Holiday tournaments dominate this week’s schedule

With the exception of the unfortunate COVID-19 cancellations one year ago, holiday tournaments have been a staple of the girls basketball season for as long as we can remember. Events in Rochester and Winona have been played for decades in Southeastern Minnesota. Tournaments at Roseville, Park Center, Hill-Murray and Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall have seemingly been around forever. One such gathering that’s certainly carved in stone – asking forgiveness in advance for the pun – is the Breakdown Granite City Classic in the St. Cloud area. That’s where I’ll be on Wednesday and Thursday, and for good reason.

With over 70 teams in the combined boys and girls tournament, the Granite City Classic is probably the largest in-season high school tournament in the country. There are 28 girls teams scheduled to compete including such top programs as Minnetonka, Becker, Alexandria, Providence Academy, Mountain Iron-Buhl, Duluth Marshall, Holy Family, and the defending Class 2A champs from Albany. The roster of individual talent on hand is truly impressive:

Top 50 Seniors

• Kiani Lockett Kiani Lockett 5'9" | PG Minnetonka | 2022 State MN of Minnetonka (Creighton) – #8
• Desiree Ware Desiree Ware 5'8" | CG Minnetonka | 2022 State MN of Minnetonka (Alabama-Birmingham) – #10
• Mikayla Aumer Mikayla Aumer 5'9" | CG Cambridge-Isanti | 2022 State MN of Cambridge-Isanti (North Dakota) – #20
• Ally Schultz Ally Schultz 6'0" | CG Lakeville South | 2022 State MN of Lakeville South (Concordia-St. Paul) – #26
• Adeline Kent Adeline Kent 5'8" | CG Becker | 2022 State MN of Becker (Tampa) – #30
• Nicole Bowlin Nicole Bowlin 5'6" | PG Holy Family | 2022 State MN of Holy Family (Colorado Christian) – #47

Top 50 juniors

• Maren Westin Maren Westin 5'8" | CG Becker | 2023 State MN of Becker (UW-Green Bay) – #5
• Savannah McGowan Savannah McGowan 6'2" | PF Armstrong | 2023 State MN of Armstrong – #8
• Sophi Hall Sophi Hall 6'1" | CG Holy Family | 2023 State MN of Holy Family (Providence University) – #12
• Dani Nuest Dani Nuest 5'6" | CG Becker | 2023 State MN of Becker (Michigan Tech) – #28
• Grace Counts Grace Counts 6'1" | PF Providence | 2023 State MN of Providence Academy – #36
• Ayla Brown Ayla Brown 5'6" | SG Becker | 2023 State MN of Becker – #39
• Nicole Lillard Nicole Lillard 5'6" | CG Champlin Park | 2023 State MN of Champlin Park – #43
• Karlee Fisher Karlee Fisher 5'7" | CG Armstrong | 2023 State MN of Robbinsdale Armstrong – #45

Top 50 Sophomores

• Tori McKinney Tori McKinney 6'1" | CG Minnetonka | 2024 State MN of Minnetonka – #5
• Emma Dasovich Emma Dasovich 6'1" | PF Valley Vista | 2024 MN of Minnetonka – #6
• Jordan Zubich Jordan Zubich 5'11" | SG Mountain Iron-Buhl | 2024 State MN of Mountain Iron-Buhl – #7
• Finley Ohnstad Finley Ohnstad 6'1" | SF Lakeville South | 2024 State MN of Lakeville South – #9
• Ava Holman Ava Holman 5'9" | CG Champlin Park | 2024 MN of Champlin Park–  #21
• Alyssa Sand Alyssa Sand 6'2" | PF Albany | 2024 State MN of Albany – #22
• Kylan Gerads Kylan Gerads 5'11" | SF Albany | 2024 State MN of Albany – #36
• Jocelyn Land Jocelyn Land 6'0" | PF Holy Family | 2024 State MN of Holy Family – #38
• Karly Jusczak Karly Jusczak 6'1" | PF Pine City | 2024 State MN of Pine City–  #48

Top 50 Freshmen

• Aaliyah Crump Aaliyah Crump 6'1" | SF Montverde Academy | 2025 State FL of Minnetonka – #1
• Regan Juenemann Regan Juenemann 5'9" | CG/SG Crosby-Ironton | 2025 State MN of Duluth East – #14
• Hope Counts Hope Counts 6'2" | SF Providence Academy | 2025 State MN of Providence Academy – #30
• Danielle Coleman Danielle Coleman 6'1" | SG Lakeville South | 2025 State MN of Lakeville South – #31
• Hadley Thul Hadley Thul 6'2" | SG Alexandria Area | 2025 State MN of Alexandria – #33
• Chloe Scholl Chloe Scholl 5'9" | CG Alexandria Area | 2025 State MN of Alexandria – #46

Top 8th graders

• Maddyn Greenway Maddyn Greenway 5'8" | PG Providence Academy | 2026 State MN of Providence Academy
• Lanelle Wright Lanelle Wright 5'8" | PG Minnetonka | 2026 State MN of Minnetonka
• Vienna Murray Vienna Murray 6'1" | SG East Ridge | 2026 State MN of Tartan
• Ava Meirotto of Duluth Marshall
• Abbie Pietila of Buffalo

10 GAMES TO SEE THIS WEEK

There are great games everywhere but here are 10 that particularly caught our attention:

Monday, Dec. 27

• 2:45 p.m. – Maple River vs Caledonia (at Winona State)
• 8:00 p.m. – Winona Cotter vs Goodhue (at Winona State)

Tuesday, Dec. 28

• 5:15 p.m. – Chanhassen vs Rogers (at St. Michael-Albertville)
• 7:00 p.m. – Blooming Prairie vs Hayfield (at Hayfield)
• 8:30 p.m. – Rochester Century vs Rosemount (at Mayo Civic Center in Rochester)

Wednesday, Dec. 29

• 4:15 p.m. – Chaska vs Eden Prairie (at Park Center)
• 6:00 p.m. – Albany vs Providence Academy (at College of St. Benedict)
• 7:30 p.m. – Becker vs Minnetonka (at College of St. Benedict)

Thursday, Dec. 30

• 6:00 p.m. – Rocori vs Holy Family (at St. Cloud Tech)
• 7:15 p.m. – Providence Academy vs Becker (at College of St. Benedict )

Watch for live tweeting at the various events along with a ton of post-tournament coverage. Tony Ragulen will be at Park Center and Roseville. Rudy Ruffin is planning to attend Hill-Murray and St. Michael-Albertville. I’ll make multiple stops early in the week and will be at Granite City Wednesday and Thursday.

Top photo: The defending Class 2A state champions from Albany will be on hand at Granite City. (Photo courtesy of Breakdown Sports USA)