Coming up this weekend: Breakdown Tip Off Classic

Last weekend kicked off the 2022-23 Minnesota girls high school basketball season with a bang. We saw great teams, excellent individual performances and some interesting newcomers. This weekend we'll crank up the volume another few notches at the Breakdown USA Girls Tip Off Classic, the single best in-season event of the campaign. Other than the State Tournament in March, this is the biggest and the best, and it promises to be a ton of fun once again. The Tip Off opens Friday with six games beginning at 5 p.m. and continues with 16 more games on Saturday. Hopkins is the place to be if you want to see the cream of the crop all in one place at one time. Here's what you can expect.

WHAT IS THE BREAKDOWN TIP OFF?

Breakdown Sports is a Minnesota-based event organizer and the undisputed leader in staging high school basketball events in the state. Justin Hegna, Dean Kesler and company have built a stellar reputation over the past 20 years for their ability to execute top-notch events featuring high school teams, be that in the summer or during the winter season. Every year they put together quality fields and the Tip Off is their Superbowl. Even though it takes place at the same time that college teams are in the thick of their non-conference schedules, many of the leading D1 programs in the country manage to make their way to Hopkins to shop for standouts.

WHO IS PLAYING?

Unlike the State Tournament, this event includes the leading programs, not just the section winners. Nine of the top 10 ranked teams in Class 4A will be present along with eight of the 10 highest-ranked squads in Class 3A. The defending 2A champions (Providence Academy) and two of the favorites to win it this season (Minnehaha Academy and Albany) will also be on hand along with a pair of favorites in Class A – Hayfield and Mountain Iron-Buhl. The cross-class match-ups are particularly interesting as teams like Minnehaha Academy, Benilde-St. Margaret's and Providence Academy will play marque programs from bigger classes. This year's event also features two strong programs from neighboring states – Bismarck Century of North Dakota led by Nebraska commit Logan Nissley and Hortonville of Wisconsin which features elite guard Rainey Welson, who competes here in the summer for North Tartan.

FRIDAY'S TOP 3 GAMES TO SEES

5:30 p.m. – Minnehaha Academy vs Minnetonka (West Court)

7:00 p.m. – Bismarck Century vs Wayzata (West)

8:30 p.m. – Benilde-St. Margaret's vs Hopkins (West)

SATURDAY'S BEST 6 MATCH-UPS

10:30 a.m. – Holy Family vs St. Croix Lutheran (East)

12:15 p.m. – Alexandria vs Stewartville (East)

3:45 p.m. – Lakeville North vs Chaska (West)

5:00 p.m. – Hayfield vs Mountain Iron-Buhl (East)

7:00 p.m. – Becker vs Providence Academy (West)

8:30 p.m. – Maple Grove vs Hopkins (West)

PLAYERS TO WATCH

The Tip Off offers big-time talent everywhere you look. The gym will be swarming with college coaches looking for players to fill their future rosters and no wonder. More than 20 Division 1 commits will play Friday and Saturday in Hopkins. Another 50 or so prospects at the event will eventually end up at the D1 level, too. Listed in the order of their respective Prep Girls Hoops prospect ranking, these are some of the premier players available who are expected to compete:

TOP UNSIGNED SENIORS

#17 Vanessa Saidu Vanessa Saidu 6'2" | SF Cooper | 2023 State MN – forward, Park Center

#28 Emily Christenson Emily Christenson 5'11" | SF East Ridge | 2023 State MN – guard, East Ridge

#30 Grace Counts Grace Counts 6'1" | PF Providence | 2023 State MN – forward, Providence Academy

#47 Kelly Boyle Kelly Boyle 5'7" | CG Hopkins | 2023 State MN – guard, Hopkins

#67 Grace Knupp Grace Knupp 5'8" | CG East Ridge | 2023 State MN – guard, East Ridge

BEST AVAILABLE JUNIORS

#2 Liv McGill Liv McGill 5'7" | CG Hopkins | 2024 State MN – guard, Hopkins

#4 Jordan Zubich Jordan Zubich 5'11" | SG Mountain Iron-Buhl | 2024 State MN – guard, Mountain Iron-Buhl

#9 Trinity Wilson Trinity Wilson 6'3" | PF Lakeville North | 2024 State MN – forward, Lakeville North

#16 Morgan Miller Morgan Miller 6'2" | PF Andover | 2024 State MN - forward, Andover

#17 Piper Engelby Piper Engelby 5'11" | SG Andover | 2024 State MN – guard, Andover

HIGHEST-RANKED SOPHOMORES

#1 Aaliyah Crump Aaliyah Crump 6'1" | SF Montverde Academy | 2025 State FL – forward, Minnetonka

#2 Kendall McGee Kendall McGee 5'10" | CG Benilde-St. Margaret's | 2025 State MN – guard, Benilde-St. Margaret's

#3 Jordan Ode Jordan Ode 6'0" | CG Maple Grove | 2025 State MN – guard, Maple Grove

#4 Addison Mack Addison Mack 5'9" | PG Minnehaha Academy | 2025 State MN – guard, Minnehaha Academy

#6 Tori Schlagel Tori Schlagel 5'9" | CG Eden Prairie | 2025 State MN – guard, Eden Prairie

BEST FRESHMEN

Co #1 Maddyn Greenway Maddyn Greenway 5'8" | PG Providence Academy | 2026 State MN – guard, Providence Academy

Co #1 Tori Oehrlein Tori Oehrlein 5'11" | CG Crosby-Ironton | 2026 State MN – guard, Crosby-Ironton

#3 Lanelle Wright Lanelle Wright 5'8" | PG Minnetonka | 2026 State MN – guard, Minnetonka

#4 Kate Amelotte Kate Amelotte 6'0" | SF Wayzata | 2026 State MN – forward, Wayzata

#5 Cail Jahnke Cail Jahnke 6'2" | CG St. Michael-Albertville | 2026 State MN – guard, St. Michael-Albertville

ELITE MIDDLE SCHOOLERS

Chloe Johnson Chloe Johnson 6'0" | PG Duluth Marshall | 2028 State MN – 7th grade guard, Duluth Marshall

Ava Cupito Ava Cupito 5'10" | CG Hopkins | 2027 State MN – 8th grade guard, Minnehaha Academy

Emma Millerbernd Emma Millerbernd 5'10" | CG Providence Academy | 2027 State MN – 8th grade guard, Providence Academy

Erma Walker Erma Walker 6'0" | PF Hopkins | 2027 State MN – 8th grade forward, Hopkins

Isa Griefenhagen Isa Griefenhagen 5'10" | CG DeLaSalle | 2027 State MN – 8th grade guard, Minnehaha Academy

WHAT ELSE DO I NEED TO KNOW?

These are sanctioned regular season high school games and are played under the rules of the Minnesota State High School League, i.e. 36 minutes of stop-time basketball. The games will be contested at the Royals Athletic Center on the campus of Hopkins High School, 2400 Lindbergh Drive in Minnetonka. Play begins on Friday at 5 p.m. with six games, three on the West Court and three on the East. Saturday's 16 games start at 9 a.m. and the last one – Maple Grove vs Hopkins – tips off at 8:30 p.m. There will be non-varsity games throughout the weekend, as well.

COMPLETE GAME SCHEDULE

6 games Friday

West Court

5:30 p.m. – Minnehaha Academy vs Minnetonka

7:00 p.m. – Bismarck Century vs Wayzata

8:30 p.m. – Benilde-St. Margaret's vs Hopkins

East Court

5:00 p.m. – Bloomington Kennedy vs Hill-Murray

6:30 p.m. – Maranatha vs Duluth Marshall

8:00 p.m. – Eastview vs Mahtomedi

16 games Saturday

West Court