The Week That Was #2: There were no turkeys this year

Here we are, just two weeks into the season, and we've already been treated to some of the best girls basketball you'll see anywhere this winter. There was certainly plenty to talk about after the Breakdown Tip Off Classic last week. This past weekend, the two big Thanksgiving tournaments took center stage and both delivered plenty of entertainment. Between the Twin Cities Thanksgiving Tip Off at White Bear Lake, and the Pat Patterson Invitational at Hamline University in St. Paul, we watched 11 complete games and portions of a few more. We are happy to report that there were no turkeys among them.   On the contrary, we witnessed two thrillers courtesy of the Orono Spartans, some [player_tooltip player_id='252381' first='Maddyn' last='Greenway'] magic for Providence Academy against Dowling Catholic of Iowa, a strong performance from [player_tooltip player_id='296528' first='Sam' last='Wills'] and Visitation Academy, the much-anticipated matchup between [player_tooltip player_id='296527' first='Aneisha' last='Scott'] of DeLaSalle and [player_tooltip player_id='252379' first='Addison' last='Mack'] of Minnehaha Academy, and much more. Tony Ragulen, Ally McGinnis and I will have plenty of tournament coverage over the next couple of days. First up, this is our big-picture look at the Week That Was #2.   TEAM OF THE WEEK – ORONO   Early last week the first team rankings of the season were published, courtesy of Minnesota Basketball News, which elected to leave Orono out of the Class 3A poll. We gave them a little good-natured ribbing about that on Twitter. Unlike most social media takes (ours included!), it was an opinion that aged rather well given what Orono did on the weekend.   Thanks to a dramatic three-pointer in the waning seconds by freshman [player_tooltip player_id='644898' first='Ally' last='Moore'], Orono pulled off a huge 62-59 upset of the defending Class 4A state champions from Minnetonka. Just 24 hours later, the Spartans came from 15 points down to defeat 4A Rochester Mayo 69-68. After knocking off Minnehaha Academy and New Ulm during week #1, that Spartans finished the weekend at 4-0.   Ally and her older sister [player_tooltip player_id='471360' first='Mya' last='Moore'] were simply stellar. Ranked #6 in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2026, Mya had 17 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 6 steals against Minnetonka. The Creighton commit put up 29 points, 4 assists and 5 steals vs Mayo. In conjunction with her dramatic game-winner, Ally had 24 points and 17 rebounds over two games.   The thing is, Orono's early success says as much about the improvement in the Spartans' supporting cast as it does about the Moores. Much credit should go to juniors [player_tooltip player_id='717668' first='Evelyn' last='Miller'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1005191' first='Amelia' last='Schwendimann'], both of whom have improved significantly over the past year. Miller, who rose to the top 60 this summer, is a 6'1 post averaging 9 points per game. Schwendimann is a 5'11 wing/guard whose improvements in skills, physicality and confidence are notable. She's averaging just under 9 ppg. Senior 6-footer [player_tooltip player_id='396440' first='Rae' last='Pearce'], who has become much more even keel than earlier in her career, has been solid as a starter.   Off the bench, Orono has a pair of quality junior posts in 5'11 [player_tooltip player_id='478364' first='Brynn' last='Leibfried'] and 6'2 Lilah Rice. Utility guard [player_tooltip player_id='764216' first='Maryn' last='Prenevost'] (5.2 ppg) has been excellent, while junior guard Ella Farrell is also contributing. (Apologies if I missed someone.) The lineup will get just a little deeper in January when 9th grade standout [player_tooltip player_id='815078' first='Zoey' last='Johnston'] is expected to return. The dynamic guard, who made the Freshmen 50 this fall, is currently rehabbing a torn labrum.   Here's the thing: As good as the Spartans have been so far, they're going to have to get that much better in coach Chris Bjorgaard's 5th season if they hope to advance out of Section 6AAA, which also happens to be the home of the defending Class 3A state champions from Benilde-St. Margaret's and a resurgent Delano program. Next up for Orono is Providence Academy on Tuesday night. Nothing like a showdown with [player_tooltip player_id='252381' first='Maddyn' last='Greenway'] to keep you on your toes!   PLAYER OF THE WEEK   [player_tooltip player_id='763004' first='Lyla' last='Hentges'] – 2027 guard, Chanhassen   Lyla holds a Top 20 ranking in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2027. That should tell you what type of potential we believe this lengthy Division 1 college prospect has. As a freshman, she showed flashes of that, twice topping the 20-point mark in individual games, including a career high 25 in Chanhassen's final contest of the season. What she did in the Storm's 2024-25 opener on Saturday blew those standards out of the water. How does 11 threes and 37 points sound?   In addition to establishing a notable new career high, Hentges came within two triples of the all-time state record of 13 set by Sari Noga of Parkers Prairie in 2008 and equaled by Makayla Van Nett of Como Park in 2017. Nobody has had 12. Only four have reached the 11 mark before, most recently Bella Hartzell of Hill-Murray and Laura Hauge of St. Croix Lutheran. While the numbers are super impressive, it's not at all surprising that Hentges was taking and making a ton of threes. Elite shooting has been her calling card for some time, but she also gets to the rim with regularity. Last season, Lyla's defense and rebounding took major strides forward. This year she's going to be called upon to score more. Lyla definitely proved capable of that on opening night.   NOTABLE PERFORMERS   If you've followed along in our Week That Was series over the past few seasons then you know that [player_tooltip player_id='205310' first='Tori' last='Oehrlein'] of Crosby-Ironton has been included here pretty much every week. With so many remarkable accomplishments, the University of Minnesota commit deserves the frequent accolades. Tori was at it again last week in a win over Pine City with 34 points, 23 rebounds, 8 assists and 7 steals. She went 14-for-24 from the field and 4-of-8 from three-point range. And her new teammate [player_tooltip player_id='296516' first='Regan' last='Juenemann'], formerly of Duluth Marshall, also put up 34 points. With nearly two full seasons remaining in high school, Oehrlein is on track to become the state's all-time leading points producer.   Also up north last week, Avaya Dobis of Chisholm was on a tear with a 35-point performance. The quick guard, who is athletic by Class A standards, can definitely get up and down the court and scores a ton of points in transition. Last year she averaged 11.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game for the Bluestreaks. She is also a force defensively with a knack for forcing opponents to turn it over.   Hentges wasn't the only one bombing threes last week. 2027 guard [player_tooltip player_id='887841' first='Kelsey' last='Skala'] of Owatonna, who competes in the summer for [program_tooltip program_id='712352' first='Air' last='Minnesota'], made 8 three-pointers in a win over Faribault. She scored 30 points in total. Last winter, the uber-long sharpshooter had 7 threes in a game against Albert Lea.   [player_tooltip player_id='1002988' first='Chloe' last='Reedy'] is a name that's well known in Minnesota basketball. The diminutive 8th grader from Royalton, who is in the midst of a nice growth spurt this year, made her presence felt in Week #2. Reedy put up 19 points in a win over Annandale, a game in which junior [player_tooltip player_id='502574' first='Haylie' last='Wolbeck'] had 17 points and 23 rebounds to break her own school record of 20 boards in a single game.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-medium"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/12/KLodermeier-1000.jpg?w=300" alt="" class="wp-image-1094421" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Goodhue Schools, <a href="https://x.com/GoodhueAct" target="_blank">X.com</a></figcaption></figure>   MILESTONES   We heard about two players reaching the 1,000-career points milestone during Week #2. Please let us know if we missed others who hit the mark.   [player_tooltip player_id='550025' first='Kendyl' last='Lodermeier'] of Goodhue scored her 1,000th point in a 71-64 win over Kasson-Mantorville. The senior, who has committed to Upper Iowa University, is an all-state performer who averaged 15 points and 8 rebounds per game last year for the Class A state champions.   [player_tooltip player_id='918782' first='Kallyn' last='Grove'] of Underwood is accustomed to the spotlight. She made a splash at last year's high school state tournament while earning all-state honorable mention. Recently she was an all-state selection in volleyball. Last week she scored her 1,000th career point in the Rockets' 51-48 win over New York Mills.   [player_tooltip player_id='854912' first='Hadley' last='Sammons'] of Windom announced her college commitment to St. Mary's of Winona last week before following that up with another school record. The crafty point guard had 9 assists in the Eagles win over Worthington Saturday to reach 500 for her career. The [program_tooltip program_id='712699' first='Minnesota' last='Rise'] graduate also holds the school record for steals which had been 295.

Here we are, just two weeks into the season, and we've already been treated to some of the best girls basketball you'll see anywhere this winter. There was certainly plenty to talk about after the Breakdown Tip Off Classic last week. This past weekend, the two big Thanksgiving tournaments took center stage and both delivered plenty of entertainment. Between the Twin Cities Thanksgiving Tip Off at White Bear Lake, and the Pat Patterson Invitational at Hamline University in St. Paul, we watched 11 complete games and portions of a few more. We are happy to report that there were no turkeys among them.