AAU Week 10 Recap: Big names, great games

There are plenty of great games at every AAU tournament. The challenge is being in the right place at the right time to see them live and in person which is, at best, a hit or miss proposition. That wasn’t a problem at the Minnesota Stars Summer Kickoff this weekend in Bloomington. There were great games everywhere you looked and we managed to see a bunch of them. To begin our recap of AAU Week #10, let’s look at the three contests we enjoyed the most. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/06/Ella-Mullenbach_Addison-Post-scaled-crop-2510x1648-1654566429-e1654566500786.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-441432" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/06/Ella-Mullenbach_Addison-Post-scaled-crop-2510x1648-1654566429-e1654566500786-263x300.jpg" alt="" width="263" height="300" /></a> <strong>Minnesota Stars 2025 Post vs West Central United 2025</strong> It’s not easy to get to the gym for the first game of the day on the third day of a tournament. Pass the coffee – black with two shots of espresso please! The prospect of watching Jeremy Post’s vertically-challenged 2025 Minnesota Stars lineup take on 6’3 [player_tooltip player_id="396422" first="Tory" last="Jennissen"] and West Central United in the 8:15 a.m. encounter was well worth my bleary-eyed efforts to get to the gym on time. It didn’t take long to know it was going to be a good one. Jennissen, the #21-rated prospect in the Class of 2025 from Sauk Centre, was a force inside as expected. She’s so big and so long and is now becoming a physical force, too. It was a hoot watching feisty 5’5 [player_tooltip player_id="422673" first="Ella" last="Mullenbach"] (Minnesota Valley Lutheran) (photo left) of the Stars do her darndest to contain Jennissen. But it was <strong>Megan Thorfinnson</strong> of WCU who did the most damage early, as the Minnewaska shooter recorded a trio of triples to stake West Central United to a 31-22 halftime lead. The Stars came out running after the break, however, and buckled down hard on the defensive end of things, too. That is, after all, Coach Post’s calling card at White Bear Lake, and somehow he always seems to get his players to buy into the chaos. Despite giving up a ton of height and a lot of length, the Stars gave up absolutely nothing in the effort department as they scratched and clawed their way back into the game thanks to Mullenbach’s three-point prowess and <strong>Addison Post</strong>’s masterful offensive execution. We saw Addie do it well enough on the high school stage this winter to get WBL to the big dance and she’s being doing it ever since. The Stars earned their first lead of the game with just 90 seconds remaining. When Jennissen cashed in on a put-back with 22 seconds left that put WCU up one before Stars forward <strong>Emily Meutzel</strong> of Mahtomedi took a perfect feed from Post in the paint and made no mistake, finishing it off at the 9-second mark. [player_tooltip player_id="396428" first="Allie" last="Haabala"]’s last-ditch attempt came up short for WCU and the Stars were the winners by a count of 56-55 avenging a heartbreaking one-point loss to North Tartan on Saturday. Muetzel and Mullenbach finished the game with 12 points apiece. Jennissen scored 16 for West Central. <strong>Minnesota Fury 2025 UAA vs Minnesota Stars 2026 Hill</strong> We didn’t have to wait long for great game number two, which started just moments after the first one ended. It was to be a battle of two talent-laden teams. Stars Hill features North Dakota imports <strong>Leelee Bell</strong> and <strong>Maggie Fricke</strong>, who have shown us all spring that they are high-end, Division 1 prospects who helped their team earn a state AAU championship. The Fury’s assets are well known with 6 players ranked among the Top 25 freshmen in the state. On this day, as on many days for the Fury, it was #3-rated [player_tooltip player_id="205298" first="Jordan" last="Ode"] of Maple Grove and #5-ranked [player_tooltip player_id="252379" first="Addison" last="Mack"] of Minnehaha Academy who carried the day for the Fury while #22 [player_tooltip player_id="252480" first="Rae" last="Ehrman"] of Eden Prairie had a monster 2nd half. We’ve seen Mack do a lot of great stuff over the past three or four years but I don’t think she’s ever executed an offense or made more big plays at just the right time than she did on Sunday. Addi finished with 14 points. Ode’s motor was running at full bore. She scored 21, while Rae was a force at both ends of the floor and had 16. Bell, Fricke and <strong>Maddy Blaylark</strong> combined to score 75% of the Stars Hill points but it wasn’t quite enough as the Fury prevailed 74-70. A couple of hours later they captured the Gold Division crown with a win over Minnesota Stars 2024 Zabel. <strong>Minnesota Stars 2023 Hersch vs Metro Stars 2023 Pryor</strong> The Platinum Division at the Stars Summer Kickoff was one of the strongest conglomeration of squads you’ll see in a regular AAU tournament, featuring both top Metro Stars 2023 squads, Minnesota Suns 2023 and 2024 Blue Star teams, Minnesota Fury 2024 UAA, Minnesota Stars 2025 Borowicz and more. When it came down to a chase for all the marbles, though, it was Stars 2023 Hersch against Metro Stars Pryor. Josh Hersch’s squad (top photo) are a scrappy bunch with a blue collar mentality. Their highest-ranked player is 2023 #15 [player_tooltip player_id="108316" first="Taryn" last="Hamling"] of Grand Rapids, who has committed to North Dakota State. There are 5 players in the top 50 but no others have signed on the dotted line just yet. They picked the right day to face the Metro Stars who were without Stanford commit and recent Team USA appointee [player_tooltip player_id="108348" first="Nunu" last="Agara"] of Hopkins along with one of the fast-rising stars of Minnesota basketball, 2024 guard [player_tooltip player_id="339129" first="Ja’Kahla" last="Craft"] of St. Michael-Albertville. That left it up to 2024 #2 [player_tooltip player_id="178269" first="Liv" last="McGill"] of Hopkins to grab hold of the spotlight and she certainly did. We have long been impressed by McGill’s ability. The #2-rated 2024 in Minnesota has earned plenty of national attention, too, and deservedly so. This spring, however, McGill has taken her game to a new level now that <strong>Amaya Battle</strong> has moved on to the University of Minnesota and the Metro Stars are Liv’s show. She is setting the tone in every game, masterfully managing tempo, making great decisions, moving the ball with decisive precision, getting to the rim with superior quickness and athleticism, and delivering her ferocious brand of on-ball defense. Most impressive to me, though, is how McGill is directing her teammates on the floor, encouraging when needed, admonishing as required, all the while setting the example with a compete level that is difficult to quantify. McGill, along with bigs [player_tooltip player_id="108308" first="Savanna" last="Jones"] of Eden Prairie and [player_tooltip player_id="148318" first="Lexi" last="Karlen"] of Stillwater, guards [player_tooltip player_id="108320" first="Kelly" last="Boyle"] of Hopkins, [player_tooltip player_id="148328" first="Hannah" last="Hanson"] of Rochester Mayo, [player_tooltip player_id="178274" first="Amy" last="Thompson"] of Stillwater and [player_tooltip player_id="108331" first="Nicole" last="Lillard"] of Champlin Park, were all very good on Sunday. The Stars countered with an all-in, top-to-bottom team effort. Big [player_tooltip player_id="108314" first="Katelyn" last="Maciej"] of Rogers, who is going to be a late-blooming standout collegian if some smart coach gives her that opportunity, was a force. She came up with a couple of monster rebounds and buckets down the stretch. [player_tooltip player_id="148315" first="Emily" last="Christenson"] of East Ridge, the #28-ranked incoming senior in the state, was equally good at both ends of the floor. Point guard [player_tooltip player_id="108345" first="Brynn" last="Senden"] of Wayzata was her usual bulldog self. Ditto for [player_tooltip player_id="148316" first="Grace" last="Knupp"] of East Ridge, Rochester Lourdes teammates [player_tooltip player_id="148325" first="Emily" last="Bowron"] and [player_tooltip player_id="108335" first="Vivica" last="Bretton"] with bench support from [player_tooltip player_id="302275" first="Kate" last="Adams"] of Wayzata and <strong>Maggie Lindemann</strong> of St. Michael-Albertville. And what can you say about Hamling, who made some big-time plays and nailed some big-time shots when it mattered most. That’s been her MO for as long as we can remember. Both teams played some really great basketball, but with the game on the line it was the Stars who made the most big plays in the final minute to secure a 57-53 victory. Coach Hersch’s teams always seem to get better as the summer rolls along. They certainly looked good on Sunday! <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-441433" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/06/Haven-Fisher-scaled-e1654566758422-172x300.jpg" alt="" width="172" height="300" /> <strong>WEEKEND STOCK RISER</strong> The Stars Summer Kickoff was where the majority of the heavy hitters were playing this weekend in Minnesota but there was some quality talent on display in the southeast Metro, as well, where Crossfire’s Battle on the Hardwood took place. We spent a good portion of Saturday at the Hope Fieldhouse in Rosemount, a new facility hosting its first AAU event. It’s super-impressive, with wood courts, plenty of seating for spectators and acoustics that ensure the action will be loud, loud, loud. We’ll have more tomorrow on some of the fresh faces we saw there but one familiar name jumped out at us front and center. That would be Prior Lake freshman <strong>Haven Fisher </strong>(photo above), who we first noticed about a year or so ago. The Haven playing AAU this spring for Minnesota Fury 2025 Premier is a new and improved version, who grew at least 5 or 6 inches over the past few months and whose game is growing at a similar pace. Haven is a dynamic athlete who flits across the court with ease, darting here, dashing there and covering a seemingly impossible amount of ground in very little time at all. Defensively she was getting a hand on pretty much everything when we watched Saturday. She’s got quick feet, fast hands, nice instincts and a high-revving engine. Haven’s shooting has improved as has her ball handling.  She learning to pick her spots a little bitter now and she’s discovering that it can be helpful to slow down every so often, too. We love Haven’s potential and this may be the winter we see it blossom at the varsity level. <strong>COMEBACK IN PROGRESS</strong> It has been a long road back from not one but two ACL surgeries but [player_tooltip player_id="108303" first="Shania" last="Van Nett"] is finally starting to look like herself again. The Como Park guard, who was once among the Top 10 prospects in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2023, returned to action this winter but it was a struggle as the feisty junior searched for her former mojo. This spring she was a late addition to the Minnesota Suns 2023 Blue Star squad. The recent departure of point guard [player_tooltip player_id="186118" first="Lauren" last="Pawlyshyn"] from the team opened the door for Shania to run the show once again and that’s exactly what she did this weekend. Shania was moving the ball, directing traffic, making plays, being her usually cantankerous self. She was also making shots. It was fun to see. Van Nett finished her weekend with 53 points in four games, among the leaders in the top Platinum Division, as she helped the team to three wins and a two-point defeat. Let’s hope this upward trend continues as Van Nett attempts to earn a quality college opportunity.