More Top Performers

<p><strong>Top Breakout Performers</strong></p> <p><strong>Natalie Erhard, Minnetonka, 5-9, junior, guard</strong></p> <p>Always a solid defender, the junior guard is now emerging as an offensive threat as well. She scored 16 points as the Skippers defeated Simley 65-34, then added 13 in a 71-70 upset win at Park Center. The 29 points now represent more than half of her total for the year.</p> <p><strong>Sophia Hart, Farmington, 6-4, freshman, post</strong></p> <p>A college coach asked me what I thought of Sophia Hart, who scored 26 points in 3 fairly slowly-paced games down at St. Olaf. Well, she’s raw. But what 6-4 freshman isn’t a little bit raw? The fact is she’s further along than almost any freshman post other than Aliza Karlen (last year) that I’ve seen in recent years.</p> <p><strong>Paige Kindseth, Farmington, 5-8, freshman, guard</strong></p> <p>Another Farmingtonian, Kindseth is an athletic guard with a great stroke on her shot. She made the play of the day last Friday at St. Olaf, closing out on a Grand Rapids 3-point shooter at the top of the key, rejecting the shot with a resounding block, then chasing the ball down and scoring on the other end.</p> <p><strong>Hannah Lamkin, Eagan, 5-7, freshman, guard</strong></p> <p>The 1-9 Wildcats continue to struggle but Lamkin (along with sophomore guard Taylor Gregin) offer hope for the future. Lamkin is active and aggressive and scored 34 points in 3 low-scoring games at St. Olaf.</p> <p><strong>Haidyn Pitsch, Prior Lake, 5-5, freshman, guard</strong></p> <p>A 2-1 week at St. Olaf only gets the Lakers to 4-9 for the year, and everybody not named McKenna Hofschild struggles to score. But Pitsch showed signs of becoming the #2 option at Prior Lake with 16 points vs. Providence. She hit the 3, and she penetrated into the lane and scored on a pull-up and at the rim.</p> <p><strong>Top Teams</strong></p> <p><strong>Champlin Park </strong></p> <p>The Rebels won 2 games at Park Center over Rogers and Cretin, after beating Centennial the previous week, to go 7-2 and move up from #11AAAA to #6.</p> <p><strong>Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton</strong></p> <p>DGF pulled maybe the week’s—and, maybe, the year’s—biggest upset 66-62 at Moorhead to go 7-0. These Rebels had all 5 starters in double figures and held Sam Haiby to 16 points in the win.</p> <p><strong>Eastview </strong></p> <p>The Lightning went 3-0 at St. Olaf, including 66-56 win over then #1AAAA Hopkins, moved up from #3 to #1.</p> <p><strong>Mountain Iron-Buhl</strong></p> <p>The Rangers swept 3 games in their own holiday tournament but, remember, playing at home is no guarantee. Just ask Moorhead. The biggest of the 3 wins was a 59-40 shellacking of highly rated Bigfork.</p> <p><strong>Roseville </strong></p> <p>The Raiders swept 3 games in its own holiday tournament. Now 8-2, they moved into the top 10 in Class AAAA from #15.</p> <p><strong>Top Breakout Teams</strong></p> <p><strong>Fergus Falls</strong></p> <p>The Otters got to 8-2 with wins over Thief River Falls and Maranatha.</p> <p><strong>Houston</strong></p> <p>The Hurricanes got to 10-1 and moved into our top 25 in Class A with a pair of wins over Fillmore Central and Kingsland.</p> <p><strong>Irondale</strong></p> <p>The Knights defeated Jefferson and Tartan in their holiday tournament to get to 8-3 and to move into our Class AAAA top 25.</p> <p><strong>Princeton</strong></p> <p>The Tigers are now 7-4 and have moved into the Class AAA top 25 with wins over Becker and Watertown-Mayer two win the Monticello holiday tournament.</p> <p><strong>St. Peter</strong></p> <p>St. Peter entered the season highly rated but got off to a 1-4 start. They got back to .500 with a surprising 48-41 win over Anoka in the Rochester tournament.</p> <p><strong>Top Coaches</strong></p> <p>You can read what these coaches did last week in the team descriptions above.</p> <p><strong>Josh Steck, Champlin Park</strong></p> <p><strong>Tom Crtichley, Jr., DGF</strong></p> <p><strong>Brad Strand, Fergus Falls</strong></p> <p><strong>Dale Moga, Houston</strong></p> <p><strong>Jeff Crosby, Roseville</strong></p> <p><strong>And the Winners Are…</strong></p> <p><strong>Top Performer </strong>Megan Walstad, Eastview</p> <p><strong>Top Breakout Performer </strong>Natalie Erhard, Minnetonka</p> <p><strong>Top Team </strong>Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton</p> <p><strong>Top Breakout Team </strong>Fergus Falls</p> <p><strong>Top Coach </strong>Josh Steck, Champlin Park</p> <p> </p>