Newcomers who excelled at the Summer Xplosion

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>AAU tournament directors love to get creative when it comes to naming their events. It would be hard to top the [program_tooltip program_id='712700' first='Minnesota' last='Suns'] Summer Xplosion, even if the spelling police had something to say about it. The competition on the floor was pretty explosive, as well. We spent a good portion of Saturday checking out a variety of prospects from the host Suns, Diamond Elite, Southwest Fury and several independent squads. Here are a few relative newcomers who excelled on Saturday at Wayzata High School.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Grace Eernisse – [program_tooltip program_id='712700' first='Minnesota' last='Suns'] 2027 S40 (Wayzata</strong>)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our first of many newcomers on the Suns 2027 S40 team was playing on her home court this weekend at Wayzata. Grace is a 5'10 freshman who gave a stellar performance on Saturday when we watched, scoring 17 points against Southwest Fury. She scored 23 against Diamond Elite. Grace showed her prowess on the offensive end, cashing in at multiple levels, but she excels at driving to the basket with a particularly explosive first step. Grace plays unselfishly on offense. On the defensive end, she uses her length to significant impact. It may be some time before she can break into a uber-deep varsity rotation at Wayzata, but Eernisse could provide a ton of upside for the Trojans when that day eventually comes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='921685' first='Makyia' last='Kenney'] – [program_tooltip program_id='713420' first='Minnesota' last='Diamond Elite'] 2025 McMillan (St. Paul Como Park</strong>)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Como Park junior is a 5'9 guard/wing with a strong, solid build. Playing in her first season with Diamond Elite, Makyia had a solid performance in Saturday's contest against Suns 2025 S40. Her skills on the offensive end were impressive; Kenney is a playmaker who excels at distributing the ball to her teammates and can score at multiple levels. She is aggressive when attacking the basket, easily absorbing contact from opponents. She plays high-energy defense, constantly putting hands in the passing lanes and forcing turnovers. Makyia continued to fight for every possession to the very end. She maintained a positive attitude until the final buzzer sounded, despite the 20-point loss to [player_tooltip player_id='205310' first='Tori' last='Oehrlein'] and company. Kenney has already earned her way into the Prep Girls Hoops top 125.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Juliet Leistikow – [program_tooltip program_id='712700' first='Minnesota' last='Suns'] 2027 S40 (Minneapolis Southwest</strong>)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Minneapolis Southwest freshman impressed us with her poise and strong decision making this weekend. Juliet is long, has light feet, and played with real sense of maturity when we were courtside, a trait that could be attributed to the significant varsity minutes she already had with coach Dan Froehlich's Lakers this winter. The 5'11 forward makes strong cuts, plays high-energy defense, and showed off a pretty Eurostep through traffic in Saturday's game against Southwest Fury. She also demonstrated solid rebounding ability and footwork in the paint.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='922511' first='Anika' last='Wind'] – [program_tooltip program_id='712700' first='Minnesota' last='Suns'] 2027 S40 (Cass Lake-Bena</strong>)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Cass Lake-Bena guard is a player we've known for some time – she's already been considered for inclusion in the Prep Girls Hoops rankings last winter – but this weekend was our first chance to see her play up close and in person for some months. Coming off her 9th grade season, Wind was a perennial starter in the Panthers' backcourt with D1/D2 prospect [player_tooltip player_id='396431' first='Gabrielle' last='Fineday'] this winter. She impressed us at the Summer Xplosion with her court vision and passing, as well as her business-like demeanor on the court. Anika is a confident ball handler and proficient three-point shooter. Once she gets a little more aggressive on the court, Annika will take her game to the next level.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ruvitha Zeh – [program_tooltip program_id='713420' first='Minnesota' last='Diamond Elite'] 2026 Gardner (Hopkins</strong>)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Diamond Elite guard caught our eye on Saturday afternoon at Wayzata High School pretty much right from the opening tip. It doesn't take long to notice that, while not very tall, Ruvitha is a muscular, well-built guard with a great deal of speed. Her feet are very quick, as is her lateral movement, making her a solid on-ball defender. While her skill development is still quite raw, there is a lot to like about Zeh's game. We appreciate her strong instincts, the fact that she made very few mistakes in her time on the floor, as well as her hustle and willingness to fight for loose balls. We look forward to seeing how the sophomore's game grows in the coming months in the competitive environment at Hopkins.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>PGH scout Ally McGinnis wrote these player evaluations.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->