Season opener: 5 games you’ll want to watch on Thursday

It’s official. After a 250-day break in the action, Minnesota girls high school basketball resumes Thursday night with more than two dozen games on the docket. From the far southeastern corner of the state in Caledonia – the self-proclaimed Wild Turkey Capital of Minnesota – to the heart of hockey country at Sacred Heart in East Grand Forks; from Chisholm on the Iron Range to the Salvation Army gym on West 7th Street in St. Paul, the 2019-20 season will get underway.

While most of the big dogs begin their campaigns Friday and Saturday at the Breakdown Tipoff Classic, there are plenty of games to choose from on Thursday if you can’t wait another 24 hours. Here’s five that are worth watching.

5:00 p.m. Providence Academy at Maranatha Christian

The season tips off at 5 p.m. in Brooklyn Park as these two class AA private schools meet on the Mustangs’ home court. The Providence Lions were 7-2 in conference play last season, 20-9 overall. They are led by senior point guard Hailey Hohenecker, who will be relied upon more than ever following the graduation of seven seniors. Hailey averages 11 points per game and is a great distributor. She’s joined up front by 5’11 sophomore forward Maria Counts.

The Mustangs went 13-1 in conference play last season (20-9 overall), losing in the championship game to Heritage Christian for the first time. This year Maranatha moves to the new Skyline Conference with a lineup decimated by the graduation of four college players. They’ll also have a new coach. Maranatha will rely heavily on 9th grade guard Chloe Jarnot, who is ranked among the top 50 freshmen in the state. Senior Alainah Erickson gives the Mustangs a tall target up front.

7:00 p.m. Minneapolis Edison at St. Paul Como Park

The battle for bragging rights in the city will begin Thursday in St. Paul when Como Park plays host to Minneapolis Edison in a match-up of 3A schools. Edison is led by senior guard Jaiden Seabrooks, who averaged 7 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists last season as she led the Tommies to 12-13 record, 6-6 in the Minneapolis City Conference. Edison will greatly miss big forward Sierra Morrow, the conference MVP and an all-state honorable mention. She’s tearing it up in college ball this fall.

Como Park has one of the most exciting young teams in Minnesota. The Cougars swept the St. Paul City Conference at 12-0 and were 23-3 overall. They are loaded with sophomore standouts Ronnie Porter, Kaylynn Asberry, Jada James and Cloey Dmytruk. They’ve added transfer Mikayla Adams from Cretin-Derham Hall but will miss top-10 freshman Shania Van Nett, who is out for the season following ACL surgery.

7:00 p.m. Robbinsdale Armstrong at Irondale

The Armstrong Falcons are entering a rebuilding year after posting a 21-7 (14-5) mark one year ago. Gone is Division 1 forward Carly Krsul to Bucknell, uber-athletic guard Masengo Mutanda to Northwest Florida State, along with long-time mainstay Jordan Bloom. Coach Antwan Easley will have to rely on his youngsters now. The biggest name and biggest frame in that group belongs to 6’2 post Savannah McGowan, the 11th-ranked player in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2023. She’ll combine with 5’6 guard Karlee Fisher, who also cracked the Freshmen 50 at #34.

Irondale graduated three seniors from a team that really struggled last season, winning just four games overall. Among those graduates was forward Kahlan Jester, who made all conference and now plays college basketball at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indianapolis. The Knights’ top prospect is big post Dora Okpara. 5’11 senior Sara Bickford and 5’10 sophomore Elizabeth Hiatt offer more size. Little guard Kimori Morris will likely handle point guard duties.

7 p.m. Mayer Lutheran at Blake

The Blake School in Hopkins will be the site of the class 2A Bears’ matchup with class A Mayer Lutheran. Blake was 10-15 last season, 6-4 in the conference. Their top player returns in lengthy junior forward Cate Moe. She is a pure scorer, who contributed 20 points per game for coach Jim DeSart. She’s joined by returning junior Rachel Winkey (11 ppg) and dynamic little 7th grade point guard Addison Mack. Blake graduated two all-conference players in Morgan Phillips and Sara Gregor.

Mayer Lutheran, led by veteran coach Kris Gustin, was 14-15 overall last season and the class A Crusaders return with a veteran-laden lineup. They did graduate all-conference forward Symone Jopp, but seniors Olivia Tjernagle (7 & 5) and Lexi Schermann (15 & 4) are back for more as is junior Morgan Chmielewski (7 & 4). Schermann was very strong at the recent Prep Girls Hoops Top 250 Expo and has an awful lot to offer.

7:30 p.m. Glencoe-Silver Lake at Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart

The final tipoff of opening night will take place in Hector, located 70 miles give-or-take west of Eden Prairie on Highway 212. Coach Dustin Wright’s class A BLHS Mustangs (6-10, 10-16) have one of the top scorers in Minnesota in senior guard Sara Kottke, who averaged 24 and 11 last year. Kottke put up 50 points at Cedar Mountain, and her 610-point season was a school record. She’s joined by sophomore Maddie Wulkan and freshman Allison Milbrandt, a big guard who earned a top-50 ranking among the 2023s. Twin 8th-graders Kristi Kottke and Rachel Kottke will also contribute.

If Glencoe-Silver Lake (6-8, 13-13) is in town you can be pretty sure there will be some talented Monahans in the area. I was at Drake University in Des Moines over the weekend and witnessed older sister Maddie Monahan bury a big three down the stretch to seal the victory over Creighton, a show we have seen many times before. Younger sister Miah Monahan is GSL’s backbone now, having already crossed the 1,000 career points plateau. The Panthers graduated all-conference performer Olivia Lemke. Sharpshooting sophomore Kendall Guerrero returns. Did we mention Jeff Monahan is the coach?

Top photo: Senior Lexi Schermann leads Mayer-Lutheran on opening night against the Blake Bears. (Photo courtesy of Hometown Source)