Big Mo offers up a Big Show to highlight week 2 of fall league
Maurice Hodges is a pretty chill guy. The Burnsville High School coach is a soft-spoken engineer, who measures his words, thinks before he speaks and is not prone to hyperbole of any description. Sunday afternoon at the Breakdown Fall League…
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Continue ReadingMaurice Hodges is a pretty chill guy. The Burnsville High School coach is a soft-spoken engineer, who measures his words, thinks before he speaks and is not prone to hyperbole of any description. Sunday afternoon at the Breakdown Fall League he didn’t have to say a word because one of his rising young stars was letting her play do enough talking for the both of them. Sophomore forward Morgan Krumwiede – better known as ‘Mo’ to her teammates – was making it loud and clear that she is a prospect on the move. Meanwhile, standing inconspicuously against the end wall, Coach Mo was just smiling.
Morgan Krumwiede is a three-sport athlete at Burnsville, who plays softball and tennis. (photo courtesy of Southwest News Media)We have been talking a fair amount about Krumwiede since first catching sight of her about 18 months ago. She’s a physical, tenacious, athletic presence – a quintessential ‘banger’ some would say – and that’s what stood out immediately during her freshman year. There wasn’t a whole lot of finesse involved in the early going, but by spring the 5’10 forward’s game was evolving into something more. This summer she emerged as a scholarship-level prospect with Top Flight 2021. Sunday against an Edina split squad we saw a whole different Mo. You can add ‘finesse’ to the adjectives now being used to describe Krumwiede (along with ‘smooth’ and ‘fluid’) because Morgan made it pretty obvious that there’s more to her game than bumps and bruises.
What we saw Sunday was a more polished player who was going about her business with a high degree of confidence. Oh, she was still rebounding hard and making life difficult for whoever was unlucky enough to be in the neighborhood. But she was also making the kind of silky-smooth offensive plays that elite-level players make.
At one point Morgan brought the ball up the floor with pace and made a hard beeline at her defender along the right sideline. From there Krumwiede offered up a fake and a stutter-step, and the defender swallowed it whole. The play finished with a cut to the middle and a smooth pull-up jump shot from about 15 feet. Nothing but net. Picture Lauren Jensen of Lakeville North doing her thing and there you have it. Something tells me Morgan’s freshman average of 7.7 points per game is due for a spike.
Reigniting the Blaze in Burnsville
When the summer season ended Krumwiede jumped up 20 places in the class of 2021 rankings to #59, and there was no shortage of suitors for the 2019 AAU season. The lucky winner was Sam Ebenreiter, coach of Minnesota Fury 2021 Yellow. “She’s so long and athletic. That’s the thing about her that sticks out as soon as she walks in the gym,” Ebbenreiter said of Krumwiede, who also plays tennis and softball at Burnsville. “She’s going to fit in perfectly with our team’s fast-paced, up-and-down style of play. She can run, and she’s an incredible rebounder. She does a better job at getting off the floor and rebounding the ball at its high point than most girls I’ve coached. Her versatility is huge, too. Even though she’s not 6’2 she can bang inside defensively but then step out and put the ball on the floor offensively and get in the lane with ease.”
In fact, she reminds us a lot of Maggie Czinano of Watertown-Mayer, who has been Ebenreiter’s best player of late. Maggie arrived at Fury Yellow with potential and left as a top 20 prospect who had earned a promotion to the top Fury Gauntlet squad. “I think she is a very similar type of player to Maggie,” Ebenreiter said of Krumwiede. “She’s obviously not quite at the same level yet at this point in her career, but their profile and style of play is very similar. If she keeps working there is no reason that she can’t get to that level, too. She’s going to turn a lot of heads.”
Burnsville head coach Maurice Hodges.Clearly, Ebenreiter knows what he’s getting. Hodges knows what he already has. Chances are, a number of Burnsville’s opponents are going to find out the hard way this winter. Hodges has been laying the groundwork for a Blaze rebuild since taking over a program that has not been good for a very long time. The culture change is taking root, and the roster is looking good. Players unwilling to buy in on the new approach have moved on but this year’s starting lineup is strong. Consider that Burnsville has a solid gold point guard in 2020 #14 Zhane Thompson, who was the team’s leading scorer with 15 ppg as a sophomore. She’ll be part of the new-look North Tartan EYBL squad next summer, and has the skills and speed to turn defenders inside out with a wink.
Junior Kaylee VanDerWerf has returned home from Holy Angels where she averaged 6 and 6 last season and also swatted 24 blocks. The 6’1 forward is ranked #23 In the junior class and this might be the breakthrough season we have been waiting for from the Fury 2020 Gauntlet veteran. Then there are juniors Paige Servais and Megan Diggan, two exceptional shooters with a lunch-pail work ethic and a team-first mentality who combined for nearly 16 ppg. They’ll form the backbone of a Burnsville lineup that could make the Blaze worth more than just conversation.
Top photo: Sophomore Morgan Krumwiede was on fire Sunday at week two of Breakdown Fall League. (Photo courtesy of Southwest News Media)