Friday Features

<p>The AAU State Tournament gets underway Friday evening with an abbreviated schedule of games beginning at 6:40 p.m. at Jefferson and Kennedy. It’s abbreviated in the sense that there are just 3 time slots at 6:40, 7:50 and 9 p.m.</p> <p><strong>6:40 p.m.—2020 D1—#7 North Tartan 9th West vs. #10 Comets Select, Kennedy 3</strong></p> <p>Our first feature game of the tournament is a 2020 (freshman) D1 matchup and a mild upset possibility, considering how poorly Tartan West performed at the Prelims. They went in as the #3 seed, then lost all 3 pool games before edging out So Minn Fury 46-43 for 7th place. The Comets, meanwhile, won 3 pool games against much weaker competition before losing to Fury Gold 50-29 to finish 10th.</p> <p>Tartan West’s talent remains deep, despite the inability to gel at the Prelims, with Josie Haug, Lily Tennyson, Megan Haugo, Kendal Cox, Lydia Haack and more. Comets Select are of interest very largely as an opportunity to see Monticello’s 6-foot post and power forward Anna Olson. Tartan West should move on.</p> <p><strong>7:50 p.m.—2020 D1--#5 Heat Hinck vs. #12 Stars McAlpine, Kennedy 4</strong></p> <p>How deep is the 2020 class? Well, after watching NT West, just the #7 seed, take a look at #5 Heat Hinck, not generally regarded as a title threat though they have rapidly moved up in the ranks. If you do that, you’ll see a raft of impressive young guards surrounding one of the 2020s many good young posts, Lindsey Becher. The guards include Cianna Selbitschka, one of the great pure athletes in the class, along with Anica Thomas, Amme Sheforgen, Grace Johnson, Ella Janicki and more.</p> <p>Meanwhile, the Stars counter with Miriam Diaby inside and Jersi McAlpine out. Still, the Heat are much deeper and should move on.</p> <p><strong>9 p.m.—2018 D2--#19 Comets Select vs. #24 Cyclones, Kennedy 3</strong></p> <p>A good option would be to go see one of our upset specials, #11 Stars Walters over #6 Tartan Elite in 2018 D1 on Kennedy 7. Tartan has Angie Hammond and Annika Hoff inside, but the Stars have better guards in K’Lynn Lewis, Chanel Anderson-Manning and Adiya Sandifer.</p> <p>But, we’ve got to opt for the Comets vs. the Cyclones at 9 p.m., another of our upset specials, though we’ll admit that #24 over #19 in D2 is not an upset on the magnitude of #6 over #11. But, here’s the deal.</p> <p>The Cyclones are a new team with at least a couple of former Comets in guards Natalie Steichen and Kylea Praska. They’re solid in the post with Lily Pearson and Breanna Price, and guard Nicole Herbranson is another good one. But, they looked at the Prelims like they hadn’t played together very much, and they also played without Praska on Saturday and without Herbranson on Sunday. Steichen, in particular, is an amazing playmaker and Herbranson is a big-time scorer. I fully expect to see the Cyclones in the D2 finals, and it starts here.</p> <p>You’ve got plenty of time to see the truly elite teams, specifically in Sunday’s championship games. Now’s the time to see some darkhorses and breakouts.</p>