Who stood out on day 1 at Williams Arena?

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Day 1 at Williams Arena featured a dramatic finish to remember as Maple Grove's [player_tooltip player_id='215956' first='Claire' last='Stern'] (North Dakota State) cashed in on a picture-perfect cross-court inbounds pass from [player_tooltip player_id='215944' first='Ava' last='Cossette'] (South Dakota) to give the Crimson a thrilling 56-55 win over Lakeville North in Class 4A. Those heroics weren't the only fireworks in Wednesday's games at Williams Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota. There were plenty of other big performances, including those turned in by some of Minnesota's very best.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='335641' first='Trinity' last='Wilson'] – 2024 forward, Lakeville North (Vanderbilt)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lakeville North center [player_tooltip player_id='335641' first='Trinity' last='Wilson'] had a strong performance in Wednesday's contest against Maple Grove. The Vanderbilt commit capitalized on her size advantage and took ownership of the paint all game long. Down the stretch, she scored on three consecutive possessions to help bring the Panthers back from a 10-point deficit. Trinity finished the contest with a team-high 17 points, 6 assists, and 15 rebounds. Up by one with 30 seconds on the clock, the Panthers played lockdown defense, forcing Maple Grove to take several timeouts in order to set up a sweet inbounds play that led to North Dakota State commit [player_tooltip player_id='215956' first='Claire' last='Stern'] scoring the game winning layup at the buzzer. The final score was 56 to 55.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='252387' first='Aaliyah' last='Crump'] – 2025 guard, Minnetonka</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Minnetonka Skippers took home a dominant quarterfinals win on day 1 of the State Tournament, beating the Andover Huskies 74-48. Junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='252387' first='Aaliyah' last='Crump'] was on fire, scoring 8 points in the early minutes. By half time the #1 prospect in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2025 had 18 points, putting the Skippers up 37-19. Crump, one of the top juniors in the nation who has yet to make a college commitment, finished the contest with a team-high 31 points on 53% shooting (14-of-26) She also tallied 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='215958' first='Tori' last='McKinney'] (University of Minnesota) also scored in double figures, totaling 12 points and 13 rebounds.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='178271' first='Willow' last='Thiel'] – 2024 forward, Perham (UM-Crookston)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior forward [player_tooltip player_id='178271' first='Willow' last='Thiel'] of Perham had an absolutely monstrous double-double on Wednesday night, racking up a whopping 41 points and 20 rebounds against Providence Academy. Thiel has been a walking double-double for the Yellowjackets and on Wednesday she proved she could do it against the very best. The University of Minnesota-Crookston commit was unstoppable in the paint all game long. Once she got her positioning under the basket, the points were almost guaranteed to follow. The Lions ended up with several players in foul trouble in their efforts to stop Thiel. Willow earned herself 15 shots at the charity stripe, of which she made 13. Unfortunately, Thiel's efforts were not enough to stop Providence as the Lions went home with a 94-84 win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='252381' first='Maddyn' last='Greenway'] – 2026 guard, Providence Academy</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As she so often does for the Providence Academy Lions, sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id='252381' first='Maddyn' last='Greenway'] willed her team, the two-time defending Class 2A state champions, to a win on Wednesday night. This time around it was over the Section 8AA champion Perham Yellowjackets, who had earned their second consecutive trip to the tournament. Things started off slowly in the first few minutes of the game for Maddyn, but once she got going there was no stopping the top prospect in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2026. The contest was very physical, but the 10th grader continued to attack the basket and earn trips to the free throw line, where she went 18-for-21. Greenway finished the contest with a season-high 49 points, 8 assists, 12 rebounds, and 5 steals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='205310' first='Tori' last='Oehrlein'] 2026 guard, Crosby-Ironton</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The final game of day one was a matchup between state tournament veterans New London-Spicer and Crosby-Ironton. As usual, the Rangers' star guard, [player_tooltip player_id='205310' first='Tori' last='Oehrlein'], put on a show. The 2026 prospect, who is being recruited by top collegiate programs across the country, was all over the floor, doing everything from throwing full-court transition passes, to guarding the paint on the defensive end. It was an efficient shooting night for Oehrlein, as well, as she made 15 of 21 field goal attempts in the contest. In the end, Tori finished with 33 points, 5 assists, 15 rebounds and 8 steals as the Rangers took down the Wildcats 63 to 50. Oehrlein is a generational talent with superior court vision, a truly elite skill set, plenty of size and a commitment to defend. On Wednesday at State, folks saw it for themselves.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>PGH Scout Ally McGinnis did these evaluations from Williams Arena.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->