AAU State Tournament: 5 of the best on Friday night

The 2021 AAU State Tournament is officially underway, having tipped off Friday night with a series of games at Bloomington Kennedy. These were some of Friday’s top performers from the games we watched. <strong>Anna Vaaler – guard, Stars 2024 Zabel</strong> Continuous improvement, an aggressive approach to the game, and a size large motor. Those are three ingredients that can turn a prospect into a player and ultimately lead to a college basketball scholarship. <strong>Anna Vaaler</strong> has all of those attributes and more, and she just keeps getting better and better. Anna’s Minnesota Stars Zabel squad fell 51-44 on Friday night to Minnesota Fury 2024 Premier. but Vaaler was everywhere. She was beating defenders one-on-one, getting to the rim and burying shots from distance. Vaaler was good last summer, was even better this winter, and just keeps on adding pieces to her game. She finished with 15 points and made her case to enter the class of 2024 rankings. <strong>Emma Bakker – guard, Fury 2024 Premier</strong> This edition of the Fury has no fewer than six players in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2024 Top 50. That’s a remarkable number for a so-called ‘second’ team. The amazing thing is every other player on the roster is knocking on the door to enter the rankings, as well. Case in point: <strong>Emma Bakker</strong> of Hastings. Truth be told, Emma has been a little inconsistent when we have watched over the past few weeks, and there are times when she tends to blend in a little. Not on Friday. Emma made two big three-point shots when the contest was in its formative stages and her strong play continued throughout the game. Bakker is a great shooter, a nice ball-handler and has the kind of length and athleticism that will carry a player to the next level. [player_tooltip player_id="215984" first="Kiera" last="O’Rourke"] of Holy Angels also had a strong game for the Fury, who advanced to the second round in 9th grade Division 1. <strong>Josie Nnaji – guard, FBC Real 2024</strong> Josie has big shoes to fill as the younger sister of Zeke and Maya, two highly-accomplished players making their way in big-time basketball. Watching her Friday night, it’s clear that the younger Nnaji has plenty of potential herself. Like her older siblings, Josie has the kind of highly developed skill set that makes it obvious she has put the work in when nobody was watching. I particularly love the way she pounds her dribble. Josie is strong and sure-footed and was constantly in attack mode. Nnaji finished the night with 18 points while her teammate <strong>Mackenzi Simmons</strong>, another exciting 2024 prospect, had 10. It was MN P.R.E.P Buerman that came out on top, however, winning by a score of 61-44. Chris Buerman’s squad was led by <strong>Nyomi Crushshon</strong> with 24 points. [player_tooltip player_id="108333" first="Jasmine" last="Dupree"] <strong>– guard, FBC Real UA 2023</strong> With a roster chock-full of talented prospects, FBC’s 2023 unit is highly skilled and loaded with scorers. From Osseo’s [player_tooltip player_id="186113" first="Aalayah" last="Wilson"] to [player_tooltip player_id="186118" first="Lauren" last="Pawlyshyn"] of Prior Lake, [player_tooltip player_id="215943" first="Somah" last="Kamara"] of Cooper, [player_tooltip player_id="215960" first="Tyreana" last="Reliford"] of Benilde-St. Margaret’s, [player_tooltip player_id="108319" first="Aniyah" last="Reuben"] of Minnehaha Academy and [player_tooltip player_id="186137" first="Kylie" last="Diaz"] of Spring Lake Park, FBC is a quality outfit. On Friday night, however, it was one of the more low-key performers who made the biggest impression. That would be sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="108333" first="Jasmine" last="Dupree"] of Hopkins, who simply goes about her business in the most efficient way possible. Dupree set the tone for the game in the first half with some aggressive defending that led to forced turnovers and transition baskets. She’s just so fundamentally sound, has plenty of strength and plays smart, Hopkins-style basketball. FBC scored a 65-57 win over Minnesota Suns 2023 Blue Star to advance in 10th grade Division 1. The Suns were led by <strong>Malayna Dille-Starks</strong>, <strong>Hannah Compton</strong> and [player_tooltip player_id="108328" first="Priyanka" last="Satish"] with 11 points apiece. [player_tooltip player_id="109179" first="Kate" last="Cordes"] <strong>– guard, MBA Cordes 2022</strong> When MBA Cordes was formed over the winter, the impetus behind the new team was a desire by Shakopee Sabers [player_tooltip player_id="109179" first="Kate" last="Cordes"], [player_tooltip player_id="109183" first="Maya" last="Mitchell"] and [player_tooltip player_id="223918" first="Jasmyn" last="Hale"] to play their final season of AAU basketball together. Who knew how good the team might actually be? With the addition of [player_tooltip player_id="57941" first="Kiera" last="Albers"] and [player_tooltip player_id="57971" first="Becca" last="White"] of Maple Grove, along with [player_tooltip player_id="109199" first="Samara" last="Buchanan"] of Bloomington Kennedy and a couple of others, MBA Cordes has been very good. They earned the #11 seed in the D1 tournament and on Friday night came within a whisker of knocking off #6 Minnesota Fury 2022 Premier. Kate has been the leading scorer in pretty much every tournament MBA has played. On Friday she scored 16 more points to once again lead her team but it wasn’t quite enough as the Fury hung on to win by a score of 41-38. [player_tooltip player_id="109158" first="Greta" last="Krieger"] of Forest Lake had 16 points to lead the Fury.