Section 6AAAA Preview

A funny thing happened to Hopkins on the way to its 6th state tournament in the past 7 years, and its 6th appearance in the state Class AAAA final (of which it has won 4 and lost 2) in those same 7 years. The young, upstart Wayzata Trojans ran out to a 12 point halftime lead, before running out of gas in the 2nd half. From those section finalists, Hopkins looses only guard DeeDee Winston, while Wayzata loses Sidney Franks and Camryn Hay. 7 of 10 starters in that game return, and each team has young talent ready to take the place and even to upgrade from their graduated starters of a year ago. In short, Hopkins vs. Wayzata could be a state final, or certainly a semi. But it will occur in Section 6AAAA. For the 8th time in 8 years, Hopkins will be favored—pending, of course, the outcome of their none-and-home conference matchups at Wayzata on January 12 and at Hopkins on February 16—but Wayzata will have better odds of an upset than any team has had against Hopkins in the section since 2010. Of course, they’ll have to win twice to get to that game, but the odds of that are extremely good, though Mpls. South and St. Louis Park are not bad, and Robbinsdale Armstrong could be as good or better depending on injuries. 1. Hopkins 31-1, state runnerup to Elk River 64-60 last year For starters, Hopkins has the best player in the state of Minnesota, and she’s just a sophomore. The fact that she’s a sophomore is significant as it relates to 2019 and 2020. The fact that she’s Minnesota’s best player is all you need to know for 2018. She scored 21 ppg, and she threw passes and grabbed rebounds that no other player could have done. Also returning from a year ago are 6-0 senior post Angie Hammond and 5-8 junior power forward Dlayla Chakolis. They make Hopkins extremely tough in the lane. On the wings you’ve got unstoppable senior guard Raena Suggs, and sophomores Jaide Pressley and Kahla Adams. But, what makes Hopkins so much better than a year ago—well, yes, everybody’s got another year under their belt. But the Royals also have 6-1 Kira Mosley, left-handed forward, who transferred in from Eden Prairie, and 5-7 combo guard Amaya Battle. Now, Hopkins had Battle a year ago but she was in the 7th grade. Now, as an 8th grader, she is ready to contribute. She played the 1 against Wayzata in a Fall League game in place of the injured Bueckers and had almost no turnovers and drained a big 3 late in the game. Wayzata is improved over a year ago, but Hopkins is just as improved, and remains the favorite. 2. Wayzata 22-7, lost to Hopkins 81-74 in Section 6AAAA final Wayzata loses guard Sidney Franks from last year’s team, but sophomore Jasmine Smiley is more than ready to take her place. Who’ll take Smiley’s place off the bench, I don’t know, so there’s one tiny little hole in Wayzata’s depth chart. Then, they also lose post Camryn Hay. But, seriously, they can replace her with returnees Ella Schrader or Elise Wienzierl, or with newcomers Annika Stewart or Jenna Johnson. All of them are 6-footers. Stewart and Wienzierl are 6-3. Wienzierl returns from last year bigger, stronger and better. Stewart has transferred in from North Dakota somewhere. Her sister Breanna played for North Tartan a couple summers ago, and now she’s at Iowa. Annika is not as big or as strong but, hey, she’s two-and-a-half years younger than Breanna was that summer she played for Tartan. She’s got all the upside in the world. Meanwhile, Schrader and Johnson are closer to 6-feet even. Schrader returns from last year when she scored about 5 ppg off the bench. Johnson is just a freshman and may be the best of the four already. She was last month in a 40-36 win over Hopkins in the Fall League. Leading the way for Wayzata are 6-1 power forward Kallie Thiesen, who recently moved up to our slot as the #1 player in the state in the class of 2019, and point guard extraordinaire Mimi Schrader. Taken against Hopkins on a position-by-position basis, you gotta love Wayzata’s depth in the post and Smiley at the 3-spot. You gotta like Bueckers and Suggs at the guards. The benches are a tossup—Hopkins has better depth on the perimeter, Wayzata inside. That brings it down to Kallie Thiesen and Dlayla Chakolis and, even though Theisen is #1, they’re closer than you might think. That makes it 4-3 Wayzata. But, seriously, you gotta love Bueckers and Suggs at the guards and 4-3 or not, they make Hopkins a slight fave. 3. Mpls. South 23-6, lost to Hopkins 85-42 in Section 6AAAA SF South lacked the depth to stay with Hopkins last year and they lack the depth to stay with Hopkins this year. But the Tigers can score. Senior wing Morgan Hill gets to the rim at will and her conversion percentage keeps getting better. She averaged 25 ppg, 9 rebounds, and 3 asts last year. And, her little sister Jade is the point guard, and just a freshman who was our 8th grader of the year in high school last year and our top 2021 this past summer. She is going to do nothing but get better and better. Then there’s junior Solana Cushing, who can drain the long bomb from the corners, and senior post Ariyon Kelly, who is an enforcer inside. South will win a lot of games with those 4 players, but 4 is not enough in a Section 6AAAA SF. 4. St. Louis Park 11-16, lost to Robbinsdale Cooper 76-52 in a Section 6AAAA QF The Orioles have been rebuilding for a long, long time but now they’re getting somewhere. Forwards Kendal Coley, a 5-11 freshman, and Shayla Miller, a 5-11 sophomore, and 5-10 junior guard Lindsey Olson, are all solid players with good size. I do wish that collectively they were a little more physical. But, they’ve also got help in guards Dylisi and Joelle Sheffield, Jordyn Turek, and Kamil Mayfield, and 5-9 junior forward Sophie Olmen. The only thing missing is a winning tradition, but I think that’s about to change. 5. Robbinsdale Armstrong 15-12, lost to Mpls. South 44-39 in a Section 6AAAA QF Armstrong has a terrific 1-2 punch in 6-1 junior forward Carly Krsul (13 ppg-9 reb-3 asts) and 5-7 junior guard Masengo Mutanda (21 ppg-8 reb-2 asts), but the caveat here is that Mutanda is coming back from a knee injury. An explosive first step is her stock in trade, so it might be awhile before she’s 100 percent, but when she is, she has the potential to be one of Minnesota’s top players. In the meantime Jordan Bloom, Tiana James and Jessica Hanley may have to take bigger roles and, long term, that experience might be a good thing. Mutanda is not a 1, and so one of these is going to have to emerge as a big-time AAAA 1 for this team to fully realize its upside. 6. Bloomington Kennedy 17-11, lost to Holy Angels 48-33 in Section 3AAA final Kennedy and Cooper swap places, Cooper moving from Section 6AAAA into Class AAA, Kennedy moving up from Class AAA to take Cooper’s place, well, sort of. Cooper would be #3 in this section if they were in it. Kennedy, as you see, faces some rebuilding and gets #6. Kennedy lost their top 2 scorers, Alyssa Bryan-Jeffries and Honour Finley, but they do have at least four contributors coming back. Zaraya March is an explosive 5-9 junior wing, while Sam Husting is an active, aggressive 5-9 junior point guard. Amaya Graf brings 5-11 size, and she is also a junior, so maybe 2019 is their year. 7. Mpls. Southwest 8-19, lost to Wayzata 54-16 in Section 6AAAA QF Southwest has also been rebuilding the past couple of years now. They’ll continue to rebuild around Olivia Youngdahl, a versatile 6-2 junior who plays inside and out and scored 10 ppg last year. This year she’ll be joined by newcomer, point guard Cherish Henderson, who is ready to go at this level as a freshman. 8. Mpls. Washburn 7-20, lost to Hopkins 75-21 in Section 6AAAA QF The glory days of Chase Coley and Lucia Renikoff are rapidly receding in the rear view mirror. The Millers have some good depth coming back—and, consisting mostly of sophomores and juniors, so maybe there is hope for 2019. But no one is a proven go-to type player at this stage, so time will tell if the pieces might begin to jell as the season goes along. All-Section 6AAAA Center—Angie Hammond, Hopkins, 6-1, senior, 8 ppg. Yes, Wayzata’s incredible depth gives them an advantage at this position, but no one of them has accomplished what Hammond has to date. Always a scrappy, effective defensive player, she has also developed a nice jumper out to about 12 feet. Power Forward—Kallie Theisen, Wayzata, 6-1, junior, 13 ppg. As noted, our #1 player in the state among the 2019s. Relentless. Small Forward—Morgan Hill. Mpls. South, 5-9, senior, 25 ppg-9 reb-3 asts. Great scorer, great athlete. Point Guard—Paige Bueckers, Hopkins, 5-9, sophomore, 21 ppg-8 reb-4 asts. Minnesota’s top player. Shooting Guard—Raena Suggs, Hopkins, 5-7, senior, 18 ppg-4 reb. Unstoppable. The truth is she’s got 2 scoring moves, yet nobody can stop her. Explosive is the word. 2nd Team Center—Annika Stewart, Wayzata, 6-3, sophomore. Power Forward—Dlayla Chakolis, Hopkins, 5-8, junior, 13 ppg-7 reb-2 asts. Small Forward—Zaraya March, Kennedy, 5-9, junior, 10 ppg. Point Guard—Mimi Schrader, Wayzata, 5-9, junior, 11 ppg. Shooting Guard—Masengo Mutanda, Armstrong, 5-7, junior, 21 ppg-8 reb-2 asts. When healthy. 3rd Team Center—Ariyon Kelly, Mpls. South, 5-11, senior, 5 ppg-5 reb. Power Forward—Carly Krsul, Armstrong, 6-1, junior, 13 ppg-9 reb-3 asts. Small Forward—Olivia Youndahl, Southwest, 6-2, junior, 10 ppg-7 reb-5 asts. Point Guard—Jade Hill, Mpls. South, 5-7, freshman, 13 ppg-6 reb-5 asts. Shooting Guard— Jasmine Smiley, Wayzata, 5-8, sophomore, 6 ppg. Stock Raisers Center—Jenna Johnson, Wayzata, 6-1, freshman. Power Forward—Kira Mosley, Hopkins, 6-1, senior. Transfer from Eden Prairie who missed last year with an injury. Small Forward—Shayla Miller, St. Louis Park, 5-11, sophomore, 10 ppg-5 reb-2 asts. Point Guard—Amaya Battle, Hopkins, 5-6, 8th grade, 3 ppg. Shooting Guard—Lindsey Olson, St. Louis Park, 5-10, junior, 9 ppg-4 reb-2 asts. 2nd Stock Raisers This section is so deep with talent that you’ve got to go 10 deep to even begin to highlight all the up-and-coming talent that’s out there. Center—Amaya Graf, Kennedy, 5-11, junior, 5 ppg. Power Forward—Kendal Coley, St. Louis Park, 5-11, freshman, 9 ppg. Small Forward—Jaide Pressley, Hopkins, 5-9, sophomore, 5 ppg. Point Guard—Cherish Henderson, Mpls. Southwest, freshman. Shooting Guard—Joelle (Jo-Jo) Sheffield, St. Louis Park, 5-7, freshman.