The Week That Was No. 6: Gifts from Granite City

There's no doubt the Granite City Classic in the St. Cloud region is one of the top events of the year – biggest field, most venues, and the scene of some of the most dramatic contests we've seen in recent seasons. But not every great matchup on paper lives up to expectations. From our courtside perch at the College of St. Benedict, we watched this year's edition become blowout city.   That wasn't the case at every tournament site, however, with a few tight contests elsewhere – most notably Farmington's surprising three-point wins over Totino-Grace and Chanhassen, and a double-overtime thriller where Class 2A Pequot Lakes edged 4A Spring Lake Park by a score of 49-46. Still, Granite City delivered plenty of entertaining performances – and that's the focus of our recap of The Week That Was 6: Gifts from Granite City.   Nailbiters? Not!   The day after Christmas often brings some sluggish basketball, especially in the early games. That's understandable. Less than 24 hours removed from the holiday feast and groggy from an early morning bus ride, some teams clearly need time to find their groove. New Prague came into the tournament on a three-game win streak but fell behind early against a speedy DeLaSalle squad. The Trojans never recovered. [player_tooltip player_id='667778' first='Laila' last='Moses'] and [player_tooltip player_id='992385' first='Anaya' last='Shaffa'] combined for 32 points in the win, while North Dakota State commit [player_tooltip player_id='595199' first='Maya' last='Kilian'] of New Prague was held to just 5 points – 15 below her season average.   The trend continued throughout the day as Hopkins beat Fargo Davies by 34, Minnetonka trounced Alexandria by 27 and Byron topped Becker by 22. In the closest contest we watched Lakeville North edged Duluth Marshall 46-42.   Saturday produced similar margins: Orono beat St. Michael-Albertville by 27, Hopkins topped Lakeville North by 32, Minnetonka beat Fargo Shanley by 25, Wayzata trounced DeLaSalle by 52, Duluth Marshall beat a shorthanded Goodhue team by 33, and Hillcrest Lutheran topped Royalton by 26. In the only close contest, Maple Grove beat Byron 61-51, even without Montana commit [player_tooltip player_id='344332' first='Kate' last='Holmquist'] whose hand is in a cast at the moment.   Game of the Week & Player of the Week   Despite a lopsided final score, Orono's 88–61 win over STMA was the most compelling game of the weekend thanks to [player_tooltip player_id='471360' first='Mya' last='Moore'], the Creighton commit who exploded for a career-high 42 points to earn Player of the Week honors.   Orono had cruised past Anoka 81-20 in its Friday opener, leading 50-6 at halftime. Moore tallied just 15 before exiting early. On Saturday morning the Spartans were sluggish as STMA came out firing and built a quick 15-5 lead. Orono was ice-cold. After a pair of timeout reminders from Coach Chris Bjorgaard, the Spartans finally adjusted – realizing they'd been launching from the college three-point line instead of the high school arc. Sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id='815078' first='Zoey' last='Johnston'] sparked the turnaround, hitting from the corner at 6:48 to cut the deficit to four, then again from the same spot at 5:30 to make it a two-point game. A [player_tooltip player_id='471360' first='Mya' last='Moore'] layup gave Orono the lead, and when Johnston nailed her third triple of the period, the Spartans were up 39-28, capping a 34-13 run. They led by 10 at the half.   Moore hit back-to-back threes to open the second half, followed by a transition bucket from her younger sister [player_tooltip player_id='644898' first='Ally' last='Moore'], pushing the margin to 16. From there, it was all Orono. Mya exited with 2:30 left and 42 points on the board, finishing 13-for-18 on two-point attempts and 4-for-9 from deep. According to Kevin Anderson (<a href="https://kjasr.com/live/">kjasr.com</a>) – whose detailed analytics have long been the go-to source for stat heads across the state – it was the top single-game performance he's tracked this season. That's saying something!   Milestones   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>[player_tooltip player_id='764222' first='Olivia' last='Bungum'] (United South Central) dropped 31 points in a win over Martin County West to reach 1,475 career points, breaking Shianne Robertson's program record set in 2017. Bungum is ranked #55 in Minnesota's junior class.</li>   <li>[player_tooltip player_id='578467' first='Amisha' last='Ramlall'] (Rosemount) became the school's all-time leader in made three-pointers with 201, surpassing the great Maddy Olson, a 2017 grad who went on to MSU-Mankato. Ramlall is a University of Minnesota commit and the #3-ranked prospect in the Class of 2027.</li>   <li>[player_tooltip player_id='600748' first='Kaja' last='Nash'] (Wayzata) reached 1,000 career points in the Trojans' win over DeLaSalle, triggering a celebration after sinking a sweet step-back three. Nash is a Division 1 prospect ranked among the top 25 juniors in Minnesota.</li> </ul>   Coming Up   The holiday tournament slate continues across Minnesota, though a few Monday matchups were postponed or canceled due to the winter storm that swept through the region on Sunday. Some games to watch this week include:   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Rosemount vs Eden Prairie (Tuesday at 4:15 p.m. at Eastview)</li>   <li>Wayzata at Cretin-Derham Hall (Tuesday at 7 p.m.)</li>   <li>Rock Ridge at Monticello (Wednesday at 2:15 p.m.)</li> </ul>   We'll be back on the road Saturday at the Breakdown Southern Minnesota Hoops Fest, with games spread across Byron, Rochester, Goodhue, and Kasson-Mantorville. Top matchups include:   <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Northfield vs. Woodbury (10:30 a.m. at Byron)</li>   <li>Delano vs. Stewartville (2:45 p.m. at KM)</li>   <li>Lakeville South vs. Rochester Mayo (6:15 p.m. at Mayo)</li> </ul>

There's no doubt the Granite City Classic in the St. Cloud region is one of the top events of the year – biggest field, most venues, and the scene of some of the most dramatic contests we've seen in recent seasons. But not every great matchup on paper lives up to expectations. From our courtside perch at the College of St. Benedict, we watched this year's edition become blowout city.