AAU newcomers Sophie Stork, Rose Wille look right at home

New and unusual. That’s pretty much how everything felt Saturday morning as Minnesota’s first tournament of the AAU summer tipped off in Bloomington. For the home team in the day’s first game – Minnesota Stars 2022 Fleming – things were extra unfamiliar, especially for rising juniors Sophie Stork Sophie Stork 5'9" | CG NRHEG | 2022 State MN of New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva and Rose Wille Rose Wille 5'8" | SG Farmington | 2022 State MN of Farmington. The entire squad is brand new this season, and so are Stork and Wille, neither of whom has played AAU ball before. Nevertheless both are high school varsity veterans and they looked very much at home as the Stars knocked off the Wisconsin Playmakers 76-52.

After making their AAU debut in Cedar Falls, Iowa two weeks ago, Stork and Wille are getting comfortable in their new colors. “At first I was pretty nervous,” admitted Stork, a 5’8 guard ranked #68 in the class of 2022. “I was like, ‘This is AAU. Am I really up for it?’ There’s a lot of good players. You could go in and it could tear you down, but you just have to try and fit in and do your best… I was definitely out of my comfort zone but I’m glad and very thankful for it. Change is good. Our roles on the team, the positions we are put into, that all makes us better even though it’s hard.”

Like Stork, Wille has only played in her home program for years. Wille, a 5’8 guard ranked #78 in the class, has only known one coach, Farmington’s Liz Carpentier, so it took some time getting used to a different approach and the new terminology used by Stars coach, Edina assistant Ben Fleming. “I was very nervous,” Wille said. “At first everyone was quiet and not super talkative. Once we started getting to know each other and our strengths that’s when we actually started working together. At first going from Liz to Ben was a lot different but you kind of have to go in knowing that things that you do might have to change a little and you just have to be willing and open to doing that.”

Stork made 5 triples against the Playmakers, scoring 17 points in all to lead the Stars in scoring along with Minnetonka guard Desiree Ware Desiree Ware 5'8" | CG Minnetonka | 2022 State MN , the #10-rated prospect in the 2022 class, who also had 17. Kiera Albers Kiera Albers 5'3" | PG Maple Grove | 2022 State MN of Maple Grove (#80) and Abbie Riederer Abbie Riederer 5'8" | CG Mn Valley Lutheran | 2022 State MN of Minnesota Valley Lutheran (#123) had 14 apiece. In the second game – a tightly fought 72-65 win over Start Strong Finish Stronger – Stork had 17 more points while Ware added 16 and Riederer 15. Wille combined for 14 points in two games and turned in her usual quality all-around performance.

Other than being really late arrivals, Stork and Wille’s assessment of their transition to AAU is pretty much the same as everyone else’s when they step into AAU for the first time. “It’s pretty quick. I mean, you get the ball and you go,” Wille said. “It’s definitely more physical,” said Stork, who thrives in a game of bang-and-crash basketball. “You do get away with more than in high school,” she said with a grin.

The atmosphere was new, too

Saturday’s atmosphere was a little odd to say the least. With the number of spectators being limited by the COVID-19 rules – attendance at the first game was a mere 17 by my count – and their vocal outbursts somewhat muffled by the mandatory face masks, it was relatively quiet. Normally I like to move from court to court, talk to people and generally soak up the atmosphere. Instead I sat in my portable chair off in the corner, probably 30 feet away from the nearest person.

At one point my mask got really hot so I slipped it down to my chin for a few minutes. In no time the mask police showed up to inform me that an attending parent had ratted me out for my egregious violation of the rules. Seriously?! I mean, who does that? I would imagine she’s the kind of person who slips anonymous notes in her neighbor’s mailbox complaining that their vinyl siding is the wrong shade of beige. I bit my tongue, though, and slipped the mask back on secure in the knowledge that no droplets of evil would be travelling halfway across the gym on this day.

I digress. Things actually went pretty smoothly. Spectators were spaced appropriately and every reasonable precaution was taken to make the event “safe.” It was a lot different than my first tournament two weeks ago in Ames which was pretty much business as usual and a whole lot more fun. Saturday was basketball at its most basic and we’re happy to have it.

Top performers

The Stars really played quite well together, although there were just six of them. With several players absent for varying reasons, Ware came over from the Stars 2022 Nilsen team to fill in at point guard. She is a refugee from the defunct UVA program as are Hannah Herzig Hannah Herzig 6'0" | CG Totino Grace | 2022 State MN (#61) of Centennial and Leah Dengerud Leah Dengerud 5'9" | SF Totino Grace | 2022 State MN (#46) of Totino-Grace, neither of whom was there on on Saturday. Albers and Lauren Feddema Lauren Feddema 5'9" | CG Buffalo | 2022 State MN (#69), who is from Buffalo, came over from DTA Academy, while Riederer is a transfer from the Minnesota Rise.

Feddema used her athleticism and quickness to great advantage on Saturday. She was a disruptive force defensively throughout. Her anticipation is excellent, enabling Lauren to get a hand on the ball in the passing lane countless times. She also picked up a couple of key blocks to force turnovers and launch transition in a flash. Albers distributed the ball, drained some threes, and scored a crucial little floater in the late stages of the second win. Reiderer has a really quick first step, and is a master of changing speeds to fool her defender. Her consistency is impressive, too.

For the Wisconsin Playmakers, several Northern Minnesota-based competitors stood out, including stocky guard Natalie Mikrot Natalie Mikrot 5'6" | CG Moose Lake-WR | 2022 State MN of Moose Lake-Willow River, who is currently ranked #84 In the Prep Girls Hoops class of 2022 rankings. Alexa Snesrud of Cloquet, a lengthy 2023 prospect, did some nice work as did Destiny Piekarski of Little Fork-Big Falls.

The top performer for Start Strong Finish Stronger was undoubtedly power forward Jenny Ntambwe of Coon Rapids, whose size and strength proved to be a problem for the Stars throughout. Jenny’s skills are much-improved over the past few months. With a D1-type body and nice athleticism, her upside is interesting. Little guards Kimori Morris of Irondale and Nia Hacker of Eastview were also very good while Centennial’s Grace Pullman, Georgia Forfor of Andover and Elizabeth Hiatt of Irondale also did nice work. I watched the team play in Ames and they were solid but their performance on Saturday was definitely a notch or two above that.

Stars Fleming returns to the court Sunday for two more encounters, the first with Crossfire Willey, the second against the Rochester Shock. Now that they are settling in, Wille and Stork will go about their business on Sunday and beyond trying to do what everyone else is doing this summer. “I just want to get better and start to get recruited and also be ready for high school,” Wille said. “I feel like this will definitely help me to improve and get my name out there,” Stork said. “In a small town it’s a little more difficult.”

Top photo: Rose Wille Rose Wille 5'8" | SG Farmington | 2022 State MN (left) and Sophie Stork Sophie Stork 5'9" | CG NRHEG | 2022 State MN (right) were among our Saturday standouts.