State Tournament: The best of the Class A quarters & semis

There are four classes in action at the Minnesota girls State Tournament, from the biggest of the big schools to the smallest of the smalls. Although programs like Hopkins and Becker draw a ton of headlines it is the Class A teams and their fans who make the tournament what it is. They bring the crowds, they bring the energy and excitement, and they bring a lot of fresh faces to Minneapolis every spring that we just don’t see often enough. We watched a half dozen Class A games in a row – the four quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon and two semifinal contests on Friday – leading into Championship Saturday. We saw some familiar faces like [player_tooltip player_id="178277" first="Jordan" last="Zubich"] of Mountain Iron-Buhl, who in Saturday’s consolation bracket set a new state record for most made three-pointers in a season with 130. We saw some kids we’ve heard lots about but hadn’t seen in person like the Roholff twins from Hancock. And we watched plenty of new faces do good work at Williams Arena and the Maturi Pavilion. Here are some Class A standouts we liked. MOST VALUABLE PLAYER [player_tooltip player_id="109147" first="Natalie" last="Rolbiecki"] – 2022 guard, Minneota The Minnesota State Fair has Princess Kay of the Milky Way. The girls State Tournament has Queen Natalie of Minneota. Every year, or so it seems, we forget just how good the regal Rolbiecki is until tournament time when the 5’10 guard shows up in Minneapolis to issue a pleasant reminder that she is, indeed, very good. On Thursday Natalie was a defensive standout going head-to-head with [player_tooltip player_id="178277" first="Jordan" last="Zubich"] of Mountain Iron-Buhl, the #6-rated prospect in the Class of 2024. She delivered on the assignment with 12 points and 10 rebounds while keeping Zubich in check in a 51-48 overtime victory. On Friday the Vikings needed Natalie to score and that’s exactly what she did, putting up an impressive 29 points in Minneota’s 53-45 semifinal victory over Hayfield. We’ve always said that if Rolbiecki played year-round and made our game her first priority she would be one of the best players in the state. She certainly looks like it every year at this time. TOP POINT GUARD [player_tooltip player_id="392470" first="Kristen" last="Watson"] – 2024 guard, Hayfield Kristen is one of the state’s most entertaining players to watch. She’s here, there and everywhere all at once. With quick hands, quicker feet and a terrific set of handles, Watson darts about the court at rapid rate, creating opportunities for herself and others. She loves to attack, and she won’t back down from anyone. If there’s a loose ball she’s on it. If there’s a tough defensive assignment, she’ll take it. If there’s a clutch basket required, there’s a pretty good chance she’ll score it. On Thursday the 5’4 floor general had 29 points and 13 rebounds in the Vikings win over Cass Lake-Bena. She was 17-for-21 at the free throw line which is a pretty good clue as to how she plays. Did we mention she attacks? Things were a little tougher against Hayfield when Watson found herself in foul trouble early. She was playing in pretty much the same way as the day before but the folks with the whistles had a different interpretation of the same dance. As usual, though, she gave all she had for Hayfield which bowed out to the defending champs. BREAKOUT PERFORMER Hali Savela – 2024 guard, Mountain Iron-Buhl The name Savela is definitely a familiar one if you have been following girls basketball up on the Iron Range in recent years. Hali is the latest Savela in an MIB uniform. and if you saw what we saw in the Rangers game with Minneota on Thursday then you have to be excited about what she brings to the table. She’s only 5’6 but Savela is athletic enough to guard multiple positions effectively. She’s got quick feet, advanced ball-handling ability, and really great understanding of the game. She plays with some moxie, and isn’t afraid to take a few chances to make some big plays. She is also a pure shooter with a very nice stroke. Hali played very well in last year’s tournament as a freshman and this year the growth in her game was evident. She went 5-for-6 from the field for 12 points against Minneota and shot over 55% from the field on the season, but it’s the fire that stands out for us. FRESH FACES TO WATCH Karleigh Rohloff & Kaitlyn Rohloff – 2025 guards, Hancock We have been hearing about the Rohloff twins for more than a year now. Although Hancock, population 765, is only about 150 miles from the Twin Cities in a westerly direction, it just hasn’t been on my basketball map at all. That’s likely to change now. Having seen Karleigh and Kaitlyn do their thing the past couple of days I can say with confidence that these two are going to be a factor in the Class of 2025. The Rohloffs are quick, athletic and full of energy. They have great hands, nice anticipation, excellent handles and a great feel for the game. They can also shoot it with a high rate of success. Kaitlyn, in particular, was firing on all cylinders the past couple of days. She had 13 against Nevis on Thursday and followed with a gutsy 17-point performance against Mayer Lutheran. Karleigh scored 15 in the two games. The thing is, neither of them has to score to make a big impact on the game. We’ll be seeing a lot of the Rohloffs now as they’ll be playing two years up in AAU on the 2023 Minnesota Comets squad that this year will include standout juniors [player_tooltip player_id="108304" first="Maren" last="Westin"], [player_tooltip player_id="108338" first="Dani" last="Nuest"] and [player_tooltip player_id="186119" first="Ayla" last="Brown"]. SHARPSHOOTERS The Rohloff twins aren’t the only shooters on the Owls roster. Hancock is loaded with snipers of all ages and descriptions, and on any given night any or all of them can go off as we saw in their 60+ percent success rate against Mayer Lutheran. For example... <ul> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="339151" first="Kaitlyn" last="Staples"] – The 5’9 sophomore was quiet on opening day vs Nevis scoring just two points. On Friday she exploded for 17 against the Crusaders</li> <li>Rylee Hanson – The 5’9 senior guard made it into double digits on Thursday with 10 and then had 16 more on Friday.</li> <li>Carlee Hanson – The 5’7 senior was sizzling against Nevis, scoring 29 points. She followed with 10 more on Friday.</li> </ul> Two more shooters who impressed... <ul> <li>McKenna Yost – The baby-faced senior guard from Minneota lit it up against Mountain Iron-Buhl, scoring 24 points in the Vikings’ overtime victory. We’ve seen McKenna do this at state before.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="396431" first="Gabby" last="Fineday"] – Cass Lake-Bena had a rough day on Thursday but the freshman guard for the Panthers went hard to the end and scored 17 points against Hayfield, many of them from well beyond the arc. Gabby can stroke it.</li> </ul> BEST FORWARDS <ul> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="392476" first="Natalie" last="Beaver"] – The sophomore forward from Hayfield is on a positive growth curve over the past year and she showed more of the same in Hayfield’s two games. The 5’11 forward scored 22 points against Cass Lake-Bena on 10-for-17 shooting from the field and followed that with another 13 against Minneota.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="366543" first="Aine" last="Stasko"] – The 5’10 senior from Hayfield is no stranger to the scoresheet. The lengthy forward had a 40-point game earlier this season with 9 triples against Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton. It was a little tougher going at State but she was solid, scoring 13 against Cass Lake-Bena and 11 versus Minneota despite early foul trouble.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="389636" first="Madeline" last="Guetzkow"] – The 5’11 junior from Mayer Lutheran is long, athletic, skilled and versatile which, come to think of it, describes a good portion of the Crusader’s upper echelon. Guetzkow had 17 against United Christian and 13 versus Hancock.</li> </ul>