Promising newcomers who impressed in Week #7

If there's one good thing that came out of the COVID-19 pandemic it is the proliferation of high school games now available for viewing live online. The result has been a ton more opportunities to watch kids from the hinterlands do their thing and we have taken advantage of that in a big way. Last week began with an online encounter between Chisholm and Cherry, the type of game we would never have been able to scout in the pre-streaming era.   Located about 60 miles north of Duluth, Cherry is an unincorporated community in St. Louis County where the number of residents is less than a thousand. The school, which is officially located in Iron Junction, has under 150 students. Chisholm, about 20 minutes to the northwest, is known as the ‘Heart of the Iron Range' and the school has fewer than 200 kids. When they met up last week it sounded like the whole town was there.   Our purpose for tuning in was really to check up on junior prospect [player_tooltip player_id='215986' first='Tresa' last='Baumgard'] of Chisholm, a long, physical wing/guard currently ranked in the Top 35 in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2024. We haven't seen Baumgard live in a long time but we do watch her on the small screen from time to time. Tresa was good. So was a senior guard we hadn't seen before who leads our look today at some promising newcomers.   Jillian Sajdak – 2023 guard, Cherry   It was immediately clear that Jillian is the Tigers' alpha dog. She played the point, ran the offense effectively, and showed the ability to attack the basket and finish through contact. She's fast (sometimes a little too fast) and quick and has a big, solid frame that enables her to punish defenders when she goes on the attack. Sajdak has pretty good handles and we're told she has improved both her ball security and decision-making this year. Jillian's shooting has also gotten better as has her shot selection. Jillian's real strength, however, is her defense. She is physical, intense and focused and made life difficult for Baumgard at times. Jillian is averaging 15.2 points per game along with 5.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists while shooting around 40 percent from the field. As far as we know Jillian has not played AAU. There should be a D3 or JUCO spot for her somewhere next season   A KOLLECTION OF KOMETS   As we said in our rundown on last week's plethora of nail-biting finishes, the biggest surprise of the day was no doubt the play of the Kasson-Mantorville Komets. With one of their all-time greats – Xavier commit [player_tooltip player_id='108321' first='Aby' last='Shubert'] – having sustained an ACL injury that ended her senior year prematurely, it has taken some time for K-M to figure things out. As their win over St. Peter at the Breakdown Southern Minnesota Hoops Fest on Saturday showed, the squad is definitely trending in the right direction now. That win was built upon the skills, abilities and efforts of four players in particular.   Kaylee Narveson – 2023 guard, Kasson-Mantorville   The senior guard is an All-State soccer player, which says a lot about her competitiveness, foot speed and agility, and vision on the floor. The 5'8 senior is a two-year basketball starter and vocal leader for the Komets, averaging 9 points and more than 5 rebounds per game. She is athletic and loves to get downhill and attack. Narveson is also an aggressive defender, which really showed on Saturday having to guard the likes of [player_tooltip player_id='178267' first='Rhyan' last='Holmgren'], [player_tooltip player_id='208187' first='Annika' last='Southworth'] and [player_tooltip player_id='339119' first='Maddie' last='Kamm'] of St. Peter. Unflappable is the word I would use. She also scored 18 points in the 69-66 win.   [player_tooltip player_id='595574' first='Keigan' last='Cummings'] – 2025 guard, Kasson-Mantorville   The sophomore point guard is a pure athlete who can go, go, go. She loves to run in transition, has no fear about wading into heavy traffic on her way to paydirt, and knows how to finish even though it looks a little unorthodox at times. The 5'6 Cummings is a crafty floor general and a good passer who has a tendency to put the ball in the right place at the right time. She leads K-M in scoring at 12.5 ppg while contributing 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game. Those are solid numbers against a good slate of opponents. Keigan clearly has another gear that most players don't. As she learns how to best take advantage of that explosive burst, Cummings is going to be really dangerous.   [player_tooltip player_id='595553' first='Makenzie' last='Carrier'] – 2025 guard, Kasson-Mantorville   I'm not sure how many times we've said it, or how many times we'll say it again, but defense wins. When it comes to the Komets, Carrier is the one who sets the tone defensively. She is relentless. The 5'6 guard may not be big but she plays bigger, using her speed and quickness to bottle up opposing ball handlers in a significant way. That was certainly evident on Saturday against all of St. Peter's weaponry. Offensively Carrier can get downhill at a high rate of speed, either slipping by defenders one-on-one or knocking down mid-range jump shots, an aspect she has added to her box of tools in recent months. Carrier also leads K-M in three-pointers made. She's averaging 10.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.1 steals per game.   [player_tooltip player_id='854902' first='Ella' last='Stoskopf'] – 2025 forward, Kasson-Mantorville   Size and strength inside is a vital element if your team is going to have success in high school basketball. Against big [player_tooltip player_id='304899' first='Abby' last='Maloney'] of St. Peter on Saturday, Ella proved her value in that regard. She's about 5'10, with a big body and a lot of strength. Ella isn't going to wow you with her athleticism, or bring you out of your seat with some spectacular display of ballhandling. What she will do is own the real estate down low enabling her guards to have a little more room in which to operate farther out. Ella is improving quickly. She has an effective drop step with her back to the basket, a nice set of hands, and the ability to contribute a needed spark on offense. Stoskopf is coming off the bench but playing starter minutes. She's averaging nearly 8 points and 6 rebounds per game. K-M has a long history of similar types of post players – Mya Suess in particular comes to mind – and Stoskopf is poised to make a name for herself, as well.   ONE MORE FRESH FACE OF NOTE   [player_tooltip player_id='589276' first='Taleigha' last='Bigler'] – 2026 guard, Marshall   When Taleigha took to the floor on Saturday for the Marshall Tigers against Stewartville she immediately stood out for a number of reasons. On a team full of big, bulky bruisers, Bigler is a small guard with a thin frame. On a team built on power, physicality and intimidation, Taleigha is a cerebral point guard whose finesse is her calling card. And on a squad loaded with upperclassmen, the fact that the 9th grader is getting minutes and earning the trust of old school coach Dan Westby says a lot about her potential. We wrote about Taleigha this summer. She's part of the highly talented 2026 squad from the Minnesota Rise where she plays behind Top 20 prospect [player_tooltip player_id='339175' first='Brooklyn' last='Lewis'] of New Ulm. What we remarked on at the time was Bigler's improvement over the summer. Against bigger, stronger, older players last weekend, Taleigha demonstrated her progress once again. She was more conservative, more measured in her approach. She didn't try to do too much, and she made solid decisions. That's all you want from a freshman. It's what's to come that is truly exciting.

If there's one good thing that came out of the COVID-19 pandemic it is the proliferation of high school games now available for viewing live online. The result has been a ton more opportunities to watch kids from the hinterlands do their thing and we have taken advantage of that in a big way. Last week began with an online encounter between Chisholm and Cherry, the type of game we would never have been able to scout in the pre-streaming era.