Fury Spring Showdown – Players of the Game – Saturday Morning Edition

<span style="font-size: 10pt"><em>Cover Photo: Lexi Karge photo courtesy of The Mankato Free Press; Tatum Brostrom photo courtesy of SW News Media; Emma Kniefel photo courtesy of Owatonna.com; Alayna Strand photo courtesy of The Echo Press</em></span> PGH Minnesota is spending the weekend at the Minnesota Fury Spring Showdown in Bloomington &amp; Chanhassen. And while many of the state's top AAU teams are playing in national tournaments across the country to kick off the April live period, there are plenty of quality teams who opted to stay in the cities as well. Here are our Minnesota Fury Spring Showdown Players of the Game for the early contests on Saturday: <span style="text-decoration: underline;font-size: 14pt"><strong>8:00 A.M. - West Central United 16s vs. Minnesota Stars Zabel</strong></span> <strong>Alayna Strand (2021) - West Central United</strong> - This was my first time watching Strand play, and I became an instant fan! The 5'10" wing possesses prototypical length for her position, and impressed me with her passing and rebounding. On top of that, Alayna has a good feel for the game, particularly on the defensive end. With just under 30 seconds to play and her team up by six, Strand exploded out of her defensive stance to block a Stars 3-point attempt, effectively ending the game and sealing the victory for her team. <strong>Honorable Mention: Ellie Colbeck (2022) - West Central United</strong> - I may have buried the lead on this one. Because while Strand was a pleasant surprise, Colbeck is a borderline star, averaging over 19 points per game for Fergus Falls as a freshman this past winter. She was the best player on the court for all the of WC United's games this morning, and it wasn't particularly close. <strong>Honorable Mention: Maleah Scott (2021) - Minnesota Stars</strong> - After being down double-digits, it was Scott's defensive intensity that propelled the Stars back into contention. There was a sequence during which Maleah scored three straight buckets to trim United's lead to just four, while causing havoc with her on-ball pressure at the same time. Ultimately the Stars came up short, but Scott's performance was impressive even in defeat. <span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt">9:10 A.M. - Minnesota Fury 2021 Yellow vs. Wisconsin City Hoopers</span></strong></span> <strong>Tatum Brostrom (2021) - Minnesota Fury Yellow -</strong> This game wasn't particularly close, and Brostrom was a big reason why the Fury coasted to victory. Tatum showcased her skills as willing passer, and set up her teammates in positions to be successful all game long. Brostrom had at least five assists in the game's first five minutes, and continued to drop dimes throughout the contest's full 32 minutes. Tatum is the point guard that Fury 2021 Yellow needed so desperately at times last summer. And she will be a key to the team's success throughout 2019. <strong>Honorable Mention: Jenna Guyer (2021) - Minnesota Fury Yellow</strong> - Simply put, Guyer was bigger, stronger, and more polished than anyone that the WI City Hoopers tried to match up with her. Jenna did a great job of sealing in the post, ran the floor well, and showed her passing ability to set up open teammates once she started to command double-teams inside. <span style="text-decoration: underline;font-size: 14pt"><strong>10:20 A.M. - Lady Get Shook 2021 vs. CP Manitoba</strong></span> <strong>Zenden Ugen (2021) - Lady Get Shook</strong> - Much like Guyer in the game previous, Ugen was a dominating presence inside for Lade Get Shook. Zenden is strong. Very strong. But was stood out to me was her nimble footwork. Ugen showed off her nice touch inside, as well as her smarts on the defensive end. She has a knack for contesting shots without fouling, and there was a noticeable difference in Get Shook's team defense with Ugen was in the game protecting the paint vs. when she was on the bench. <span style="text-decoration: underline;font-size: 14pt"><strong>11:30 A.M. - Southern Minnesota Fury 2020 vs. MN/WI Force 2020</strong></span> <strong>Emma Kniefel (2020) - Southern Minnesota Fury</strong> - Kniefel is Medford High School's all-time leading scorer with an entire senior season to add to her already gaudy scoring numbers. But Emma did much more than just put the ball in the basket in this one. We immediately made note of her great on-ball defense, and of the fact that she was consistently soaring above taller opponents to nab defensive boards. Kniefel's all-around game propelled the Fury to a three-point victory. <strong>Honorable Mention: Brynn Schwanz (2020) - Southern Minnesota Fury</strong> - We have long had an appreciation for Schwanz's game at PGH. Much like Kniefel, Brynn does a lot of things really well on the court. She's smooth, shoots well from outside, and is able to play multiple positions. A couple of things that stood out this morning were Schwanz's great help-side defense, and her confidence handling the ball, even bringing it up the court against pressure when called upon to do so. <strong>Honorable Mention: Grace Cote (2020) - MN/WI Force</strong> - After being down by 13 with 8 minutes to play, the Force slowly chipped away at the Fury's lead. A couple of Cote 3's sparked the Force late. They found themselves down by just 3 and in possession of the ball with 15 seconds to play. A couple of good looks ended up rimming out for the Force, but Cote's play in the second half gave them an opportunities to send the game to OT. <span style="text-decoration: underline;font-size: 14pt"><strong>12:40 P.M. - Minnesota Nice 16's vs. Play4Him</strong></span> <strong>Mackenzie Schweim (2022) - MN Nice</strong> - Schweim has turned herself into one strong, aggressive wing player. She looks to have grown to all of 5'10", and was a match-up nightmare for Play4Him, a club based in western Iowa. Mackenzie was relentless, aggressively attacking the basket all game. What started as impressive finishes around the basket in the first half, quickly transitioned to spending so much time at the free throw line that she should have had to start paying rent. Schweim's defenders simply had no answer other than to hack her on the way up and hope that she wasn't able to convert the and-1. Mackenzie and her MN Nice teammates cruised to a 30-point victory. <strong>Honorable Mention: Lexi Karge (2022) - MN Nice</strong> - I was pleasantly surprised with how aggressive Karge was in this game, much more so than when I've watched her in the past. Lexi has the size and length to be a great player, and seeing her with more of a commanding presence today was encouraging. One small thing that stuck out about Karge was her screening. She did a great job of positioning herself and making solid contact with the ball handlers' defenders, which often led to posts switching onto guards 30+ feet from the hoop. In addition to putting together a solid performance for herself, Lexi should get credit for a lot of the success MN Nice's guards had throughout the afternoon. &nbsp; We're headed back to the gym now to take in the rest of the Saturday games. Check back tomorrow for the best performances of Saturday afternoon and evening.