More winners who impressed at the Breakdown

It was the single largest gathering of top teams and top talent of the high school season. That’s what the annual Breakdown Tip Off Classic has become. Yes, the event offers more players and programs of note over the course of 22 games than even the high school state tournament does. That official gathering in March may be a great spectacle but it’s not a happening that features the best of the best. Consider that nine of the top 10 teams in Class 4A were on hand at the Tip Off, four of the best five in Class 3A, the top six in 2A and three of the top four in Class A. And then there is the lineup of individual talent:

Class of 2024 – The top 8 prospects (minus the injured Olivia Olson Olivia Olson 6'1" | CG Benilde-SM | 2024 State MN ) and 16 of the top 20

Class of 2025 – #1 Aaliyah Crump Aaliyah Crump 6'1" | SF Montverde Academy | 2025 State FL of Minnetonka and 9 of the top 10

Class of 2026 – #1 Maddyn Greenway Maddyn Greenway 5'8" | PG Providence Academy | 2026 State MN of Providence Academy and the next seven-highest

Class of 2027 – Five of the top 6 prospects, including both Ava Cupito Ava Cupito 5'10" | CG Hopkins | 2027 State MN and Erma Walker Erma Walker 6'0" | PF Hopkins | 2027 State MN of Hopkins.

Class of 2028 – The slam-dunk #1 selection Chloe Johnson Chloe Johnson 6'0" | PG Duluth Marshall | 2028 State MN of Duluth Marshall and her fellow 8th grader Ashna Ramlall Ashna Ramlall 5'10" | CG Rosemount | 2028 State MN of Rosemount, who put on a show.

Is it any wonder then that we have had so many great performances to talk about over the past several days? The hits just keep on playing so today we bring you another series of top performers. Our colleague Tony Ragulen has already covered several worthy candidates, including the likes of Lauren Hillesheim Lauren Hillesheim 5'11" | SG Hopkins | 2025 State MN of Hopkins, Mariah Pates Mariah Pates 6'2" | SF Champlin Park | 2024 State MN of Champlin Park, Alaya Carter Alaya Carter 5'9" | CG Prior Lake | 2025 State MN of Pryor Lake, Sam Wills Sam Wills 6'0" | SG Visitation | 2025 State MN of Visitation and Bella Sutch Bella Sutch 6'0" | SF Spring Lake Park | 2024 State MN of Spring Lake Park. Kudos to all five.

We could easily add several others who repeated their high level of play from opening weekend, including Liv McGill Liv McGill 5'7" | CG Hopkins | 2024 State MN of Hopkins, Jordyn Johnson Jordyn Johnson 6'1" | PF DeLaSalle | 2025 State MN of DeLaSalle and Katie Kelzenberg Katie Kelzenberg 6'2" | PF Wayzata | 2025 State MN of Wayzata. Edina’s Abby Richter Abby Richter 5'11" | SF Edina | 2024 State MN put up 29 for the Hornets. That’s certainly noteworthy for the Nebraska-Kearney commit. But, in the interests of brevity, we decided to keep it to duos and trios whose teams were victorious at the Tip Off. Here they are:

With the graduation of Minnesota’s Ms. Basketball Tessa Johnson (South Carolina) , along with starting post Piper Carlson (Idaho State), it wasn’t clear how St. Michael-Albertville might perform in the early part of the season. I think we have our answer as STMA knocked off Prior Lake 61-46 at the Tip Off and has since run its record to 5-0. Tessa who? We jest. The Knights can thank one impactful trio for a large portion of their success to date: The senior Craft (Seton Hall), Top 10 junior Hoselton, and Top 5 sophomore Jahnke. Both Hoselton and Jahnke recorded double-doubles in the win over the Lakers (Abby was 13 & 10, Cail went 12 & 11) while Craft had 21 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. All three are great prospects, but the way they are working together is what’s propelling STMA’s success to date. Could the Knights win a second Class 4A title in a row? Don’t bet against it!

Alyssa Sand Alyssa Sand 6'2" | PF Albany | 2024 State MN & Kylan Gerads Kylan Gerads 5'11" | SF Albany | 2024 State MN – Albany Huskies

When all-everything point guard Paige Meyer graduated from Albany in 2021 on her way to South Dakota State, the question marks left in her wake were similar to those now being asked at STMA. We already know how that went as the Huskies biggest dogs – Sand and Gerads – along with floor leader Tatum Findley Tatum Findley 5'9" | CG Albany | 2024 State MN took Albany all the way to the Class 2A championship game last spring. The way they played on Saturday morning in an 84-65 win over Duluth Marshall, you’d have to assume Albany will still be standing when we reach the last couple of days of the 2023-24 campaign. Both Sand (a 6’3 post committed to St. Thomas) and Gerads (a 5’11 forward signed with St. Cloud State) recorded double-doubles on Saturday, combining for 46 points, 27 rebounds, 8 assists and 8 steals.

Avery Moeller Avery Moeller 5'10" | CG Rosemount | 2024 State MN & Ava Thompson Ava Thompson 5'6" | PG Rosemount | 2024 State MN – Rosemount Irish

When Rosemount wins it’s always a roster-wide effort. The Irish are deep, they are talented and they nearly always play in a cohesive way. So it went on Saturday in a collective effort that resulted in an 89-85 thriller over Wayzata. While the young Ramlall sisters – 8th grader Ashna Ramlall Ashna Ramlall 5'10" | CG Rosemount | 2028 State MN and 9th grader Amisha Ramlall Amisha Ramlall 5'11" | CG Rosemount | 2027 State MN – were bombing from distance, and senior forward and MSU-Moorhead commit Ayelishka Teko-Folly Ayelishka Teko-Folly 6'0" | SF Rosemount | 2024 State MN was taking care of business inside, it was veteran guards Ava and Avery directing traffic from the rear. Both Moeller and Thompson have evolved their games incrementally over time, and the results are nothing short of excellent. The Winona State commit Moeller posted 25 points on 7 triples with 7 rebounds. Concordia-St. Paul signee Ava put up 18 points along with three assists. The two have grown to complement each other so well and, as a result, the Irish have a prime opportunity to be in the conversation late into the spring.

Crump is the #1-rated prospect in the Class of 2025, a veteran of Team USA and the subject of intense pursuit by countless big-time colleges. McKinney is ranked #4 in the Class of 2024, is the best defender in Minnesota, and has committed to the Gophers. As for Wright? Well she’s a Top 3 sophomore and one of the smartest point guards around. Is it any wonder a large number of educated observers think the Skippers could win the big dance? That certainly looked plausible on Saturday in a 67-34 romp over a very good White Bear Lake squad. Crump had 26 points, 11 rebounds and 7 steals. McKinney went 17 and 7 while Wright was her usual versatile self with 10 points, 6 assists and 4 steals. This is a trio that’s going to win a lot more games before it’s all said and done. They might even be #1.

It appears as though the disappointing post-Thanksgiving performance by Mountain Iron-Buhl at the Twin Cities Thanksgiving Tip Off was an anomaly because the Rangers were very much back on track at the Breakdown shindig. The defending Class A state champions made a very good Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart squad look decidedly average, which the Mustangs are most definitely not. But when Zubich, Savela and company get going a 65-43 result is hardly surprising. Zubich is a world-class shooter. On Saturday the North Carolina commit made 6-of-10 from three-point range for 22 points. She’s the star attraction. Savela, on the other hand, will sometimes light it up (especially from distance), but more often than not puts her fingers all over every other aspect of the game, doing anything and everything that is required to secure a win. The University of Jamestown commit had 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks. As for Neyens? Well this is a name you need to know because the crafty young guard is a Top 50 prospect doing great work for the Rangers right now.