More Top Performers

<p><strong>Top Breakout Player</strong></p> <p>The candidates are:</p> <p><strong>Jordan Bloom, Robbinsdale Armstrong, freshman, post</strong></p> <p>The Falcons are struggling at 0-5 since the loss of guard Masengo Mutanda to a knee injury, but that is no fault of freshman post Jordan Bloom. Bloom has been a steady performer, and last week busted loose for 25 points against Coon Rapids and 13 more against Blaine. She’s now scoring 12 ppg for the season.</p> <p><strong>Kayla Bohn, Blaine, sophomore, forward</strong></p> <p>In the same game mentioned above in which Jordan Bloom scored 13 points for Armstrong against Blaine, another breakout player was even better for the Bengals. Like Bloom, she has scored in double figures 3 times in 5 games and is averaging 12 ppg. She scored 31 against Armstrong last week, leading a 61-58 Bengal victory.</p> <p><strong>Olivia Drummer, St. Clair, 5-11, senior, point guard</strong></p> <p>OK, my bad for thinking that Drummer is a breakout. She’s a senior, a returning starter (hey, a 5-year starter) for a pretty good team (17-11 last year), when she scored 15 ppg. Well, we’re gonna call her 31 points against Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial a breakout anyway. Thanks to Drummer, St. Clair pulled out a wild 93-86 win in 4 OT.</p> <p><strong>Jordyn Hilgemann, Marshall, 5-9, freshman, forward</strong></p> <p>Now, returning to more of a typical breakout…well, maybe not. On second thought, Hilgemann’s arrival has been nothing short of meteroric, and Marshall’s 6-0 start owes more to her than to anybody, maybe even coach Dan Westby. She opened the season with a 29-point outburst as Marshall survived small school power SW MN Christian 83-79 in OT. She has scored 20 or more points 3 more times since and she’s now averaging 19 ppg with 6 boards and 2.5 steals. Apparently she’s pretty much unstoppable putting the ball on the floor and getting to the rim. Word is she’s a bona fide D1 prospect in 2 sports. She will be playing in the metro area on January 13 at Hill-Murray.</p> <p><strong>Taylor Janssen, Rosemount, 6-2, sophomore, forward</strong></p> <p>The youth movement is officially underway at Rosemount with 6-1 freshman post Helen Staley and Janssen both averaging in double digits. She scored 19 against Lakeville South a week ago Monday to help the Irish get their 1st win of the season.</p> <p><strong>Sydney White, Andover, 5-7, sophomore, guard</strong></p> <p>Andover is another team in a rebuilding scenario, and they too, like Rosemount, has just won its 1st game. But having White to build around provides ample reason for hope. She broke out of the gate with games of 18 and 27 points, then scored 21 and 13 last week. She is averaging 16 ppg for the year so far.</p> <p><strong>Top Team</strong></p> <p><strong>Hopkins 7-0, #1AAAA</strong></p> <p>We like to spread the wealth a little bit here at Northstar Girls Hoops, but that’s hard to do when the Royals hard so much of it themselves on the court. I mean, last week they played 2 pretty good teams, Cooper and Edina, and won with ridiculous ease.  </p> <p><strong>Maple Grove 5-1, #10AAAA</strong></p> <p>We’re pleased to say that Maple Grove is not a surprise to us, though I don’t remember anybody else having them rated in the pre-season. We had them #13, but now they’ve moved up to #10 with a win over previously #9 Champlin Park.</p> <p><strong>Marshall 6-0, #9AAA</strong></p> <p>After struggling the past 2 years, the Tigers are making a run back up the charts with wins over teams like SW MN Christian, St. Peter, Worthington and (last week) Mankato East.</p> <p><strong>Stephen-Argyle 7-1, #16A</strong></p> <p>The Storm won 3 games at the Northland CTC Tournament, including 2 against rated Red Lake and Badger-Greenbush-Middle River. They’re now 7-1 and #16A.</p> <p><strong>Watertown-Mayer 5-1, #8AA</strong></p> <p>After an early loss to Holy Family, the Royals have won 4 straight including against 2 rated teams, Byron and (last week) New London-Spicer. After falling out of the top 20, they’ve bounced back to #13 and now #8. Monika Czinano is playing like the senior D1 recruit that she is, raising her scoring average to 26 ppg.</p> <p><strong>Top Breakout Team</strong></p> <p><strong>Albany 5-1, #16AA</strong></p> <p>The Huskies have won 5 straight now after an opening loss at Fergus Falls. A 51-38 win at Becker is what got them on our radar, a game in which Albany freshman point guard outscored Becker freshman point guard 15-3.</p> <p><strong>East Grand Forks 5-1, #20AA</strong></p> <p>The Green Wave have lost only to Roseau by 2 points, and boast wins over Crookston and Stephen-Argyle.</p> <p><strong>Mankato West 4-2, #20AAA</strong></p> <p>Not much was expected of the Scarlets but they’ve now won 4 straight against Austin, Winona, New Ulm and Mayo.</p> <p><strong>Royalton 5-1, #22AA</strong></p> <p>The Royals were 14-11 last year and they’ve got their top 6 players—2 juniors and 4 sophomores—back from that team. They’ve lost only to #2AA Rush City and they’ve now won 4 straight including against Kimball, Osakis and St. Cloud Cathedral.</p> <p><strong>Stewartville 6-1, #15AA</strong></p> <p>The Tigers have won 6 straight and are unbeaten against Minnesota competition. Last week’s victims included rated Zumbrota-Mazeppa and Rochester Lourdes.</p> <p><strong>Top Coach</strong></p> <p>You can read about what these coaches have accomplished up above, generally.</p> <p><strong>Brad Baumann, Royalton</strong></p> <p><strong>Brian Cosgriff, Hopkins</strong></p> <p><strong>Ryan Liffrig, Stewartville</strong></p> <p><strong>Dan Lindgren, Stephen-Argyle</strong></p> <p><strong>Dan Westby, Marshall</strong></p>