Who’s the best 4A team nobody is talking about?

With less than three weeks remaining in the regular season, Class 4A is shaping up to be an interesting collection of puzzle pieces, particularly after Wayzata (now 18-3) upset Hopkins (19-2) on Friday night. There has been plenty of conversation about those two squads as always, and lots of interesting discussion surrounding 21-1 Chaska, 19-2 St. Michael-Albertville and 18-3 Maple Grove along with 15-7 Eden Prairie, 16-5 Lakeville North and 16-5 Rosemount. Even 14-8 Minnetonka generates plenty of buzz. But I can't remember the last time anyone even mentioned Stillwater as part of the debate about serious contenders for a Class 4A state championship. After a hard-fought win Saturday afternoon at Holy Angels, the Ponies are now 19-3 and cannot be overlooked.

Long-known for their offensive prowess, Stillwater has produced a lengthy list of next-level prospects who could light it up on the scoreboard. Former Ponies like Sara Scalia (Indiana), Lizzie Holder (Colorado), Alexis Pratt (St. Thomas), Amber Scalia (St. Thomas) and Liza Karlen, whose Marquette team knocked off UConn this week, could be counted upon to score. So how did the current group under second-year head coach Tim Peper get to 19 wins? By stopping the other team from scoring.

“We have started playing defense,” Peper said matter-of-factly. “We've got a couple kids who have really sold out to play defense and behind them there are kids who are willing to help them when they need the help.”

That certainly showed on Saturday in a physical contest at the home of the Stars in Richfield. It was Stillwater's offense that shone early as the Ponies scored the first three field goals of the game and built a quick 13-3 lead. But Holy Angels got it going later in the period and went on a bit of a run in the final three minutes of the half. That's when junior Jenna Buer Jenna Buer 5'9" | SG Holy Angels | 2024 State MN made back-to-back buckets before sophomore Celia Lind Celia Lind 5'11" | SF Holy Angels | 2025 State MN nailed consecutive triples out of the left corner to send the teams to the break tied at 30.

The second half started off with two more quick scores by the home team and suddenly the Ponies were down 5, a run of success for the Stars that stretched to 24-9 over the two periods. What happened? “Sometimes you forget what you are doing that got you there and you start trying to do a few others things, and then you kind of lose that momentum,” Peper said. “I've watched a lot of their film and you know you are going to face a lot of pressure and you have to find a way to keep your composure the whole game. We definitely had our moments where we did keep our composure against that pressure and moments where we could have done a better job.”

Once Stillwater refocused on the defensive arts, the Pony express grabbed hold of the game in the second half. Senior Lexi Karlen Lexi Karlen 6'0" | SG Stillwater | 2023 State MN made a couple of big buckets, including a pretty 360-degree spin move at full throttle to score at the rim. The coach's daughter Annika Peper Annika Peper 5'7" | CG Stillwater | 2025 State MN , a much-improved 10th grader, nailed a couple of big threes as did veteran sharpshooter Amy Thompson Amy Thompson 5'10" | SG Stillwater | 2024 State MN , a top 20 prospect in the Class of 2024. And then there were the two lengthy sophomores – Liana Buckhalton Liana Buckhalton 6'0" | CG Stillwater | 2025 State MN and Elise Dieterle Elise Dieterle 6'1" | SF White Bear Lake | 2025 State MN – who did their part at both ends of the court including back-to-back threes from Buckhalton that put Stillwater up by 8. Although the Stars fought to the finish, the end result was a 64-55 win for the Ponies.

Young talent. Experienced leaders.

The improvement among Stillwater's younger players is palpable. The 6'1 Dieterle (ranked #26 in the Class of 2025) had what was probably her best performance of the season Saturday, scoring 16 points (nearly twice her season average) and demonstrating her enhanced rebounding ability. Buckhalton (ranked #12) is healthy this season and she showed some serious skill on Saturday to go along with her elite athleticism and prodigious length. She hit her season average of 12 points. The lefty Peper is a Top 75 sophomore whose overall game has risen a notch or two.

“Her confidence shooting the basketball has really grown, just the willingness to take some threes,” said coach of daughter. “She has grown on the defensive end with her intensity, and she has been doing a great job guarding some really good kids.”

While the youngsters have been good, the veterans have been great including starters Karlen and Thompson, along with 6-foot junior Peyton Shaffer Peyton Shaffer 6'0" | SF Stillwater | 2024 MN off the bench. Thompson is a strong D1 prospect who can fire the basketball. She's averaging over 17 points per game and has been consistently productive despite drawing extreme defensive attention every night. Karlen, a Top 50 senior committed to Minnesota-Duluth, is averaging over 16 ppg and the 6-footer is a force at both ends of the floor.

“We're still leaning on our older kids an awful lot. Lexi has been phenomenal and she's a super great leader. We've been able to get the ball to her in a lot of different ways and when we get it to her she makes plays. She just does a little bit of everything for us,” Peper said. “Amy is the same way. Teams try to take Amy away. Sometimes that means she's getting somebody else open for shots but we also try to create ways for her to get shots, too.”

“We have been preaching ‘team' from day one, and it's still something that we preach all the time, that we need to play together, do it together. Early in the year we were not doing that. Now I really feel like they have bought in,” Peper said. “When teams try to take away our three-point shot it opens it up for our posts. When teams try to suck in and take away our posts, now kids are making three pointers. You saw that in the second half. They are just willing to play together and do whatever they need to do. It's pretty selfless.”

So who's the favorite in Section 4?

Although they do lack depth with just six players getting almost all of the minutes, Stillwater is clearly a team with a ton of assets including size, skill and now experience. Their top kids are all scholarship-level prospects who will excel in collegiate basketball. Following Saturday's victory the Ponies have won seven games in a row and 10 of their last 11. They are playing great basketball. But you know what? They may not even be the favorite to get through Section 4 and on to Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

Last year it was Jeremy Post's White Bear Lake squad that put it all together at the right time. This year it could just as easily be Ashley Ellis-Milan's veteran-heavy group from East Ridge. After beating East Ridge on Friday, WBL is now 17-4.  East Ridge, 18-4 overall, sits atop the Suburban East Conference with a record of 13-1. In other words, the conference and the section is a crapshoot.

“White Bear Lake and East Ridge are both really good. They are both really scary match-ups,” Peper said. “They are both talented enough that we can all beat each other on the right night. It's just about who is shooting the ball well, who plays defense better, who handles the ball a little bit better.”