Tony's Takeaways from Week #13

Over the last few weeks some teams have put up an impressive numbers of points with top-tier talent showcasing their ability to shoot it from deep and do so with accuracy. There were nine teams that scored at least 90 points with four of them exceeding the century mark, so of course that has to mean there were some big time performances to boot.     [player_tooltip player_id='339179' first='Brylee' last='Miller'] - guard- Fairmont   Miller, a 5'10 guard from Fairmont is currently the 21st rated prospect in the 2026 class, and she is as exciting a two-way player as there is. Along with sharp-shooting guard Grace Pendergast, and post Neveah Rahm, this is as formidable a trio as you'll find in that area. The Cardinals pulled off an impressive 101-67 win over rival St. James and went 1-1 for the week to improve to 15-10 on the season. Unfortunately no official stats have been uploaded for the team, but in the game against St. James, I had Miller with no less than 27 points coming from a variety of ways. She is long and has great anticipation on the defensive end, shooting the passing lanes for at least three steals leading to breakaway layups. Her ability to move without the ball led to countless buckets with Rahm, who's is as impressive a passer as I've seen at her position, hit her time after time. Along with her great vision and passing, Rahm is also a tenacious rebounder on both sides of the glass and her footwork is traffic is a treat to watchl. She easily had a double-double against St. James, and that's really saying something to able to do that against [player_tooltip player_id='396427' first='Madelyn' last='Malmgren'], who is a great defender in the paint. St. James, led by the Swanson and Malmgren tandems actually didn't play a bad game, but when you have Pendergast knocking down bombs and Miller and Rahm all clicking at the same time, it would've been a long night for pretty much anyone that night.   [player_tooltip player_id='453753' first='Lauren' last='Hillesheim'] - guard - Hopkins   In two games last week, including a 101-29 win for Hopkins over St. Paul Como, Hillesheim was her consistent contributing self. Need an offensive rebound Check. Someone to dive on the floor after a loose ball? Check. Someone to chase guards around or bang in the paint for a possession or two? Check! She's doing all of that while being the 3rd leading scorer at just under 12 ppg. Lauren is doing it off the dribble and from the beyond the arc, and has proven to be durable appearing in 24 of the 25 games. Against Como, she dropped 16 points, grabbed 9 rebounds along with 7 steals in 23 minutes of game play and shot 50% from the floor. Two days later she turned in another great performance against conference foe Wayzata with a stat line of 13 points, grabbing 5 boards and nabbing 5 steals helping the Royals knock off the Trojans 89-62 to remain perfect in the conference. Teammate [player_tooltip player_id='717663' first='Le'Sedra' last='Williams'] has been seeing the floor a lot more recently showcasing her offensive gifts pouring in 14 points in 18 minutes of game play against Como and another 11 against Wayzata shooting 63% from the floor. As things start to heat up and March Madness rolls around, Hopkins will need these two to continue to rise to the occasion and it's no secret that Hopkins has the bullseye on their backs.   [player_tooltip player_id='396439' first='Josie' last='Nnaji'] - guard - Benilde-St. Margaret's   The Red Knights went 3-0 last week knocking off St. Louis Park twice and Chanhassen once, including a 101-55 win over the Orioles in which 12 players scored, including 8th grader [player_tooltip player_id='786398' first='Zaida' last='Jenkins'] knocking down a 3 at the buzzer to push the Red Knights to the century mark. During those three games, Nnaji has shown an impressive improvement in her shooting range knocking down threes at an impressive clip. She was already a force in the lane so adding a consistent outside shot to her repertoire is a welcome sight for Benidle as they've quietly put together a very impressive 20-5 record in the absence of [player_tooltip player_id='296523' first='Kendall' last='McGee'], and a good chunk of games missed by Michigan commit [player_tooltip player_id='177728' first='Olivia' last='Olson']. [player_tooltip player_id='208184' first='Zahara' last='Bishop'], [player_tooltip player_id='498661' first='Pressley' last='Watkins'], [player_tooltip player_id='339131' first='Kate' last='Kapsner'] and [player_tooltip player_id='567387' first='Mirabel' last='Wismer'] are all doing their parts on both ends of the court and are playing as well as any team going right now reeling off 17 wins in a row.   [player_tooltip player_id='764229' first='Toni' last='Fisher'] - guard - Prior Lake   The talented 9th grader, currently rated 39th in the 2027 class, notched her season high of 23 points in a 95-54 win over Apple Valley last week. Fisher had it going from all three levels offensively and was causing havoc on defense jumping the passing lanes to create easy scoring opportunities for her and teammates alike. Her older sister [player_tooltip player_id='453731' first='Haven' last='Fisher'] chipped in 12 of her own, but for the night, Toni had the bragging rights. Some 13 Lakers got in the scoring column including [player_tooltip player_id='337630' first='Brooklynn' last='Holmberg'] reaching double figures with 10. The Lakers went 1-1 last week dropping a tough one to Rosemount 67-48. [player_tooltip player_id='296513' first='Bree' last='Bowman'] led the way with 13 but the Irish, led by [player_tooltip player_id='339142' first='Avery' last='Moeller'] with 21, were just too much for Fisher and the Lakers to overcome. The future is bright for Toni as she continues to get significant varsity run learning from her sister and the other veterans around her.

Over the last few weeks some teams have put up an impressive numbers of points with top-tier talent showcasing their ability to shoot it from deep and do so with accuracy. There were nine teams that scored at least 90 points with four of them exceeding the century mark, so of course that has to mean there were some big time performances to boot.