Stillwater's Sara Scalia steals the show at Stars Showcase

It was the first game of the Minnesota Stars Fall Shootout exposure event September 23 at Hopkins and there was a large contingent of Division I coaches lining one end of the court. It was pretty obvious who they were there to watch: 5'10" combo guard Sara Scalia of Stillwater. The junior did not disappoint, knocking down 6 of 7 threes in the first half. She finished the game with 31 points, putting on a display that had the coaches furiously scribbling in their notebooks as Stillwater knocked off Rogers 70-49. Freshman guard Alexis Pratt, a transfer from North St. Paul and the #15-ranked player in the class of 2021, was also impressive with 16 points, offering a sneak preview of Willie Taylor's potent 1-2 combination for the Ponies. Scalia is the 9th-ranked player in the class of 2019, up three spots since spring. She has always been very good; this summer Scalia became great. Running the show for Melissa Guebert's North Tartan 2019 Elite squad, Scalia demonstrated her growing maturity, much-improved decision making, and better shot selection. She also looks bigger and stronger and continues to score from distance at an impressive rate. Scalia is apparently garnering major-league college offers, including from the Big 10. She put an exclamation point on her day by scoring 33 more in Stillwater's 67-48 defeat of Minnehaha Academy. (By the way, a word of thanks to my good friend Chuck Thompson over at 5 State Hoops for the scoring stats since he was the only one in the gym actually keeping track.) That girl named Paige (no, not her) I know what you are thinking: not another lengthy report about Paige Bueckers from Hopkins. It's not, but I will mention that Bueckers was impressive in the Royals pair of wins – 89-40 over Chaska and 77-45 against Lakeville North. In fact, the Paige I want to talk about here is freshman Paige Kindseth of Farmington. The 5'9" guard/wing is ranked #14 in the class of 2021 and she clearly showed why on Saturday. Kindseth suited up with a number of her future Stars Hersch AAU teammates on one of the grab-bag squads made up of players who registered for the showcase as individuals rather than as part of a high school team. Kindseth was everywhere, demonstrating terrific ball handling, impressive strength and physicality, and the ability to get to the rim through heavy traffic. Playing against juniors and seniors, Kindseth did more than hold her own. At one point she scored on three straight trips up the floor on impressive pull-up, off-balance jumpers while being closely guarded or fouled, depending on your perspective. After starting the AAU season in anonymity, Kindseth started to draw some attention as the summer progressed. Slipping into the lineup for North Tartan Coley in the year's final tournament in Iowa, she put up 25 points a game and was quickly in great demand. Farmington has some terrific young talent, including Fury guards Molly Mogenson (#9 in 2020) and Morgan Ebel (#35 in 2020), and 6'4" center Sophia Hart (#22 In 2021). Kindseth and the Tigers will be worth watching this winter. Mustangs are supposed to be fast aren't they? Maranatha Christian Academy has been a force in class A ball for several years now, producing some great college basketball players along the way. This season they have been bumped up to AA but that shouldn't present any really significant hurdles since coach Chris Buerman has always scheduled much bigger opponents. On Saturday, the Mustangs illustrated that Coach Buerman may have some new tricks up his sleeve. The most interesting of those may involve 8th grade guard Desiree Ware. The young Ware was a sometime varsity participant last year, demonstrating unbelievable speed and a ton of potential. That potential may be soon be realized. Ware's skill set has come light years in the last 12 months and she is now a nice ball handler, has a pretty good shot, and is grasping the nuances of the game. Of course, she is still the fastest player on the court. It's conceivable that Ware could earn a starting spot at the 2, bumping senior Kiley Post (a UM-Crookston commit) over to the 3. Maranatha has also added junior post KaeSeana Barth-Lofton, a physical presence inside who comes over from Minnehaha Academy. Forward Jaclyn Jarnot, commited to Division I Monmouth, was also a force on Saturday. Opponents best beWare of the Mustangs. Sorry Solape. Our bad. When the updated 2019 rankings were released recently, we received a message wondering how it was we had omitted Solape Amusan of Woodbury. After her performance on Saturday at Hopkins – and again on Sunday at the North Tartan event – it is evident that we blew it. There is no question that Amusan belongs on the list and not near the bottom either. A member of Minnesota Fury Gold, Amusan has a solid all-around skill set but one attribute that stands out in particular: this girl can flat out shoot the basketball. From 15 to 18 feet this weekend, her jumper was cash money. At 6 feet, with a solid frame, and a tremendous work ethic, I'm guessing we haven't heard the last of the power forward from Woodbury. New names to know Kloe Wadd is an athletic 6' center from Waseca. We have seen her before in a Stars uniform and she just keeps getting bigger and better. Wadd has good skills and is a physical presence in the paint. Her potential is high-end. Rumor has it that Kloe's dad is about 6'6" and grandpa is three inches taller than that. It's important also to note that Kloe is currently in the 7th grade! Shania Van Nett is a 5'2" combo guard from St. Paul Como Park. Shania and Kloe were the only 7th graders in the event and they certainly got noticed. Van Nett has always played up a year or two and it shows. She demonstrated outstanding ball skills, prodigious range, plenty of swagger, and is a physical, in-your-face defender. Shania made an early impression Saturday with a 23-point performance against accomplished varsity players who are three, four and five years older.