State Tournament Quarterfinals: Top 10 AAA performers

The semifinal field is set for the girls State Tournament next week at Target Center. Each of the four AAA teams still standing – Holy Angels, Becker, Hill-Murray and Marshall – took a little different route to get to the final four, but none of them could have done it without some strong individual performances. Here’s our rundown of the Top 10 quarterfinal performers in Class AAA. Hill-Murray beats Austin 60-47 [player_tooltip player_id="57959" first="Hope" last="Dudycha"] – junior guard, Austin Hope is the consummate point guard. She has a lofty basketball IQ, sets the pace of the game on most nights, and operates with a calm demeanor. She is a very good passer, excellent ball handler and can shoot the basketball. That’s why Hope is one of the top players in the Big 9 Conference. In February Dudycha reached the 1,000-career points milestone. That was a week after she scored 32 points against Owatonna which was two weeks after she did the same versus Northfield. Alas, that kind of offensive output isn’t so easy to pull off against coach Erin Hermann’s defensive-minded squad from Hill-Murray. Hope put up back-to-back threes early in the contest but the Pioneers turned up the defense soon after. H-M brought their A game to the Tuesday encounter at Rochester Mayo High School and used a big run just before half time to build a lead they would never relinquish. Still Hope finished the night with 14 points and showed once again that she is worthy of scholarship consideration. Hope and her twin sister [player_tooltip player_id="109176" first="Emma" last="Dudycha"] will play again this summer for the Southern Minnesota Fury. [player_tooltip player_id="109793" first="Elyse" last="Hebrink"] – senior guard, Austin State Tournament week is full of highs and lows, and one of the most difficult aspects is seeing teams have their season come to an end. It’s particularly hard for the seniors who know they will never suit up for a high school basketball game again. When Austin fell to Hill-Murray on Tuesday it marked the final appearance for Hebrink, who is one of the most unheralded, underappreciated talents in Southern Minnesota. I have always loved Elyse’s game. Austin’s only senior is a coach’s kid who plays with intelligence, passion and skill. She is the ultimate team player, always willing to sacrifice for the good of the group, always deferring for the sake of the team, never seeking the spotlight. Hope draws most of the headlines in Austin as she should, but we need to offer up one last tip of the cap to Hebrink who just goes about her business in the right way. Incidentally, Rocky Hulne of the Austin Daily Herald wrote a really nice piece last week on Elyse. You can <a href="https://austindailyherald.com/2021/03/all-in-and-all-out/">read it here</a>. [player_tooltip player_id="2134" first="Lilli" last="Mackley"] – senior guard, Hill-Murray Mackley is one much-heralded senior who survived the quarterfinal round and will play at least one more game in her storied high school career. Like Hebrink, Mackley is a team-first performer who excels at both ends of the floor. Lilli has made the utmost of her God-given ability thanks to a relentless work ethic, a leader’s mentality and a relentless drive to win. Mackley was everywhere against the Packers. The Dakota State commit scored 27 points for Hill-Murray, an offensive output for which Austin had few answers. Lilli has always been an overachiever. Over time her skills have improved significantly. She can impact a basketball game in so many ways, and you never have to worry if she’ll give it everything she’s got. Rest assured she will. When the game ended the first person to wish Austin well was Mackley. Just like Hebrink she, too, operates with a high standard of sportsmanship and class. Holy Angels knocks out Grand Rapids 93-69 [player_tooltip player_id="109141" first="Kassie" last="Caron"] – junior forward, Holy Angels There must be something special for Kassie about the first round of the State Tournament. Two years ago the opening day represented a coming out party of sorts for Caron. Up until that time she had shown us hints of greatness in her future but had never really put together a complete performance. That day in 2019, against Fergus Falls, Caron could do no wrong. She was 8-for-10 from the field, including 4-of-6 from three-point range, and her 20 points sparked the Stars to a one-point win over [player_tooltip player_id="30148" first="Ellie" last="Colbeck"] and Fergus Falls. Two years later, we’re accustomed to seeing great work from Caron. Since committing to Missouri Western earlier this year, she has played in a more carefree way that has ultimately produced even better results. This time around Caron did it again on day one, scoring 30 points Tuesday to lead Holy Angels to the win over Grand Rapids. We can’t wait until opening day in 2022! [player_tooltip player_id="2117" first="Frankie" last="Vascellaro"] – senior forward, Holy Angels Frankie has given us so many memorable basketball moments over the course of her career. The 6’0 senior has always had a knack for making big shots at the right time, and she has always produced when her team needed her the most. As we said in our preview of next week’s semifinal match-ups, Frankie’s mid-range jump shot is an absolute weapon. There were a lot of AHA Stars who came ready to play on Tuesday against Grand Rapids, including senior [player_tooltip player_id="109792" first="Rachel" last="Kawiecki"], junior [player_tooltip player_id="147450" first="Grace" last="Massaquoi"] and freshman Jenna Buer who had 12 points apiece on their opening day. And then there was Frankie who scored her usual 19. On Friday night we learned that the top-20 prospect in the senior class has decided that next week will be her last as basketball player and she will not be competing at the collegiate level. It has been a great run! [player_tooltip player_id="108316" first="Taryn" last="Hamling"] – sophomore guard, Grand Rapids The Hamling name is synonymous with Grand Rapids basketball. Kris Hamling is the head coach of the Thunderhawks. 2018 graduate [player_tooltip player_id="1452" first="Heaven" last="Hamling"] gave us a ton of memorable moments in both high school and AAU basketball, and this winter led North Dakota State to its finest D1 season in more than a decade. And then there is the sophomore Taryn, who wasted no time cementing her own place in sun. The top-25 prospect, who has made a verbal commitment to join her sister at NDSU, has already reached 1,000 career points. She’s a terrific ball-handler, a great athlete and a pure shooter. Although her 23-point performance wasn’t enough to earn the Thunderhawks a quarterfinal victory on Tuesday, she did her share. We look forward to seeing more of the same this summer with the Minnesota Stars. Jessika Lofstrom – freshman forward, Grand Rapids While the Hamling name is well-established in girls basketball circles, not many people are quite as familiar with her Grand Rapids teammate Lofstrom. That’s likely to change in short order. Lofstrom is a lengthy forward from the class of 2024. She did not play last summer when we were evaluating that class for the first time – at least we didn’t see her on the court – which is why you won’t find her in the Freshmen 50 rankings. That’s the only reason, however, because Jessika has proven throughout the high school season that she is going to be a factor among this year’s freshmen. Lofstrom already understands how to use her length to advantage at both ends of the floor, and she knows how to put the ball in the cylinder, too. Her footwork and strength are improving rapidly as she demonstrated on Tuesday while scoring 21 points in her state tournament debut. Becker beat Alexandria 76-52 [player_tooltip player_id="30163" first="Adeline" last="Kent"] – junior guard, Becker We had to wait an extra day to watch Becker take to the court for the first time at the 2021 State Tournament but Addie wasted no time making it evident she had come to play. Kent, who offers an explosive combination of speed, quickness and athleticism, made the Bulldogs’ first shot of the game, a sweet little pull-up jumper to put Becker ahead early. It was her jump shot with about two minutes to go in the half that gave Becker a 13-point margin as part of a big run that set the tone for how the night was going to go. After the halftime break, and in spite of Alexandria’s switch to a 3-2 zone in an attempt to curtail the potent Becker attack, the Dogs got the jump again as Kent’s drive to the hoop capped a quick 6-0 run to start the second period. This is just the sort of thing we have become accustomed to from the top-35 junior – the crossovers and floaters and knockdowns and more. The 5’8 combo guard, who has committed to the University of Tampa, is definitely one of the state’s most entertaining performers. She finished the night 7-for-13 from the field for 14 points to go along with 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. [player_tooltip player_id="186119" first="Ayla" last="Brown"] – sophomore guard, Becker We’ve talked numerous times over the past couple of years about how important Becker’s depth is. By the time most teams reach the state tournament, their benches have become as short as possible and the number of players who see any meaningful playing time often numbers around six. Not the Bulldogs. Becker has a legitimate 8-player rotation, and they all get significant minutes pretty much every night. That’s how a player like Ayla can come in off the bench and have such a big impact on a game, which is exactly what she did against the Cardinals. Brown is a defensive dynamo who takes pride in putting the padlocks on opposing ball-handlers, forcing turnovers and sparking her team with hustle plays. Her energy and enthusiasm also makes things happen on the offensive end, too. On Wednesday Ayla was 5-of-7 from the field for 14 points. The 5’6 combo guard was one of the most improved players last year in the class of 2023 and she keeps on getting better. Marshall eliminates St. Croix Lutheran 63-32 [player_tooltip player_id="109746" first="Jordyn" last="Hilgemann"] – senior guard, Marshall Last week we brought you a series of exploits courtesy of Marshall’s most highly acclaimed player. She was dominant throughout section play and unstoppable on the offensive end. In Tuesday’s quarterfinal win over St. Croix Lutheran, those kind of heroics simply weren’t required. Instead Marshall did what Marshall does best... play hard-nosed, team-oriented basketball that simply suffocated a normally potent Crusaders attack. The Tigers were up 25 by halftime and cruised the rest of the way home. All of Marshall’s top players were up to snuff. Hilgemann scored 16 points, Emily Meier had 19, Abi Wendorff scored 11 and Brianna Simpson collected 8. We may be picking top individual performers here but, in reality, this was a total group effort. Top photo: Junior guard [player_tooltip player_id="30163" first="Adeline" last="Kent"] of Becker was among this week’s top 10 Class AAA performers.