The Week That Was #1: Giving thanks for a new season

It's only about 75 miles from Rochester to the Twin Cities but it has been quite rare in recent years to see Mayo High School make the trek north to play in big girls basketball events. Not this year. As we opened the 2023-24 season this weekend, the Spartans were front and center in St. Paul at the Hamline University Pat Paterson Invitational. Meanwhile, over at the Twin Cities Thanksgiving Tip Off in Mendota Heights, teams traveled from as far away as Davenport and Des Moines in Iowa to do battle.   We'll get back to Rochester Mayo in a minute but first a little on our Week That Was feature. If you've been a subscriber for some time then you know that we publish this weekly wrap-up throughout the high school season. If you're new here, you are in for some great content in the weeks ahead.   WHAT IS THE ‘WEEK THAT WAS?'   This is the first of 17 installments we'll bring you up until the state tournament in March. Every week we try to give you our perspective of the previous seven days. Content will vary. This first edition is longer than usual – sorry! – but normally it's about 1,500 words that includes some combination of the best games we watched, top individual performances, milestones achieved, and whatever else seems to grab our attention. We usually publish the weekly recap on Mondays.     We can't be everywhere, of course. Most weeks there are over 350 games statewide and we can only watch 10 to 15 of them. We view live and online and receive information from our network of coaches and other knowledgeable observers across the state. We could definitely use your help, too. If you see something great, or you know of a player who set a record or reached a milestone, please let us know as soon as possible. Even items about your daughter are fair game. We'll verify the information and publish stuff that's newsworthy.   You can email me (<a href="mailto:gmachoops@gmail.com">gmachoops@gmail.com</a>) or send a direct message via Twitter (@gmachoops).   ATTENTION COACHES: We cannot stress enough how important it is to post complete boxscores at <a href="https://www.mngirlsbasketballhub.com/home">mngirlsbasketballhub.com</a> immediately after every game. Many states make this mandatory and punish programs that don't do it. Unfortunately, the Minnesota State High School League is not helpful in this regard. Over the years, the practice of posting information has diminished here, particularly for smaller schools in Greater Minnesota. That's too bad because it denies the players an opportunity to be recognized for their achievements. Please, please, please make the effort. Thank you!   Now that the preliminaries are out of the way, here we go with the Week That Was #1.   JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED   Rochester, of course, is known as the Med City thanks to the world-renowned Mayo Clinic that draws patients from across the globe. Perhaps a trip to the Twin Cities on opening weekend for the Mayo girls basketball team may be just what the doctor ordered for its namesake high school. At least that's what Spartans coach Andy Bromeling hopes.   Mayo is part of the Big 9 Conference, a 12-team circuit that stretches 140 miles from Winona to Mankato. The circuit has traditionally used a double round-robin approach to scheduling meaning that teams were committed to over 20 contests a year. That leaves precious few opportunities to travel elsewhere and face better competition. Since many of the teams have been pretty weak in recent years, the better programs have been ill-prepared for post-season play when it came time to face elite opponents. Now in his third season at Mayo, Coach Bromeling is trying to change that.   This year they have been able to free up a few dates by talking the conference into single games with weaker opponents rather than a home-and-home series. That's how the Spartans came to be part of the field at Hamline. In their opening game on Friday, Mayo jumped out to an early lead on St. Louis Park. The Orioles had no answers for [player_tooltip player_id='304934' first='Ava' last='Miller'] inside, the big senior post committed to Division 1 South Carolina-Upstate who is a handful for most teams. She finished with 17 points. They couldn't stop sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='502550' first='Mia' last='Banks'] out on the perimeter, either. She cashed in 7 times from beyond the arc for 23 points as Rochester cruised to a 73-45 win.   Saturday's contest against Chaska, on the other hand, was a harsh dose of reality. The Hawks jumped out to a monstrous lead – I lost count but 19-2 seems to ring a bell – and by the time the Spartans got back on track midway through the opening period it was too late and Chaska went on to win 70-51. “They were very aggressive,” Bromeling said. “That's how you beat a zone defense, you pass the ball really fast and aggressive. They did exactly what they needed to do to get us out of sorts. Credit to them. They are used to playing against teams like that and we're not. That's why we are here.”   Mayo left Hutton Arena with plenty of lessons learned, and that was the point. “I think it gives us an advantage for the rest of the year,” Bromeling said. “It propels us to where we know we need to go. If you don't play good teams, you never know where you should be or where you could be. I think today is just a steppingstone in the progression of our team. We have a lot of young kids who are very, very talented but they are not used to playing at this level, at this speed and intensity. Chaska did a really good job.”   The future is very bright at Mayo with a boatload of talented kids in the pipeline and three youngsters making an impact in the here and now. Freshman [player_tooltip player_id='764213' first='Madalynn' last='McLaughlin'] is an uber-quick 9th grader who is working her way into the rotation. Freshman guard/forward [player_tooltip player_id='908260' first='Maggie' last='Dyer'] has size and athleticism and scholarship-level potential. And 8th grader [player_tooltip player_id='806429' first='Amelia' last='Mills'] is a super-gifted point guard bound for greatness. We have not yet ranked the Class of 2028, of course, but when we do you can look for Amelia's name near the top of the list. Here are Bromeling's thoughts on the three youngsters:   “Madelynn is a tremendous athlete. She's very quick and very heady. This is her first real effort at playing varsity so I'm excited to see where she can get to. She's just so fast and she plays our zone really well.”   “Maggie is an all-around athlete. I am excited for that kid. She's 5'10. She can go one-on-one, she can shoot, she can pretty much do anything, and she is one of our best finishers. In practice she gives Ava everything she can handle.”   “Amelia is small but she's growing and both of her parents are tall. She's just so smooth. Everything she does she makes it look easy. You never know if she's frustrated, you never know if she's flustered, she just keeps playing. Amelia is so talented.”   Mayo's future non-conference games include Farmington, Lakeville North and Stillwater, three contests that will help the program take steps in the right direction. In the meantime, the Big 9 needs to be ready for the Big Green because Mayo is a team on the rise.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-medium"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/11/Eppinga-Salanoa_pairing.png?w=300" alt="" class="wp-image-813246" /></figure>   BOMBS AWAY!   We saw plenty of great individual performances over the weekend but it would be hard to top the shooting display we witnessed in back-to-back contests Saturday morning at the Thanksgiving Tip Off courtesy of Anoka senior [player_tooltip player_id='339117' first='Evyn' last='Eppinga'] and Roseville freshman [player_tooltip player_id='657023' first='Analaya' last='Salanoa']. It was epic!   Anoka got out to an early lead on Holy Angels only to see the Stars make a valiant comeback late in the first half with six triples to draw within two points at the break. Early in the second period, the contest was even when Eppinga's relentless pursuit of the basketball on defense led to opportunities on offense. Eppinga took advantage by burying 7 of 8 attempts from beyond the arc. Yes, she made 7 triples and all Holy Angels could do was look on helplessly as Evyn racked up 36 total points. It was one of the best shooting displays we've seen and the result was an 79-55 romp for the Tornadoes.   After that we went downstairs to the main gym to check out another game. By the time we came back upstairs Roseville had built a 38-10 lead on Mountain Iron-Buhl. “How on earth could that have happened?” I wondered out loud. What happened was Salanoa's shooting. She had apparently been dropping bombs as the Top 25 freshman has been known to do. In the second half we saw several more as Analaya launched and made one after the other after the other. When it was all said and done, the 9th grader had compiled a school-record 10 triples for 34 points. Meanwhile Roseville's stingy defense held North Carolina commit [player_tooltip player_id='178277' first='Jordan' last='Zubich'] to a single field goal and 9 total points. Remarkable.   Eppinga, by the way, has not made a college commitment yet. Several teams have been in pursuit but she's being picky. Her phone should definitely be ringing.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-medium"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/11/Crump-1000-group-crop-1059x695-1701114880.jpg?w=300" alt="" class="wp-image-813244" /></figure>   MILESTONES REACHED   Every day throughout the high school season we scan Twitter for posts about players reaching career milestones – 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, etc. – and then post them in our weekly recap. If you know of a player reaching an important milestone, or setting a record of some sort, please reach out ASAP so we can give the kids recognition. We witnessed three such milestones over the weekend: Senior [player_tooltip player_id='178269' first='Liv' last='McGill'] of Hopkins (Florida commit) reached 1,000 points as did senior [player_tooltip player_id='215953' first='Marisa' last='Frost'] of Centennial (North Dakota State) and junior [player_tooltip player_id='252387' first='Aaliyah' last='Crump'] of Minnetonka (#1 prospect in the Class of 2025).   WHAT WE WATCHED LAST WEEK   In addition to the 15 or so high school games over the weekend, we watched a ton of college basketball. That will be the case throughout the year as we keep tabs on former Minnesota high school players at the next level. We saw a contest between D2 powers MSU-Mankato and Minnesota-Duluth online as well as a last-second win by Concordia-St. Paul at Winona State. On the Division 1 level we watched St. Thomas defeat Saint Mary's in Northern California. We were also at Williams Arena three times for the University of Minnesota contests with UConn,  Cal State Northridge and Stony Brook.   Speaking of St. Thomas women's basketball, I am covering the team as much as time permits, posting the content via Twitter. In the Twin Cities the lion's share of the media coverage for the women's college game – probably 95 percent – goes to the Gophers. Now that there's a second D1 program, I expected the StarTribune to report on the team but coverage has been scant. The program is important to girls basketball in Minnesota. That's why I am doing my best to cover it. On Wednesday, the Tommies host power program Iowa State and on Dec. 13 Wisconsin will be here. I think that's worthy of a few tweets, don't you? Here's a link to <a href="https://tommiesports.com/sports/wbball">the Tommie womens basketball website</a> if you'd like to learn more.   THE WEEK AHEAD   We'll have tons of coverage from opening weekend, of course. Tony Ragulen was at the Hamline tournament from start to finish. Ally McGinnis held down the fort at the TC Tip Off. I hopped back and forth from one event to the other. Between the three of us we are compiling notes and assembling content that we'll post throughout the week on the top performers, newcomers who stood out, and players who raised their stock.   This season's opening stanza was big. It gets even bigger in Week #2 with the Breakdown Tip Off Classic, the premier multi-team event of the regular season. The Breakdown opens with six games on two courts Friday night at Hopkins High School followed by 16 more on Saturday. We'll have a preview later in the week. Visit the <a href="https://www.breakdownsportsusa.com/girlstipoff">Breakdown website</a> for details.   Thanks for reading! We appreciate your continued interest in Minnesota girls basketball.   TOP PHOTO (left to right): [player_tooltip player_id='304934' first='Ava' last='Miller'], [player_tooltip player_id='806429' first='Amelia' last='Mills'] & [player_tooltip player_id='502550' first='Mia' last='Banks'] of Rochester Mayo.   PGH scout Ally McGinnis contributed to this report.

It's only about 75 miles from Rochester to the Twin Cities but it has been quite rare in recent years to see Mayo High School make the trek north to play in big girls basketball events. Not this year. As we opened the 2023-24 season this weekend, the Spartans were front and center in St. Paul at the Hamline University Pat Paterson Invitational. Meanwhile, over at the Twin Cities Thanksgiving Tip Off in Mendota Heights, teams traveled from as far away as Davenport and Des Moines in Iowa to do battle.