The ball is flying around the perimeter of Mid-Prairie’s offense at a dizzying pace.

And then it winds up in the hands of Golden Hawks freshman Brooklyn Schneider, setting up for yet another 3-point try from her wing position.

Nothing but net.

In a girls basketball season that has seen the Golden Hawks top 70 points twice and win by more than 40 points twice, Schneider is making 54.5% of her 3-point attempts to rank her number one among all freshmen in Iowa, all classes.

Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes? She’s at about 49.5%.

Just 20 miles away from Wellman, Finley Jacque, a sophomore at Lone Tree, is also putting up big numbers for the fast-moving Lady Lions. Jacque zips around the court, ready to make a steal or cruise downcourt for a fast-break layup.

She is the only player in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference North to score 221 points in her first 12 games. She ranks No. 8 in Class 1A and was one of only two sophomores to crack 200 points before the start of 2024.

Schneider, who has started in three of Mid-Prairie’s nine games and scored a career-high 21 points coming off the bench against Wilton, and Jacque are part of a growing crop of sharpshooting guards that is helping the Golden Hawks and Lady Lions chase after conference championships.

Also rising up are Hillcrest Academy sophomore Claire Withrow, who ranks No. 3 in the SEISC North with 195 points in 12 games, and Mid-Prairie sophomore guard Bryce Henry, who scored a career-high 21 points in a boys basketball win over Northeast.

These young backcourts are carving the path to success not only this season, but seasons to come.

At Mid-Prairie, where starting guard Nora Pennington is the only senior on the team, the rest of the backcourt consists of sophomores Jovi Evans, Katelyn Harland and Kadence Grout, and freshmen Schneider, Olivia Swartzendruber, Myli Hershberger and Izzy Kite.

Waiting in the wings is point guard Jeorgia Evans, the younger sister of Jovi who may be faster than any of them. Jeorgia is a dominant track sprinter who literally ran the point guard position at Mid-Prairie Middle School during the girls’ early winter season.

“I’m real excited to play with my sister,” said Jovi Evans, looking forward to 2024-25. “Not just basketball and all sports, it’s going to be such a fun experience.”

But first, this season.

Combined with the muscle of junior forwards Callie Huber and Brylee Gearhart, Mid-Prairie’s lineup features three guards who are rotated from a deep bench managed by head coach Danny Hershberger. Even when Jovi Evans, a 2023 state track champion in the sprint relays, missed the final two games of December with a knee injury, Schneider and Harland filled the starting roles alongside Pennington.

Schneider, whose brother Kurt is a senior on the Mid-Prairie boys team and cousin Jacob is a freshman on the Highland boys team, scored 38 points in back-to-back games against Wilton and West Branch.

Jovi Evans ranks fifth in the River Valley South with 26 assists. Harland, who has stepped in with eight starts in nine games, has added 21 assists.

Swartzendruber has played in all nine games off the bench, contributing 15 rebounds and 13 assists.

The Running Lions

In Lone Tree, Jacque is helping to fuel the best start by the Lady Lions since 2010.

The Lions have won 11 of their first 12 games and entered 2024 riding a seven-game winning streak.

Jacque, who is averaging 18.4 points per game, is one of two sophomores in a starting lineup that includes just one senior, backcourt teammate Avery Lisk.

The Lions love to run, turning every game into a virtual track meet. And that makes sense because three of them set school track records in the sprint relay last spring, including on consecutive days at the state track championship meet in Des Moines. Two of those sprinters, juniors Rylee Shield and Vivian Zaruba, are in the starting lineup. A third, Ava Christofferson, comes off the bench to join Jacque in the backcourt.

The Lions lead the SEISC North in scoring at 56.4 points a game and are winning games by an average of 24 points.

Jacque has scored more than double the points of any other Lion, and also 34 assists and 41 steals. Her 32 3-pointers rank behind only Hillcrest’s Withrow in the SEISC North.

Zaruba has added a team-high 55 steals and 36 assists.

Withrow Scoring Big

Claire Withrow, a sophomore guard at Hillcrest Academy, has started every game the last two seasons for the Ravens.

She ranks fourth in the SEISC North with 195 points in 12 games and has topped 20 points five times, including scoring a career-high 24 points in the Ravens’ 53-21 win over Cedar Valley Christian on Dec. 21.

Withrow is also a strong defensive player in Hillcrest’s backcourt, totaling 26 steals and 21 defensive rebounds this season.

Rising Golden Hawk

Bryce Henry, a sophomore guard for the Mid-Prairie boys, scored 21 points in his second varsity game this season against Northeast.

Since then, Henry has joined the starting backcourt twice and is averaging 10 points per game. He is positioned to make an impact on the team over the next two months of the season, alongside junior guards Brady Weber and Ace Peck. In a start against Durant, Henry hit 6-of-10 shots and grabbed a team-high 9 rebounds.

“We knew Bryce would be playing significant minutes for us at the start of the season as he is a player who is a weapon offensively,” Golden Hawks head coach Daren Lambert said. “I can see his confidence both in practice and the game floor and now he is starting to affect the games in more ways than just his scoring ability.”

FAB FRESHMEN

Beyond Mid-Prairie’s Brooklyn Schneider, a talented class of freshmen in basketball has emerged at local area schools.

Here is a sampling:

Morgyn Bender, Mid-Prairie girls: A 5-11 forward, Bender has played in all nine games this season and scored 53 points. Her 26 rebounds rank No. 4 on the team. Bender comes off the bench to back up starters Callie Huber and Brylee Gearhart.

Katelyn Thomann, Highland girls: A 5-7 guard who also plays forward, Thomann has gotten more varsity minutes as the season has gone on. In a JV game against Lone Tree, she scored 20 points on a barrage of 3-point shots from beyond the line. All of her varsity scoring (33 points) has come on 3-pointers.

Olivia Magruder, Lone Tree girls: Playing on a young team that features only two seniors, Magruder has seen action in six games for the Lions, joining three other freshmen (Rylie Viers, Abby Zaruba, Selena Vargas) getting varsity time.

Kale Bailey, Hillcrest boys: A 6-2 forward, Bailey has played in all 11 Ravens games off the bench. He has scored 32 points and grabbed 26 rebounds.

Jacob Schneider, Highland boys: A guard, Schneider is one of two Huskie freshmen who have seen action in all nine games. He has scored 20 points and totaled 5 steals.

Landon Roling, Highland boys: A 5-10 forward, Roling has also played in nine games for the Huskies, grabbing 7 rebounds.

Brooks Weber, Mid-Prairie boys: A point guard on the Golden Hawks JV squad, Weber is averaging 10 points a game. He is the younger brother of Brady, a starting point guard for the varsity team.