The Week That Was #7: Ugass, Van Eps, Westin and more

[player_tooltip player_id="109737" first="Tamia" last="Ugass"] is having a terrific senior season at Roseville, and the 6’3 center is doing things differently in her 6th year of varsity competition. Ugass, a top-10 prospect who has committed to Louisiana State, is bombing threes with great success and she did it again this week in a big win over East Ridge. Tamia’s impressive 38-point performance helped her to earn her the Prep Girls Hoops Player of the Week award in The Week That Was #7. Ugass played her 7th and 8th grade seasons at Highland Park in St. Paul before moving to Roseville where she faced tougher competition every day. Along the way she learned how to play hard-nosed, physical defense from former coach Jeff Crosby while playing mostly with her back to the basket at the other end of the floor. This year, with coach Tanysha Scott now calling the shots, Ugass has been given free rein to fire away. Although Tamia is a streaky shooter, we have seen her knock down a ton of triples this year. She did it again against East Ridge. Perhaps more impressively, Ugass was 14-for-15 at the free throw line in a tough 73-64 win over the Raptors. Ugass’ three-point prowess is not new to avid observers of AAU basketball, however, where Minnesota Stars coach Josh Hersch allowed Tamia to let it fly for five seasons. Runner-up: [player_tooltip player_id="57077" first="Kaylee" last="Van Eps"] of Chaska Chaska has a ton of star power. The Hawks are 11-0 now, having scored an impressive 61-59 win over Wayzata on Friday night. As happens on most nights, junior forward [player_tooltip player_id="12714" first="Mallory" last="Heyer"] (Minnesota) garnered most of the headlines after an outstanding second-half performance, and plenty of folks were buzzing about the play of sophomore point guard [player_tooltip player_id="108301" first="Kennedy" last="Sanders"], who is the real deal. Truth be told however, senior [player_tooltip player_id="57077" first="Kaylee" last="Van Eps"] was as instrumental to the victory as either Heyer or Sanders. In fact, Kaylee has been the key to pretty much everything Chaska has accomplished for the past five years. Van Eps is a workhorse whose impact on the game doesn’t always show up on the scoresheet. Yes, the 5’11 senior is averaging over a dozen points per game, but her contributions run so much deeper. Simply put, the Lehigh commit has been the backbone of Chaska’s ascent to one of the state’s premier programs. She almost always guards the opponent’s toughest player, corals pretty much every loose ball, makes one hustle play after another, and rebounds like there’s no tomorrow. She is also the consummate leader as well as the #7-ranked player in the class of 2021. What We Watched <ul> <li>Monday – Maranatha at Providence Academy</li> <li>Tuesday – Roseville at East Ridge</li> <li>Wednesday – Hastings at Simley</li> <li>Thursday – Becker at St. Michael-Albertville</li> <li>Friday – Chaska at Wayzata, Eastview at Lakeville North, DeLaSalle at Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Shakopee at Prior Lake</li> <li>Saturday – Crosby-Ironton vs Waseca</li> </ul> Fresh Faces of the Week Hastings is in a transition period right now. It’s hard to quantify the impact that [player_tooltip player_id="1448" first="Krystal" last="Carlson"] (Sioux Falls) and [player_tooltip player_id="1918" first="Mallory" last="Brake"] (Creighton) had on the Raiders’ program in recent seasons but both are long gone. This year’s team is built around senior guard Shea Levos and junior forward [player_tooltip player_id="57921" first="Lilly" last="Nuytten"], a Division 1 prospect who will play this summer for North Tartan EYBL. When we watched Hastings at Simley on Wednesday, however, we saw the future of the program: Emma Bakker and [player_tooltip player_id="258599" first="Keagan" last="McVicker"]. Bakker is a 5’9 freshman from the Minnesota Fury who nearly made our initial Freshman 50 list last fall. She’s long and smooth and athletic and looks very much at home at the varsity level. McVicker, who is only an 8th grader, was even more impressive against the Spartans. The 5’9 prospect, who will clearly be a high-end prospect in the class of 2025, is quick and athletic and brimming with confidence. She, too, plays for the Fury. Rising Star: [player_tooltip player_id="108304" first="Maren" last="Westin"] of Becker Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="108304" first="Maren" last="Westin"] of Becker is no stranger to keen observers of Minnesota basketball, but her transformation from intriguing prospect to accomplished veteran is taking place this season before our very eyes. Westin, the #5-ranked prospect in Minnesota’s class of 2023, is an athletic anomaly. She can do things with the basketball that the vast majority of players can’t even conceive. She can also shoot the heck out of it. On Thursday night at St. Michael-Albertville it took some time for the undefeated Bulldogs to get their act together, thanks largely to stellar work by junior [player_tooltip player_id="109124" first="Emma" last="Miller"] and senior [player_tooltip player_id="109742" first="Kendal" last="Cox"] of STMA. When they needed big buckets, however, it was Westin (pronounced Wes-teen) who delivered. Maren was 6-for-11 from the field, including 4-of-7 from three, while playing 31 minutes. Her percentages for the season are eye-popping. Westin is shooting 61.6% overall, including 71.8% from two-point range and 53.2% from three. She is perfect at the free throw line. Surprisingly, Maren sits fourth on the team in scoring at under 12 points per game. That’s because Becker is a loaded veteran squad that likes to spread the points around. With mass graduations on the horizon this spring don’t be at all surprised if Westin’s production doubles next season. Did we mention she has also learned how to defend? Maren will move this summer from the Minnesota Comets to North Tartan EYBL. This week’s milestones Junior [player_tooltip player_id="109746" first="Jordyn" last="Hilgemann"] has been on a tear lately for undefeated Marshall and on Friday night she put up 32 points to become the Tigers’ all-time leading scorer. The Northern State commit reached the 2,143-point mark established by Shannon Bolden, who was part of the University of Minnesota’s memorable 2004 NCAA Final Four team with Lindsay Whalen. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="109747" first="Faith" last="Alberts"] of Parkers Prairie became the fourth player in Panthers history to reach the 2,000 career points mark. The Concordia-St. Paul commit did it on Thursday by scoring an easy transition layup in a win over Rothsay, whose coach Anita Heier immediately called a timeout so Alberts could enjoy the moment of celebration. Classy move. Faith joins Sari Noga (3,571), Madison Dorn (2,312) and Micaela Noga (2,417) on the Parkers Prairie honor roll. Alberts wasn’t the only senior to hit the 2,000-point mark this week. Eastern Illinois commit [player_tooltip player_id="109752" first="Miah" last="Monahan"] of Glencoe-Silver Lake also accomplished the feat when she scored 25 points Friday against New London-Spicer. Miah has now scored 334 points (25.7 per game) this season while topping the 20-point mark in all but one game. She has been over 30 four times. It’s not easy following in the footsteps of highly accomplished sisters like Maddie Monahan (Drake) or [player_tooltip player_id="1496" first="McKenna" last="Monahan"] (Grand View) but Miah has had a stellar career playing for her dad Jeff. On Friday night Redwood Valley senior [player_tooltip player_id="109788" first="Haley" last="Garman"] scored 29 points in a win over Morris Area to become her school’s all-time leading scorer. Garman, who has committed to the University of Wisconsin-Stout, is now at 1,783 and counting. In the same game, Garman’s teammate Sydney Sommers reached 1,000 in her career. This week we learned that we had missed an earlier career scoring record accomplished by Megan Erickson of Randolph. The Rockets senior set a new program record of 1,563 and counting. Among those reaching 1,000 career points this week were: <ul> <li>Junior [player_tooltip player_id="109164" first="Sadie" last="Voss"] of Jackson County Central</li> <li>Senior Megan Weber of Henning</li> <li>Senior [player_tooltip player_id="57110" first="Morgan" last="Krumwiede"] of Burnsville</li> <li>Junior [player_tooltip player_id="12712" first="Maya" last="Nnaji"] of Hopkins</li> <li>Junior Jadin Saville of Greenway</li> </ul> Notable Performances The 13-1 Pine City Dragons clinched a second straight Great River Conference title this week in a win over their rivals from Rush City, a game in which [player_tooltip player_id="109757" first="Ellie" last="Hasz"] scored 28 points and [player_tooltip player_id="108318" first="Sophie" last="Lahti"] had 16. Earlier in the week Lahti had a career-high 34 against Ogilvie along with 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks. This was not an anomaly, either. Lahti and Hasz have been filling up the scoresheet all year. Hasz, a 6’0 senior who has committed to the University of Mary, is averaging 20.9 points per game along with 6.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.1 steals. The top-50 ranked prospect in the class of 2021 is the daughter of Pine City coach Ted Hasz. Lahti, a 6’0 sophomore who is garnering Division 1 offers, is also at 20.9 ppg along with 9 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 4.4 steals. Sophie is rated 19th in the class of 2023 and rising. We should also note that there is another 6-footer on the Pine City roster who is making waves, as well. Freshman Karly Jusczak had a career-high 22 points and 7 rebounds in the win over Ogilvie. Other notable performances in Week #7 included: <ul> <li>Junior [player_tooltip player_id="30146" first="Maddie" last="James"] of Princeton scored 40 of her team’s 49 points, and had 11 rebounds and 5 blocks in a game against Grand Rapids. It wasn’t nearly enough, however, as sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="108316" first="Taryn" last="Hamling"] poured in 31 to lead the Thunderhawks to a 72-49 win.</li> <li>Junior Kayla Griffin of Maranatha scored 36 points in a 79-47 win over St. Croix Prep.</li> <li>Senior [player_tooltip player_id="146172" first="Sarah" last="Lenz"] (Jamestown) of Belle Plaine had 32 points in a big 63-53 win over Mayer Lutheran.</li> <li>Sophomore Maci Farmer of Jackson County Central scored 31 on Monday in a win over Maple River tying her school-record with 7 three-pointers.</li> <li>Junior [player_tooltip player_id="109178" first="Justine" last="Jameson"] of Park Cottage Grove had 31 points on Tuesday against a tough Stillwater team.</li> <li>Junior [player_tooltip player_id="109141" first="Kassie" last="Caron"] of Holy Angels had a season-high 32 on Thursday against Fridley. She has committed to D2 Missouri Western.</li> <li>Junior Destiny Piekarski of Littlefork-Big Falls lit it up against Warroad. The 5’10 Piekarski had 29 points, 16 rebounds, 6 steals, 5 blocks and 4 assists.</li> <li>Junior Maddie Young of Cloquet, who competes in AAU for Playmakers North, collected 29 points Tuesday in a win over Hibbing.</li> <li>Junior [player_tooltip player_id="109145" first="Hannah" last="Herzig"] of Centennial, a talented wing with Division 1 potential, had 26 points for Totino-Grace in a 62-56 defeat of Andover.</li> <li>Sophomore Liv Birkeland of Hermantown had a 26-point outing as the Hawks knocked off their neighbors from Proctor. Birkeland is part of the strong 2023 Playmakers North squad.</li> </ul> Top photo: [player_tooltip player_id="258599" first="Keegan" last="McVicker"] (left) and Emma Bakker (right) are the future of the program in Hastings.