Season recap: 75 game days & 5,602 miles of basketball

The 2019-20 girls high school basketball season came to a screeching halt last Friday at noon, two days before we were scheduled to conclude. The disappointment of ending the campaign early without declaring state champions will no doubt linger for some time, but so will the memories of a fun campaign. I personally had a blast covering all of the great players in Minnesota, a journey that took me from one end of the state to the other. From Jackson to Mountain Iron and Moorhead to Kasson, from Maple Grove to Farmington to Stillwater to Sleepy Eye, we watched a lot of great basketball. By the numbers it looked like this:

Total number of days watching high school games: 75
Total number of days lost due to weather cancellations: 3
Total number of days lost due to global pandemic: 2 (A new category!)
Total number of teams seen: 180 (55 in class 4A, 41 in 3A, 66 in 2A and 18 in 1A)
Approximate number of players watched, including JV games: 1,900
Estimated number of Division 1 prospects seen: 120 or so if we’re being generous
Total number of miles driven to and from high school games: 5,602
Total number of stories written about high school ball: More than 100

With so many games watched there is a tendency for the memories of individual contests to all run together. The three meetings between Hopkins and Wayzata certainly stand out in my mind, but there are many more. Here are 5 milestone games that really made an impression this season. Nov. 23 – Cromwell-Wright vs Minneota The season began prior to Thanksgiving this year with an early version of the Breakdown Tipoff Classic. It was a great day of basketball as the Tipoff always seems to be. Most people would probably cite the three-overtime thriller between Sauk Centre and Minnehaha Academy as the game to remember – it was a good one to be sure – but the one that stands out for me was Minneota’s 49-47 win over Cromwell-Wright. It may not have been the prettiest game of all time as both teams tried to shake off the rust. Their combined shooting percentage was just over 30. But it was a preview of what ultimately could have been the state class A championship. Cromwell led by 8 at the half, but the defending state champion Vikings roared back to win. Cousins (20 points) and (17) scored 37 of their teams 47 points. Minneota’s big three – , and – combined for 35. Dec. 6 – Hopkins at Farmington The showdown between the #1 team in the state and the likely #2 had all the makings of a memorable night, and it most certainly was. The gym at Farmington is huge, and every seat was occupied. The atmosphere was electric. I watched with University of Minnesota coach Lindsay Whalen, who was besieged by kids asking for autographs and selfies from the legendary point guard. As it turned out, this was not Farmington’s best game, but it would prove to be a great learning experience for what lay ahead. had 31 points, 5 assists and 4 steals to lead the Royals while sophomore forward had 16 points and 9 rebounds. Hopkins went home with a 77-52 win. Apparently we weren’t the only ones who enjoyed the game. One of many videos of Paige’s highlights from that night has been viewed online more than 1.2 million times. Dec. 12 – Watertown-Mayer at the Blake School The first time I saw 7th grader Addison Mack do her thing was at coach Crystal Flint’s showcase at Cretin-Derham Hall. The first time I saw her in a game was during fall league when the 12-year-old point guard went 15-for-15 from three in consecutive games on a Sunday afternoon. The first actual high school game I watched Addie was this one. There were several Division 1 coaches in attendance that night. They were there to watch Watertown-Mayer junior , but when the game was over all they could talk about was Mack. Blake trailed by 6 points at the half and Mack was pretty ordinary during the opening 18 minutes. After the break she owned the game, sparking her team to a dramatic comeback and nursing the lead like a pro down the stretch. Watertown-Mayer simply couldn’t rattle her. Czinano finished the game with 17 points and turned in a solid performance. Addie scored 25, including 6 threes, as Blake earned a 62-57 victory. Jan. 3 – Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart at Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s I went to Sleepy Eye on a slippery Friday night in early January hoping to watch sophomore of Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s for the first time in a high school game. I had seen Mathiowetz play during the AAU season and was very impressed. Watching her on the floor of her own gym, against the Knights’ rivals from Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart, was a whole new level of awesome. Maddie certainly lived up to her reputation by scoring 50 points that night, eclipsing her previous high of 47 while putting the ball in the basket every which way you can. At 5’10, with a big frame and a muscular build, Mathiowetz offers a rare combination of strength speed, quickness and agility. Remarkably, BLHS ended up winning a nail-biter as senior , junior Maddie Wulkan, freshman and 8th grade twins Kristi Kottke and Rachel Kottke led the Mustangs to an 83-79 triumph. Feb. 9 – Roseau at Proctor I went north for the weekend of Feb. 8-9 to witness first-hand the rivalry between Cromwell-Wright and Mountain Iron-Buhl. The trip also provided the opportunity to watch some other terrific prospects. On Friday night I saw Roseau’s go toe-to-toe with Duluth Marshall stars Grace Kirk and . On Saturday afternoon I saw Roseau face the senior-laden Rails in Proctor. I could write a thousand words about Katie’s performance that day, from the 60-foot one-handed passes to the dazzling one-on-one encounters. Borowicz scored 43 points, including 9 buckets from beyond the arc. She simply willed her team back into contention in the second half, a run that concluded with a dramatic off-balance triple from the corner that forced overtime. Later that week Borowicz received a Big Ten scholarship offer from Minnesota, which she accepted as soon as the season was over. Looking ahead So now it’s award season. On Wednesday we’ll begin doling out the Prep Girls Hoops post-season honors – Player of the Year, Breakout Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, our All State Teams and more. Since it looks like we’re going to be on hiatus from organized basketball for a good long while, we’ll have plenty of time to salute the players who did good work in 2019-20. Top photo: Freshman Allison Milbrandt Allison Milbrandt 5'10" | SF Buffalo Lake-H-S | 2023 State MN of Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart is a top 50 prospect in the class of 2023. (Photo courtesy of West Central Tribune)

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