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Sophie Stiles

616s6e

Well-known member
My wife and I drove from Anaconda to watch the B tourney in Billings last weekend. I am a soccer guy and really don't know hoops but I think Sophie Stiles:
is a heady player;
is an excellent 3-point shooter;
is a great free throw shooter;
has a fine attitude - not a showboater and certainly is a team player;
is a better passer than any guard we have had for quite a while;
is a nice 1-2 combo with Haley Nicholson's little sister (Jada - also a senior at Malta);
played with defensive players in her face everywhere she went on the court;
will be a crowd favorite (can I say cutie without being accused of something?); and
has reasonable height for a guard at 5-9.

I couldn't judge her jumping ability, her quickness by D-1 standards (she is quick), or whether she has the strength to take the pounding of D-1 ball. But, I am looking forward to the drive to Missoula to watch her play.

Jada Nicholson (senior, Malta) is also a very good player - really hustles on defense and does a nice job of getting open for Sophie's bullet passes. Does a great job of defending the passing lanes.


You Missoula people have a fine young player on the Loyola men's team - Jack Lincoln is 6-5 (I think) and had 37 points in the game I watched - nice job for a sophomore.

Anyone else have any comments - particularly, what are the thoughts on the Fairfield girl Klinker who signed with the Idaho Vandals - she is a 6-1 inside player with a lot of strength but not the extra weight.
 
Sophie is an amazing track and field athlete as well. She scored 44 points in last year's Class B State Meet in hurdles and jumps.
I assume she is related to Craig Styles but I don't know how. Daughter? Grand Daughter? Niece? Grandniece? Anybody know?
 
I think the biggest adjustment for Sophia will be the physicality of the game. I think she will need to pack on some muscle. Freshman 15 might do her well :). But she is a hell of a player from a great family. Will be fun to watch her develop.
 
maroonandsilver said:
Sophie is an amazing track and field athlete as well. She scored 44 points in last year's Class B State Meet in hurdles and jumps.
I assume she is related to Craig Styles but I don't know how. Daughter? Grand Daughter? Niece? Grandniece? Anybody know?


Craig is her uncle. It's an impressive gene pool.
 
I observed, while picking up a few local high school games this season, that Montana women's Coach Schweyen has a very good local recruiting base to tend over the next several years... certainly beyond players named Schweyen.

Also read somewhere that Arlee H. S. standout, Phillip Malatare, has been showing up in some coaches' radar. Arlee won the state Class C title this weekend over Manhattan Christian.
 
BDizzle said:
I think the biggest adjustment for Sophia will be the physicality of the game. I think she will need to pack on some muscle. Freshman 15 might do her well :). But she is a hell of a player from a great family. Will be fun to watch her develop.

Disagree a bit here, she will be fine strength wise. Putting on some pounds may slow her down and what that program needs most is athleticism.
 
I watched her play RL in the semi's. She's amazing. Head and shoulders above the rest of the field. She is pretty skinny and looks like she could use a few pounds, but it's probably just her genetics. I remember watching Kirk Stiles play back in the mid-90's at state. He could shoot threes from all over, too. Sophia seems to have no limit on her range and has all the confidence you want in a guard. She's going to be a Grizzly great.
 
Good description on "slender." She isn't a weak skinny-minnie but she is slender. The comparison to Greta Koss and Sherry Brooks is a comparison I hadn't thought about - spot on!

I see in the Missoulian today that Sophie repeated as the Gatorade Player of the Year. I read the article to say that Linda Cummings was the other Gatorade Player of the Year from Malta back in the 90s.

How could the Kellers and Skyla Sisco and Greta Koss have not been Gatorade POY??? Did someone blow those calls - wow!

One of the posters above said that he watched Sophie play RL (please everyone, drop the abbreviations) - that is Red Lodge - also a nice team.

But Sophie was clearly the best player at the B Tourney, although I would have liked to have seen what Klinker from Fairfield would have done if she hadn't be double or triple teamed by Malta.
 
Has anyone heard anything about Abby Anderson from Oregon or anything new about Karl Nichols from Texas?
 
616s6e said:
Has anyone heard anything about Abby Anderson from Oregon or anything new about Karl Nichols from Texas?

Are these potential recruits? Haven't heard the names.
 
griz71 said:
616s6e said:
Has anyone heard anything about Abby Anderson from Oregon or anything new about Karl Nichols from Texas?

Are these potential recruits? Haven't heard the names.

These aren't potential recruits. They are actual recruits and have signed letters of intent to play for the Lady Griz and Griz respectively.

Abby was named the Metro League girls player of the year in Oregon.
 
616s6e said:
One of the posters above said that he watched Sophie play RL (please everyone, drop the abbreviations) - that is Red Lodge - also a nice team.

But Sophie was clearly the best player at the B Tourney, although I would have liked to have seen what Klinker from Fairfield would have done if she hadn't be double or triple teamed by Malta.

I'll drop the abbreviations when you call her Sophia! :thumb:
 
Anderson is signed. Shannon says close to 6'3” and has an even greater wingspan. She's really excited about this years recruiting class.
What has anybody heard about the other Nicholson sister. I know she's a senior and had a good State. With the injuries we have with the Lady Griz, another walk on would be nice. And maybe her sister could along with hope she develops as much as her sister did.
 
http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2017/03/glencoes_abby_anderson_voted_m.html

Abby Anderson is quite the player as in Portland Metro League POY.
 
PeauxRouge - I don't think anyone will call her Sophia - I stayed at the same Billings hotel as the Malta team during the state B tournament and everyone from Malta called her "Sophie" - I'll bet "Sophie" will stick. By the way, I chatted to the band director and a Malta teacher and they both said she is a gem - great attitude, team player, humble, does everything in the community.

I think she will be the best overall talent the Lady Griz have had in quite a while. I can't predict that she will grow as a player the way Sims and Valley have, but she runs the floor like a deer and has a very quick shot.

I hadn't seen Jada Nicholson play before, but she is definitely a player - handles the dribble well for a 6 footer. She and Stiles were a dominant pair. Jada has nice hands and plays great defense - unlike big sister, she is a blonde. She would be a nice addition but I would hate to see her pass up a scholarship elsewhere.

That is great that Shannon says Abby Anderson is nearly 6-3 - we will need that height to replace Sims in another year. Abby will certainly benefit from a year of working the post with the talented Sims.

I suspect that Karl Nichols adds some height also.
 
Sophie's performance at the Montana State Class B Track Meet:
-First place long jump for the THIRD time.
-First place high jump
-First place triple jump for the FOURTH time.
 
maroonandsilver said:
Sophie's performance at the Montana State Class B Track Meet:
-First place long jump for the THIRD time.
-First place high jump
-First place triple jump for the FOURTH time.

Can you say studette!! :clap: :thumb: :D
 
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