The Week That Was #13: We’re in the home stretch now

The Week That Was #13 is in the books and we are definitely in the home stretch now. Many teams around the state will reach the end of their regular season this week and section play actually begins on Tuesday for some Class A schools. It’s hard to believe we are at this point already – the girls’ state tournament is a mere three weeks away – but then again we’ve seen a lot of contests lately that looked very much like high-stakes playoff basketball. Take for example our two games of the week, which is where we begin the recap. GAMES OF THE WEEK Como Park vs Minnehaha Academy The gym was packed, the crowd was loud, and the talent on the floor was stacked high and deep. It was senior night on Tuesday in St. Paul and the folks who ventured into the Cougars den to celebrate most certainly got their money’s worth. Como trailed 36-26 at halftime, and the deficit stretched to as much as 17 in the second period. The Cougars are a scrappy bunch, though, and they weren’t about to let the girls in red spoil their senior party. Como Park made up an 8-point deficit in the game’s final 80 seconds to force overtime before [player_tooltip player_id="57908" first="Kaylynn" last="Asberry"] (Saint Peters) scored the winning basket with 7 seconds of extra time remaining for a 77-76 victory. Senior guard [player_tooltip player_id="57914" first="Ronnie" last="Porter"] scored 33 for Como, her fourth game in a row over the 30-point mark. Asberry had 15. For Minnehaha, freshman [player_tooltip player_id="252379" first="Addison" last="Mack"] turned in another strong performance with 33 points while [player_tooltip player_id="109134" first="Charita" last="Lewis"] had 14 and [player_tooltip player_id="178266" first="Angel" last="Hill"] scored 13. Stillwater vs East Ridge On Friday night we ventured to Stillwater to see the Suburban East Conference showdown between the Ponies and Raptors, a rivalry that usually produces some intriguing basketball. The atmosphere at this one was also electric as both teams brought out large numbers of students who made their feelings known at full volume throughout. The referees also brought their whistles – one in particular was apparently being paid by the call – and that had a big impact on the way the game was played. Stillwater fouled out three starters, including D1 commits [player_tooltip player_id="57928" first="Amber" last="Scalia"] (St. Thomas) and [player_tooltip player_id="147443" first="Lizzie" last="Holder"] (Colorado). After entering the second half tied at 36, the teams were never more than 4 points apart the rest of the way and finished regulation time at 59-59. Stillwater had the lead in overtime before the Raptors’ Top 30 junior [player_tooltip player_id="148315" first="Emily" last="Christenson"] finished at the rim while drawing the foul with 21.6 seconds on the clock. Her free throw was good and put East Ridge ahead by one. A last-ditch attempt in the lane by freshman Annika Peper of Stillwater was blocked and the Raptors went home with a 66-65 win. Christenson, who was excellent at both ends of the floor, finished the game with 23 points while [player_tooltip player_id="148316" first="Grace" last="Knupp"] had 14 for East Ridge. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="178274" first="Amy" last="Thompson"] of Stillwater had a strong game with 4 triples and 16 points while Scalia was outstanding as she scored 30 before fouling out in the dying moments. There’s a pretty good chance the two teams will meet again in the section 4AAAA final on March 10. NEWCOMER TO WATCH <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/02/Annika-Peper-crop-1228x806-1645410400.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-390439" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/02/Annika-Peper-crop-1228x806-1645410400-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> Annika Peper – 2025 guard, Stillwater For talented young freshmen it’s all about opportunity. Sometimes that means waiting a good long while for a door to open. For Annika that came on Dec. 23 following an injury to [player_tooltip player_id="57928" first="Amber" last="Scalia"] that ultimately caused her to miss four games. Peper stepped into the varsity lineup that night against Centennial and nailed three triples making it obvious that she could handle at least a little limelight. Annika played two halves of varsity in each of those four games, went 8-for-14 from the field and 7-of-12 from three. She has been consistently putting up numbers on JV, including a season high of 31. Her game isn’t all about points, however. Peper is a great distributor and a solid defender. She’s got quick feet, nice skills and can really shoot it. Annika has settled back into a support role for now but is a big part of the Ponies’ future. She’s just waiting for the next opportunity. [caption id="attachment_208537" align="alignnone" width="300"]<img class="wp-image-208537 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/10/73_Virginia-Johnson_1-300x198.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="198" /> [player_tooltip player_id="108332" first="Virginia" last="Johnson"][/caption]  INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES <ul> <li>Becker was up and down at the beginning of the season, but the Bulldogs are on a roll now having won 14 in a row. One reason for that streak is the improved play of junior [player_tooltip player_id="108304" first="Maren" last="Westin"]. On Saturday the UW-Green Bay commit went 8-for-10 from beyond the arc while scoring 28 points as Becker knocked off Holy Angels 78-59. The Bulldogs made 15 threes in all as they halted the Stars’ win streak at 12.</li> <li>Westin wasn’t the only one draining threes in mass quantities last week. MaCee Linow of Alexandria, part of an elite group of freshmen for the Cardinals, made 8 triples in a win over Rocori. [player_tooltip player_id="12718" first="Ellie" last="Buzzelle"] of Rogers had 6 threes and 35 points against Buffalo this week. The Grand Canyon University commit has led the Royals to 19 straight wins.</li> <li>The amazing career of Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s senior [player_tooltip player_id="109131" first="Madison" last="Mathiowetz"] is coming to an end as the Knights regular season draws to a close on Tuesday. On Saturday, Madi gave us another standout performance as she recorded her fourth 40-point outing of the season and 20th game over 30 points. She’ll play next year at South Dakota State.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="12720" first="Callin" last="Hake"]’s assault on the record books continues as the senior from Chanhassen had a 38-point game this week in a win over New Prague to establish a new single-game high for the Storm program. The Nebraska commit has more than 2,150 career points.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="186112" first="Ashlynne" last="Guenther"] has been killing it all season for Duluth East but the versatile 2023 prospect put up her best numbers of the season in a game against Cloquet recording 33 points, 19 rebounds and 9 blocks while playing all 36 minutes in a 58-49 win.</li> <li>Junior [player_tooltip player_id="108332" first="Virginia" last="Johnson"] of Minneapolis Southwest is having a huge season for the Lakers. The big 5’11 guard with the silky-smooth stroke had 24 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Minneapolis South on Friday, the 8th time this season she has recorded double digit rebounds and the 9th game in which she has eclipsed the 20-point mark.</li> </ul> MILESTONES Every week we have a couple handfuls of 1,000-point scorers to report including last week’s remarkable achievements by 8th graders [player_tooltip player_id="205310" first="Tori" last="Oehrlein"] of Crosby-Ironton and [player_tooltip player_id="252381" first="Maddyn" last="Greenway"] of Providence Academy. This week we’ve got another standout youngster reaching 1,000 as 9th grader [player_tooltip player_id="296523" first="Kendall" last="McGee"] of Benilde-St. Margaret’s did the deed. Kendall began her varsity career at Breck before moving to BSM this fall where she has been very good. The big guard, pictured above with her friends and family, is ranked #2 in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2025. Top 20 senior [player_tooltip player_id="30143" first="Katie" last="Hurt"] of Rochester John Marshall also hit the 1,000 mark this week. Katie is a solid all-around performer who often flies under the radar but almost always impacts the game in a big way. That’s why she also has over 500 rebounds, 500 assists and 200 steals during her time at JM. The Lehigh commit is the third sibling in the Hurt family to hit the 1,000 mark following in the footsteps of her brothers Michael, who played at the University of Minnesota, and Matthew, who played at Duke. Here are some more 1,000-point scorers who reached the career milestone this week: <ul> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="109123" first="Alexa" last="Ratzlaff"] – 2022 guard, Rosemount</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="109170" first="Lexi" last="Mendenhall"] – 2022 forward, Owatonna (NIACC)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="339226" first="Shelby" last="Mortenson"] – 2022 forward, Yellow Medicine East</li> <li>Olivia Johanns – 2022 forward, Visitation</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="339102" first="Brylie" last="Schultz"] – 2023 forward, Wheaton-Herman-Norcross</li> <li>Kaylee Ruberg – 2023 guard, Rushford-Peterson</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="304921" first="Claire" last="McGregor"] – 2024 guard, Maple River</li> </ul> Other achievements of note: <ul> <li>Senior [player_tooltip player_id="109153" first="Mya" last="Shones"] of Lake City (UW-Eau Claire) reached a remarkable 1,000 career rebounds.</li> <li>Senior [player_tooltip player_id="57929" first="Jocelyn" last="Plonski"] of Eagan (UW-River Falls) became the all-time rebounding leader at her school with 625 despite missing an entire season with a torn ACL.</li> <li>The Rosemount Irish set a school record on Thursday for shooting prowess in a single game by going 67.6% from the field. After missing their first two-point attempt against Burnsville, the Irish made 15 of their next 15 in the half and 20-for-23 in the game.</li> <li>Junior [player_tooltip player_id="108322" first="Brylee" last="Iverson"] of Triton is having a really good year for the Cobras. When she scored 31 against Maple River last week, the Top 40 prospect passed Triton great Kendra Petersohn for most points in a single season (489) set in 2020. One week later Brylee is now at 553.</li> <li>Finally we’ll offer our congratulations to coach Tom Jansen of Eden Valley-Watkins, who recorded his 500th career win.</li> </ul>