are the face of a program. If a healthy season is in her future, Parrett is going to be playing the best basketball of her career this season before she heads off to Saint Francis next season. Her leadership is as good as anyone in the area and it shows on the court. She has learned to point things out, verbalize areas where the Chargers can rise and is essentially a full extension of coach Mark Redding on the court.
COACH’S QUOTE ON EMILY PARRETT
“Emily is an outstanding all-around player that can shoot the three point shot as well as a great first step to drive to the basket. Great offensive rebounder and as a guard she sees the floor very well. Emily is very good moving without the ball while reading defenses. Emily is a very unselfish player. On defense, she anticipates very well and very good on help side defense. She is a great leader who has a great understanding of the game as well as a basketball IQ.” – Carroll coach Mark Redding
No. 7 – TiAuna White, Northrop
Before her 2019-20 season, White was in the conversation about the better players in the Summit Athletic Conference. After that junior season, White is at the forefront of the conversation about the very best the city has to offer. She improved as much as anyone before and during the 2019-20 season and now she will have everyone’s best game and defender thrown at her. The question for them is simple: how do you actually slow White down, let alone stop her? White’s length and the ability to use her body makes her one of the area’s best stretch forwards by being able to play and rebound at a high level at the rim, but also to take advantage of mismatches on the perimeter.
White averaged 6.1 rebounds last season and was one of the top scorers in all of Northeast Indiana at 17.7 points per game, which really separated her as an Outside the Huddle All-Area talent. White moves fluently on both sides of the floor and is able to get out and run, something that will continue to be critical in Northrop’s pacing. With 13 games of 20-plus points, White posted 12 straight double digit scoring games at one point in 2019-20 and matched her career high of 29 points on four separate occasions against Marion, North Side, East Noble and Kokomo; showing that she could score at a high level against a variety of different types of teams.
COACH’S QUOTE ON TIAUNA WHITE
“TiAuna is a great leader with hands like a magnet for the basketball, along with quick feet for her size. She is going to put up big numbers!” – Northrop coach Kevin Clopton
No. 6 – Kaylee Fuelling, Norwell
Forget about the area, Fuelling has filled in as one of the best guards in the entire state heading into her senior season. She has had a lot on her plate since playing varsity ball as a freshman and she has only ever thrived with that kind of pressure. Fuelling absolutely flies around the court with reckless abandon yet it is about the most fruitful thing in Norwell’s near air tight arsenal. It is difficult to break Norwell’s pace in transition when Fuelling gets the ball because she just goes, goes and goes while being intelligent enough to decide if she is going to finish on that break or find another teammate filling a lane. And her finishing ability? Well you never know if she is going to attack the basket or pull up in the midrange so you always have to be ready to defend the fast break.
Into her senior season, there isn’t much that could replace her knowledge and experience. She averaged 13.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.9 steals per game in 2019-20. There isn’t much room for opposing teams to gamble when Fuelling is on the court and she doesn’t really leave the court much. That isn’t good news for the rest of the NE8. Fuelling’s on ball pressure is smothering and it really creates instant offense for Norwell. As one of three constants the past four years for Norwell, Fuelling will be one of the best players to ever play for this yearly powerhouse.
COACH’S QUOTE ON KAYLEE FUELLING
“Everything starts with Kaylee’s motor. She creates intense tempo for our team, whether it’s her attack mentality on offense or with her defensive pressure. Kaylee is great at getting to the rim, but is much improved at recognizing when to shoot the pull-up jumper or when her defender is giving her the 3.” – Norwell coach Eric Thornton
These opinions represent those of Bounce and Outside the Huddle. No opinions expressed on Outside the Huddle represent those of any of our advertisers. Follow Bounce on Twitter at Bounce_OTH
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