Big vs Big: The best forward battles of the week

On paper it is one of the best big vs big battles in Minnesota basketball: Two giant centers – with more than 150 inches in height between them – with big bodies, substantial talent and the prospect rankings to match. Last week’s encounter between Tamia Ugass Tamia Ugass 6'3" | C Roseville | 2021 State MN of Roseville and Britt Carlson Britt Carlson 6'4" | PF East Ridge | 2022 State MN of East Ridge had all the markings of a great one-on-one encounter. That head-to-head match-up was one of several intriguing meetings between some of Minnesota’s highest-quality centers/forwards during Week #7. Here’s a quick summary of forwards we saw that you might want to see, too.

Tamia Ugass Tamia Ugass 6'3" | C Roseville | 2021 State MN , Roseville vs Britt Carlson Britt Carlson 6'4" | PF East Ridge | 2022 State MN , East Ridge

The Raiders and Raptors met on the second day of the season back in January, and we were pretty pumped at the time for a Ugass-Carlson encounter. When Britt, who has committed to play volleyball at Texas Tech, walked into the gym with her foot in boot it was obvious the match-up would have to wait. Tamia, a Louisiana State commit rated 10th in the senior class, had her way that night, scoring 36 points but East Ridge escaped with a 72-71 win. Last week at East Ridge, we were happy to see Britt on the floor for warm-ups but a little confused when she wasn’t in the starting lineup. In fact, Carlson (#14 in 2022) didn’t enter the game until five minutes had already passed and she was the third Raptor off the bench. As always she went hard against Ugass, so hard that she drew an intentional foul late in the first half after Tamia hit the deck with a big old thud during a battle for possession. In the end, however, it was Ugass who ruled this day with a 38-point performance and a 73-62 victory that earned her Player of the Week honors. She always seems to be at her best against the toughest opponents.

Lilly Nuytten Lilly Nuytten 6'1" | PF Hastings | 2022 State MN , Hastings vs Champ Danso Champ Danso 6'0" | PF Simley | 2022 State MN , Simley

There were only eight games on the schedule last Wednesday, but five of them were in the strong South Suburban Conference. I passed up the opportunity to watch the likes of Farmington, Prior Lake or Rosemount again, and did so for one reason: I wanted to see Lilly and Champ go nose-to-nose for 36 minutes. The battle did not disappoint. Danso, ranked #32 in the Prep Girls Hoops class of 2022, is a skilled 6’1 power forward with Division 1 potential. Lilly, ranked 36th in the same class, is a bit of a late bloomer whose stock is most definitely on the rise. Champ gets the edge in the finesse department, but Lilly’s motor is one of the highest-revving in the state. Both can rebound the heck out of it. After being part of a senior-laden state tournament team last season, Danso is carrying the Spartans this time around. Ditto for Nuytten at Hastings, where the great Mallory Brake Mallory Brake 6'0" | SF Hastings | 2020 State MN (Creighton) moved on. Honestly, both teams were much, much better than anticipated and it was a highly entertaining game. Nuytten vs Danso turned out to be basically a dead heat, but Champ gets the edge because Simley got the win 50-38.

Megan Gamble Megan Gamble 5'10" | SF Becker | 2021 State MN , Becker vs Piper Carlson Piper Carlson 5'11" | SF St. Michael-Albertville | 2023 State MN , STMA

If this was boxing we’d probably classify Gamble and Carlson as light heavyweights. Both are a tad undersized at 5’11, but their games pack a wallop of a punch. Gamble, a Concordia-St. Paul commit rated #51 in the class of 2021, might be the more skilled of the two, but she’s two years older so that stands to reason. Carlson is one of the state’s most improved players over the past year and is ranked #61 in the class of 2023. When it comes to physicality, however, neither player will back down and that’s what made last Thursday’s contest between undefeated Becker and STMA so appealing. Both teams have skill and speed, but it was the war inside that set the tone for this one. It took a long time for Becker’s defensive pressure to dent the Knights’ armor, and Gamble and Carlson pretty much battled to a stalemate. In the end Becker pulled away for a 60-47 win.

Mallory Heyer Mallory Heyer 6'1" | PF Chaska | 2022 State #36 Nation MN , Chaska vs Jenna Johnson Jenna Johnson 6'2" | PF Wayzata | 2021 State #52 Nation MN , Wayzata

If you are looking for a marquee matchup of Minnesota forwards it doesn’t get much better than this. Heyer is a 6’2 junior ranked #4 in the class of 2022 and committed to the University of Minnesota. Johnson is a 6’2 senior ranked #3 in the class of 2021 and committed to Utah. As undefeated Chaska went at it with Wayzata on Friday, both players put all of their rather ample wares on full display. Johnson missed most of last season with a torn ACL. It has taken her a little time to get back up to speed since play resumed in January, but she’s looking very good now. She had 17 points in this one. Heyer has been strong all season, and she went off in the second half to spark the Hawks to a 61-59 victory. Chaska trailed by nine at halftime but Heyer scored 16 of her 18 points after the break as the Hawks roared back to win.

Grace Counts Grace Counts 6'1" | PF Providence | 2023 State MN , Providence Academy + Maria Counts Maria Counts 5'11" | PF Providence | 2022 State MN , Providence Academy

Each of the aforementioned pairings were opponents who went head-to-head last week and played a significant role in the outcome of the game. Thus, Big vs Big. In this final example, however, we have replaced ‘vs’ with ‘+’ because Grace and Maria are teammates and sisters and solid next-level prospects. At 13-1, Providence Academy is one of the best AA teams in the state, and the Counts sisters have been absolutely crucial in the Lions having the ability to reach new heights. Maria is a 5’11 power forward currently rated #70 in the class of 2022. Grace is 6’0 power forward ranked #40 in the class of 2023. They have been solid over the past couple of seasons, but the addition of point guard prodigy Maddyn Greenway Maddyn Greenway 5'8" | PG Providence Academy | 2026 State MN has enabled Maria and Grace to take it up a notch or two. They were dominant last week against Maranatha, combining for 37 points and more rebounds than I could keep up with.