Meet the 2019 Minnesota AAU Player of the Year & All Stars

<blockquote>It wouldn’t be difficult to name one of the top two seniors in the state from one of the top AAU teams in the country as this summer’s most valuable player in the class. I mean, Sara Scalia of Stillwater has a scholarship to Minnesota of the Big Ten, Kallie Theisen of Wayzata is headed for South Dakota State and their North Tartan 2019 EYBL squad finished near the top of the heap at the Nike Nationals. Either/or would be deserving winners. In our mind, however, an MVP is truly defined by the value they bring to their particular team. Nobody meant more to the success of her squad than Joey Batt of Minnesota Rise 2019 Wolfe. After a summer of stellar basketball, during which she wowed us game after game after game, we are pleased to name Joey as the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2019 AAU Player of the Year.</blockquote> [caption id="attachment_11708" align="alignleft" width="300"] Size matters but not as much when you can get up in the air like Joey Batt, our summer MVP for the class of 2019.[/caption] “She certainly was the catalyst for our team on both ends of the floor,” said Rise Coach Dan Wolfe, who was recently named as our AAU Coach of the Year. “Joey is a special player. I just have not seen an athlete be able to play so hard for so long. Her stamina is just unbelievable. She can play defensively full court and she just never seems to be tired.“ Batt provided the Rise with superior ball handling, great floor management, a devastating first step and an uncanny ability to weave her way through bigger, stronger players en route to the basket. Batt also scores at a prolific pace. This past high school season she averaged nearly 26 points per game putting her among the top 10 in the state. She was also top 10 in made three pointers and tossed in 4 rebounds and 4 assists per game just for good measure. In February she committed to Division 2 MSU-Mankato not long after consecutive games against ranked opponents of 38, 38, 34 and 30 points. “Joey is an impact player on both ends of the floor,” Wolfe said. “Her toughness is just something that is really special. We thought she broke her nose at the Simply the Best tournament in Iowa. It happened in the first half. She’s got blood coming out and her nose is swelling up all orange. She sits down with an ice bag and I tell her she’s not going to play in the second half. We were up big so there was no reason to play her and we thought she may have broken her nose. She was just so upset with me because she thought she could play.” After being cleared by a doctor, Batt returned to the court later in the day. “I tried to tell her to dial it down a notch,” Wolfe said. “Well there was none of that. The first loose ball that was in her area she was diving on the floor for. That’s just the kind of kid she is.” Batt also possesses a superior mental game to go with excellent leadership and communications skills. It’s a nice package that meant everything to the Rise this year. The only time the team stumbled – the team won five events and went 33-7 on the summer – was when Batt was absent for parts of the AAU state tournament because she had to play softball for New Ulm. “It was a lot of fun,” Batt said of her final AAU summer. “It was my second year playing with most of those people so we already knew our strengths and our weaknesses. I think we combined really well. We have a lot of team chemistry so we play really well together… It’s sad to be done. I’m definitely going to miss it.” Of course, Batt wasn’t the only player in the class of 2019 who excelled this AAU season. Power forward Elaina Jones of Suns 2019 Jefferson (DeLaSalle) proved to observers that she is a Division 1-level player (she just committed to Idaho State), Abby Leach of Stars 2019 Nelson (Forest Lake) made a huge step up in her performance and Lariah Washington of Comets Elite (St. Cloud Apollo) showed us she could do more than just score. Without further ado, here are your Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2019 Summer All Stars. 2019 All Star Team <ul> <li>Joey Batt, guard, Minnesota Rise (New Ulm) (MSU-Mankato)</li> <li>Sara Scalia, guard, North Tartan 2019 EYBL (Stillwater) (Minnesota)</li> <li>Taylor McAulay, guard, Fury 2019 Gauntlet (Centennial) (Drake)</li> <li>Elaina Jones, forward, Suns 2019 Jefferson (DeLaSalle) (Idaho State)</li> <li>Kallie Theisen, forward, North Tartan 2019 EYBL (Wayzata) (South Dakota State)</li> </ul> Second Team <ul> <li>Kacie Borowicz, guard, Stars 2019 Amundson (Roseau) (North Dakota)</li> <li>McKenna Hofschild, guard, Fury 2019 Gauntlet (Prior Lake)</li> <li>Mimi Schrader, guard, Suns 2019 Keitzer (Wayzata) (Navy)</li> <li>Abby Leach, wing, Stars 2019 Nelson (Forest Lake) </li> <li>Frannie Hottinger, forward, North Tartan 2019 EYBL (Cretin-Derham Hall) (Lehigh)</li> </ul> Honorable Mention <ul> <li>Madison Gehloff, guard, Minnesota Rise (Waseca)</li> <li>Lariah Washington, guard, Comets 2019 Elite (St. Cloud Apollo)</li> <li>Katie Tornstrom, guard, Southern Minnesota Fury 2019 (Caledonia) (MSU-Moorhead)</li> <li>Hannah DeMars, wing, Stars 2019 Amundson (Grand Rapids) (Jamestown)</li> <li>Dlayla Chakolis, forward, Stars 2019 Nelson (Hopkins) (Hampton)</li> </ul>   Top photo: Joey Batt (right) of New Ulm was a force at both ends of the floor this summer for the Minnesota Rise, whether she was scoring buckets or guarding talented players like Mackenzie Schweim (left) of Minnesota Nice. (Photos courtesy of Nancy Rorman)