Five things we learned at the Komets Showcase
It was another great day of basketball Saturday at the Komets Showcase at Kasson-Mantorville High School, from some strong individual performances to terrific displays of team basketball there was plenty to see. We’ll have evaluations on the Top 10 Performers…
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Continue ReadingIt was another great day of basketball Saturday at the Komets Showcase at Kasson-Mantorville High School, from some strong individual performances to terrific displays of team basketball there was plenty to see. We’ll have evaluations on the Top 10 Performers coming up in the next day or two. Right now we’ like to pass along a few things we learned while watching some of Southeastern Minnesota’s best do battle.
The Komets Showcase was the seventh such event of the season featuring at least a half dozen Saturday games in a single location. It was the third time in the past month that we’ve spent the weekend in the Southeastern corner of the state. Here’s what we learned.
Injuries matter
It’s that time of year. Most teams are at least 10 or 12 games into their season and the daily grind is starting to take its toll. From waves of the flu sweeping through some locker rooms to cases of mononucleosis and the various nagging ankle injuries and the like, every team deals with injuries and illness at this time of year. But when teams suffer the season-ending loss of a key player or two, that can make things exceptionally difficult. Just ask Norwood-Young America coach Gary Lembcke.
Gary is in his 36th season on the bench, and he has over 600 career wins to show for it. He’s a no nonsense kind of guy who tends to go with the flow, but this season has been more than challenging. After graduating Kali Grimm Kali Grimm 5'11" | SF Norwood Y America AA | 2018 State MN (New Hampshire) and Abby Mackenthun Abby Mackenthun 5'10" | PG Norwood-YA | 2019 State MN (St. Thomas), Lembcke saw his top returning player, 5’11 junior forward Hayden Glander Hayden Glander 5'11" | PF Norwood-Young America | 2021 State MN , go down in the first half of the first game with a torn ACL. That hurts. Four games later rising star Norah Erickson, a 5’11 freshman forward with a bright future, suffered a season-ending knee injury, too. Those losses wiped 30 points and 22 rebounds per game off the board and left the Raiders reeling.
As a result there would be no repeat on Saturday of last year’s epic match-up between Norwood-Young America and Lake City, one of the more entertaining games of the entire 2018-19 season. Instead, the high-flying Tigers rode the coattails of Natalie Bremer Natalie Bremer 5'11" | CG Lake City | 2022 State MN , Lilly Meincke Lilly Meincke 5'10" | CG Lake City | 2022 State MN , Grace Bany Grace Bany 6'2" | C Lake City | 2021 State MN and Mya Shones Mya Shones 6'1" | PF Lake City | 2022 State MN to an 80-42 win. After making state tournament appearances in 2015, 2016 and 2018, it’s going to be a long road back for the Raiders. Hang in there Gary. We know you’ve seen it all before.
Goodhue is good
In our Top 10 evaluations tomorrow we will identify the most outstanding performers at the Komets Showcase. None of them will be members of the Goodhue Wildcats. Why? Because Goodhue is the epitome of team basketball. The Wildcats feature basically a dozen interchangeable parts, each of whom understands her role and the value of collective effort. It is a formula that has yielded tremendous success over the years. On Saturday it allowed the Wildcats to capture some small semblance of revenge with a convincing win over Minneota, the outfit that beat them for the class A state title in March.
You truly can’t tell the Goodhue players without a program, from their similar stature to their identical matching headbands and purple shoes. Even with a program it’s challenging because the numbers – pet peeve alert!! – are white on white with only a thin purple outline delineating the numerals. The Wildcats point production is just as egalitarian. Goodhue is led by Elissa Lodermeier at 13 points per game while Joslyn Carlson Joslyn Carlson 5'9" | SF Goodhue | 2022 State MN averages 10.4. Then it’s Arianna Thomforde (7.9), Torrie Rehder (7.7), Tori Miller (7.7), Annika Schafer (6.1), Hannah Gadient (5.1) and on down from there. Thomforde scored 16 on Saturday as Goodhue gave Minneota, which won state championships in 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019, its first loss in nearly a year.
Goodhue has won 20 games or more for 10 seasons in a row. They played in the state tournament in seven of the past 11 years, winning two titles. Coach Josh Wieme in his 12th season at the helm and following Saturday’s victory his record stood at 287-69. Clearly the no-star system is working just fine thank you very much.
Section 1 AA is going to be a dogfight
There are a lot of tough sections in the state of Minnesota but you’d be hard-pressed to provide an example of one that is more competitive than section 1AA. In fact, the section that comprises the best AA programs in that part of the state returned more scoring this season than any of the other 31 sections in the state. Now Goodhue, last year’s class A state finalists, has joined the fray thanks to growing enrollment. Predicting who will represent 1AA in Minneapolis is darn near impossible. Goodhue is 15-1, Rochester Lourdes is 12-2, Lake City is 13-4 and Winona Cotter is 12-3. Don’t forget 10-2 Dover-Eyota or 10-5 Stewartville, either. Regardless of who prevails in this embarrassment of riches, there’s no question that 1AA will be sending a team to state that could win it all.
Southeastern Minnesota is where it’s at
It’s no accident that so many great teams and players come out of Southeastern Minnesota. According to our former colleague Marc Hugunin’s historical research, girls high school basketball in Minnesota pretty much originated in Red Wing. The tradition has certainly carried on with terrific programs throughout the Southeastern corner of the state over the years. Rochester Lourdes has won eight state championships. Rochester Mayo, Elgin-Millville (both pre- and post-Plainview), Cannon Falls, Caledonia, Dover-Eyota and Goodhue all captured titles. Winona, Kenyon-Wanamingo and Red Wing have been among recent finalists.
Not surprisingly the individual talent has been stellar, as well, from the famed Miller twins of Rochester Mayo to current NCAA stars such as Jamie Ruden of Rochester John Marshall (Arizona State), Ayoka Lee Ayoka Lee 6'6" | C Byron AAA | 2018 State MN of Byron (Kansas State), Kristin Scott of Kasson-Mantorville (Iowa State), Madison Nelson of Dover-Eyota (Denver) and Liv Korngable of Mayo (South Dakota). Current standouts include Alyssa Ustby Alyssa Ustby 6'2" | CG Rochester Lourdes | 2020 State MN of Lourdes (North Carolina), Lilly Meister Lilly Meister 6'2" | PF Rochester John Marshall | 2022 State #55 Nation MN and Katie Hurt Katie Hurt 6'0" | SF Roch. John Marshall | 2022 State MN of John Marshall, Anna Miller Anna Miller 6'2" | C Rochester Mayo | 2021 State MN of Mayo, Sacia Vanderpool Sacia Vanderpool 6'4" | C Byron | 2021 State MN of Byron, Aby Shubert Aby Shubert 5'8" | CG Kasson-Mant. | 2023 State MN of K-M and Natalie Bremer Natalie Bremer 5'11" | CG Lake City | 2022 State MN from Lake City. It’s remarkable really.
Kasson-Mantorville knows how to run an event
As we mentioned, the Komets Showcase was the seventh Saturday this season we have spent at an event, from the traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas tournaments to the plethora of one-day showcases popping up across the state. It was also the best. By far. Kasson-Mantorville head coach Ryan Haraldson and his crew of volunteers just do it right.
The Komets gym – the Home Federal Arena – is outstanding. With chairback seating, great sightlines, a seating area up top complete with high-top tables and chairs, and a lobby that features enormous TV screens, this is a great setup. (The TVs were particularly important this year with a certain National Football League team still pretending to be contending while the basketball games were going on.)
The match-ups were very good, and the games were spaced just far enough apart to afford ample warmup time for the players and a short break for spectators and volunteers to catch their breath. And there were no overlapping games, which is my personal pet peeve at these events. What really impressed me, though, is the attention to detail. The game program, for example, not only includes accurate name, number, position, height and year for both varsity and junior varsity teams but also detailed previews of each match-up complete with up-to-date stats for all of the top players. Very professional! There’s even a comfortable hospitality room where coaches and officials can mingle over hot sandwiches and chocolate chip cookies while debating ‘block’ versus ‘charge.’
Way to go Ryan. You guys do it right.
Top photo: The Goodhue Wildcats have had plenty to celebrate in recent years. (Photo courtesy of StarTribune)