The Week That Was #1: Turkeys & tourneys on tap

It's official. With the Thanksgiving tournaments having been completed, and 60 games already in the books, the 2022-23 Minnesota girls high school basketball season is here! Each week between now and the conclusion of the State Tournament in March – that's 17 weeks in total – we'll bring you a recap of the preceding seven days worth of action.

We can't be everywhere, of course. With 381 games scheduled this coming week, for example, it's impossible to keep track of everything that's happening across Minnesota. We'll offer up the best of what we've witnessed – fun games, top performers, fresh faces and the like – along with milestones and other odds and ends we've picked up along the way. We try to provide updates from time to time on what Minnesota graduates are doing in college basketball, as well, since that's where many of the current high school players are trying to get to.

If you see something great, or you know of a player setting a record or reaching a milestone, please let us know as soon as it happens. You can email me (gmachoops@gmail.com) or send a direct message via Twitter (@gmachoops). We'll do our best to publish the most newsworthy items on a regular basis.

Kudos to those coaches who publish complete stats at mngirlsbasketballhub.com immediately after every game. Curses to the many (especially in outstate Class A and AA!) who don't bother. We can't share what we can't see so support your kids and take a few minutes to do it. Please and thank you.

We like to publish the weekly recap on Sunday nights. However, we often travel to out-of-town events and college games over the weekend so we are frequently on the road on Sundays meaning the recap gets posted on Monday. This is always a popular feature and we hope you like it again this season. Here goes for the Week That Was #1.

THE SEASON OPENER

The post-Thanksgiving tournaments mark the beginning of the Minnesota high school season and that's where most of the attention was focused this week. The season actually began the night before the holiday when Princeton hosted Duluth East in official game #1 of the campaign. It didn't take long to see that the Greyhounds' leading lights – seniors Rachel Hagen Rachel Hagen 5'10" | SF Duluth East | 2023 State MN and Ashlynne Guenther Ashlynne Guenther 5'11" | SF Duluth East | 2023 State MN – were going to pick up right where they left off in the spring.

Guenther (photo above) scored the first bucket of the high school season 10 seconds into the game on a pretty floater. Hagen was everywhere in the first half as the pair executed their excellence against a young Princeton squad directed by first-year coach Rob Lark. Duluth East led the foul-filled contest by 10 at the half and went on to score a 63-45 win. Hagen, who has committed to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, finished the night with 21 points. Guenther, who has signed on with Bemidji State, had 18. Last season the pair averaged 32 points per game.

The Tigers were led by senior guard Myranda Griesert, who scored 18. Top 50 freshmen Willa Waytashek Willa Waytashek 5'4" | PG/SG Princeton | 2026 State MN and Lilly Tidrick Lilly Tidrick 5'9" | SG Princeton | 2026 State MN played a big role for Princeton as did lanky freshman forward Kyleigh Noble. The Tigers' 16-player roster includes seven 9th graders and four 10th graders.

TOURNAMENT PLAY

As we mentioned there were tournaments across Minnesota on Friday and Saturday. We spent most of our time at the Twin Cities Thanksgiving Tipoff at St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights where there were a ton of terrific match-ups before finishing up Saturday evening at Hamline University in St. Paul. Unfortunately Minnehaha Academy had to withdraw from the Hamline event because of a wave of flu cases that swept through the team. That eliminated two of the best games on the docket. Still we saw two good ones as Minnetonka took down DeLaSalle and Chaska edged Centennial.

We will have extensive coverage from the tournaments over the next couple of days including a look at some fresh faces we saw, our favorite stock risers and, of course, the top performers we watched at the two events. For now, here's a look at some individuals who put up big numbers over the weekend.

TOP INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES

Guard Drew Johnston Drew Johnston 5'9" | PG Roseville | 2023 State MN of Roseville, who has committed to the University of Minnesota Duluth, opened her senior season with a bang. The crafty floor general came out firing and nearly set a school record with 8 three-point baskets in a single game on Saturday against Totino-Grace… except the last one was waved off. Johnson had to settle for seven triples equaling the school's best ever which she has done before. Drew, who is ranked #31 in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2023, scored 24 points in the 67-43 win

Here are some other players who put up numbers on opening weekend.

Maddyn Greenway Maddyn Greenway 5'8" | PG Providence Academy | 2026 State MN – The standout freshman from Providence Academy, ranked co-#1 in the Class of 2026, scored 39 points in an overtime loss to Bishop Garrigan of Iowa. Greenway made five triples in a row for 32 points in the first half before Garrigan turned up the defensive heat.

Lainey Braulick – The sophomore from Bird Island (BOLD), who impressed observers all summer in AAU ball, averaged 33 points per game on opening weekend at the tournament in Sleepy Eye. We've liked her game with the Minnesota Rise and it looks like she may be embarking on a breakout season.

Shantell Harden Shantell Harden 6'0" | SF St. Louis Park | 2023 State MN – The gifted wing from St. Louis Park started her final year off with an impressive 33-point outing on Saturday at the Hamline University tournament against Madison Memorial of Wisconsin after scoring a double-double versus DeLaSalle. The 22nd-ranked senior has committed to MSU-Mankato.

Jocelyn Land Jocelyn Land 6'0" | PF Holy Family | 2024 State MN – Holy Family was trailing early in its game Saturday against Aquinas of LaCrosse, Wisconsin at the Twin Cities Thanksgiving Tipoff before the junior power forward turned it up a notch or two and went on the attack. Land, a Top 20 junior committed to D1 Butler University, finished with 33 points.

Sydney Schultz Sydney Schultz 5'4" | CG NRHEG | 2023 State MN – The feisty guard from New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva opened her senior season by putting up 27 points in a 57-41 win over Simley at Hamline as the Panthers scored a victory over a much bigger school. Schultz does it all for NHREG as evidenced by her averages last season: 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.

Grace Counts Grace Counts 6'1" | PF Providence | 2023 State MN – The big senior forward from Providence Academy (pictured above) was handed a monumental task Saturday having to defend Bishop Garrigan's monster post Audi Crooks, an Iowa State commit who is one of America's best. Crooks put up numbers in the tough overtime loss for PA but we can't overlook the fact that Counts scored 27 with 14 rebounds and 3 blocks against her highly-touted opponent.

Avery Moeller Avery Moeller 5'10" | CG Rosemount | 2024 State MN – A couple of weeks back we told you about the improvement Avery has made to her game in recent months thanks to a ton of hard work and a never-say-die attitude. The big guard from Rosemount opened her junior season with a 25-point performance for the Irish in a win over Woodbury.

Kayla James – With a strong senior class having graduated from St. Paul Como Park last spring that means a new crop of Cougars will have to step up if Como's record of success is going to continue. James did exactly that on opening night against Bloomington Kennedy scoring 25 points and adding 6 rebounds Friday at Hamline.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The biggest news this week is the single biggest and best high school event of the season. Other than the post-season dance in March at Williams Arena, the Breakdown Tip Off Classic is annually the premier gathering of teams and players between December and March. It gets underway with six games on two courts Friday night at Hopkins High School. There are 16 more games on the docket for Saturday. Nine of the top 10 ranked teams in Class 4A are participating, 8 of the top 10 in 3A, plus such 2A powers as Providence Academy, Minnehaha Academy, Holy Family, Albany and Goodhue. Class A stalwarts Mountain Iron-Buhl and Hayfield will meet at the Tip Off, as well. We'll have an event preview later in the week. See the complete schedule at breakdownsportsusa.com/girlstipoff.

Here are five other games to watch earlier in the week: