Summer Jam Recap: Tony's Top Performers

This time of the AAU campaign is what you would consider the "dog days" of the season. With temps blaring above 90 over the weekend, being in a gym is probably the last place you’d think to be. Fortunately for us, most of the athletes playing the Summer Jam wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. The majority of these young ladies have been playing nonstop since October and if they’ve hit a wall, I couldn’t tell. Below are a handful of athletes that showed up and showed out on the biggest stage and a few games that were worth the price of admission. [player_tooltip player_id="296523" first="Kendall" last="McGee"]/[player_tooltip player_id="296528" first="Sam" last="Wills"] – Minnesota Stars Borowicz 2025 This dynamic duo have racked up quite the hardware and accolades during their time together and Summer Jam was no exception. McGee is without question a "who’s who" among the top talent in her class and Wills is one of the best inside/out players the class of 2025 has to offer. After a dazzling performance pouring in 37 against Providence in the Breakdown Shot Clock Classic last week, she followed it up leading her Stars team to the Summer Jam title in the Shoe Lake (15U) division against rival Minnesota Fury 2025 UAA headlined by [player_tooltip player_id="252379" first="Addison" last="Mack"], [player_tooltip player_id="205298" first="Jordan" last="Ode"] and a host of other next-level prospects. Kendall really seems to pace herself and has a keen understanding of when her team needs her to go from Robin to Batman. She put everyone on notice from the outset in the championship game scoring 5 of the her teams first 9 points on her way to a game high 23. Wills chipped in 8 points of her own and was equally as impressive playing stellar defense, crashing the boards and bringing the energy her team needed after trailing 41-39 at the break. The Stars took command of the game in the 2nd half going up 57-47 before the Fury went on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to 57-52 with just over 7 minutes to play, and that would be as close as they would get. Collectively the Stars unleashed their suffocating defense holding the Fury to just 2 points in the last 6 minutes to pull away for a 67-54 win and maintain bragging rights until they meet again. [player_tooltip player_id="330744" first="Savannah" last="Borowicz"] chipped in 10 points hitting a couple of clutch 3’s and did a great job defending the Fury’s premier perimeter players. Bray Torry – 43 Hoops Elite 2024 Torry is actually a 2025 recruit, but after spending a few seasons with the Minnesota Stars, she decided to pack up and test the waters playing up a grade with 43 Hoops Elite. So far so good as she’s been able hold her own thus far this season. While she has the quickness and ability to get her own shot, she’s settled quite nicely into a true point guard role and is getting the ball into the hot hand at the right time. Torry is as tough a player at her size as you’ll find. She stands about 5’5 with a slight frame but would be considered "wiry" strong. I was on hand for the championship match up against Iowa Prep 16U and it was nip and tuck the entire 2nd half. No team held more than a 3-point lead the entire 2nd half and it was full team effort as 43 Hoops got big shots from the likes of Allana Bates who knocked down a huge three in the 2nd half to keep the 43 Hoops team in contention. Bray’s leadership and defensive tenacity came up big late in the game with her Hoops squad up 1 with under a minute to play. Iowa Prep was attempting to set up a go-ahead bucket but Bray used her quick hands and instincts to come up with a steal to pretty much seal the deal and take home the Violet Lake (16U) championship. Bray is definitely one of those under-the-radar kids that you’ll be hearing a lot more about. Stay tuned. [player_tooltip player_id="346182" first="Elayna" last="Boe"] – Crossfire South Mueller 2025 When you hear coaches saying such and such plays the right way, Boe immediately comes to mind. Standing about 5’10, she has long legs and wingspan that allows her to recover quickly to block or disrupt a shot in the event she is beaten off the dribble. Text book close-outs with choppy feet and high hands, box outs, communicating, and she just really seems to enjoy what she’s doing. Flat out, Boe does whatever her team needs. She didn’t score much during the first two rounds of the Summer Jam tournament, but her presence was felt on the boards and defensive side of the ball. As the stakes grew, so did her offensive production. She had a team high 12 points in the semifinal round against a formidable North Tartan 2025 Elite squad propelling her Crossfire team to the championship game against CSS HS White out of Nebraska. They ultimately fell short to the better team out of Nebraska, but Boe left her fingerprints on the game doing it from all three levels on the offensive end leading her team with 17 points and holding her own against some very skilled wing players from CSS. Boe is as fundamentally sound as they come and has the tools to be a next-level prospect. [player_tooltip player_id="302254" first="Vanessa" last="Saidu"] – 43 Hoops Elite 2023 Saidu is already a high mid-major recruit receiving a lot of attention this spring/summer and for good reason. Her height, wingspan, athletic ability and million dollar smile is something any school could find a use for. Saidu along with next-level prospects [player_tooltip player_id="148339" first="Bre" last="Frazier"] and [player_tooltip player_id="353081" first="Macaya" last="Copeland"] set out to bring home some hardware and respect to their fast-growing 43 Hoops program. While Saidu is working tirelessly on her conditioning and offensive game, two things she’s exceptional at right now are rebounding and shot blocking. Those two attributes alone are game changers. Don’t get me wrong, with her length and willingness to bang in the paint, she can still score on anyone by simply jumping over the top of them. She almost willed her team to victory in the championship scoring 6 big points in the last few minutes before falling to a very good Missouri River Elite 17U squad. Tootie Cade (Lewis) & Taydem Miller – FBC North Lark 2023 When I watched Cade and Miller play in the championship game on Sunday, all I could hear was FBC coach Rob Lark yelling was "Tootie, shoot!!", ’Taydem do this", Tootie do that." The FBC squad was very short handed missing their do-it-all guard [player_tooltip player_id="186113" first="Aalayah" last="Wilson"] who was on a recruiting visit, and a handful of other important pieces. That left the heavy lifting up to Cade and Miller who live for those moments. Cade was getting it done behind the arc and in the lane and Miller is a bolt of lighting on offense and a menace on defense. Being as short-handed as they were, Cade and Miller did all they could to keep FBC in it before they finally fell short to Diamond Elite 2023 McMillan 45-38. Miller cashed in 14 points and had at least 5 steals, and Cade led all scorers with 20. I’m no mathematician, but by my calculations, those two scored 90% of the team’s total points for the game and almost got it done. Sidebar – Hats off to Diamond Elite program director Omar McMillan who coached at least 8 games in his program over the weekend to cover for a few of his teams. They took home the Moore Lake (17U) division championship to make it all worth it.

This time of the AAU campaign is what you would consider the "dog days" of the season. With temps blaring above 90 over the weekend, being in a gym is probably the last place you’d think to be. Fortunately for us, most of the athletes playing the Summer Jam wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. The majority of these young ladies have been playing nonstop since October and if they’ve hit a wall, I couldn’t tell. Below are a handful of athletes that showed up and showed out on the biggest stage and a few games that were worth the price of admission.

Kendall McGee Kendall McGee 5'10" | CG Benilde-St. Margaret's School | 2025 State MN / Sam Wills Sam Wills 6'0" | SG Visitation | 2025 State MN – Minnesota Stars Borowicz 2025

This dynamic duo have racked up quite the hardware and accolades during their time together and Summer Jam was no exception. McGee is without question a "who’s who" among the top talent in her class and Wills is one of the best inside/out players the class of 2025 has to offer. After a dazzling performance pouring in 37 against Providence in the Breakdown Shot Clock Classic last week, she followed it up leading her Stars team to the Summer Jam title in the Shoe Lake (15U) division against rival Minnesota Fury 2025 UAA headlined by Addison Mack Addison Mack 5'9" | PG Minnehaha Academy | 2025 State MN , Jordan Ode Jordan Ode 6'0" | CG Maple Grove | 2025 State MN and a host of other next-level prospects.

Kendall really seems to pace herself and has a keen understanding of when her team needs her to go from Robin to Batman. She put everyone on notice from the outset in the championship game scoring 5 of the her teams first 9 points on her way to a game high 23. Wills chipped in 8 points of her own and was equally as impressive playing stellar defense, crashing the boards and bringing the energy her team needed after trailing 41-39 at the break. The Stars took command of the game in the 2nd half going up 57-47 before the Fury went on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to 57-52 with just over 7 minutes to play, and that would be as close as they would get. Collectively the Stars unleashed their suffocating defense holding the Fury to just 2 points in the last 6 minutes to pull away for a 67-54 win and maintain bragging rights until they meet again. Savannah Borowicz Savannah Borowicz 5'9" | SG Jordan | 2025 State MN chipped in 10 points hitting a couple of clutch 3’s and did a great job defending the Fury’s premier perimeter players.

Bray Torry – 43 Hoops Elite 2024

Torry is actually a 2025 recruit, but after spending a few seasons with the Minnesota Stars, she decided to pack up and test the waters playing up a grade with 43 Hoops Elite. So far so good as she’s been able hold her own thus far this season. While she has the quickness and ability to get her own shot, she’s settled quite nicely into a true point guard role and is getting the ball into the hot hand at the right time. Torry is as tough a player at her size as you’ll find. She stands about 5’5 with a slight frame but would be considered "wiry" strong. I was on hand for the championship match up against Iowa Prep 16U and it was nip and tuck the entire 2nd half. No team held more than a 3-point lead the entire 2nd half and it was full team effort as 43 Hoops got big shots from the likes of Allana Bates who knocked down a huge three in the 2nd half to keep the 43 Hoops team in contention. Bray’s leadership and defensive tenacity came up big late in the game with her Hoops squad up 1 with under a minute to play. Iowa Prep was attempting to set up a go-ahead bucket but Bray used her quick hands and instincts to come up with a steal to pretty much seal the deal and take home the Violet Lake (16U) championship. Bray is definitely one of those under-the-radar kids that you’ll be hearing a lot more about. Stay tuned.

Elayna Boe Elayna Boe 6'0" | SG Lakeville North | 2025 State MN – Crossfire South Mueller 2025

When you hear coaches saying such and such plays the right way, Boe immediately comes to mind. Standing about 5’10, she has long legs and wingspan that allows her to recover quickly to block or disrupt a shot in the event she is beaten off the dribble. Text book close-outs with choppy feet and high hands, box outs, communicating, and she just really seems to enjoy what she’s doing. Flat out, Boe does whatever her team needs. She didn’t score much during the first two rounds of the Summer Jam tournament, but her presence was felt on the boards and defensive side of the ball. As the stakes grew, so did her offensive production. She had a team high 12 points in the semifinal round against a formidable North Tartan 2025 Elite squad propelling her Crossfire team to the championship game against CSS HS White out of Nebraska. They ultimately fell short to the better team out of Nebraska, but Boe left her fingerprints on the game doing it from all three levels on the offensive end leading her team with 17 points and holding her own against some very skilled wing players from CSS. Boe is as fundamentally sound as they come and has the tools to be a next-level prospect.

Vanessa Saidu Vanessa Saidu 6'2" | SF Cooper | 2023 State MN – 43 Hoops Elite 2023

Saidu is already a high mid-major recruit receiving a lot of attention this spring/summer and for good reason. Her height, wingspan, athletic ability and million dollar smile is something any school could find a use for. Saidu along with next-level prospects Bre Frazier Bre Frazier 5'7" | SG Cooper | 2023 State MN and Macaya Copeland Macaya Copeland 5'4" | CG Hopkins | 2023 State MN set out to bring home some hardware and respect to their fast-growing 43 Hoops program. While Saidu is working tirelessly on her conditioning and offensive game, two things she’s exceptional at right now are rebounding and shot blocking. Those two attributes alone are game changers. Don’t get me wrong, with her length and willingness to bang in the paint, she can still score on anyone by simply jumping over the top of them. She almost willed her team to victory in the championship scoring 6 big points in the last few minutes before falling to a very good Missouri River Elite 17U squad.

Tootie Cade (Lewis) & Taydem Miller – FBC North Lark 2023

When I watched Cade and Miller play in the championship game on Sunday, all I could hear was FBC coach Rob Lark yelling was "Tootie, shoot!!", ’Taydem do this", Tootie do that." The FBC squad was very short handed missing their do-it-all guard Aalayah Wilson Aalayah Wilson 5'8" | CG Osseo | 2023 State MN who was on a recruiting visit, and a handful of other important pieces. That left the heavy lifting up to Cade and Miller who live for those moments. Cade was getting it done behind the arc and in the lane and Miller is a bolt of lighting on offense and a menace on defense. Being as short-handed as they were, Cade and Miller did all they could to keep FBC in it before they finally fell short to Diamond Elite 2023 McMillan 45-38. Miller cashed in 14 points and had at least 5 steals, and Cade led all scorers with 20. I’m no mathematician, but by my calculations, those two scored 90% of the team’s total points for the game and almost got it done.

Sidebar – Hats off to Diamond Elite program director Omar McMillan who coached at least 8 games in his program over the weekend to cover for a few of his teams. They took home the Moore Lake (17U) division championship to make it all worth it.