Who in June? Or, is it whom?

<p>Some of you may have noticed that we have not updated our top 20 club team rankings since June 1. The fact is the changes are so few and far between as our current monthly update amply demonstrates. Still, there are a few teams that caught their stride in June.</p> <p>Still, the answer to the question, Who (had the best month) in June?, depends on what you mean by the best month. Compared to what? Just, flat out, the best month? Or, compared to expectations? One would be our Team of the Month. The other would be our Team on the Rise.</p> <p>By the way, our updated Top 20s among the 2018s, 2019s, 2020s and 2021s are now in their usual places.</p> <p><strong>2018</strong></p> <p>Among the 2018s, there was just one unbeaten team in June, and that was #1-rated <strong>North Tartan 11th EYBL. </strong>They went 4-0 at the Summer Jam to win the Tonka Division with a 52-35 win over Stars Hersch. Team of the Month.</p> <p>The biggest winners were Stars Hersch at 8-1 and Fury Elite at 7-1.</p> <p>The obvious Team on the Rise is <strong>Suns R. Long.</strong> Now, you can argue they set the bar pretty low by sitting out the AAU tournament. Maybe they were sandbagging us. And, I’m not gonna say they totally ripped it up in June, either. Still, a very busy month and a 9-5 record is good enough for me, especially when one outing saw a perfect 4-0 record and a title in the Nokomis Division of the Summer Jam. Overall, Suns R. Long got good wins over So Minn Fury 2018 Gold, Stars Antl, Stars Walters and the Warriors. Destiny Cummings and Olivia Travis played especially well, while Breanna Wendland, Anna Peters, Emily Miletich and Jada Hood all had a good month, too.</p> <p>Some other risers include the Cyclones and the Warriors.</p> <p><strong>2019</strong></p> <p><strong>North Tartan 10 EYBL</strong> won the state title last month, but we elected to keep Fury 2019 Blue in the #1 slot. After all, the two split a pair of games between the AAU Prelim and the Tournament proper and, frankly, the Fury has been more consistently good over the years.</p> <p>Well, the spell has been broken. NT 10 EY played in just one event and went 3-1 with a loss to national power the Fairfax Stars. Meanwhile, Fury Blue played twice. They went just 2-2 at the Summer Jam, losing to North Tartan 10th TRU in the semis and Crossfire Theisen in the 3rd place game. The Fury then went 3-1 at Great Plains with the only loss to then So Minn Fury 2018s 67-63 in a Gold Division semi.</p> <p>Still, we are flipping North Tartan 10 EYBL up to #1 and that would have to also make them the Team of the Month.</p> <p>Only <strong>Heat Smetana</strong> had a better won-lost percentage at 7-2 and, having been rated #19 going in, that would pretty much define a Team on the Rise. There were a couple of very good wins in there, too, 63-47 over Energy 2019, then rated #9, and another win over Stars Bjorgard, then #15. Emily Torgerson has been leading the way.</p> <p>Another contender for Team on the Rise was, appropriately enough, the Rise 10th. They went 8-3 with good wins over Suns Jeff and Tartan Elite. Joey Batt impresses more every time you see her.</p> <p><strong>2020</strong></p> <p>As with the 2018s, the state champs, <strong>North Tartan 9</strong>, only played in one tournament but went 4-0 to win it, “it” being he Summer Jam White Bear Division. More importantly, the Fury 2020 Blue had taken Tartan down to the wire both in the AAU Prelim and in the Tournament. This time, Tartan asserted itself a little more strongly 47-35. So they’re the Team of the Month.</p> <p>Among the 20s there was no obvious Team on the Rise, just a bunch of teams that moved up a couple of slots in the rankings. So, they award goes to the team that moved up at least 2 slots with the best record. And, that would be <strong>Stars McAlpine</strong>, who moved from 12 to 10 by virtue of a 7-1 month. They went 3-1 at the Summer Kickoff beating Suns Long/Michaud, then won the Red Division at last week’s Great Plains. Stars defeated So Minn Fury 2020 Blue 52-49 in the final. Point guard Jersi McAlpine has been a consistent sparkplug for the Stars.</p> <p><strong>2021</strong></p> <p>#1 Tayler Hill went 4-0 with wins over #4 and #5. #3 <strong>North Tartan West</strong> went 7-1 with wins over #4, #5 and #6 and no losses to a Minnesota opponent. So I like the team that played twice as many games. The win over #4 Stars Hersch was a revenge win, and the wins over #5 and #6 were internecine wins, giving West bragging rights within the Tartan family. They’re now 2-0 vs. NT Kuppe and 1-0 vs. NT Coley. Joryn Lamker and Jenna Johnson have been the sparkplugs.</p> <p>There’s more than one Team on the Rise but I have to go with <strong>Lady Get Shook Black</strong>. They tied for 15th in the AAU, which isn’t bad when you can’t get a good seed. But, LGS Black kicked it up a notch in June, winning 7 of 8. They went 3-1 at the Battle of the Hardwood Hawkeye Division, beating Metro Stars 8 Berkvam among others. Then, they won the Summer Jam Mille Lacs at 4-0 wih wins over Energy 20, Stars Cosgriff, CF Herman and CF Schuck 34-33. Audrey Martinez-Stewart has been playing well.</p> <p><strong>Teams of the Month</strong></p> <p>Well, it must be North Tartan, right? Right you are. If I had to pick one, I’d pick <strong>Tartan 9</strong>. They’re win over Fury Blue was the most impressive single performance after Fury Blue took them down to the wire twice.</p> <p>The overall Team on the Rise could legitimately also be any one of the 4. But, I think that Stars McAlpine has the most upside, the most staying power. For the others, June might be as good as it gets. But, if it’s a launching pad you’re looking for, Stars McAlpine are the most likely to have built one.</p>