Interstate commerce: Wisconsin and Iowa leave Minnesota with gold and silver

<p>Although Minnesota Stars Hersch 11, the host club’s top team, took home the Platinum Division title on Sunday in Bloomington, things did not go quite as well for other Stars teams in the hunt for precious metals. The Gold went east to Wisconsin, the Silver went south to Iowa, and the Bronze went a couple miles north to South Minneapolis with Tayler Hill Elite 8. I’m not sure I’d be too excited to win an Iron award (perhaps Emerald could replace it next time around?) but then the winning squad is already called Fury Gold so what difference does it make. We digress. Here are the results of the top divisions at the Stars Summer Kickoff.</p> <p><strong>Gold Division – Mimi Schrader</strong> of Wayzata scored 13 points for Minnesota Suns Kietzer 2019 in the championship game but it was not enough as the Suns fell to Team Wisconsin Select by a score of 57-36. Minnesota Stars Bjorgaard finished third with a 48-45 win over their sisters from Stars Buerman.</p> <p><strong>Silver Division – </strong>Team Iowa Navy knocked off Minnesota Stars Antl, the host club’s top 9th graders, by a score of 57-35. <strong>Nneka Obiazor</strong> of Eden Prairie, with 12 points, was the leading scorer for the Stars who did not make a single three-pointer.</p> <p><strong>Iron Division – </strong>Minnesota Fury 2021 Gold, coming off a Division 2 state championship victory, has been on a roll lately and it continued on Sunday. The Fury scored a narrow 65-61 victory over Minnesota Stars Voyce for their 19th win of the year and an Iron Division championship. <strong>Maggie Czinano</strong>, an impressive<strong> </strong>5-11 forward from Watertown-Mayer, led the way for the Fury with 13 points while <strong>Zoe Fasbender</strong> (Clear Lake, Iowa) and <strong>Ella Hronski</strong> (Mahtomedi) had 12 apiece. <strong>Isabella Lenz</strong> had 15 for the Stars while <strong>Kelley Brennan</strong> scored 13.</p> <p><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Battle on the Hardwood at Lakeville South</strong></span></p> <p>It’s always a challenge when there are two tournaments happening on the same weekend, and the championship games are being played at virtually the same time in two different cities. It requires awkward choices to be made, and on this weekend we chose to be in Bloomington. Therefore, we can bring you only the top three finishers in the four primary divisions from Lakeville South.</p> <p><strong>Gophers Division – Rachel Hakes</strong> (Woodbury), <strong>Sydney Zgutowicz</strong> (St. Francis) and their Metro Stars Weise 2018 teammates defeated Kingdom Hoops Elite 17 of Iowa 41-26 to win the championship of the top class. North Tartan 11th Elite finished third.</p> <p><strong>Badgers Division – </strong>Minnesota Rise 10 Purple capped off a great weekend with a 50-44 victory over a North Tartan 10 Elite team featuring <strong>Kayla Cox</strong> (Park Center) and <strong>Grace Kirk</strong> (Duluth Denfeld) to capture the title in the Badgers Division. Minnesota Rise 11 Purple finished third.</p> <p><strong>Spartans Division – </strong>The hosts from North Tartan 9 West, featuring <strong>Lydia Haack</strong> (Elk River) and <strong>Kendall Cox</strong> (STMA), scored a 41-29 win over Kingdom Hoops Elite 15 in the championship game. Cox, an 8th grader who gets significant minutes on a strong varsity squad, had 20 points in the victory. Crossfire Jorgenson went home with the third-place trophy.</p> <p><strong>Hawkeyes Division – </strong>Kingdom Hoops Elite 8 was victorious among the top 8th grade teams in Lakeville, winning 52-38 over Crossfire Schuck, which features six players from Osseo-Maple Grove. Lady Get Shook Black finished third.</p>