AAU Week #9: Battle on the Hardwood & Summer Kickoff
The basketball stylings of Elayna Boe Elayna Boe 5'11" | SG Lakeville North | 2025 State MN are sometimes subtle; her long-term potential is most definitely not. On Sunday we saw Boe at her very best at the Battle on…
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Continue ReadingThe basketball stylings of Elayna Boe Elayna Boe 5'11" | SG Lakeville North | 2025 State MN are sometimes subtle; her long-term potential is most definitely not. On Sunday we saw Boe at her very best at the Battle on the Hardwood in Rosemount, one of two tournaments we covered over the weekend. While Boe’s performance topped all others at the Crossfire event, there were plenty of great performances at the Minnesota Stars Summer Kickoff Classic in Bloomington, as well. Here’s a recap of AAU Week #9.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Elayna Boe Elayna Boe 5'11" | SG Lakeville North | 2025 State MN – guard, Crossfire 2025 Mueller
We have loved the potential held by the 5’11 junior-to-be from Lakeville North from the first time we watched her more than two years ago. Elayna is just so long, moves very well, has some real bounce and plays hard all the time. Sometimes Boe isn’t quite as assertive as we might like but on Sunday at Hope Fieldhouse in Rosemount we saw Elayna at her best. Her very best. She scored the first 15 points of the game for Crossfire Mueller in their championship encounter with their in-house rivals from Crossfire Tusler, staking her team to a 30-14 half-time lead. When the Tuslers put on a bit of a charge in the second period, however, Boe made back-to-back triples with just over six minutes remaining to squelch any thoughts of a comeback as the Muellers secured a 54-41 victory. Elayna finished the game with five threes, was 5-for-6 at the free throw line, and totaled 28 points. Boe was rebounding, defending, making and creating plays, and flying all over the floor with a ton of energy. When she’s on her game like that, Boe is a high-level collegiate candidate all day long. Currently ranked #36 in the Class of 2025, Elayna has an opportunity this season with new North coach Andy Berkvam to have a breakout campaign.
The Mueller team put up 191 points in three games to extend their season record to 17-6. Watching these two Crossfire squads do battle once again, I couldn’t help but wonder what they might do if the teams were combined. In addition to Boe, the Mueller team features 2025 #23 Gracie Winge Gracie Winge 5'10" | CG Lakeville North | 2025 State MN , #28 Danielle Coleman Danielle Coleman 6'1" | SG Lakeville South | 2025 State MN and #43 Aduke Ojullu Aduke Ojullu 6'1" | SF Lakeville North | 2025 State MN . The Tusler team has #33 Lexi Hanna Lexi Hanna 5'9" | SG Maple Grove | 2025 State MN , #40 Bella Hanna Bella Hanna 5'10" | SF Maple Grove | 2025 State MN , #60 Addie Hanna Addie Hanna 5'6" | PG Maple Grove | 2025 State MN , #74 Ella Frazier Ella Frazier 5'6" | CG Mahtomedi | 2025 State MN and #90 Ella Goodnature Ella Goodnature 5'10" | CG Wayzata | 2025 State MN . That would be a formidable unit!
STOCK RISERS OF THE WEEK
Katherine Boulanger Katherine Boulanger 5'11" | SF New Prague | 2025 State MN – forward, Fury 2025 Premier
The 5’11 forward from New Prague is in her first season of AAU basketball and the change in her game over the past few weeks is palpable. After taking a week or two to adapt to the higher pace and enhanced physicality of the spring/summer game, Kate has figured things out. Although we were supposed to be watching an adjacent court when the Fury played on Saturday, we couldn’t help but notice Boulanger’s performance. She demonstrated a nice floater followed quickly by a forced turnover and bucket. Shortly thereafter she used her prodigious length to save a ball from going out of bounds on the baseline. Finding herself trapped at that point, she had the presence of mind to bank the ball off an opponent’s leg and out of bounds to secure a fresh possession. Pretty smart. She also showed some nice passing skills, quality rebounding instincts and a high compete level. Boulanger, who led New Prague in scoring at nearly 17 points per game, entered the rankings this winter at #113, but she is on the way up, up, up. If Katie continues to work on skill development there is little doubt that she is a scholarship-worthy prospect.
Kathryn Simonsen Kathryn Simonsen 5'8" | SG Eagan | 2026 State MN – guard, Minnesota Bobcats 2026
The freshman from Eagan has been good when we’ve watched the Bobcats this AAU season but she really stood out this weekend averaging nearly 10 points per game. That was in the Top 10 in her division at the Summer Kickoff. Kat has long arms, a lengthy stride, nice feet and a good feel for the game. Simonsen first caught our attention at the Bobcats tryouts 10 months ago and then at the Prep Girls Hoops Freshmen Showcase in September. Over the winter, the 5’8 combo guard gradually worked her way up the food chain for the Wildcats. With the continued evolution of her game, and the graduation of Belle Iten opening up some minutes, it may be difficult for coach Jesse Madsen to keep Simonsen off the floor this winter. We also liked what we saw from her Bobcats teammates Maya Jenkins and Bella Rice Bella Rice 5'9" | PG Eagan | 2026 MN , who we’ll be keeping an eye on going forward.
3 MORE PLAYERS WHO STOOD OUT
Reece Watson Reece Watson 5'9" | CG Hopkins | 2026 State MN – The 5’8 guard from Crossfire 2026 Gee has made great strides this summer and is rapidly improving. She averaged a dozen points per game at the Battle on the Hardwood, including a 20-point, 6-triple performance against the Minnesota Venom. The Hopkins freshman is quick and agile.
Molly Monson Molly Monson 5'7" | SG Centennial | 2026 State MN – The crafty guard from Fury 2026 Premier can put the ball in the basket, and led the division in scoring at 16 points per game. She’s quick and fast, with a great first step and a nose for the basket. The 5’7 sophomore-to-be is from Centennial.
Ella Frazier Ella Frazier 5'6" | CG Mahtomedi | 2025 State MN – The little guard from Crossfire 2025 Tusler, ranked in the Top 75 in 2025, is one of state’s quickest players and she competes with incredible intensity all the time. Ella averaged 9 ppg last winter at Mahtomedi but she is an elite athlete who doesn’t need to score to put her fingerprints all over the game.
WEEKEND’S TOP TEAMS
Metro Stars 2026 – Coach Ellen Wiese’s freshmen put together an impressive weekend, scoring a 53-48 win over a very strong Minnesota Stars 2027 Antl squad to take home a division championship at the Summer Kickoff. Led by Sophia Olson with 18 points, it was another good week for the Metro Stars, including the likes of #36-ranked Sophia Perry Sophia Perry 5'10" | SG Lakeville North | 2026 State MN and #31 Brynn Leibfried Brynn Leibfried 5'11" | PF Orono | 2026 State MN . We’ll take a look at another member of the team – Lexie Mathews of Eastview – in our roundup of the week’s top newcomers.
Minnesota Stars 2025 3SSB – Coach Josh Hersch’s squad captured the top Platinum Division title in Bloomington with an excellent 73-72 win over a strong Minnesota Fury 2025 UAA squad in the championship game. Tatum Woodson Tatum Woodson 5'9" | CG Hopkins | 2025 State MN of Hopkins, who has been really good lately, led the Stars with a 19-point performance including a pair of free throws in the final seconds to win the game. Jordan Ode Jordan Ode 5'11" | CG Maple Grove | 2025 State MN and Addison Mack Addison Mack 5'9" | PG Minnehaha Academy | 2025 State MN combined for 50 points for the Fury. The pair scored 33 ppg over the weekend.
Minnesota Stars 2026 3SSB – Coach P.J. Hill’s state championship squad played up a year in the Gold Division and took home yet another title win despite missing two starters and playing with just seven kids. It was another great team effort for the Stars who scored four wins by an average margin of 38 points per game. North Dakota standout LeeLee Bell scored 79 points while Sinae Hill Sinae Hill 5'10" | SG Minnehaha Academy | 2026 State MN had 56, Dalia Thornton-Fay Dalia Thornton-Fay 5'11" | CG Minnetonka | 2026 State MN 46 and Lauren Beyer Lauren Beyer 5'7" | SG Alexandria Area | 2026 State MN 42.
Meanwhile in Rosemount there were numerous Crossfire teams that earned some hardware in their own tournament, including Crossfire Schuck 2024, Crossfire Mueller 2025, Crossfire Gee 2026 and Crossfire Herman 2028. Rudy Ruffin’s North Tartan 2027 Elite group won its first tournament of the season and Minnesota Comets 2025 Notch grabbed another divisional crown.
COMING UP
Coming up on Tuesday we’ll have our Top Newcomers of Week #9 featuring participants from both the Summer Kickoff and the Battle on the Hardwood. Our colleague Tony Ragulen will have additional coverage from Bloomington, as well. On Wednesday and Thursday we’ll release parts 3 and 4 of the 2027 Watch List series. Next weekend we’ll be back in the gym once again at the Minnesota Suns Summer Xplosion taking place at Wayzata High School.