Class AAAA Player of the Year & All-State Team

The Class AAAA state champions from Hopkins have so many fantastic pieces in their starting lineup and, honestly, any one of them could earn Most Valuable Player status at some point. From the dominant inside presence of senior [player_tooltip player_id="12712" first="Maya" last="Nnaji"] (Arizona commit) to the sheer athleticism and intensity of [player_tooltip player_id="108348" first="Nunu" last="Agara"] (Stanford) to the power and speed of [player_tooltip player_id="108298" first="Taylor" last="Woodson"] (Michigan) and the skill and ferocity of sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="178269" first="Liv" last="McGill"], who is one of the top 2024 prospects in the country. It’s a formidable group. But through it all, year after year, in situation after situation, it is [player_tooltip player_id="12713" first="Amaya" last="Battle"] who has been the steadying hand, a player who could be relied upon game after game, week after week, year after year to do the job and do it well. She might not be the flashiest, her numbers may not be the gaudiest, she may not splash her accomplishments across social media on a regular basis, but she just goes about her business with class and efficiency. Amaya’s high school career has now reached its conclusion but we are happy to bestow one more in a long series of honors on the University of Minnesota commit – Prep Girls Hoops Class AAAA Player of the Year. It’s so fitting that on Friday at the Who’s NXT All-American Game in Brooklyn Park, Amaya executed a clever inbounds play that saw her score the game-winning basket from three-point distance as time expired. Cool as a cucumber, as usual. Ironic that her high school career should end with that play given the fact that it started in similar fashion in 2016 when the then-7th grader came off the bench to hit the game-winning three-pointer to give Hopkins the win at the St. Olaf Christmas tournament. It’s the type of thing we’ve seen her do consistently throughout her six high school seasons. We wrote a feature story in the summer of 2018 about the North Tartan 2022 squad of which Battle was a part. Mike Contreras was coaching and the combo guard was doing great things that caused the coach to marvel at her abilities. “I’m a little biased but I have got to say she is the top kid in her class,” he said at the time. “When we need a basket sometimes I just shut up because I can see her focused and zoned in. I just let her do what she does. She has a very high IQ. In timeouts she’ll tell me something she sees on the court and make a suggestion. I’ll usually say, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ Then she’ll go out and run it and she’ll be exactly right... She is a rock, and I can always count on her to keep the girls up, to keep them focused. I didn’t teach her that; she came to me with that.” Then-Hopkins coach Brian Cosgriff joined in the praise for his young talent. “She is a great student, and she is a really nice kid,” said Cos. “We’re expecting her to have a really big year for us. I think she’s going to end up being one of the great ones, I really do.” Since that time we’ve seen their predictions come to pass. The 5’11 guard was our AAU MVP in 2020 with that great Metro Stars squad directed by her current Hopkins coach Tara Starks. She was a finalist last year for our Class AAAA Player of the Year. And now, having overcome significant adversity this year following the passing of her mother, Amaya takes home the top prize. She exits Hopkins to join the University of Minnesota next season having put together one of the best careers in Royals history while earning a ton of respect along the way. [caption id="attachment_276564" align="alignnone" width="300"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-276564" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/04/IMG_9261.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /> Photo: Kelly Cutler <a href="https://x.com/cutlerka" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a>[/caption] <strong>RUNNER-UP</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="12714" first="Mallory" last="Heyer"] <strong>– 2022 forward, Chaska (Minnesota)</strong> Heyer is no stranger to accolades. Mallory has been earning our admiration ever since we first watched the 6’1 forward as a gifted 8th grader, and she has been leading her Chaska and Minnesota Fury squads to victory ever since. Last year at this time Heyer earned the Class AAAA Player of the Year award, as well, after the Hawks went undefeated and pulled off the ultimate triumph by taking home the 4A state championship. She, too, will play for the Gophers next fall having led a transformation of the Chaska program along with fellow greats like <strong>Kaylee Van Eps</strong> and [player_tooltip player_id="108301" first="Kennedy" last="Sanders"]. Congrats Mallory. It has been a blast watching you these past five seasons. <strong>1st team</strong> <ul> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="12713" first="Amaya" last="Battle"] – 2022 guard, Hopkins (Minnesota)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="12715" first="Mara" last="Braun"] – 2022 guard, Wayzata (Minnesota)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="12714" first="Mallory" last="Heyer"] – 2022 forward, Chaska (Minnesota)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="12712" first="Maya" last="Nnaji"] – 2022 forward, Hopkins (Arizona)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="108298" first="Taylor" last="Woodson"] – 2023 forward, Hopkins (Michigan)</li> </ul> <strong>2nd team</strong> <ul> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="108348" first="Nunu" last="Agara"] – 2023 forward, Hopkins (Stanford)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="12732" first="Nia" last="Holloway"] – 2022 forward, Eden Prairie (Minnesota)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="108299" first="Tessa" last="Johnson"] – 2023 guard, St. Michael-Albertville</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="12727" first="Kiani" last="Lockett"] – 2022 guard, Minnetonka (Creighton)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="12722" first="Lilly" last="Meister"] – 2022 forward, Rochester John Marshall (Indiana)</li> </ul> <strong>Honorable Mentions</strong> <ul> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="30162" first="Mikayla" last="Aumer"] – 2022 guard, Cambridge-Isanti (North Dakota)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="12718" first="Ellie" last="Buzzelle"] – 2022 guard, Rogers (Grand Canyon)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="109179" first="Kate" last="Cordes"] – 2022 guard, Shakopee (Jamestown)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="30174" first="Lily" last="Fandre"] – 2022 forward, Eagan (Lehigh)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="12720" first="Callin" last="Hake"] – 2022 guard, Chanhassen (Nebraska)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="109132" first="Tayah" last="Leenderts"] – 2022 forward, Rosemount (Sioux Falls)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="109124" first="Emma" last="Miller"] – 2022 guard, St. Michael-Albertville (UM-Crookston)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="12745" first="Myra" last="Moorjani"] – 2022 guard, Eden Prairie (UM-Duluth)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="57921" first="Lilly" last="Nuytten"] – 2022 forward, Hastings (MSU-Mankato)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="109123" first="Alexa" last="Ratzlaff"] – 2022 guard, Rosemount</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="57928" first="Amber" last="Scalia"] – 2022 guard, Stillwater (St. Thomas)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="109135" first="Ava" last="Stier"] – 2022 forward, Waconia (MSU-Mankato)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="109148" first="Audrey" last="Swanson"] – 2022 forward, Waconia (Southwest Minnesota State)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="57907" first="Desiree" last="Ware"] – 2022 guard, Minnetonka (Alabama-Birmingham)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="108300" first="Clara" last="Glad"] – 2023 forward, Rogers (UC-Davis)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="108317" first="Shantell" last="Harden"] – 2023 forward, St. Louis Park</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="108324" first="Drew" last="Johnston"] – 2023 guard, Roseville</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="108302" first="Molly" last="Lenz"] – 2023 guard, Eden Prairie (Illinois State)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="108301" first="Kennedy" last="Sanders"] – 2023 guard, Chaska (Colorado)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="178269" first="Liv" last="McGill"] – 2024 guard, Hopkins</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="215985" first="Olivia" last="Pawlicki"] – 2024 forward, Shakopee</li> </ul>