The Week That Was #7: Almost halfway home

Seven weeks are in the books and we’re almost halfway home as many teams are nearing the mid-point of their regular season schedule. There have been some surprises, some setbacks and some interesting scenarios are shaping up for the post season. I have watched more than 100 teams to date. Thanks to the substantial growth of livestreaming options we have been able to see more outstate squads than ever before, which has been great. For this, our recap of the Week That Was #7, let’s take a look at where we are and where we’re headed as Minnesota’s high school girls basketball season moves towards its crescendo on March 19 in Minneapolis. THE YEAR TO DATE After an abrupt ending to the 2020 campaign and a pandemic-abbreviated 2021, things were going along nicely for the first five weeks or so of the chase for a 2022 championship. Then came the Omicron variant and now the impact of COVID-19 has once again begun to affect the high school game in a significant way. Over the past couple of weeks there have been a number of cancellations and some of the state’s most prominent programs have been affected, either because their team has been dealing with the direct impact of the virus (Hopkins, for example) or their opponents have been forced to sit out and that has upset the planned schedule (e.g., Minnetonka). DeLaSalle has been dealing with both. As a result the Islanders have only played five games to date compared to a dozen or so for teams unaffected by cancellations. After having competed just once in the previous 27 days, the Islanders returned to action last week and promptly pulled off an impressive victory over Holy Angels, a game in which Quincy University commit [player_tooltip player_id="12736" first="Sydney" last="Runsewe"] scored 26 points. DLS is scheduled to play three times this week and three times next week so we should get a much better idea of where the Islanders are at by the end of the month. The surprises <ul> <li>Blaine is still rolling along as the Bengals have a record of 10-1. Their only loss to date was to 11-2 STMA. Led by 2023 prospect [player_tooltip player_id="220845" first="Molly" last="Garber"], the Bengals resume includes quality wins over Totino-Grace, Spring Lake Park and Buffalo.</li> <li>Last week we told you about St. Peter’s impressive 11-1 start led by sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="178267" first="Rhyan" last="Holmgren"] and freshman [player_tooltip player_id="208187" first="Annika" last="Southworth"]. We watched them again on Saturday in a nailbiter victory over Stewartville at the Rochester Hoops Challenge. We also cited 8-1 Sartell-St. Stephen and how junior [player_tooltip player_id="148322" first="Emily" last="Crandall"] and the rest of the group impressed us at Granite City.</li> <li>Also noted previously is the rise from the ashes at North St. Paul where the Polars are 8-3.</li> </ul> The not at all surprising The perennial favorites, especially in Class A and 2A, seem to be on top every year. This season is no exception. Thanks to strong cultures, veteran coaches, and a real commitment to basketball success, these programs are almost always good. While teams in the metro are at the mercy of demographic shifts, the growth/decline in population in various suburbs, and the potential transfer of players in and out, the smaller communities make do with what they have. The not-so-surprising programs to date include: <ul> <li>Hayfield with a perfect record of 13-0</li> <li>Minneota with 12 wins and one loss</li> <li>Mountain Iron-Buhl, Goodhue, Pequot Lakes and Sleepy Eye-St. Mary’s with 11 wins apiece</li> <li>Austin (10-1) and Grand Rapids (11-2) leading the way in Class 3A with Marshall not far behind (9-2)</li> <li>Winona-Cotter and New London-Spicer with 10 wins each</li> <li>Menagha, Mayer Lutheran and Cass Lake-Bena with 9 wins so far</li> </ul> Others with equally impressive records of note include: Chisholm , Fairmont and Fertile-Beltrami with 11 wins apiece as well as Hancock and NRHEG with 10 each. Apologies to those I’ve missed. You’ll have your opportunity to step into the spotlight when the post-season begins. Teams to watch One unit that generated a lot of buzz prior to the season was Benilde-St. Margaret’s. There were also a lot of question marks, mostly related to how well newcomers like [player_tooltip player_id="296523" first="Kendall" last="McGee"], [player_tooltip player_id="208184" first="Zahara" last="Bishop"], and [player_tooltip player_id="108327" first="Sierre" last="Lumpkin"] would fit in with a team led by Team USA standout [player_tooltip player_id="177728" first="Olivia" last="Olson"], the #1 player in the Class of 2024. At first there were some growing pains as the Red Knights started with just one win in their first four games. They looked pretty disjointed back then. Not now. BSM is on a roll, having won seven in a row. That streak is on the line Tuesday when they face the defending state 4A champions Chaska with a record of 9-1. Other teams we are paying attention to include: <ul> <li>St. Michael-Albertville – The Knights have a record of 11-2, with only narrow losses to Stillwater and Minnetonka so far. The heart of the killer Lake Conference season looms, though, and it will be interesting to see how the team led by 2023 #1 [player_tooltip player_id="108299" first="Tessa" last="Johnson"] will fare.</li> <li>Eden Prairie – Everyone is talking about Hopkins (9-0) and Minnetonka (9-0) in the loaded Lake Conference, along with Wayzata (9-1) and the aforementioned STMA. It seems that EP is a little under the radar right now and that may be just how they like it. Ellen Wiese’s Eagles are 8-1 having lost only to Chaska. They have yet to play in January, but the squad led by [player_tooltip player_id="12732" first="Nia" last="Holloway"] (Minnesota), [player_tooltip player_id="108302" first="Molly" last="Lenz"] (Illinois State) and [player_tooltip player_id="12745" first="Myra" last="Moorjani"] (UM-Duluth) is lurking.</li> </ul> WHAT WE WATCHED This week we saw seven high school and two college games with portions of a half dozen or so more also in the books: <ul> <li>Monday – International Falls vs Mountain Iron-Buhl</li> <li>Tuesday – Walker-Hackensack-Akeley vs Cass Lake-Bena</li> <li>Wednesday – Totino-Grace vs Centennial</li> <li>Thursday – North Dakota vs Omaha</li> <li>Friday – Orono vs Benilde-St. Margaret’s</li> <li>Saturday – Como Park vs Austin, Lake City vs Caledonia, St. Peter vs Stewartville at the Breakdown Rochester Hoops Challenge</li> <li>Sunday – Maryland vs Minnesota</li> </ul> PLAYER TO WATCH Aubrey Morrison – 2025 guard, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley News of Aubrey’s exploits had been filtering southward from Walker where the freshman has been lighting it up all year. Aubrey and her twin sister Avery are talented guards with nice length, light feet and plenty of skill. Aubrey is probably the better college prospect of the two. We watched her online on Monday as she went up against fellow freshman Gabby Fineday of Cass Lake-Bena. Aubrey has a ton of bounce, a nice ease of movement, and exceptional ball-handling ability. She can also shoot the three and is not at all lacking in confidence. We’ll be watching the Morrisons more closely this spring and summer with West Central United. INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES <ul> <li>Duluth Marshall freshman [player_tooltip player_id="296516" first="Regan" last="Juenemann"], ranked #14 in the Class of 2025, continued to impress. The guard scored 38 points and added 11 rebounds against Pine City on Saturday. Earlier in the week her 8th grade teammate Anna Saari had a breakout game, going 12-for-15 from the field and scoring 30.</li> <li>Junior [player_tooltip player_id="108299" first="Tessa" last="Johnson"] of STMA, the #1-rated prospect in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2023, scored 36 points in a win over Blaine last week. That is her fourth game over the 30-mark this season. She has recovered very nicely after missing all of last season with a broken leg.</li> <li>A couple of consistent high scorers also topped the 30-point mark again as [player_tooltip player_id="186113" first="Aalayah" last="Wilson"] of Osseo scored 32 against Buffalo and [player_tooltip player_id="108316" first="Taryn" last="Hamling"] of Grand Rapids (NDSU) had 31 versus Duluth Marshall. Both players have bettered 30 several times this year.</li> <li>Last week we told you about Alexandria freshman [player_tooltip player_id="346165" first="Hadley" last="Thul"], a rising star in the Class of 2025. On Saturday she hit the 30-point mark against Hutchinson.</li> <li>Another freshman who had an outstanding game was Madelyn Malmgren of St. James. The big post player scored 27 points and snatched 20 rebounds in a 74-69 win over New Ulm.</li> </ul> MILESTONES [caption id="attachment_373965" align="alignnone" width="200"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-373965" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/01/Brynn-Beffert-crop-200x300.png" alt="" width="200" height="300" /> Beffert and Coach Ellefsen[/caption] Top 20 junior [player_tooltip player_id="108313" first="Brynn" last="Beffert"] of Hutchinson had a milestone for the ages last week against Glencoe-Silver Lake. Brynn was a perfect 16-for-16 from the field to come within one make of the state and national record for shooting prowess in a single game. That mark – 17-for-17 – was set by Kristi Kremer of Wheaton in 1984. The most recent player to come at all close was 6-foot-9 inch Savanna Trapp of Esko (UCLA), who was 14-for-14 some 10 seasons ago. According to Hutch coach Tim Ellefsen, Brynn scored on fast breaks, out of the press breaker and in the post, usually in a double-team situation. She was also 3-for-3 at the line for a total of 35 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Other milestones we heard about this week: <ul> <li>Lehigh commit [player_tooltip player_id="30174" first="Lily" last="Fandre"] of Eagan scored her 1,000th career point becoming the 7th player in the Wildcats program to reach that standard. Lily reached another milestone this week by blocking six shots on Tuesday against Burnsville to top 200 for her career despite missing a full season to a torn ACL.</li> <li>At Target Center on Saturday Alexis Johanson of Osakis scored her 1,000th career point as the Silverstreaks came from behind to beat Melrose 43-40.</li> </ul> Top photo: Lake City huddled up during a timeout at the Breakdown Rochester Hoops Challenge on Saturday.