The Week That Was #1: It’s great to be back in the gym

It’s great to be back in the gym. If I had to summarize the first three days of the Minnesota girls high school basketball season that is the overriding feeling, and everyone I talked to at the first four games of the season was feeling the same way. I had forgotten how great it is to just be in the gym watching games, seeing the kids compete hard, and connecting with others in the girls basketball community. Even the sound of goofy parents cat-calling the officials was welcome after a 10-month absence!

The return of the high school season also marks the return of our weekly wrap-up of what we saw and heard in the previous seven days. The Week That Was will appear every Sunday throughout the season. We’ll tell you where we’ve been, what we saw and who the players are that you might want to watch. We’ll also throw in some outstanding performances from around the state and hand out a few awards. And we’ll take a look at the week ahead.

Our overall approach to covering the high school season has changed a little this year. One great thing about publishing online is the feedback we get from the Prep Girls Hoops website, and the data is clear. What readers want in all 30 states we cover is news on individual players – evaluations, top performers, stock risers and fresh faces. That is what we do best.

Yes, we’ll still tell you about the teams, the rivalries, the race for the state tournament and so on but our primary focus will be on individual performances. Our week will follow this basic pattern: On Sundays we’ll have The Week That Was, normally on Monday and Wednesday we will feature top performances from the previous week, and on Friday or Saturday we’ll have a feature story or some other item we about the world of girls/womens basketball. We think it’s a format that will provide more value, and we hope you will agree.

We’re glad to be back, and we’re glad you are back here. Without further ado here is the Week That Was #1.

What we watched

Thursday – Minnetonka defeated Hill-Murray 69-46
Friday – East Ridge snuck past Roseville 72-71; Perham beat Fergus Falls 66-63 (online)
Saturday – St. Michael-Albertville defeated Edina 58-33; Farmington topped Eastview 59-40

Player of the Week

This one is a no-brainer. We were not surprised when Gianna Kneepkens Gianna Kneepkens 5'11" | CG Duluth Marshall | 2021 State #86 Nation MN of Duluth Marshall dropped 38 points on opening night. Then she blew us all away on Saturday with a 51-point, 20-rebound performance in the Hilltoppers 73-58 win over Grand Rapids. I believe Kneepkens has been the first- or second-leading scorer in the state since 9th grade, and when she gets rolling there is nobody better. Gianna is a top 5 player in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2021. She has committed to the University of Utah.

In the games we saw in person, the clear-cut winner is Kiani Lockett Kiani Lockett 5'9" | PG Minnetonka | 2022 State MN of Minnetonka. Playing her first game for the Skippers since transferring from DeLaSalle over the summer, the top-10 junior was outstanding. You can read all of the details about Thursday’s game in our opening night recap.

Defensive Player of the Week

Farmington is a team on a mission. After seeing their shot at Hopkins and a state AAAA title cut short last spring, the Tigers are determined to make the best of whatever opportunity they get to compete this season. Farmington got off to a great start, recording an impressive 61-35 win over Lakeville North on Thursday and following that up Saturday night with a 59-40 defeat of Eastview. If the Tigers are to excel they’ll need junior Rose Wille Rose Wille 5'8" | SG Farmington | 2022 State MN to continue her solid play from the summer. So far so good. Wille shut down Lizzie Berkvam Lizzie Berkvam 5'10" | PG Lakeville North | 2021 State MN (MSU-Moorhead) of Lakeville North, holding the quality point guard to just two points. She turned in another strong defensive performance on Saturday, keeping top-10 senior Cassidy Carson Cassidy Carson 6'0" | CG Eastview | 2021 State MN (South Dakota) to only 5 points.

Honorable mention goes to sophomore Piper Carlson Piper Carlson 5'11" | SF St. Michael-Albertville | 2023 State MN of St. Michael-Albertville. She, too, had an outstanding summer and is one of the most improved players in her class over the past year. The 5’11 forward (#61 in 2023) is strong, she’s physical and she’s not afraid to bang as required. That’s exactly what she did on Saturday afternoon against Edina. Carlson finished with a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds

Week 1 Standouts

The #62-rated junior Abbie Riederer Abbie Riederer 5'8" | CG Mn Valley Lutheran | 2022 State MN scored 44 points Saturday for Minnesota Valley Lutheran as the Chargers knocked off Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart by a score of 80-67. BLHS received 30 points from top-40 sophomore Allison Milbrandt Allison Milbrandt 5'10" | SF Buffalo Lake-H-S | 2023 State MN .

Kneepkens wasn’t the only Duluth area player lighting it up this week. Duluth East sophomore guard Ashlynne Guenther Ashlynne Guenther 5'11" | SF Duluth East | 2023 State MN scored 40 points in the Greyhounds 68-59 loss to Hibbing. Guenther, who is ranked #59 in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2023, averaged about 14 ppg last season.

Roseville got off to a rough start Friday as the Raiders trailed East Ridge by 17 at the half. 6’3 senior Tamia Ugass Tamia Ugass 6'3" | C Roseville | 2021 State MN (Louisiana State) was ice-cold from outside and had just 3 points in the opening stanza. Ugass got hot after the break – really hot – scoring 32 second-half points, including 5 three-pointers and 11 free throws for a 35-point night. The comeback fell just short, though, as the Raptors escaped with a 72-71 victory.

Speaking of big post players, Robbinsdale Armstrong sophomore Savannah McGowan Savannah McGowan 6'2" | PF Armstrong | 2023 State MN made an impression in her first game of the new year. The 6’3 forward, who is top 10 in the class of 2023, opened the season with a 33-point , 13-rebound performance as the Falcons knocked off Anoka 63-51. McGowan was 11-for-19 from the field and 9-of-14 at the line.

Mikayla Aumer Mikayla Aumer 5'9" | CG Cambridge-Isanti | 2022 State MN wasted no time asserting herself on behalf of Cambridge-Isanti. The top-25 junior scored 33 points in the Bluejackets 64-59 win over a strong squad from St. Croix Lutheran. Last year Aumer averaged nearly 17 points per game while leading C-I to the AAAA state tournament. Top-5 freshman Laura Hauge Laura Hauge 5'9" | SG St. Croix Lutheran | 2024 State MN scored 28 for St. Croix in the loss.

We told you in the days after fall ball ended that Justine Jameson Justine Jameson 5'10" | PF Park CG | 2022 State MN of Park Cottage Grove was a player to watch this winter. The junior made us look good in Park’s opening game, scoring 27 points. It wasn’t enough, however, as the Wolfpack dropped a 77-52 decision to Stillwater. The Ponies were led by Amber Scalia Amber Scalia 5'9" | CG Stillwater | 2022 State MN with 22, Alexis Pratt Alexis Pratt 5'5" | PG Stillwater | 2021 State MN with 21 and sophomore Lexi Karlen Lexi Karlen 6'0" | SG Stillwater | 2023 State MN with 17.

Olivia Olson Olivia Olson 6'1" | CG Benilde-SM | 2024 State MN , the #1-ranked prospect in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2024, got off to a slow start for Benilde-St. Margaret’s on Thursday but she was in fine form Saturday as the Red Knights defeated Orono 63-56. Olson was a little cold early on but returned to form in the second half. She finished with 21 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists and 2 blocks. That’s about what you’d expect from a high Division 1 prospect, isn’t it?

Speaking of high D1 prospects, Byron’s Sacia Vanderpool Sacia Vanderpool 6'4" | C Byron | 2021 State MN could be the poster child for continuous improvement. From the time we first saw her as a sub for the great Ayoka Lee Ayoka Lee 6'6" | C Byron AAA | 2018 State MN (now one of the top bigs in the country for Kansas State) to her first game of 2021, the improvement has been steady. It’s no surprise, then, that the Wisconsin commit opened with 26 points and 8 rebounds in the Bears’ 55-29 victory over Pine Island.

Other top offensive performances included:

36 points for sophomore Maci Farmer of Jackson Country Central against Luverne.
36 points for senior Grace Landvik Grace Landvik 5'8" | CG Concordia | 2021 State MN of Concordia Academy in the Beacons’ win over Cristo Rey. Her teammate Ivane Tensaie Ivane Tensaie 5'7" | CG Concordia | 2021 State MN (ND Science) had 31 in the same game.
29 points for Elly Schmitz Elly Schmitz 5'11" | SF Hermantown | 2021 State MN (Sioux Falls) of Hermantown in a win over Cloquet,
26 points for 8th grader Addison Mack in her debut at Minnehaha Academy,
Big nights for Lilly Meister Lilly Meister 6'2" | PF Rochester John Marshall | 2022 State #55 Nation MN (Indiana) of Rochester John Marshall with 35 points, Miah Monahan Miah Monahan 5'8" | CG Glencoe-Silver Lake | 2021 State MN (Eastern Illinois) of Glencoe-Silver Lake with 31 and Maggie Czinano Maggie Czinano 6'1" | SF Watertown-Mayer | 2021 State MN (Minnesota) with 30 for Watertown-Mayer.

FYI, there were probably some other big offensive performances over the past few days but we can’t include them all. If coaches are not posting stats to mngirlsbasketballhub.com within a couple of hours after the end of each game, or letting us know via Twitter (@gmachoops) or email (gmachoops@gmail.com), then there’s a pretty good chance we won’t know. We simply can’t be everywhere at once.

Rookies of the Week

We covered the opening night exploits of 7th graders Maddyn Greenway (Providence Academy) and Tori Oehrlein Tori Oehrlein 5'11" | CG Crosby-Ironton | 2026 State MN (Crosby-Ironton) in our wrap-up of Thursday’s action. On Saturday, Greenway proved that her 20-point performance against a weaker opponent on Thursday was no fluke as she scored 25 more to lead the Lions to a 63-38 win over Rockford. Not a bad start to a high school career!

Teams of the Week

With so many COVID-related restrictions on attendance this season, livestreaming of games will be more important than ever. We can see more games and the grandparents can watch at home from the comfort and safety of their living room. Providers and programs are doing a nice job of stepping up their offerings. Thanks to a terrific webcast by Magnitude Sports of Fargo, I was able to watch Perham pull off a 66-63 upset of top-rated Fergus Falls on Friday night. “The girls played so hard, I’m so proud of them!” Perham Coach T.J. Super said after the victory. “We started out sluggish offensively with too many turnovers and a couple missed layups but the defense kept us in it and the girls really clamped down.”

Perham is one of the best three-point shooting teams in the state and they proved it again on Friday as sophomore Mya Morris Mya Morris 5'7" | PG Perham | 2023 State MN made six threes, senior Katie Johnson had four, junior Sydney Anderson had two, and senior Grayce Mickelson scored one. It was Johnson who had the game-winning triple with 5 seconds left on the clock. “We have three girls who have shot 40% or higher from three for a season,” Super said. “Friday night was a great example of how good they can be.”

We also need to give a shout-out to St. Michael-Albertville, which came from 15 points down in the first half to score a 62-60 upset of Wayzata in their opener. Senior Kendal Cox Kendal Cox 5'9" | CG St. Michael-Albertville | 2021 State MN (Winona State) was outstanding in the game, scoring the winning basket with just three seconds left to finish with 23 points. STMA followed that up with a nice win over Edina on Saturday, a good start to the post- Mackenzie Kramer Mackenzie Kramer 5'9" | PG STMA | 2020 State MN era for the Knights.

Milestones

We don’t have any milestones to report right now, but that’s bound to change in a hurry as we recognize the 1000-point scorers, career-scoring leaders, etc. throughout the season. If you have a milestone to report, please let us know immediately after the game. You can message me via Twitter (@gmachoops) or email (gmachoops@gmail.com) and we will do our best to include the historic moments.

One item we should note involves Hall of Fame coach Faith Patterson, who has returned to the sidelines once again. The coach got off to a good start this week at Visitation as the Blazers scored a 55-32 win over Fridley. Vis was led by senior Olivia Johanns, who had 17 points while 8th grader Samantha Wills scored 15.

Coming Up

It’s a little more difficult this year to plan ahead. Because of COVID restrictions, we have to request permission in advance to gain admission to high school games. So far we haven’t been turned down anywhere, although one school never responded to our request and we’re still waiting for approval on Tuesday’s Hopkins at Wayzata game. There’s obviously a lot of media demand for that one so it’s understandable. If we can’t get in the building we’ll watch it via the web.

The other issue we’ll be dealing with this winter are COVID-related cancellations. We had our first one on Thursday when South St. Paul’s game at Hastings was called off due to a positive test within the Packers program. South St. Paul is expected to be in action on Tuesday against Simley. Our upcoming week looks like this.