The Week That Was #8: Halfway to the finish line

Eight weeks down, eight more to go. It's hard to believe it but we have already reached the midway point of the Minnesota girls high school basketball season. There have been plenty of highlights, and no shortage of surprises. Although Providence Academy clearly has a stranglehold on Class 2A competition, the other three classes appear to be wide open. We'll likely take look at some of the individual and team performances of note later in the week. For now, let's focus on what we observed during The Week That Was #8.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-medium"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/01/Addi-Chloe-tussle.jpg?w=202" alt="" class="wp-image-1139126" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Greg Johnson, <a href="https://x.com/ChloeJohnsonMN" target="_blank">X.com</a></figcaption></figure>   NORTH-BY-NORTHEAST   The week was loaded with great rivalry games as we wrote about on Sunday in our piece, ‘<a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/2025/01/rekindling-the-rivalries-as-conference-play-heats-up/">Rekindling the rivalries as conference play heats up</a>.' Take a look at that article for more details, but there's no question that the highlight of the week for many fans was the latest installment in the [player_tooltip player_id='252379' first='Addison' last='Mack'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='252381' first='Maddyn' last='Greenway'] rivalry, an ongoing battle that never gets old. But it wasn't the only such encounter for Addi last week.   We travelled north-by-northeast on Saturday to watch Mack go head-to-head with [player_tooltip player_id='433933' first='Chloe' last='Johnson'] of Duluth Marshall. Johnson, of course, is the latest of the greatest in Minnesota basketball, a unique talent who we've rated as the #1 freshman in the state. Most educated observers place her among the top handful of 2028s in America. Although this rivalry hasn't quite reached the level of Addi vs Maddyn, it is a matchup of two of the most talented, most-driven prospects we've ever seen.   Unfortunately for rivalry's sake, Duluth Marshall hasn't been able to secure victory in their annual meeting over the past four years. Saturday's final score – 88-69 in favor of Minnehaha – was only one point different than last year's result. The Redhawks held Johnson to just 9 points in the first half as they forged a 41-31 lead. Chloe got free more often in the second period, but it wasn't enough. The Redhawks have a whole lot more depth than the Hilltoppers do and it showed. Addi finished with 32 points as did Chloe. [player_tooltip player_id='425385' first='Amina' last='Allen'] of Minnehaha and [player_tooltip player_id='764217' first='Morgan' last='Lucero'] of Marshall each made 5 three-point baskets.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-medium"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/01/Watkins-twins-crop-4005x2630-1736808098.jpg?w=300" alt="" class="wp-image-1139131" /></figure>   SEEING DOUBLE   Although we went to Duluth to watch Mack vs Johnson, we arrived early enough to catch the second half of the junior varsity game where we saw a glimpse of Minnehaha's future in the form of twin sisters [player_tooltip player_id='1090085' first='Georgia' last='Watkins'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1090086' first='Shea' last='Watkins']. The 7th graders have been on our radar for more than a year now but Saturday was the first time we've watched them in actual high school competition. What we saw made it obvious that these two are going to be special.   The sisters are long, rangy and athletic. Shea is already 5'11. Georgia is listed at 5'9. Both could easily end up north of 6 feet. Both move very, very well – kind of in the Aaliyah Crump vein. That's not to say they'll be in that talent stratosphere, but there is no doubt that they have Division 1 college potential. Their skills are polished for their age. They have good instincts on the floor. And both seem to be team-oriented in their approach. Georgia and Shea will play AAU for Jake Kuppe's [program_tooltip program_id='712722' first='North' last='Tartan'] squad this spring and summer. You can bet we'll be watching them at length.   MILESTONES   [player_tooltip player_id='396431' first='Gabrielle' last='Fineday'] of Cass Lake-Bena scored 27 points on Friday against a strong Proctor team to reach 2,622 for her career. That makes the Bemidji State commit the all-time leading scorer for the Panthers program, boys or girls, breaking a record held by her coach Martin Wind. The previous girls record of 2,593 was set by 2022 graduate Taryn Frazer, who was on hand to share in the celebration.   Remarkably, there were four players who reached the 2,000-career points mark during week 8: 2025s [player_tooltip player_id='550001' first='Rylie' last='Cother'] of Jackson County Central (Winona State commit) and [player_tooltip player_id='205299' first='Ella' last='Kuhlman'] of North Branch (Concordia-St. Paul) and 2026s [player_tooltip player_id='478375' first='Kadence' last='Pierce'] of Ogilvie and [player_tooltip player_id='782558' first='Kate' last='Thayer'] of Kelliher/Northome.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-medium"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/01/Clara-Keaveny.jpg?w=247" alt="" class="wp-image-1139135" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: <a href="https://x.com/KeavenyJen" target="_blank">X.com</a></figcaption></figure>   Although it's challenging to keep up with the milestones (the new Twitter algorithm is killing us), we learned of a handful of athletes who reached 1,000 career points last week, three of whom are juniors:   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>[player_tooltip player_id='346166' first='Autumn' last='McCall'] of Centennial is a force at both ends of the floor. Rated 11th in the Class of 2025 rankings, the 6'2 post can also put the ball in the basket as evidenced by her 1,000th posted last week. She has committed to the University of St. Thomas.</li>   <li>Leah Bode of Nicollet is an under-the-radar senior who does it all for Dustin Wright's Raiders. The 5'7 guard/forward is a tremendous competitor who can play multiple spots. She's known as a team leader and role model for the younger kids.</li>   <li>[player_tooltip player_id='1139146' first='Alyvia' last='Engler'] of Plainview-Elgin-Millville is another unheralded guard who is a huge difference-maker for her team. The 5'5 junior's game has taken a giant leap forward this season. She scored 30 points last week against Rushford-Peterson to reach 1,000. We'll have more on Alyvia in a piece we are doing this week on outstate prospects.</li>   <li>[player_tooltip player_id='1048125' first='Clara' last='Keaveny'] of Mayer Lutheran is no stranger to these pages. Even after prioritizing volleyball a couple of years ago, Clara still makes plenty of noise during the high school season including reaching the 1,000 plateau last week. Mayer Lutheran is 10-1 and has been steamrolling opponents by an average of 38 points per game. Clara is usually done for the night shortly after halftime, as a result. Otherwise. she could have reached 1,000 long before now.</li>   <li>[player_tooltip player_id='280354' first='Tucker' last='Downs'] of Mankato West also reached 1,000 points. The junior, who has committed to the University of South Dakota, has missed a notable amount of time due to injuries over the course of her career but continues to put up numbers.</li> </ul>   Three more records of note:   [player_tooltip player_id='205310' first='Tori' last='Oehrlein'] of Crosby-Ironton just might set a record for the most records set before she's through. In our weekly update on the 2026 phenom, we're pleased to report that she posted her third quadruple-double of the season with 30 points, 12 rebounds, 21 assists and 12 steals. The 21 helpers established a new state record for most assists in a game. Tori has committed to the University of Minnesota.   [player_tooltip player_id='396438' first='Addison' last='Pilarski'] of Holdingford posted 19 points, 14 rebounds and 8 blocks last Tuesday against Maple Lake. The senior has been a double-double machine throughout her career and has now surpassed 1,000 career boards.   [player_tooltip player_id='502540' first='Jacey' last='Swanson'] of St. James is an elite passer whose 4 assists against Pipestone on Tuesday made her the all-time assists leader for the Saints with 511 and counting. She broke the school record of 508 that had been set by Lisa Olson from the class of 1996.

Eight weeks down, eight more to go. It's hard to believe it but we have already reached the midway point of the Minnesota girls high school basketball season. There have been plenty of highlights, and no shortage of surprises. Although Providence Academy clearly has a stranglehold on Class 2A competition, the other three classes appear to be wide open. We'll likely take look at some of the individual and team performances of note later in the week. For now, let's focus on what we observed during The Week That Was #8.