The Week That Was #9: We’re halfway home

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Minnesota's girls high school basketball season began November 23, 2022 in Princeton. It will conclude March 18, 2023 in Minneapolis when we crown champions in all four Minnesota State High School League classes. That means we have passed the midway point. The race for team supremacy is starting to sort itself out. The seniors are finalizing their college plans. And, of course, we have seen a ton of great players raise their stock over the course of the past two months. As we celebrate the conclusion of the Week That Was #9, let's begin with one of the most exciting young players in the state.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":506917,"width":768,"height":512,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/09/Vienna-Murray-scaled.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-506917" width="768" height="512" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>PLAYER OF THE WEEK</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='351665' first='Vienna' last='Murray'] of Tartan High School in Oakdale is a Top 10 prospect in Minnesota's Class of 2026, an elite talent who is barely scratching the surface of what is possible. She is also carrying the bulk of the load for the Titans despite consistently being double-teamed. When you watch the Titans play it's obvious that most opponents are crafting their entire game plan around curtailing the 6-foot freshmen with serious hops and unlimited potential. Murray is putting up some impressive numbers, too, with her last four games looking like this:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>23 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>20 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>30 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>20 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Murray, who had a season-high 40-point performance against St. Paul Central in December, has earned every accolade that has come her ways since moving to the Twin Cities from Duluth and making a name for herself along the way. She'll once again play for North Tartan when the high school season concludes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>TOP INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another rising star who is carrying her team this season is 2024 Top 50 prospect [player_tooltip player_id='339197' first='Olivia' last='Wren'], who has helped Minneapolis Roosevelt to a record of 13-2. Last week she posted a season-high 34 points along with 7 rebounds and 4 assists in a win over Burnsville. Wren, who plays AAU on the Prep Girls Hoops Circuit with Minnesota Diamond Elite, is averaging 19 points per game. In the same game Burnsville's [player_tooltip player_id='186130' first='Shawna' last='Bruha'] had a season-high 31 point-performance. The senior guard leads the Blaze at 16 points per game. She has committed to Division 2 Minot State of the Northern Sun Conference.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Top 40 junior [player_tooltip player_id='215943' first='Somah' last='Kamara'] of Robbinsdale Cooper posted a career-high 29 points last week in a win over Bloomington Kennedy. She also had 11 steals in the game and now has over 60 steals this season for the Hawks, who are an impressive 11-3. Kamara has been a double-digit scorer in 10 games and is averaging 15 ppg. This spring she'll play for the Metro Stars.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Among last week's other top performers were two standout players who appear regularly in our Week That Was recaps thanks to their consistent excellence. [player_tooltip player_id='108299' first='Tessa' last='Johnson'] of St. Michael-Albertville, the South Carolina commit who is the #1 prospect in Minnesota's senior class, had a 41-point game in a 97-92 win over Eden Prairie. Meanwhile sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='252379' first='Addison' last='Mack'] of Minnehaha Academy, who recently passed 2,000 career points, had a 36-point contest Friday at Buffalo. She's scored 108 points in her last three games. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":587762,"width":768,"height":406,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/01/Ella-Pritchard-1000-RB.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-587762" width="768" height="406" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Twitter/Lyss1995</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MILESTONES</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='205310' first='Tori' last='Oehrlein']'s assault on the record books continued this week as the elite freshman from Crosby-Ironton became her team's all-time leading scorer, passing the previous mark of 1,649. Tori has scored over 400 points this season and is averaging nearly 30 per game. It's hard to imagine how big that career number will get if she stays healthy given that Oehrlein has three and a half seasons of varsity basketball left.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":587767,"width":301,"height":512,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/01/Olivia-Olson-career-record.jpg?w=601" alt="" class="wp-image-587767" width="301" height="512" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Twitter/BSMGirlsHoops</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='177728' first='Olivia' last='Olson'] of Benilde-St. Margaret's became her school's all-time leading scorer, as well. The #1 player in the Class of&nbsp; 2024, who has committed to the University of Michigan, scored 28 points Friday night in a win over St. Louis Park to reach 1,494 and counting. In spite of some time missed with injuries, and a challenging schedule for the Red Knights, Olson has continued to rack up the numbers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='148319' first='Olivia' last='Harazin'] of Lake Crystal-Wellcome-Memorial also rewrote the record books last week to reach 1,872 career points, becoming the Knights' leading scorer of all-time for girls or boys. Not bad for a pass-first point guard! The 2023 Top 60 prospect has committed to Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Once again we had a plethora of players reaching the 1,000-career points milestone:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>2024 forward [player_tooltip player_id='215981' first='Kylie' last='Waytashek'] of Royalton became her school's 5th player to reach 1,000 points for the Royals.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>2023 guard [player_tooltip player_id='186117' first='Ava' last='Privet'] of Caledonia, who is committed to Upper Iowa, also reached 1,000. She had a 30-point game against Dover-Eyota, including a 6-for-6 shooting performance from three in the second half.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>2023 guards [player_tooltip player_id='108304' first='Maren' last='Westin'] and [player_tooltip player_id='108338' first='Dani' last='Nuest'] of Becker did something extremely rare in a win over North Branch, both reaching 1,000 career points for the Bulldogs. Westin has committed to D1 Green UW-Bay while Nuest is headed for D2 Michigan Tech.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>2023 guard [player_tooltip player_id='108311' first='Zoey' last='Washington'] of St. Croix Lutheran passed the 1,000 mark last week in a win over New Life Academy for the Crusaders, who are now 11-3 on the season. Zoey is a Top 20 senior who has signed with the University of St. Thomas.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>2023 guard [player_tooltip player_id='550005' first='Hannah' last='Hanson'] of Rochester Mayo was just named the city of Rochester's Female Athlete of the Year, a fine testament of the multi-sport performers's long-term excellence. She also reached 1,000 career points last week for the 14-1 Spartans. Hanson will play volleyball and run track at Biola University in La Mirada, California.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Other 1,000-point scorers last week included Mankato West 2023 forward [player_tooltip player_id='108305' first='Teresa' last='Kiewiet'] (Lafayette commit), Orono 2023 point guard [player_tooltip player_id='108340' first='Lauren' last='Knudson'] (Johns Hopkins), Mounds Park Academy 2023 forward [player_tooltip player_id='302286' first='Audrey' last='Jakway'] and Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 2025 guard [player_tooltip player_id='396437' first='Aubrey' last='Morrison'].</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We have two more milestones to report as 2023 forwards [player_tooltip player_id='148330' first='Ella' last='Pritchard'] of Holy Angels and [player_tooltip player_id='302256' first='Avery' last='Koenen'] of Montevideo (North Dakota State commit) both snatched their 1,000th career rebound. Koenen actually did it in week #8 but saved the celebration for a home game last week. Pritchard reached the mark on the road at Robbinsdale Cooper where coach Raheem Simmons did the classy thing and insisted that Ella celebrate her achievement on his home court even though she was reluctant to do so. Pritchard, a Top 50 prospect, remains one of the top unsigned seniors in the state.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>COMING UP</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are some games you'll want to watch this week:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Monday – Cass Lake-Bena travels to Mountain Iron-Buhl for a contest featuring 2025 sharpshooter [player_tooltip player_id='396431' first='Gabby' last='Fineday'] of CLB against 2024 sharpshooter [player_tooltip player_id='178277' first='Jordan' last='Zubich'] of MIB.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Tuesday – Two of the top Class 4A teams in the state go head-to-head as 13-2 Wayzata travels to 12-5 Eden Prairie. This one is loaded with Division 1 signees and prospects.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Wednesday – East Ridge goes to Roseville for a strong Suburban East Conference match-up.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Thursday – The Sleepy Eye civil war continues as the Indians of Sleepy Eye High School make the one-mile trek north to face their rivals from Sleepy Eye St. Mary's.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Friday – Hopkins travels to St. Michael-Albertville for a Lake Conference contest in which the 13-1 Knights will attempt to pull off an upset against the 14-0 Royals.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Saturday – The Breakdown Community Clash takes place at St. Michael-Albertville featuring three great girls games: Prior Lake vs Minnetonka, Hopkins vs Providence Academy and Becker against STMA. We'll definitely be there. Hope you will be, too.<!-- wp:list --> <ul></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul></ul> <!-- /wp:list --></li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thanks to all of the coaches, parents, AAU clubs and whoever else Tweets about their players' accomplishments and sends updates in our direction. You make it possible to share this information with a wider audience in these Week That Was recaps. We appreciate you and so do your players and families!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->