AAU State Tournament: Championship Sunday

Championship Sunday at the Minnesota AAU State Tournament always seems to deliver. The 2023 edition was no exception as we witnessed a wonderful day of semifinal and final action at Shakopee High School leading to the distribution of celebratory rings and medals and the obligatory team photos when it was all over. It’s impossible to be everywhere at once, of course, but somehow we managed to see an awful lot on Sunday. Here is a recap of the championship games in the four high school-age classes.

CLASS OF 2024: NORTH TARTAN EYBL 54 – MN SUNS S40 42

It wasn’t fancy or flashy or particularly pretty – it was just hard-nosed, defense-first basketball which is the trademark of pretty much every North Tartan 17U team coached by Gerard Coury in recent years. The game went back and forth throughout the first half with North Tartan holding a 21-19 lead at the break. The key to the Suns offense is obviously the #2-rated prospect in the Class of 2026, Tori Oehrlein Tori Oehrlein 5'11" | CG Crosby-Ironton | 2026 State MN of Crosby-Ironton. Her creativity, ability to distribute the ball effectively and consistent scoring all make Dre Jefferson’s team go. She had 11 points in the first half but North Tartan upped the ante on defense in the second period which appeared to make it more difficult for Oehrlein to operate, as Tori McKinney Tori McKinney 6'1" | CG Minnetonka | 2024 State MN , Mylea Monahan Mylea Monahan 5'7" | CG Glencoe-Silver Lake | 2025 State MN and others amped up the pressure.

It was a three-point basket by 2025 #1 Aaliyah Crump Aaliyah Crump 6'1" | SF Montverde Academy | 2025 State FL at the 8:10 mark that got North Tartan’s second-half offensive spurt going midway through the period. Crump made a pair of free throws less than a minute later before 2026 #1 Maddyn Greenway Maddyn Greenway 5'8" | PG Providence Academy | 2026 State MN scored in transition to stretch the lead to 9. The Suns never got closer than 5 points as Crump made another triple with three and a half minutes to go followed by McKinney’s end-to-end rush and baseline three. That was all she wrote. Greenway carried the mail in the first half scoring 10 points. She finished with 14, Crump had 11 while McKinney  and Rainey Welson of Wisconsin scored 9. Oehrlein finished with 17 points with Claire Stern Claire Stern 6'0" | SF Maple Grove | 2024 State MN collecting 6. North Tartan went 8-for-10 at the free throw line.

CLASS OF 2025: NORTH TARTAN EYBL 50 – MN STARS 3SSB HERSCH 28

Looking at things from the North Tartan perspective, you couldn’t have painted a more pleasing picture of how the first few minutes would play out in Sunday’s Class of 2025 championship game. NT got off to great start, building a nearly immediate 8-0 lead. By the 5-minute mark, the margin was 16-5 and the Stars seemed to be in trouble. From their viewpoint, it was a case of “thank goodness for Savannah Borowicz Savannah Borowicz 5'9" | SG Jordan | 2025 State MN ” as the crafty sophomore from Jordan kept her team within shouting distance by scoring 8 of their first 10 points. In the closing minute of the half, Borowicz nailed a three-pointer followed quickly thereafter by two Sam Wills Sam Wills 6'0" | SG Visitation | 2025 State MN buckets and a drive-and-score from Tatum Woodson Tatum Woodson 5'9" | CG Hopkins | 2025 State MN . Suddenly the affair was tied 18-18 going into halftime.

The second period opened with Woodson giving the Stars their first lead of the game but then North Tartan, directed by new coach Kiara Buford, went on a run. A big run. It was sparked by substantial power forward Jaiden Haile from Horace, North Dakota who scored inside at the 14:41 mark and again a minute later. Then came a Tori Schlagel Tori Schlagel 5'9" | CG Eden Prairie | 2025 State MN three, a Lanelle Wright Lanelle Wright 5'8" | PG Minnetonka | 2026 State MN score in transition, and another big bucket by Schlagel on a terrific feed from Bree Bowman Bree Bowman 6'2" | SF Prior Lake | 2025 State MN on an end-to-end sprint. Bree followed that with a triple of her own before Hope Counts Hope Counts 6'2" | SF Providence Academy | 2025 State MN scored on a put-back that capped a 16-0 run in 6 minutes. The Stars found themselves by trailing by 14. North Tartan never looked back and went on to win 50-28.

CLASS OF 2026: MN STARS 3SSB HILL 38 – NORTH TARTAN EYBL 37

In P.J. Hill’s mind there was never a doubt. Despite a roster turnover that saw the historically dominant squad lose a number of key pieces, the coach kept cautioning observers that the squad should not be overlooked. How right he was! New addition Dalia Thornton-Fay Dalia Thornton-Fay 5'11" | CG Minnetonka | 2026 State MN made her presence felt early in the championship game with a nifty spin move in the lane to open the scoring. Soon after, veteran Amaya Penn Amaya Penn 5'6" | PG St. Croix Lutheran | 2026 State MN nailed a mid-range jump shot and a three-pointer before Thornton-Fay muscled her way into the lane to give her team a 7-point cushion. Although Kate Amelotte Kate Amelotte 6'0" | SF Wayzata | 2026 State MN ‘s corner three and a 7-0 run at the end of the first half pulled North Tartan within one, it was the Stars who were setting the tone.

In the second half North Tartan scored the first 5 points to take a brief lead, but a pair of Penn buckets restored order for the Stars and they never trailed again. Sinae Hill Sinae Hill 5'10" | SG Minnehaha Academy | 2026 State MN ‘s lengthy three and a Thornton-Fay score at the 7:30 mark made the margin 9. After that North Tartan went cold, colder, coldest under constant defensive pressure and never really mounted a charge. By the time Amelotte made pair of threes in the final 12 seconds it was too little, too late. Ultimately it was the play of Hill’s supporting cast that was a key factor as Lauren Beyer Lauren Beyer 5'7" | SG Alexandria Area | 2026 State MN , Reese Hagenbart Reese Hagenbart 6'1" | PF Champlin Park | 2026 MN , Sadie Hall Sadie Hall 5'9" | CG Shakopee | 2026 State MN and company delivered and big Lee Lee Bell of North Dakota was held to just 6 points. Thornton-Fay scored 13 for the Stars while Penn had 11. Amelotte led North Tartan with 13 with Mya Moore Mya Moore 5'10" | PG Orono | 2026 State MN adding 9 and Murray scoring 7.

CLASS OF 2027: MN FURY UAA 47 – MN STARS 3SSB ANTL 43

Everyone who has been following along over the past year or so knows this: The Ramlall sisters can fire the rock. If any further evidence was required to support that contention it was provided by 8th grader Amisha Ramlall Amisha Ramlall 5'11" | CG Rosemount | 2027 State MN in large letters displayed in gaudy neon under bright lights on the biggest stage Sunday afternoon in the 2027 State Championship game. The Fury guard from Rosemount was hot, hot, hot.

Minnesota Stars 3SSB, led by coach Scott Antl, had pulled within one early in the second half thanks to buckets by Kaja Nash Kaja Nash 5'10" | CG/SG Wayzata | 2027 State MN and Isla Silk Isla Silk 5'8" | SG Rosemount | 2027 State MN . That’s when Ramlall’s aerial assault began. The crafty guard buried a three from the left corner at the 11:10 mark. She nailed another one from the right corner just 20 seconds later. Amisha then scored on an and-1 runner to give the Fury a 9-point lead. At the 8:30 she buried another long three followed by one more at 7:48 from the same exact spot. That’s four threes and 15 points in under four minutes!

When Ramlall wasn’t dominating it was 5’11 wing Olivia LaBlanc of Hudson doing good work as the Fury’s one-two punch proved potent in the title contest. The Stars kept battling, though, with Nash scoring back-to-back buckets with five minutes remaining and Silk driving to the basket to bring her team within 4. Fury coach Sam Ebenreiter called timeout, Ramlall scored out of the pause and the Fury slowed the tempo and took care of the basketball up top. LaBlanc closed the deal by cashing in on a pair of free throws and sealing a 49-43 victory. Ramlall finished with 6 triples and 23 points while LaBlanc scored 11 points. Nash totalled 14 for the Stars.

THE REST OF THE STATE CHAMPIONS

North Tartan won two of the four top age groups in Division 1 and three D1 titles overall. Their affilated club Inspired Athletics of Fargo also took home a pair of D1 crowns and won a third championship in D3. Overall, there were 22 champions crowned on Sunday as the Metro Stars, Rise, Legacy Hoops and the Comets won two apiece across all divisions. Capturing single titles were the Stars, Fury, West Central United, MN Starks, Crossfire, West Central United, the Freeze, Give-N-Go and the Hoop Troop. Here are all of the winners.

Division 1

Division 2

Division 3