Section 5AA Preview

The rule of thumb in Section 5AA is that you can see a couple of finals in the semi-finals. Then, add Maranatha, Mpls. North and Blake into the mix and you’ve got, possibly, the toughest section in the state.

• First, you’ve got Annandale, Holy Family and defending section champion Watertown-Mayer from the tough Wright County Conference. Sure, the Royals have lost Claire Killian and Kirsten Klitzke, but they’ve got Monika Czinano back. Annandale has almost everybody back, and Holy Family has a great young nucleus of sophomores and juniors.

• Then in the public school division you’ve got Mpls. North with everybody back, and you’ve got a couple of teams from Central Minnesota, Maple Lake and Howard Lake, each with five experienced contributors back.

• Then you’ve got Blake, Breck and Providence from the IMAC, and Maranatha and Southwest Christian from the MCAA. Providence has Anna Counts and Maggie Murphy.  Blake has bunch of youngsters. Maranatha has its usual deep roster led by a pair of blue chip seniors. SWC has three experienced seniors and a bunch of help. OK, Breck is probably out of their depth here.

But that leaves a total of 10 teams with at least a hope. Here’s how we think they stack up.

Annandale 16-12 last year, lost to Holy Family 52-47 in section 5AA QF

Holy Family 17-11, lost to Watertown-Mayer 55-44 in section 5AA final

Maranatha 24-9, section 5A champion

OK, don’t panic. These are the top 3 teams listed in alpha order. Let’s see how they match up.

At the post, Annandale has 6-1 senior Allie Spaulding (9 ppg), the Fire 6-0 junior Julia Geurs (6 ppg). Maranatha is unproven in the middle. Advantage Annandale.

At the 4 spot, the Cardinals have 6-0 senior Kamryn D’Heilly (16 ppg), Maranatha has 6-1 Jaclyn Jarnot (18 ppg), while Holy Family can put Claire Melander or Anna Vakulskas out there. Advantage Maranatha.

At the 3, the Cardinals have one of Minnesota’s best in 6-0 Hannah Purcell (16 ppg), who crashes the lane like a post and handles it like a 1. The Fire are in good shape with junior Grace Conroy (9 ppg). Maranatha has some options but not at that level. Advantage Annandale.

At the 2, Maranatha really has some options in Breianna Smestad, K.J. Davis and Macy Smith. Holy Family has steady senior Shea Thompson (8 ppg). Annandale has junior Taylor Medvec (6 ppg). Advantage Maranatha.

Finally, the 1 is where games really get decided anyway, right? Maranatha has the advantage with senior Kylie Post (12 ppg). Holy Family has junior Leigh Steiner, sophomore Grace Elander and other options. Annandale has 5-4 senior Grace Atkinson (4 ppg).

So, while it’s hard not to like Annandale’s front line, that’s just too many advantages for Maranatha. 1) Maranatha, 2) Annandale, 3) Holy Family. Okay, this is fun. Let’s do it again.

Minneapolis North 18-10 last year, lost to Lester Prairie-HT 67-47 in section 4A SF

Providence 16-9, lost to Eden Valley-Watkins 55-43 in section 5AA QF

Watertown-Mayer 28-4, section 5AA champion

Our next 3. At the post, the Royals have one of Minnesota’s best in 6-2 senior and Iowa recruit Monika Czinano. Providence counters with 6-2 senior Anna Counts (10 ppg). North doesn’t have a post. They will play 5 guards.

At the 4, Providence has rugged 5-10 junior Maggie Murphy (14 ppg). At the 3, North has 5-9 sophomore Alani Pettis, who got to the rim for 11 ppg as a freshman. Libby Heilman has some upside for the Royals. At the 2, North has 5-6 junior Monique Wooten (16 ppg).

At the all-important 1, well, Providence and Watertown will be breaking in a new starter. North brings back Serena Ballard, just 5-2, but managed to score 10 ppg last year. The big question at North, however, is whether Andrea Gray, 5-4 guard who scored 11 ppg 2 years ago, might be back. If so, North looks a little bit better but, well, still not #3.

4) Mpls. North, 5) Watertown-Mayer, 6) Providence

7. Southwest Christian 19-7 last year, lost to Litchfield 54-45 in section 5AA QF

SWC has something a lot of their opponents don’t have and that is size in 5-11 junior Brenna Krommendyk (7 ppg-7 reb), plus experienced wings in seniors Sydney Bear (9 ppg-3 reb-2 asts) and Grace Schmidt (10 ppg). If sophomores Lily Schwen and Lauren Jones (11 ppg between them) come along, the Stars could make some noise.

8. Maple Lake 14-12, lost to Watertown-Mayer 66-32 in section 5AA QF

Senior guards Lindsay Rachel (13 ppg), Mollie Schrieber (7) and McKenna Brown (6) make the Irish dangerous, but it remains to be seen if they can score inside.

9. Blake 13-14, lost to state champion Orono 61-36 in section 6AAA final

Blake will be young and small, but don’t forget they’re dropping down for Class AAA to AA, where size isn’t quite the big deal it is at AAA. Guards Robbie Grace (5-9, junior, 8 ppg) and Cate Moe (freshman, 10 ppg) will lead the way. There are no seniors after the loss of Nia Harris to graduation, so time will tell how these pieces will fit together.

10. Howard Lake-Winsted-Waverly 3-24, lost to Holy Family 45-20 in section 5AA 1st round

A state tournament entry, and a pretty good one, just a few short years ago, the Lakers have fallen on hard times. We’ll have to see if they can get up. They have 3 seniors for leadership and sophomores C.J. Decker and Alexa Schuman (16 ppg between them) for scoring, so a turnaround is possible.

The Rest of the Rest

If Howard Lake can make a run from 3-24 a year ago, I guess you’d have to consider that Litchfield could make a run from 18-10. But, while the Lakers have just about everybody back, Litchfield has lost 5 starters and 40-plus points. Freshman Kamri Driver and Sydney McCann are the future at Litch. But, beyond that, frankly, I can’t imagine any other real surprises in 5AA.

All-Section

Center—Monika Czinano, Watertown-Mayer, 6-2, senior, 17 ppg

Power Forward—Jaclyn Jarnot, Maranatha, 6-1, senior, 18 ppg

Small Forward—Hannah Purcell, Annandale, 6-0, junior, 16 ppg

Point Guard—Kylie Post, Maranatha, 5-7, senior, 12 ppg

Shooting Guard—Alani Pettis, Mpls. North, 5-9, sophomore, 11 ppg

Second Team

Center—Anna Counts, Providence, 6-2, senior, 10 ppg

Power Forward—Kamryn D’Heilly, Annandale, 6-0, senior, 14 ppg

Small Forward—Grace Conroy, Holy Family, 5-10, junior, 9 ppg

Point Guard—Lindsey Rachel, Maple Lake, 5-7, senior, 13 ppg

Shooting Guard—Shea Thompson, Holy Family, 5-8, senior, 8 ppg

Third Team

Center—Allie Spaulding, Annandale, 6-1, senior, 9 ppg

Power Forward—Maggie Murphy, Providence, 5-10, junior, 14 ppg

Small Forward—Madison Fiecke, Howard Lake, senior, 12 ppg

Point Guard—Serena Ballard, Mpls. North, 5-2, senior, 10 ppg

Shooting Guard—Monique Wooten, Mpls. North, 5-6 junior, 16 ppg

Stock Raisers

Center—Julia Geurs, Holy Family, 6-0, junior, 6 ppg

Power Forward—Brenna Krommendyk, SWC, 5-11, junior, 7 ppg-7 reb

Small Forward—Libby Heilman, Watertown-Mayer, 5-8, sophomore, 4 ppg

Point Guard—C.J. Decker, Howard Lake, 5-6, sophomore, 9 ppg

Shooting Guard—Macy Smith, Maranatha, 5-7, freshman, 3 ppg