The Week That Was #2: The stars came out to play
In this article:
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…
Access all of Prep Girls Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThere’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 Liv McGill Liv McGill 5'7" | CG Hopkins | 2024 State MN of Hopkins and Olivia Olson Olivia Olson 6'1" | CG Benilde-SM | 2024 State MN 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 Aaliyah Crump Aaliyah Crump 6'1" | SF Minnetonka | 2025 State MN (rated #1 in the class) of the Skippers and Addison Mack Addison Mack 5'9" | PG Minnehaha Academy | 2025 State MN (#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 Tessa Johnson Tessa Johnson 5'11" | SG St. Michael-Albertville | 2023 State #36 Nation MN 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 Piper Carlson Piper Carlson 5'11" | SF St. Michael-Albertville | 2023 State MN 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 Maddyn Greenway Maddyn Greenway 5'8" | PG Providence Academy | 2026 State MN 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. Maren Westin Maren Westin 5'8" | CG Becker | 2023 State MN , 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 Audrey Jakway Audrey Jakway 6'0" | PF Mounds Park Academy | 2023 State MN 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 Nora Pederson Nora Pederson 5'7" | SG Mounds Park Academy | 2024 State MN , who is coming off an exceptionally good fall, scored 15.
On Tuesday it was the Jordan Zubich Jordan Zubich 5'11" | SG Mountain Iron-Buhl | 2024 State MN 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 Vanessa Saidu Vanessa Saidu 6'2" | SF Cooper | 2023 State MN of Robbinsdale Cooper scored 27 points in a win over Cretin-Derham Hall. Hamline commit Anna Rynkiewich Anna Rynkiewich 5'9" | SF St. Paul Central | 2023 State MN had 28 for St. Paul Central against Mounds Park Academy. Other Tuesday highlights included:
- Nebraska-Kearney commit Karly Jusczak Karly Jusczak 6'1" | PF Pine City | 2024 State MN of Pine City scored 31 in a win over Mora.
- 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.
- One player we have watched a lot is Top 50 sophomore Madelynn Luft Madelynn Luft 6'1" | PF Kerkhoven-M-S | 2025 State MN 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.
Another lanky post put in a good shift on Wednesday when 6’3 sophomore Tory Jennissen Tory Jennissen 6'3" | PF Sauk Centre | 2025 State MN of Sauk Centre had 22 points and 16 rebounds in a win over Holdingford. Forest Lake post Cassidy Pitzl Cassidy Pitzl 5'11" | SF Forest Lake | 2024 State MN put up 26 points at Andover. On Thursday big Brynn Beffert Brynn Beffert 6'0" | PF Hutchinson | 2023 State MN of Hutchinson scored 31 vs St. Peter, a game in which her counterpart Rhyan Holmgren Rhyan Holmgren 5'9" | SG St. Peter | 2024 State MN had 36. Unsigned senior Kloe Wadd Kloe Wadd 6'2" | PF Waseca | 2023 State MN 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 Samantha Voll Samantha Voll 5'9" | CG Monticello | 2026 State MN 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 Regan Juenemann Regan Juenemann 5'9" | CG Duluth Marshall | 2025 State MN 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 Chloe Johnson Chloe Johnson 5'11" | PG Duluth Marshall | 2028 MN 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 (gmachoops@gmail.com) or via direct message on Twitter (@gmachoops). Here are this week’s achievers:
Senior guard Haylie Strum Haylie Strum 5'6" | CG Stewartville | 2023 State MN of Stewartville reached 1,000 points.
MSU-Mankato commit Rhyan Holmgren Rhyan Holmgren 5'9" | SG St. Peter | 2024 State MN scored her 1,000th career point. Her AAU teammate Brea Mertz Brea Mertz 5'10" | PF Sleepy Eye | 2024 State MN of Sleepy Eye did the same as did senior Emily Christenson Emily Christenson 5'11" | SF East Ridge | 2023 State MN of East Ridge.
Photo
Tresa Baumgard Tresa Baumgard 6'0" | PF Chisholm | 2024 State MN , a 2024 forward from Chisholm, recorded her 1,000th rebound as did Illinois State commit Savannah McGowan Savannah McGowan 6'2" | PF Armstrong | 2023 State MN of Robbinsdale Armstrong.
COMING UP THIS WEEK
Here is the best game to see on each night this week:
- Monday – Yellow Medicine East at Minneota
- Tuesday – Prior Lake at Chaska
- Wednesday – Mahtomedi at Providence Academy
- Thursday – Orono at Minnehaha Academy
- Friday – Roseville at East Ridge
- Saturday – Caledonia at Rochester Lourdes