The Week That Was #2: The stars came out to play

There's nothing quite like a great head-to-head match-up – two star players bringing their very best to the gym to butt heads for an hour or so. As it always seems to do, the Breakdown Tip Off Classic brought out the best in the best over the weekend at Hopkins High School and there were so many of those star-studded encounters among the 22 games played. That's the focus of our Week That Was #2 of the Minnesota girls high school basketball season when the stars came out to play.   LIV VS LIV   After a couple of opening acts, the weekend began in Friday's final game with one of the best head-to-heads we've ever seen: Liv vs Liv. Has anyone ever gone harder at each other than [player_tooltip player_id='178269' first='Liv' last='McGill'] of Hopkins and [player_tooltip player_id='177728' first='Olivia' last='Olson'] of Benilde-St. Margaret's did on Friday? Not that we've seen. From the opening tip Olson and McGill – respectively the #1- and #2-ranked players in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2024 – displayed their rather ample skill sets, their tenacious will to win, and their physical presence which was, on this night, cranked up to maximum volume. It was epic.   McGill is always aggressive, of course. She is an in-your-face defender, a no-fear-attacker, and one of the most intimidating players around. Olson, who has committed to the University of Michigan, is super-skilled possessing exceptional length, size, body control and touch. On this night she was every bit as physical as McGill, every bit as aggressive, and as amped up for action as we've ever seen. It was a heavyweight bout. What made it even more interesting was the hands-off attitude of the officials. No blood, no foul as they say. Except there were still plenty of fouls, more than a few testy encounters, and a gym full of fans who were whipped up into a frenzy. McGill finished the game with 29 points while Olson had 25. It was quite a show, and on Tip Off weekend it was just the beginning.   AALIYAH VS ADDI   Although Liv vs Liv was the main event on Friday night the opening act was pretty sensational, too. It didn't have the physicality or animosity of the Hopkins vs Benilde game, but Minnehaha Academy vs Minnetonka was no less compelling, particularly the encounter between a pair of excellent prospects: 2025s [player_tooltip player_id='252387' first='Aaliyah' last='Crump'] (rated #1 in the class) of the Skippers and [player_tooltip player_id='252379' first='Addison' last='Mack'] (#4) of the Redhawks. It was Tonka's third game of the season but Minnehaha's first due to a wave of the flu that swept through the team last week and led to their withdrawal from the Hamline tournament over Thanksgiving.   Addi certainly showed no rust. The super speedy point guard was flying from the opening tipoff, scoring bucket after bucket on her trademark end-to-end rushes. She also made four three-point baskets and was a perfect 5-for-5 at the free throw line. Meanwhile Aaliyah delivered the latest installment of her highwire aerial show that featured plenty of coast-to-coast dashes and five triples. She was 6-of-6 at the line. It was one of those, ‘Anything you can do I can do better' things and both did it very well. Crump finished with 35 points; Mack had 27. Minnetonka won it 66-52. Considering Aaliyah had 31 against St. Louis Park on Wednesday and 37 on Saturday versus Hortonville (WI), it was a pretty good week for the highly-sought sophomore.   LOGAN VS TESSA   Logan Nissley and [player_tooltip player_id='108299' first='Tessa' last='Johnson'] are two of the most-accomplished, most-talented, most-tenacious competitors in the region. Logan is the #1-rated senior in North Dakota and has committed to Nebraska. Tessa is the #1-ranked senior in Minnesota and has signed with South Carolina. They were also summer teammates on North Tartan's EYBL squad. On Saturday the pair went head-to-head when St. Michael-Albertville engaged in a cross-border rivalry game with Bismarck Century and what a battle it was.   The teams are both very deep with a supporting cast that can hang with anyone. Idaho State commit [player_tooltip player_id='220824' first='Piper' last='Carlson'] of STMA, for example, was a major factor despite scoring just three points. The big forward made a huge block at the end of the game to preserve her team's margin. University of Mary signee Bergen Kinnebrew, the #2 senior in the Roughrider State, scored 28 points and was super-impressive. But really the game was about Nissley vs Johnson – star vs star, teammate vs teammate, friend vs friend – and it was a ton of fun to watch. In the end, STMA prevailed by a score of 72-70 and the first order of duty immediately after the final whistle blew was a big hug at center court before posing for a photo recognizing their co-Player of the Game honors. That's exactly how it's suppose to be!   MAREN VS MADDYN   Freshman guard [player_tooltip player_id='252381' first='Maddyn' last='Greenway'] of Providence Academy has a well-earned reputation as a player who doesn't know when to quit. She goes hard every game, every practice, every day. Put a basketball in her hands and she's going to shove it down your throat with gusto. [player_tooltip player_id='108304' first='Maren' last='Westin'], on the other hand, can be a little more laid back. The UW-Green Bay commit is so talented, possessing the athleticism and skillset to dominate a game. Many nights, however, she is more than happy to facilitate and make her teammates look even better than they already are which, in Becker's case, is really saying something. But when her team needs her the most, when the opposition is amped up, when there's an alpha dog on the other side of the floor that might need taming, Westin is going to do what matters.   That was certainly the case on Saturday when Greenway and Westin went head-to-head at the Breakdown Tip Off. Westin made so many big plays, hanging in the air for impossible mid-range shots, using her strength and agility to get to the rim and pulling down 10 rebounds. Greenway was on fire, going end to end on possession after possession and fighting for every inch as always. It's hard to describe just how entertaining their excellence was. In the end Becker pulled off an 83-76 win. Maren finished the game with 24 points and was 6-for-6 at the free throw line. Greenway tallied 33 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. The real winners, though, were those of us lucky to see it happen.   WEEK 2 STANDOUTS   We certainly saw some special performances Friday and Saturday at the Breakdown Tip Off Classic but there were plenty of standouts earlier in the week, too. On Monday [player_tooltip player_id='302286' first='Audrey' last='Jakway'] of Mounds Park Academy picked right up where she left off last season, scoring 27 points for the Panthers' in a win over Hiawatha. Point guard [player_tooltip player_id='339146' first='Nora' last='Pederson'], who is coming off an exceptionally good fall, scored 15.   On Tuesday it was the [player_tooltip player_id='178277' first='Jordan' last='Zubich'] show up on the Iron Range – how many times have we said that before? – as the 2024 Top 5 prospect scored 36 points with 13 rebounds and 6 assists in a win over Mesabi East. She followed that up by watching her brother win a state championship in football, recording an impressive win over Hayfield at the Breakdown, and then receiving her dream scholarship offer from North Carolina. Just another week in the Zubich household!   Also on Tuesday one of the top non-committed seniors in Minnesota, #17 [player_tooltip player_id='302254' first='Vanessa' last='Saidu'] of Robbinsdale Cooper scored 27 points in a win over Cretin-Derham Hall. Hamline commit [player_tooltip player_id='474510' first='Anna' last='Rynkiewich'] had 28 for St. Paul Central against Mounds Park Academy. Other Tuesday highlights included:   <ul> <li>Nebraska-Kearney commit [player_tooltip player_id='302309' first='Karly' last='Jusczak'] of Pine City scored 31 in a win over Mora.</li>   <li>Henning junior Lyvia Misegades put up 34 points and 17 rebounds against Perham, more than double her averages from last season. She is an intriguing prospect we really need to see live.</li>   <li>One player we have watched a lot is Top 50 sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='296522' first='Madelynn' last='Luft'] of Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, a long and lanky forwards from the Minnesota Rise. She had her second career triple-double on Tuesday with 11 points, 12 rebounds, 13 blocks, 4 assists and 2 steals.</li> </ul>   Another lanky post put in a good shift on Wednesday when 6'3 sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='396422' first='Tory' last='Jennissen'] of Sauk Centre had 22 points and 16 rebounds in a win over Holdingford. Forest Lake post [player_tooltip player_id='461351' first='Cassidy' last='Pitzl'] put up 26 points at Andover. On Thursday big [player_tooltip player_id='108313' first='Brynn' last='Beffert'] of Hutchinson scored 31 vs St. Peter, a game in which her counterpart [player_tooltip player_id='178267' first='Rhyan' last='Holmgren'] had 36. Unsigned senior [player_tooltip player_id='108346' first='Kloe' last='Wadd'] of Waseca is another giant post who can put the ball in the basket. She had 37 versus Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton.   Meanwhile Monticello 9th grader [player_tooltip player_id='515676' first='Samantha' last='Voll'] showed just how much potential she has by putting up 31 points against Buffalo, eight more than her previous career high. That's the same total [player_tooltip player_id='296516' first='Regan' last='Juenemann'] of Duluth Marshall scored against Two Harbors. She followed that up 24 hours later with another strong performance against Maranatha at the Tip Off, a contest in which she had 42 points. Marshall's promising 7th grader [player_tooltip player_id='433933' first='Chloe' last='Johnson'] made her debut this week, topping the 20-point mark in both games and racking up the assists.   MILESTONES   Every week during the high school season we try to highlight those players who have reached a career milestone, broken a school record, or accomplished something else that seems noteworthy. Please send us your milestone information, either by email (<a href="mailto:gmachoops@gmail.com">gmachoops@gmail.com</a>) or via direct message on Twitter (@gmachoops). Here are this week's achievers:   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/12/Haylie-Strum-1000.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-560725" width="512" height="293" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Twitter/StewieGBB</figcaption></figure>   Senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='148327' first='Haylie' last='Strum'] of Stewartville reached 1,000 points.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/12/Rhyan-Holmgren-1000-crop-694x456-1670254317.png?w=694" alt="" class="wp-image-560732" width="347" height="228" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Twitter/MNRisegirls</figcaption></figure>   MSU-Mankato commit [player_tooltip player_id='178267' first='Rhyan' last='Holmgren'] scored her 1,000th career point. Her AAU teammate [player_tooltip player_id='304937' first='Brea' last='Mertz'] of Sleepy Eye did the same as did senior [player_tooltip player_id='148315' first='Emily' last='Christenson'] of East Ridge.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/12/Tressa-Baumgard-1000.jpg?w=819" alt="" class="wp-image-560733" width="256" height="320" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Twitter/2024PMNorth</figcaption></figure>   Photo   [player_tooltip player_id='215986' first='Tresa' last='Baumgard'], a 2024 forward from Chisholm, recorded her 1,000th rebound as did Illinois State commit [player_tooltip player_id='108307' first='Savannah' last='McGowan'] of Robbinsdale Armstrong.   COMING UP THIS WEEK   Here is the best game to see on each night this week:   <ul> <li>Monday – Yellow Medicine East at Minneota</li>   <li>Tuesday – Prior Lake at Chaska</li>   <li>Wednesday – Mahtomedi at Providence Academy</li>   <li>Thursday – Orono at Minnehaha Academy</li>   <li>Friday – Roseville at East Ridge</li>   <li>Saturday – Caledonia at Rochester Lourdes</li> </ul>

There's nothing quite like a great head-to-head match-up – two star players bringing their very best to the gym to butt heads for an hour or so. As it always seems to do, the Breakdown Tip Off Classic brought out the best in the best over the weekend at Hopkins High School and there were so many of those star-studded encounters among the 22 games played. That's the focus of our Week That Was #2 of the Minnesota girls high school basketball season when the stars came out to play.