AAU Preview: MN Heat will 'Battle for Mom' this weekend

The calm before the storm. That's essentially what this weekend's AAU event in Farmington is as the big squads turn their focus to next week's state prelims and a weekend of hard practices while the lesser lights go trophy hunting. That doesn't mean there won't be any quality teams at the Minnesota Heat's Battle for Mom – there will be. Our goal for the weekend is to see as many up-and-coming squads and players as possible. With a lineup that includes strong contingents from Fury 2022 Yellow, Ballin' Pretty 8th, Comets 9 Elite and Minnesota Stars 10 Antl, here are some of the other teams we will be watching. [caption id="attachment_5811" align="alignnone" width="300"] Freshman Kate Trachsel of Prior Lake is the leading prospect on Top Flight 2021. (Photo by Southwest News)[/caption] Top Flight 2021 Coached by Dan Egan, this group of girls surprised a lot of people last year. They do tend to fly under the radar but not for much longer. That's because they have at least five solid prospects who have already distinguished themselves at the high school varsity level. They are: [caption id="attachment_5812" align="alignright" width="249"] Prior Lake's Abby Kuboushek of Top Flight 2021 is a player we are watching. (Photo by Southwest News)[/caption] <ul> <li>Kate Trachsel – The 5'6 guard from Prior Lake is a top 40 talent in the class of 2021. She was a mainstay in the starting lineup for the Lakers and was a key factor in their surprising run to the state tournament. Defense is where Trachsel really shines, and she can lock it down one-on-one with the best of them.</li> <li>Sydni Olson – The 5'8 guard from Waconia is a pure shooter who can bomb it from here, there and everywhere. She gets it up quick and high and you definitely don't want to leave her alone in the corner. Olson is #65 in 2021.</li> <li>Morgan Krumwiede – The 5'10 forward from Burnsville gets better every time we see her. She is physical and powerful and hungry. Krumwiede is still a bit of an unknown commodity but her upside is high.</li> <li>Rachel Kawiecki – The 5'11 forward has started to make a name for herself at Holy Angels where she emerged as an important piece for coach Dan Woods. It will be interesting to see how much better she gets over the summer.</li> <li>Abby Kuboushek – The 5'9 guard from Prior Lake is a bit of a sleeper whose role in the Lakers lineup continued to grow throughout the season. We are intrigued and will be watching her more closely moving forward.</li> </ul>   The hosts from Minnesota Heat You can't have a great party without great hosts and you can always count on Willie and Kelly Vang and their Minnesota Heat club to do things right. We have written at length about the Heat's most intriguing team – Bill Hinck's 2020 squad – but this weekend we're going to take a closer look at three more of the Heat's best. <ul> <li>Winey 8th – We watched this group for a half up at St. Cloud a couple of weeks back but, to be honest, didn't really get a handle on what they have. That will change on Saturday when we look at the Heat's best 2022s coached by Hunter Winey and former Stillwater point guard Claire Patterson.</li> <li>Vang 9th – Kelly (Lund) Vang, head coach at the Blake School, and former White Bear Lake point guard Alison Hinck are in charge of the Heat's top 2021 squad. We watched a half in St. Cloud and there was more than one player who caught our eye. I am particularly intrigued by 6'1 Jenna Guyer of Centennial who has plenty of size and a lot of potential. As soon as she ditches the glasses, Guyer is going to be firmly in the conversation about 2021 posts.</li> <li>Dineen 10th – Team Hinck is going to be great, but we're told the talent level on the Dineen squad isn't far behind. The most familiar name on the roster is 6-foot post Savannah Youngstrom of South St. Paul, who has nice upside. She's joined by guards Karris Zezza of St. Michael-Albertville and Hailey Herzig of Centennial.</li> </ul>   The best of the rest Here's three more teams we haven't seen in 2018. Here's what we know about them. <ul> <li>Stars DeSart 9 – One thing we do know for certain is that Jim DeSart can flat out coach. He has been a mainstay with the Stars, and his kids show consistent improvement. This 2021 team features an outstanding shooter in Cate Moe of Blake, sizeable post Grace Sikkink of Totino-Grace, cagey point guard Natalie Holte of Shakopee, wing Brigid Boyle of St. Agnes, and forward Kelley Brennan of Shakopee.</li> <li>High Impact 9 – We saw the 11th grade High Impact group in St. Louis Park. Now we'll take a look at their best freshmen. The main attraction is Hannah Hannuksela of Mesabi East, who scored 25 points in the 7AA championship game to lead the Giants to their first section crown in 20 years. She's joined by Jacie Clausiau of Hibbing and Paris Pontinen of Mountain Iron-Buhl.</li> <li>High Impact 10 – We know Kaelyn Kudis and Jessa Schroetter of Cherry can score, and we're excited to see what else they can do. They're joined on this 2020 squad by the MIB trio of Miah Gellerstedt, Mia Ganyo and Laney Ryan.</li> </ul>   Saturday's Three to See <ul> <li>Comets Elite 9 vs Fury 2022 Yellow, 9:05 a.m. on court 2</li> <li>Minnesota Stars Antl (2020) vs Iowa Prep 17U (2019), 10:10 a.m. on court 3</li> <li>Ballin' Pretty 8th vs Stars Diemer 8th, 3:35 p.m. on court 2</li> </ul>   Photo top: Jenna Guyer (#45 in back row) is one of the more intriguing Minnesota Heat prospects. The big center from Centennial is in the class of 2021.