I went out tonight to watch Saylor Poffenbarger for the second time this season and confirmed my initial impressions. I had the pleasure of chatting with Road Warrior during the game, so I didn't tally detailed stats tonight. I would love for him to add his thoughts.
Middletown won by 74-37 over Governor Thomas Johnson. I believe this was their last regular season game. They are 16-0 in conference and 20-1 overall (the only loss was to Frederick by a tally of 56-51 at the start of the season).
I did not keep detailed stats tonight. Saylor played all of the first half and about 7-8 minutes in the second half. I'm just guessing at her stats, but in 23 minutes, she had something like:
24 points
12 rebounds
8 assists
8 steals
5 blocks
She truly is versatility personified. She plays center on defense and both point guard and stretch power forward on offense. She appears to be a legit 6'2". Here are a some plays:
She won the opening tip.
She ripped down a defensive rebound in traffic and threw a 40' pass for a layup.
She grabbed a defensive rebound and went full court through the defense for a layup.
She cut into the paint, received the ball, and redirected it via a touch pass to a teammate for a hoop.
She trapped an opposing player in the backcourt, tipped the attempted pass, and gave her teammate an uncontested layup--a few times.
She blocked an opponent's shot with a loud "thwack."
She cut into the lane, received a pass, and, despite seeming to be too deep under the basket, was able to corral the pass and shoot it in the same motion for a hoop. She did this at least twice.
She intercepted passes and started the fast break--several times.
On the first 2 defensive possessions, she stole the ball from the opposing player off the dribble.
She made several no-look passes for assists.
Saylor's shot was off tonight--0-4 from the arc including a 30-footer at the end of a quarter and an airball. But she made about 9 layups in 10 attempts.
Saylor seems to have quick hands, more so than I noticed the first time I saw her. She also has strong hands and rebounds well in a crowd.
Mir is explosive and flashy, while Saylor is smooth. She also is everywhere on the court. Her court sense is next level, a lot like Paige. As a reminder, Saylor is still only 16 years old.