Neither rain nor sleet nor a snowy snafu could keep us from our appointed rounds on day one of Holiday Tournament Week
Well that was fun. Not! That’s my summation of the first day of Holiday Tournament Week circa 2018. It began well enough, with a nice lunch at the King House restaurant in Delano (highly recommended!), and a leisurely drive the…
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Continue ReadingWell that was fun. Not! That’s my summation of the first day of Holiday Tournament Week circa 2018. It began well enough, with a nice lunch at the King House restaurant in Delano (highly recommended!), and a leisurely drive the rest of the way to Willmar. It ended with a four-hour, white-knuckle excursion through the first snowstorm of the winter, a 35-mph adventure that lasted well into Thursday morning. In between there were two decent basketball games, a couple of nice individual performances and a change in plans for day two. No, I did not make the early morning drive to Montgomery Thursday as anticipated. Roseville or Park Center would be plenty far enough thank you very much.
I knew there was a problem Wednesday when I arrived to a pretty much empty parking lot at the Willmar High School and the activities entrance was pitch dark. I was there early for an interview with Minnehaha Academy coach Matt Pryor, whose team was scheduled to play in the tournament. Not feeling good about the situation I immediately texted the coach. “Isn’t your game in Willmar?” I wrote. “Uh oh,” he replied. Uh oh, indeed. Turns out the games were in New London, which I quickly discovered was just 20 minutes up the road. Whew! The week was off to a great start.
In the end I saw what I came to see: one of the most dynamic young guards in Minnesota. That would be Paige Meyer, the super sophomore from Albany. She did not disappoint.
Paige Meyer of Albany is a talented multi-sport athlete. She is the 15th-ranked player in the PGH class of 2021. (Photo courtesy of St. Cloud Times)Paige Meyer, sophomore guard, Albany
Meyer is a 5’6 PG who plays for Comets Elite 2021. She’s super athletic, plays with a ton of swagger and is tough as nails. In other words, she’s pretty much what you want in a floor leader. Meyer reminds me a lot of Taylie Scott, the little bulldog from Heritage Christian Academy and North Tartan EYBL. Scott and Meyer are built alike, and play with that same take-no-prisoners approach. Both are highly skilled but Meyer isn’t quite as physical as Scott. Who is?
Meyer is currently the 15th-ranked player in the Prep Girls Hoops class of 2021. To be honest, Paige is a bit of a polarizing figure in terms of how highly she should be rated. I became a fan from the first time I saw her play in the summer of 2017 and immediately pegged her as a potential top 10 player. I liked her game so much that I watched her play twice more that weekend. To me, her combination of skill, grit and guile is rare. I get that she’s small in stature, but she has a really solid frame and is super strong. It is her warrior mentality that appealed to me from the get-go. Others aren’t so sure.
Over the past year or so Meyer has been the subject of substantial discussion among our evaluators. “I don’t know Grant. I just don’t see it,” said one. “She just hasn’t really had that much impact when she’s played against us,” said another. “I mean, she’s definitely in the top 20,” he added, “but I don’t think she’s in the top 10.” The debate goes on.
Paige MeyerI made a weeknight excursion to Albany Nov. 27 to see Meyer’s Huskies face a talented Fergus Falls squad. About 10 minutes into the first half that night I was starting to question my own judgement of Meyer. To that point she had been… well… average at best. She was still the top player on the floor, but she certainly wasn’t the same player I had seen in AAU.
Part of that is the pace of the game. Let’s face it: high school ball, particularly among the smaller schools, can be a little slow at times. So much of Meyer’s appeal is based on how quickly she can get things done, how she can change speeds in the presence of an aggressive defender, how fast she can move the ball to an open player. That doesn’t translate quite as well when your teammates have trouble keeping up. No offense to the Huskies but it’s just not the same as AAU.
And then it happened. A quiet bucket here. A quiet bucket there. By half time Meyer had 12 points, Albany was coming to life and my ego was breathing a sigh of relief. Then the second half tipped and – BOOM! – the Paige Meyer I know arrived. She was all over the court, dialed in and swarming every Fergus Falls ballhandler. To the best of my recollection she forced a turnover that turned into her own bucket on three or four consecutive Fergus possessions. She was everywhere, the Otters were reeling, and suddenly it was anybody’s game.
“She’s tough, a really great player,” Otters coach Brad Strand said after the game. “When she started getting to the rim we had some problems with that for sure… She’s crafty on defense and picks her chances to shoot the gaps and knows where to find that ball. Then in transition she’s really hard to guard because we’re chasing her from behind instead of staying in front of her, and I think we got tired.”
“She has the potential to do that,” Albany coach Aaron Boyum said. “She can be a tone setter. She just kind of sets the table for us. We have a lot of confidence in every girl that steps on the floor but…” But every girl isn’t Paige Meyer.
With less than a second left on the clock in Albany, and the game tied at 47, Meyer drained a three from well beyond the arc to win it at the buzzer. She finished with 30 points.
On Wednesday in New London, Albany got off to a slow start once again and found themselves down by 12 to New London-Spicer at the half. At that juncture, Meyer had 13 of her team’s 17 points. She had done some nice stuff, showing the explosiveness, surprising elevation and defensive tenacity she is known for.
The Huskies opened the second half on a 10-2 run, sparked mostly by Meyer’s individual actions. In the 9th minute of play, Paige blew past her defender to score on a nice layup that tied the game at 39. From there, the Wildcats regained control and coach Mike Dreier’s legendary zone defense did what it usually does. Meyer never scored again, and Albany’s patient attempts to find a crack in Dreier’s wall bore no fruit. Paige finished the night with 20 points, and New London-Spicer won it 62-52.
If you were planning to watch Paige in New London on Thursday, you’re out of luck. Albany’s encounter with Willmar was cancelled due to the weather.
Senior Taytum Rhoades of Minnehaha Academy has committed to D2 Upper Iowa. She is a graduate of the Minnesota Fury.Taytum Rhoades, senior guard, Minnehaha Academy
“Do you think she committed too low?” That was the question one knowledgeable observer asked following Minnehaha’s win over Willmar on Wednesday. It was a legitimate query after watching the way Taytum played against the Cardinals. She she looked very much like a Division 1 basketball player on this night. Rhoades, who is ranked 36th in the senior class, has committed to Upper Iowa University of the Northern Sun conference. That would be a D2 program, and for the record I think the Peacocks were a solid choice for the 5’9 Minnesota Fury grad. The primary reason I say that is because of the dimensions of her frame. She is very, very lean, and that can be a problem in D1. The NSIC is physical enough; the next level up can be a whole different kind of physical.
Rhoades was a lot more aggressive offensively for the Redhawks against Willmar than what we have seen in the past. She scored some stylish baskets off the bounce, demonstrated a quality Eurostep, and finished at the rim with beautiful touch. Taytum was good. Very good. She finished the night with 27 points as Minnehaha got the W.
Others who impressed
Hannah Johnson, senior guard, Willmar – The big physical guard did a nice job on Minnehaha’s Mia Curtis, using her superior size and strength to make Curtis earn everything she got. The 5’11 Johnson, who is ranked 70th in the PGH 2019 class, is drawing D2 interest from quality programs. Hannah would be a lock for that level if she would shoot the ball more often and at a higher percentage.
Abby Berskow, senior guard, Willmar – The 5’5 Berskow showed a nice combination of offensive intelligence and defensive intensity. The Cardinals play a defense-first type of game, and Berskow was very effective guarding the perimeter. She’s quicker than I recall from seeing her before.
Mia Curtis, junior guard, Minnehaha Academy – Mia Curtis did what Mia Curtis does. That is to say she showed excellent offensive skills, made a number of crucial plays that led to buckets for her team while at the same time offering up some head-scratching moments on defense. Mia finished with 15 points. She is a top-20 prospect in the junior class.
The tall trees from New London-Spicer – The Wildcats have some size in the sophomore class with 6’0 Ava Kraemer, 6’1 Grace DeSchepper and 6’2 Erin Knisley. I am not real familiar with any of them to be honest, but they showed enough Wednesday to warrant another look or two in the future. Any time you have 10th graders with those dimensions, there are positive possibilities.