Week 1 Breakout Player of the Week Award
Marc Hugunin
<p>There’s lots of breakout players at this time of the year. Girls have had a whole 8 months to refine their chops and now comes the big opportunity to get out there and show what you can do. Here are 5 girls who showed ‘em this 1st weekend of the new season.</p>
<p><strong>Nora Francois, DeLa Salle, 6-0, freshman, forward</strong></p>
<p><strong>Nurjei Weems, DeLaSalle, 6-0, sophomore, forward</strong></p>
<p>If you needed proof of DeLaSalle’s utter embarrassment of riches, well, here it is. In 2 games at St. Thomas, a young forward led the team in scoring each time—freshman Nora Francois with 18 in Friday’s 69-25 demo of Totino-Grace, and sophomore Nurjei Weems with 14 in Saturday’s 52-36 romp over Holy Family.</p>
<p><strong>Amanda Giesen, New Prague, sophomore, forward</strong></p>
<p>Giesen pretty much defines a Breakout. She scored 2 ppg last year as an 8th grader. Now, as a 9th grader, she has not only earned a starting spot but she is now the team’s leading scorer with 31 points in 2 games at Hamline. It’s true that the Trojans lost twice, 60-56 to Stillwater and 59-51 to White Bear, but Giesen’s emergence alongside New Prague’s veterans has already raised expectations for a productive season.</p>
<p>Johnson had a great summer season but nobody expected her to emerge as a go-to player for a top 5 AAAA team—that is the Wayzata Trojans. But that’s what she did over her 1st weekend of the year. She scored 30 points in 2 games as Wayzata won a couple of toughies over Rosemount and Moorhead.</p>
<p><strong>Zaraya March, Kennedy, 5-9, junior, wing</strong></p>
<p>March is less of a breakout than our other candidates—she’s a junior, and she’s more of a known quantity. But if a Breakout signifies a step forward in performance, that’s what she did with 26 points Saturday in a hard-fought 54-52 win over Stillwater.</p>
<p><strong>Alex Walker, Holy Angels, 5-9, sophomore, combo guard</strong></p>
<p>We’ve written about Holy Angels’ options at the 1, the only position where they don't have a starter coming back from the 1st and 3rd place state tournament teams of the past 2 years. They’ll miss Megan Thompson. But they’ve got 4 options, and on Saturday it was Alex Walker who exploded for 17 points in their 72-37 win over Lourdes.</p>
<p><strong>Week 1 Breakout Player of the Week</strong></p>
<p>Our choice for Breakout Player of the Week is Jenna Johnson, Wayzata, freshman, post.</p>
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