The Week That Was #16: Moving from Sections to State

Once the opening-round blowouts are out of the way, there is normally no shortage of drama during Section play as teams make their way down the competitive road to the State Tournament in Minneapolis. That was certainly the case last Monday through Friday as the 32 tourney participants were determined. Take the one-point wins by Totino-Grace in Section 5AAA and Minneapolis Roosevelt in 3AAA, for example. Or Lakeville North's late surge to dispatch their Section 1AAAA rivals from Lakeville South. The one everyone has been talking about over the weekend, though, is Minnetonka's 41-39 win against Eden Prairie in the Section 2AAAA final. That's where we'll begin our look at the Week That Was #16.   SECTION STANDOUTS   This is our last weekly recap of the 2023-24 high school season. By this time next week, we'll have crowned four state champions and will be handing out tournament kudos and post-season awards. For a handful of top performers in Week #16, their seasons have already come to a conclusion. Here are five players who distinguished themselves on their way to the exits.   [player_tooltip player_id='262910' first='Tori' last='Schlagel'] – 2025 guard, Eden Prairie (South Dakota)   The season came to a close for Eden Prairie on Friday night in a heart-breaking loss to Minnetonka in the Section 2AAAA finals. As usual, Tori was in the middle of everything for the Eagles, scoring a team-high 13 points, including a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line. The South Dakota commit and her teammate [player_tooltip player_id='595568' first='Ella' last='Hardwick'] were the only members of the Eagles in double figures in the 41-39 loss. With the game on the line, Schlagel was also at the center of a controversial call. Perhaps ‘bizarre' or ‘questionable' or some other more colorful adjective may apply, but we'll leave that be for now. The intentional foul call on Schlagel handed Minnetonka two shots and the ball with mere seconds left on the clock. The Skippers took advantage of their good fortune to record the win over a scrappy EP squad that impressed all season with its grit, energy, and never-say-die attitude. Schlagel concluded the campaign averaging 18.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 2.2 steals per game as the Eagles finished with 20 wins and 9 losses.   [player_tooltip player_id='339143' first='Danielle' last='Coleman'] – 2025 guard, Lakeville South   Schlagel wasn't the only junior to turn in an outstanding performance even though her team was eliminated. Coleman did likewise. We've watched Dani's season with interest, a year in which she found her confidence and parlayed her rather ample abilities into on-court excellence of the highest level. She may have saved her best for last as South attempted to upset North in the section final. The game came down to the wire, and there were outstanding performances on both sides, but it was Coleman (pictured above) who led the way for the Cougars with a team-high 19 points and a slew of big plays. It wasn't a great shooting night for Lakeville South, but Dani persevered and found ways to attack the rim. That led to trips to the free throw line where she made 5 of her 6 attempts. The Cougars finished their season with a record of 17 wins and 12 losses.   [player_tooltip player_id='330744' first='Savannah' last='Borowicz'] – 2025 guard, Jordan   We watched Jordan twice last week in the Section 5AA playoffs. On Wednesday, the Jaguars pulled off an exciting 72-66 win over a strong Southwest Christian squad to advance to the section finals. As is often the case in Jordan, the junior point guard made her mark on the floor with a game-high 18 points. Despite rolling an ankle and going to the bench in the second half, Savi returned to the floor with 2 minutes remaining and propelled the Jaguars to the win. On Friday, the Jags had the monumental task of facing Providence Academy in the section final. The Jags gave everything they had as Borowicz continued her hot scoring against the Lions. She went 11-for-15 from the floor and made 3 shots in 5 attempts from deep-three territory. Borowicz finished with 26 points in the 101-84 loss as Jordan finished the season at 20-9.   Kaitlyn Wercinski – 2024 guard, Southwest Christian   While the season ended in the section semifinals for Southwest Christian, one upperclassman had a standout performance in the final contest of her high school career. Wercinski is hardly a household name, but she showed up in the spotlight when it mattered most for the Stars. Kaitlyn was firing on all cylinders in Wednesday night's encounter with Jordan. She came off the bench and immediately provided a huge spark, playing with intensity on both ends of the floor. On offense she was highly efficient making 7-of-8 shots from the floor, including 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. Kaitlyn finished with a season-high 17 points in the loss to the Jaguars.   [player_tooltip player_id='339151' first='Kaitlyn' last='Staples'] – 2024 guard, Hancock   Another Kaitlyn distinguished herself in section play last week, as well. Staples is a 5'9 guard who has played an integral role over the past few seasons for the Owls, including in their 30-1 season and Class A State Championship two years ago. Staples was everywhere Wednesday night in the Owls dramatic 72-70 win over Breckenridge in the 6A subsection championship. She made one big play after another as Hancock simply would not be denied.   “Kaitlyn was amazing all game long,” Coach Chad Nuest said afterwards. “She came up with so many big plays at both ends of the court.” In the first half Staples hit crucial threes to keep the game within reach. Down the stretch in the overtime period she executed a critical blocked shot, enabling Hancock to hang onto the lead. “It was a big game for a senior who wasn't ready for her career to come to an end,” said Nuest. Unfortunately for the Owls, their season did end two nights later as Hancock fell 71-61 to Underwood in the championship game.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-medium"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/03/Kohler-700-wins.jpg?w=300" alt="" class="wp-image-869966" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: <a href="https://x.com/AlexandriaBball" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a></figcaption></figure>   MILESTONES       Our focus here is squarely on the players, but we're not shy about handing out some accolades to the coaches who give tirelessly of their time and energy to point their athletes in the right direction. Nobody has done it better over the years than Wendy Kohler of Alexandria. She is the epitome of what a high school coach should be. Last week Wendy reached 700 career wins. That's a number that speaks volumes about her incredible career.   Junior [player_tooltip player_id='854902' first='Ella' last='Stoskopf'] of Kasson-Mantorville had a strong year for the KoMets. That included setting a single-season rebounding record with 327 total boards. That broke the standard of 316 set in 2016-17 by the great Kristin Scott, who went on to an outstanding career at Iowa State. Ella averaged a double-double this season (11.7 & 11.7) and was really consistent. The big post has worked tirelessly to improve, and definitely deserves a shot at the next level.   Freshman [player_tooltip player_id='764222' first='Olivia' last='Bungum'] of United South Central is just getting started on her run to college basketball. The talented guard, who entered the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2027 prospect rankings last week, completed her 9th grade season with 515 points. She set a new program record for most three-pointers in a game with 7, most points in a game with 34, and most threes in a season with 65 breaking the old team record of 54. We're really looking forward to watching Olivia this spring with the Minnesota Rise.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-medium"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/03/Callie-Oakland-1000-rebounds.jpg?w=300" alt="" class="wp-image-869975" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: <a href="https://x.com/SCLGBB" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a></figcaption></figure>   [player_tooltip player_id='362575' first='Callie' last='Oakland'] of St. Croix Lutheran notched an individual milestone in the Crusaders section semifinal win over Visitation on Wednesday as she recorded her 1,000th career point. She's also closing in on 750 career rebounds as a sophomore.   PGH Scout Ally McGinnis contributed to these player evaluations.

Once the opening-round blowouts are out of the way, there is normally no shortage of drama during Section play as teams make their way down the competitive road to the State Tournament in Minneapolis. That was certainly the case last Monday through Friday as the 32 tourney participants were determined. Take the one-point wins by Totino-Grace in Section 5AAA and Minneapolis Roosevelt in 3AAA, for example. Or Lakeville North's late surge to dispatch their Section 1AAAA rivals from Lakeville South. The one everyone has been talking about over the weekend, though, is Minnetonka's 41-39 win against Eden Prairie in the Section 2AAAA final. That's where we'll begin our look at the Week That Was #16.