The Week That Was #15: One last weekly recap

Welcome to the final installment of our Week That Was series for the 2024-25 campaign – edition #15. With the regular season having come to an end, so do our weekly recaps. We started this feature more than five years ago as a collection of odds and ends from the previous week's play. It evolved into a place to recognize achievements – scoring milestones, school records and the like – and individual players who deserved a shoutout beyond what we could do on Twitter or in other articles. What began as an experiment has evolved into a staple of our high school coverage that draws a large audience every week. We appreciate your support!   Of course, the high school season is not over. In fact, we are now in the most important segment – the playoffs – with the State Tournament on the horizon beginning March 12. There were some terrific games last week and many promising matchups in the days to come.   SMALL SCHOOLS, BIG GAMES   One of the challenges to covering section play is there are so many games in so many locations all taking place at the same time. We used to pick a location or two and cover a couple of games at each one. Now we use multiple screens and monitor several games all at once. The only problem with that is the lack of consistency in streaming options from one section to another. Kudos to those that get it right. Section 1 in southeastern Minnesota, for example, had great coverage on the NSPN platform live and available for replay.   A big thumbs down to those sections who want big dollars from anyone wanting to provide livestreaming because they are afraid it will negatively impact attendance. But this isn't 2005. Every single game in every single section should be available online, either free or for a reasonable charge. It works in the regular season; it can work in the post-season, too.   Nobody did a better job of covering the playoffs online during Week #15 than Christensen Broadcasting. Their livestream from Section 3 at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall was exceptional. So was the Class A game I watched via their livestream Friday night featuring MACCRAY versus Central Minnesota Christian. It wasn't the prettiest contest – turnovers, turnovers, turnovers – but the atmosphere and intensity were off the charts.   This type of game is what sections play is is all about in Greater Minnesota when the small school powers go head-to-head and the entire town turns out. CMC (enrollment 90) is located in Prinsburg, population 504. Just 10 miles to the west is MACCRAY (enrollment 166). The combined population of the three towns that form the school district – Clara City, Maynard and Raymond – is 2,512. The schools may not be familiar to most, but if you are a Prep Girls Hoops subscriber you are certainly familiar with the star attractions of the evening: [player_tooltip player_id='515673' first='Brielle' last='Janssen'] of MACCRAY and [player_tooltip player_id='766677' first='Sienna' last='Duininck'] of CMC.   Janssen has been a regular in our weekly recaps because she continues to rewrite the record books. Ranked #14 In the Class of 2026, the 6'1 guard has committed to MSU-Mankato. Duininck is a top 25 sophomore in the state, a super-skilled guard who should get scholarship opportunities at the next level. I'm not sure what the paid attendance was for Friday's games but the fans showed up in droves and definitely got their money's worth.   MACCRAY assigned two players to face-guard Duininck throughout, and the strategy worked. CMC was able to contain Janssen for much of the contest, too, but she broke free in the latter stages. With her athleticism, elevation, length and touch, there was no stopping Brielle when she attacked the paint and scored on the floater. The play-by-play announcer kept calling her ‘The Condor' which is as good a description as any. Janssen finished with 19 points and a remarkable 24 rebounds in the 49-41 victory.   MACCRAY will now face Hills-Beaver Creek on Thursday at 8 p.m. at SMSU in the finals of Section 3A, which has been dominated for years by Minneota. The Vikings represented the section 11 times in a 13-year period through 2023, winning three state championships along the way. Minneota was ousted by MACCRAY 63-62 in the subsection semifinals. Janssen led the way in that one with 36 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. She went 13-for-14 at the free throw line.   COMING UP   There were plenty of great section contests. Minnetonka's 65-64 victory over Prior Lake was dramatic. Chaska's 66-64 upset of Eden Prairie was no less intriguing as senior forward [player_tooltip player_id='346160' first='Ella' last='Keenan'] sent the game to an extra period at the free throw line and then won it with a bucket in the paint in overtime. New Ulm scored a narrow 65-64 win over their rivals from St. Peter to advance. We enjoyed watching Royalton's 49-43 defeat of Albany to keep their unbeaten season going. All of that set up some nice matchups for the days ahead as all of the State Tournament participants will be decided by Friday night.   Here are the best matchups on the docket so far:   Tuesday   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Lester Prairie at Mayer Lutheran (Section 4A semifinal)</li>   <li>Hillcrest Lutheran vs Underwood at Perham HS (6A North subsection final)</li> </ul>   Wednesday   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Crosby-Ironton vs Pequot Lakes (7AA semifinal) at UM-Duluth</li>   <li>Proctor vs Duluth Marshall (7AA semifinal) at UM-Duluth</li>   <li>Marshall vs New Ulm (2AAA final) at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter</li> </ul>   Thursday   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Chaska at Minnetonka (2AAAA final)</li>   <li>Hopkins at Wayzata (6AAAA final)</li>   <li>Hill-Murray at DeLaSalle (4AAA final)</li>   <li>Totino-Grace at Monticello (5AAA final)</li>   <li>Benilde-St. Margaret's at Orono (6AAA final)</li> </ul>   Friday   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Lakeville North vs Rochester Mayo (1AAAA final) at Mayo Civic Center</li>   <li>Byron vs Stewartville (1AAA) at Mayo Civic Center</li> </ul>   I will also be covering the Summit League college tournament Thursday through Sunday where 4th-seeded St. Thomas will open against North Dakota on Friday. The league is loaded with athletes who played their high school ball in Minnesota and always produces some fun mid-major basketball. South Dakota State went undefeated again in the regular season at 16-0 and is heavily favored to win the tournament and advance to the NCAA dance as a result. I will be providing updates on Twitter throughout.   MILESTONES   [player_tooltip player_id='396431' first='Gabrielle' last='Fineday'] of Cass Lake-Bena reached a remarkable 3,000 career points last week pushing her to 27th place on the all-time state scoring list. Pictured above, Gabby is one of the premier shooters in the state, a dynamic guard who can change the course of a game with her ability to put the ball in the basket. We'll miss watching her work, but she won't be too far away. Fineday will compete next season for D2 Bemidji State.   [player_tooltip player_id='453733' first='Emily' last='Anderson'] of Martin County West reached 2,000 career points last week in a section 2A victory. She has committed to UW-River Falls.   [player_tooltip player_id='595564' first='Abby' last='John'] of Barnesville also reached 2,000 points for her high school career. The top 40 senior has signed with D2 MSU-Moorhead.   [player_tooltip player_id='502551' first='Brooklin' last='Hinze'] of St. Clair became her school's all-time scoring leader for boys or girls. The junior guard broke the record of 1,975 that was set 21 years ago.   [player_tooltip player_id='296513' first='Bree' last='Bowman'] – The senior wing reached 1,000 career points despite missing substantial time over the years due to injury. Committed to D1 Colorado State, the top 10 senior bested 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocked shots for her career.   Here are the rest of the recent 1,000-point scorers:   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Senior [player_tooltip player_id='854902' first='Ella' last='Stoskopf'] of Kasson-Mantorville</li>   <li>Senior [player_tooltip player_id='296530' first='Gracie' last='Winge'] of Lakeville North</li>   <li>Senior [player_tooltip player_id='471192' first='Isabelle' last='Kirchner'] of Two Rivers</li>   <li>Senior [player_tooltip player_id='339126' first='Maddie' last='Backer'] of New Ulm</li>   <li>Senior [player_tooltip player_id='296522' first='Madelynn' last='Luft'] of Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg</li>   <li>Senior Naima Michael-Crushshon of Blake</li>   <li>Senior [player_tooltip player_id='339192' first='Leilani' last='Abraham'] of St. Anthony Village</li>   <li>Junior [player_tooltip player_id='782551' first='Allison' last='Lundin'] of Northome-Kelliher</li>   <li>Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='659121' first='Anna' last='Neyens'] of Mountain Iron-Buhl</li>   <li></li> </ul>   Correction: In an earlier version of this article we said that junior [player_tooltip player_id='502561' first='Marta' last='Forsline'] of Mesabi East had reached 1,000 points. The milestone was actually 1,000 rebounds. She's only about 50 points shy of 2,000 for her career.

Welcome to the final installment of our Week That Was series for the 2024-25 campaign – edition #15. With the regular season having come to an end, so do our weekly recaps. We started this feature more than five years ago as a collection of odds and ends from the previous week's play. It evolved into a place to recognize achievements – scoring milestones, school records and the like – and individual players who deserved a shoutout beyond what we could do on Twitter or in other articles. What began as an experiment has evolved into a staple of our high school coverage that draws a large audience every week. We appreciate your support!