The Week That Was #12: Another 50-point sniper strikes

It amazes me how many big individual performances there are in an average week of high school basketball now. Ditto for the number of milestones reached and records shattered. It has been a great winter in that regard. Let's begin our recap of The Week That Was #12 with the latest individual achievement of note out of Jackson County Central in Southwestern Minnesota.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/02/Rylie-Cother-image-rotated.jpg?w=768" alt="" class="wp-image-597515" width="192" height="256" /></figure>   PLAYER OF THE WEEK   [player_tooltip player_id='550001' first='Rylie' last='Cother'] – 2025 guard, Jackson County Central   JCC has been a fun team to watch since coach Rafe York took over the program. They score a ton of points, play a lot of players, and employ a boom-or-bust mentality that is really, really entertaining. Over the years we watched former Huskies Sadie Voss and her cousin Alaina Wolff put up some serious numbers. They were followed by current senior [player_tooltip player_id='302255' first='Maci' last='Farmer'], who has been quite prolific since middle school. Now you can add Cother to the list.   On Monday night of Week #12, the sophomore guard made 7 three-pointers and scored 53 points in a 98-92 regulation win over St. James. That's right, 53! In doing so she broke the program record for points in a single game – 44 – that had been shared by Voss and Wolff, both of whom now play college volleyball.   “I've never experienced a 50 point game before, but I was surprised at how quietly Rylie achieved it,” said Coach York. “I knew she had a lot of points, but I was surprised when I looked at the scoreboard and saw she was at 47 late in the second half.  Every point she scored that night came within the flow of the game. She didn't force a thing.  I honestly don't know if she realized how many points she had.”    We watched the 5'9 guard a fair bit last summer with the Minnesota Rise. You could see her game was coming together nicely, but honestly I never expected this type of outburst. Rylie is a quality athlete who is really good at finding and exploiting driving lanes to get to the rim. And she plays the game with zero fear.   “Rylie brings a ton of energy to our team,” said York. “She's constantly bouncing off the walls and rarely has a game where she looks tired or lethargic.  She's learning to be a team leader, and she's made some big strides in that area this season.  She's also learning to appreciate the assist, which is helping her become a more complete point guard.  The most exciting thing about Rylie, for me, is that she's only a sophomore, and I get to coach her for two more years. The big difference on Monday was that her outside shot was falling. She went 7-for-16, and was shooting with a ton of confidence.”   Cother achieved that confidence the old-fashioned way: she worked her tail off. We're told Rylie takes advantage of every opportunity to be in the gym, whether it's working at kids camps or staying after practice to shoot. York even opens the gym for her on an off day. “This is a girl who successfully petitioned the Lakefield City Council to build a basketball court in the park near her house, just so she would have a place to play,” York said with admiration.   Cother is averaging just under 22 points per game and is shooting 55% from two-point range. Farmer is averaging just over 22 points and is shooting 44% Between them the Huskies leaders have made 67 three-pointers and are averaging 8 rebounds and 9 steals per game. Cother, a Prep Girls Hoops Top 100 prospect, is clearly trending in the right direction.   By the way, Cother wasn't the only one to put up some impressive numbers in the game. St. James senior [player_tooltip player_id='339225' first='Taylor' last='Sodeman'] had a triple-double with 42 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists while sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='396427' first='Madelyn' last='Malmgren'], who is Cother's Rise teammate, went 19 & 10.   GAME OF THE WEEK   It's always interesting when Hopkins and Wayzata meet on the hardwood, but more often than not in recent years the outcome has been the same: a Hopkins victory. Not this time. When the long-time rivals met Friday night in Wayzata it was the Trojans who prevailed, scoring a 55-53 win. The game was not a work of art, but the competition was as fierce as you might expect in such a rivalry game.   Led by Minnesota commit [player_tooltip player_id='108345' first='Brynn' last='Senden'], the Trojans got off to a good start and at one point in the first half were up by a half dozen points. At the break it was a two-point ball game. In the second period, Hopkins used its vaunted pressure defense to force the home team to turn the ball over, enabling the Royals to jump out a lead that nearly reached double digits at one point. Down the stretch, however, the Trojans' defense did some good work, with Drake commit [player_tooltip player_id='148340' first='Shannon' last='Fornshell'] and North Dakota State signee [player_tooltip player_id='108312' first='Abby' last='Krzewinski'] doing their best to contain [player_tooltip player_id='108348' first='Nunu' last='Agara'] (Stanford) and [player_tooltip player_id='108298' first='Taylor' last='Woodson'] (Michigan). Meanwhile Wayzata's whirling dervish Grace Weber (Minnesota track & field) employed her superior athleticism and non-stop effort level to cause havoc on the defensive end. It was Weber's energy that tilted the momentum in Wayzata's favor. The contest came down to a pair of free throws with just seconds remaining when Krzewinski made both to secure the victory.   THIS WEEK'S LIVE ACTION   I saw the first of three live games this week on Monday night at Minnehaha Academy where Duluth Marshall managed to stay in the battle until the early stages of the second half. That's when the Redhawks' relentless defensive pressure and offensive prowess allowed the home team to sprint to victory. As usual Minnehaha was led by sensational sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='252379' first='Addison' last='Mack'] who had 26 points. [player_tooltip player_id='178266' first='Angel' last='Hill'] (14), [player_tooltip player_id='478390' first='Sinae' last='Hill'] (13), [player_tooltip player_id='425385' first='Amina' last='Allen'] (12), [player_tooltip player_id='377584' first='Ava' last='Cupito'] (12) and [player_tooltip player_id='108319' first='Aniyah' last='Reuben'] (9) provided balanced support. The Hilltoppers were led by 7th grader [player_tooltip player_id='433933' first='Chloe' last='Johnson'], who put up 30 points while [player_tooltip player_id='296516' first='Regan' last='Juenemann'] had 19. We were impressed by the play of Marshall guard Ada Skafte, who has clearly grown her game over the past 12 months. Johnson and Mack were kind enough to post for our banner photo after the game.   On Tuesday we were at Benilde-St. Margaret's where the Red Knights scored a nice win over New Prague, a program clawing its way back to relevance. The Trojans' success this winter is due in no small part to the play of sophomore forward [player_tooltip player_id='595556' first='Katherine' last='Boulanger'], a 6-footer who demonstrated good mobility, quality touch around the basket and absolutely no fear about going head to head with the best player in the junior class, BSM's [player_tooltip player_id='177728' first='Olivia' last='Olson'] (Michigan). If Boulanger decides to focus on basketball more, and enters AAU competition for the first time, we see a scholarship in her future. The other very impressive Trojan is 8th grader [player_tooltip player_id='595199' first='Maya' last='Kilian'], a 6-footer who has the kind of natural ability that makes scouts sit up and take notice immediately. You'll be hearing a ton about her this spring and summer. 2025 guard [player_tooltip player_id='459646' first='Taylor' last='Hemann'] also did some nice work, even though she was often tasked with containing Red Knights sophomore standout [player_tooltip player_id='296523' first='Kendall' last='McGee'], which is no easy feat.   On Saturday we went to Holy Angels for the Stars' encounter with Stillwater. <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/2023/02/whos-the-best-4a-team-nobody-is-talking-about/">Read more</a> about this contest in our feature on Stillwater published on Sunday.   TOP INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES   [player_tooltip player_id='344357' first='Evie' last='Schmitz'] of St. Louis Park made 7 threes and scored 36 points against Waconia, but the junior's performance wasn't quite enough. The Wildcats came from 10 down in the second half to win by two, led by 18 points from junior Ashley Bryfczynski.   [player_tooltip player_id='178265' first='Kadence' last='Hesse'] of Sleepy Eye had a big night on Thursday against Red Rock Central putting up a triple-double. The Southwest Minnesota State commit recorded 25 points, 10 rebounds and 10 steals.   Grace LaTourelle of Ely had another big game this week as the she scored 30 points against Mesabi East in a 58-49 victory. The 5'7 guard, who plays AAU for Playmakers North 2024, reached the 1,000 career points milestone in December.   [player_tooltip player_id='220834' first='Paige' last='Ford'] of Randolph continued her outstanding senior season Friday night. She tied the Rockets' school record for most three-pointers in a game with 8. Ford's 33 points led her team to victory over Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton on senior night. Paige is committed to North Central University in Minneapolis.   Senior [player_tooltip player_id='148339' first='Bre' last='Frazier'] of Robinsdale Cooper lit it up Friday night against St. Paul Como Park, scoring 34 points in a win that pushed the Hawks' season record to an impressive 18-4. The Top 60 prospect should be a scholarship-level point guard and one of the best unsigned seniors in the state.   MILESTONES ACHIEVEMENTS   As mentioned above, the 2022-23 season has been the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to career milestones. This week we had another remarkable player reach 2,000 career points. That would be [player_tooltip player_id='108299' first='Tessa' last='Johnson'] of St. Michael-Albertville, the #1-rated prospect in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2023 and a signee of mighty South Carolina. Tessa hit a three-pointer in transition to break the 2,000 barrier and spark her team to a win over Wayzata.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/02/Kendra-Harvey-1000.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-597517" width="768" height="503" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Twitter/ByronGirlsHoops</figcaption></figure>   For the fourth week in a row we saw two players reach 1,000 career points in the same game. This time around it was Stillwater senior [player_tooltip player_id='148318' first='Lexi' last='Karlen'] and junior [player_tooltip player_id='178274' first='Amy' last='Thompson'], who did it on Thursday versus Forest Lake. This week's other 1,000-pointers included:   <ul> <li>[player_tooltip player_id='339120' first='Kloey' last='Lind'] of Pine City (St. Scholastica), the third member of her team to reach 1,000 this season, including [player_tooltip player_id='302309' first='Karly' last='Jusczak'] (Nebraska-Kearney) and [player_tooltip player_id='108318' first='Sophie' last='Lahti'] (UW-Green Bay).</li>   <li>NIACC commit [player_tooltip player_id='186132' first='Alexis' last='Schroeder'] of Caledonia</li>   <li>Senior Mercedes Burmeister of Watertown-Mayer</li>   <li>[player_tooltip player_id='389636' first='Madeline' last='Guetzkow'] (Minnesota-Duluth volleyball) of Mayer Lutheran</li>   <li>Sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id='252380' first='Kendra' last='Harvey'] of Byron, pictured above.</li> </ul>   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/02/Maggie-Westling-1000-RB.png?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-597516" width="768" height="355" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Twitter/crossfireschuck</figcaption></figure>   Several other players achieved career milestones of varying descriptions.   <ul> <li>Senior [player_tooltip player_id='108338' first='Dani' last='Nuest'] (Michigan Tech) broke the Becker record for three-point baskets in a career with a remarkable 219. Nuest is close to eclipsing the single-season record of 88, which she established last season.</li>   <li>Senior [player_tooltip player_id='338783' first='Lily' last='Manning'] of Monticello also broke her school's record for career three-pointers with 116, a mark that had stood since 2014.</li>   <li>Junior [player_tooltip player_id='461341' first='Maggie' last='Westling'] of Milaca collected her 1,000th career rebound to go along with her rather impressive 1,500 points. (Photo above.)</li>   <li>Senior [player_tooltip player_id='220824' first='Piper' last='Carlson'] of St. Michael-Albertville (Idaho State) recorded her 500th career rebound in the same game as her teammate Johnson reached 2,000 points.</li> </ul>   COMING UP   It's going to be a relatively light viewing week for me. I'll be in California attempting to get in a little R & R – ‘attempting' being the key word since I'm not very good at the whole vacation thing – before the home stretch of the high school season and the launch of the AAU grind shortly thereafter. One game I definitely want to see online, however, is the Friday encounter between arch-rivals Minnehaha Academy and Providence Academy as [player_tooltip player_id='252379' first='Addison' last='Mack'] and [player_tooltip player_id='252381' first='Maddyn' last='Greenway'] go head-to-head once again. I won't miss it and neither should you.

It amazes me how many big individual performances there are in an average week of high school basketball now. Ditto for the number of milestones reached and records shattered. It has been a great winter in that regard. Let's begin our recap of The Week That Was #12 with the latest individual achievement of note out of Jackson County Central in Southwestern Minnesota.