It was a frosty Friday at the Great Plains Alliance

Some opportunistic entrepreneur could have made a fortune selling mittens, hand warmers or blankets on a frosty Friday at the Great Plains Alliance AAU girls basketball tournament. Who knows what was up with the air conditioning system at Chanhassen High School – I actually saw players blowing on their hands to keep warm on court 6 as the officials tried to find a ball that would bounce – but there was plenty of heated action on the floor. One of the hottest hands of the day belonged to 2021 point guard Paige Meyer of Albany. In a class of very good guards – names like Jade Hill, Katie Borowicz, Jayla Reliford and Alexis Pratt come to mind – Meyer is among the very best. The one differentiator might be her size. It’s not that she’s tall (perhaps 5-5?) but she is solid and strong and much more physical than the others. Meyer is also a terrific ballhandler with great court vision and a sense of presence well beyond her years. Her first step is explosive, and her ability to change speeds with ease makes her extremely difficult to defend. Then there’s the pull-up jumper and a knack for putting the ball in the right place at the right time. The most frequent beneficiary of Meyer’s abilities is her fellow guard Julia Bengtson of Becker. Bengston is a slight but speedy shooter who can knock it down from way outside the arc. She, too, handles the ball with a deft touch, and the two Comets work together beautifully to generate offense. Bengtson has very quick feet and defends hard. She is going to be a good one, but make no mistake, Meyer is the locomotive that drives this train. The Comets were on court for the day’s first game on Friday, a 15-point win over Minnesota Suns 8 Fredenburg. In the matinee, they found themselves locked in an epic battle with Minnesota Fury 2021 Gold, a solid lineup that includes the aforementioned Reliford. For most of the game, it was a dead heat. In the end, the Fury prevailed by a bucket as Mackenna Moon scored 15 points to lead her team to a 47-44 victory. Bengtson and Meyer combined for 24. From promising prospects to prized possessions Watching the incoming freshmen play is a lot of fun. So many new faces. So much fresh talent. Then you stroll across the gym to see some seniors and you can appreciate the more polished product those freshmen can become. The Minnesota Cyclones have a lot of savvy seniors-to-be, even though a couple of their most prized possessions were absent on Friday. Fortunately, Nicole Herbranson was not among them. Herbranson is a joy to watch. She’s quick and fast, long and athletic, smart and savvy. Ranked #85 in the class of 2018, the versatile point guard from Barnesville has done enough to earn a scholarship from DII Minnesota State-Moorhead. A three-sport athlete, the 5’7” Herbranson is a workhorse. She can push the pace and gets to the rim with ease. She is also an abrasive defender. Herbranson was the best player on the floor in the Cyclones’ 68-50 win Friday over Minnesota Suns Wilson. Waiting for liftoff from this Apollo Eagle When Lariah Washington arrived at St. Cloud Apollo, the Eagles were not exactly soaring. In fact, the team did not win a game in the entire 2014-15 season. They were winless the year before that, too. So while 10 wins in two years might seem pretty modest, it is indicative of her impact. The #21 rated player in the class of 2019, who didn’t start playing the game until 7th grade, averaged 23 points and 8 rebounds per game this past season, including a 39-point performance. The 5’9” guard is very skilled and very smooth, and shoots over 40 percent from three-point range. Washington is a natural scorer with beautiful touch, and she made it look easy on Friday in leading her Minnesota Comets 10 Elite team to a pair of victories. Although Washington can do so much, she just leaves you wanting a little bit more, particularly on the defensive end of things where a little more passion might produce a whole lot more punch. Don’t get me wrong: Washington is a very good prospect but she has the potential to be much, much better. Don’t sleep on these incoming seniors Every year, it seems, there are players who emerge in their final season of high school basketball that take everyone by surprise. Some are late bloomers who seem to put it all together in that final campaign. Others just haven’t had the opportunity yet to demonstrate their capabilities. I watched one of each on Friday at Chanhassen who just might turned out to be among the pleasant surprises of 2018. Olivia Travis is a 5’10” forward from DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis and Minnesota Suns Rachael Long. She averaged almost 8 points a game last winter for a very good Islanders team, but numbers don’t tell Travis’ story. She’s not huge nor particularly fast but she rarely gets beat. Travis is really, really strong and very determined, and her physical presence is like sandpaper on opponents. If you spend the afternoon in the paint with Olivia Travis, you will feel it for some time thereafter. Islanders Coach Tanysha Scott is very high on the incoming senior, and is quick to note the time Travis spends in the weight room and in the gym. The Suns lost a controversial contest Friday to the South Dakota Attack (who gets a technical in the final minute of a tie game?) but the team has been pretty good of late. That’s due in no small part to the play of Ms. Travis. Another senior sleeper to watch is Justyna Butler, a 5’8” point guard from Cretin-Derham Hall. You may have watched the Raiders emerge as a contender in 4A this year thanks to players such as Frannie Hottinger, Autam Mendez, Haley Moore and Elizabeth Edinger. Unfortunately, you didn’t see Butler. That’s because she missed the entire season recovering from an ACL injury. You didn’t see her play varsity as a sophomore, either, because she was a transfer who had to sit out. If you come back to St. Paul this winter, however, don’t be surprised if Butler is in the starting lineup. She was very good as a freshman at Bloomington Jefferson and has demonstrated her potential as a member of Fury 2018 Gold. Butler has a solid skill set, a high basketball IQ, and a nice outside shot. By the spring of 2018, Butler just might be in full bloom.