Who’s our Northstar Top Performer for Week #12?

Who&#8217;s our Northstar Top Performer for Week #12?

PGH scouts feature ranked athletes from Kansas.

Grant McGinnis February 13, 2018 @ 11:15 PM

Aiana Whitfield, 5'7" junior guard, Benilde-St. Margaret's Aiana led the Knights to three straight victories last week, scoring 18, 18, and 15 points against Richfield, Chaska and Bloomington Kennedy respectively. The Stars Nelson guard has been the model of consistency for 16-6 Benilde, having scored in double figures 18 times. Ranked #45 in the junior class, Whitfield is an under-the-radar star. Elaina Jones, 5'10" junior forward, DeLaSalle The big power forward has been inconsistent in her first season at DeLaSalle after transferring from Como Park. In the absence of leading scorer Nora Francois, however, Jones has definitely picked up the pace offensively. Jones scored 40 points in a pair of games against Holy Angels and Cretin-Derham Hall, drawing high praise from her coach Tanysha Scott. She is a top 25 talent. Gus Boyer, 5'10" sophomore guard, Waseca Boyer drew the unenviable task Saturday of having to guard fellow sophomore Nyamer Diew, Worthington's super-athletic post who is considered one of the state's top prospects. Despite giving away several inches, Boyer did an outstanding job on Diew, holding her to just 8 points. At the other end of the court, the #26-ranked player in the sophomore class was on fire, scoring five threes and 22 points to lead the Bluejays to a convincing win. Jordan Zrust, 5'10" junior guard, Buffalo Jordan's play is a big reason why surging Buffalo had won 10 of its last 12 games to enter the top 20 in our 4A team rankings. Zrust had 22 points against St. Francis, and followed that up with a dozen more against Princeton. Jordan has been good pretty much every night for the Bisons, having topped the 20-point mark nine times this year and being the team's undisputed leader. Lydia Sussner, 5'11" junior center, Minneota Sussner scored 33 points in a huge win over Maranatha last week, including the winning free throw with less than one second remaining on the clock. Ranked 33rd in class of 2019, Sussner is an athletic, mobile player who excels in the low post. She has led Minneota to an impressive 19-4 record. Madi Schirmer, 5'8" junior guard, Maple River Madi is an exciting, athletic guard who knows how to explode to the basket through a phalanx of defenders as well as anyone. She did it multiple times on Saturday, scoring 34 points to give Maple River an opportunity to win, but the Eagles fell just short of their neighborly rivals from NHREG. Schirmer is a scholarship-level prospect ranked #43 in her class. Mallory Heyer, 6-foot 8th grade forward, Chaska Mallory continued her spectacular season last week with 19-, 12- and 16-point performances for the Chaska Hawks in a big win over St. Louis Park and a pair of one-basket losses to Cooper and Benilde-St. Margaret's. Heyer is a rare combination of size, skill, and heart who just keeps on getting better. McKenna Hofschild, 5'3" junior guard, Prior Lake Scored 38 points against Burnsville last week. Hofschild puts up big numbers so often that it's easy to take her greatness for granted. It was McKenna's second 38-point game in the last three – there was a 25-pointer squeezed in between – and the 8th time she has topped the 30-point barrier this season. Hofschild is a tiny dynamo ranked #6 in the junior class. And the winner is… Mallory Heyer – This fabulous freshman continues to impress, turning in one great performance after another. Her energy, enthusiasm, power and skill has combined with that of sophomore Kaylee Van Eps to turn Chaska's season from dismal to hopeful. The Hawks ended the week having won five of their last seven with the two losses being by just one basket apiece. We don't rank players until the summer following their 8th grade year, but you can be certain that six months from now Heyer's name will be at or near the top of the class of 2022.