Granite City Classic: Top 5 young guns at St. Ben’s
In this article:
Remember when players had to wait until at least their sophomore and sometimes junior year before they could expect any meaningful playing time at the varsity level? Yeah, me neither. It seems that every crop of young girls basketball players…
Access all of Prep Girls Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingRemember when players had to wait until at least their sophomore and sometimes junior year before they could expect any meaningful playing time at the varsity level? Yeah, me neither. It seems that every crop of young girls basketball players in Minnesota is better than the class before. That trend certainly played out this week at the Breakdown Granite City Classic. Over two days and 14 games of all-in action, it was obvious that more and more newcomers are not only making an impact but are the crucial pieces of their team’s puzzle. Today we’ll highlight our Top 5 young guns from the Classes of 2025 and younger at Granite City and we’ll offer a tip of the cap to a few more who made a major impact at this prestigious holiday tournament.
Maddyn Greenway Maddyn Greenway 5'8" | PG Providence Academy | 2026 State MN – 2026 guard, Providence Academy
Maddyn is a walking adjective of adulation. Descriptive terms like electrifying, magnetic, charismatic and dynamic come to mind. Just 32 games into her high school career and only in the 8th grade, Greenway has set varsity basketball on fire since arriving as a precocious 7th grader with an advanced set of skills. She took her team all the way to the brink of a state championship last spring and this season so far has been equally good. Despite the fact that practically every opponent now builds their game plan around derailing the Greenway freight train, Maddyn continues to produce. She scored 19 points on Wednesday to earn Breakdown Player of the Game honors in a win over Albany. Through eight games she is averaging more than 21 ppg to go with 5.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 3.6 steals. There aren’t enough superlatives currently available to describe just how well this young gun plays the game.
Aaliyah Crump Aaliyah Crump 6'1" | SF Minnetonka | 2025 State MN – 2025 wing, Minnetonka
When high major college coaches are willing to make a substantial financial investment in private airplane travel to come watch a specific kid play, you know the target of their affections is deemed to be special. That’s what happened on Wednesday when Crump and company played at St. Ben’s. In fact the jet setting coaches were there to watch both Greenway and Crump, which tells you all you need to know about their potential. And why not. Aaliyah is the #1 ranked prospect in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2025 and the 6’1 wing/forward most certainly played like it against Becker. Crump scored 15 first-half points, including three triples, to spark the Skippers’ attack and finished with 19 on the night. The Tonka lineup is stacked, with two starters heading to D1 institutions next fall and the other three all holding similar offers. In spite of her youth, Crump is remarkably consistent having scored between 13 and 16 points in every game but one.
Ava Meierotto – 2026 guard, Duluth Marshall
It was only a few weeks into Ava’s high school basketball career last winter when she served notice that there was something special brewing up in the Northland. That’s when Meierotto put up 9 three-pointers – yes, 9 – in a single game. Not bad for a diminutive 7th grader! One year later Meierotto has emerged as one of the most promising prospects in the Class of 2026. She was on fire Thursday in Duluth Marshall’s double overtime win against Pierz, scoring 18 points while collecting 6 assists and 5 rebounds. Ava has quick feet, quick hands, is obviously a very good shooter and has an advanced understanding of the game. Marshall is currently adapting to the gaping hole left behind when the legendary Giana Kneepkens graduated and moved on to the University of Utah where she was just named PAC 12 Freshman of the Week for the second time. The good news is the prodigies who inherited her role are handling things rather well.
Regan Juenemann Regan Juenemann 5'9" | CG Duluth Marshall | 2025 State MN – 2025 guard, Duluth Marshall
Regan is Ava’s partner in crime in the Hilltoppers backcourt. Juenemann is a year older than Ava. She’s bigger and stronger and much more physically developed, and her game is quite different. Together, however, they are producing stellar results. That was certainly the case on Thursday as Regan put together a heck of a double-double with 28 points and 11 rebounds. It was her buzzer-beating heroics that enabled Marshall to score the last-ditch victory as time expired in the second overtime. Regan, who hails from Two Harbors, played the past two seasons at Duluth East but chose Marshall when it came time to attend high school. The 14th-ranked prospect in the Class of 2025 has been stellar for the Hilltoppers. She’s averaging nearly 23 points and 9 rebounds per game and is shooting over 50% from the field. As a freshman she’s obviously got a ton to learn and plenty of things to work on, but Regan is definitely exceeding all expectations to date.
Addison Pilarski – 2025 forward, Holdingford
Addy is unassuming to say the least. Although the nearly-6 footer has size, she’s not exactly a physical specimen and she’s not the most athletic kid in the gym. The results Pilarski produces, however, are exceptional. One thing she can definitely do is fill up the basket. We saw it all summer with the Minnesota Comets when she finished among the top scorers in practically every event. We saw it again on Wednesday morning against Cass Lake-Bena when the big freshman scored 28 points and pounded the boards like a veteran. Pilarski has great touch, puts herself in the right positions for easy baskets, and doesn’t seem to get rattled when the going gets tough. She is deceptively quick, surprisingly athletic, and way more effective than the vast majority of 9th graders in the state. Addy just missed out on making the Prep Girls Hoops Freshmen 50 this fall but you can look for her name when we make additions in February. Pilarski is definitely a prospect on the rise.
10 MORE YOUNG GUNS WHO STOOD OUT
These kids played very well when we watched them at St. Ben’s. We’ll have more on Hadley Thul Hadley Thul 6'2" | SG Alexandria | 2025 State MN and Gabby Fineday in the next couple of days, but you’ll be hearing plenty about all of them going forward.
- Danielle Coleman Danielle Coleman 6'1" | SG Lakeville South | 2025 State MN – 2025 guard, Lakeville South (#31)
- Hadley Thul Hadley Thul 6'2" | SG Alexandria | 2025 State MN – 2025 forward, Alexandria (#33)
- Chloe Scholl Chloe Scholl 5'9" | CG Alexandria | 2025 State MN – 2025 guard, Alexandria (#46)
- Gabby Fineday – 2025 guard, Cass Lake-Bena
- Allie Haabala – 2025 guard, Alexandria
- Brooke & Lauren Soltis – 2025 guards, Holdingford
- Vienna Murray Vienna Murray 6'0" | SG East Ridge | 2026 State MN – 2026 guard, Tartan
- Lanelle Wright Lanelle Wright 5'8" | PG Minnetonka | 2026 State MN – 2026 guard, Minnetonka (photo above)
- Mia Hernandez – 2027 guard, Tartan
- Emma Millerbernd – 2027 guard, Providence Academy
Top photo: Aaliyah Crump Aaliyah Crump 6'1" | SF Minnetonka | 2025 State MN of Minnetonka, #1 prospect of 2025