Count ’em! 14 candidates for our Top Performer for Week #14

<p>It’s our last chance of the regular season to do this, so we’re going to go a little bit crazy with 14 names this week.</p> <p><strong>Candidates</strong></p> <p><strong>Allison Brown, 5-11, forward, and Ellie Hasz, 5-11, freshman, both Pine City</strong></p> <p>Pine City closed out its regular season at 24-3 with 3 wins in which Hasz scored 59 points with 29 boards, 9 assists and 7 steals, while Brown, who will play at St. Kate’s beginning next fall, scored 58 with 26 boards, 7 assists and 11 steals.</p> <p><strong>Krystal Carlson, Hastings, 5-11, forward</strong></p> <p>Carlson closed out her regular season career in great style, leading her team to 2 very close wins, 54-52 at Hill-Murray and 58-50 over Henry Sibley. She scored 26 vs. Sibley, while racking up 17 points, 10 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks against Hill-Murray.</p> <p><strong>Selam Maher, 8th grade, and Breanna Wendland, senior, both Richfield guards</strong></p> <p>The Spartans have had a rough go of it this year, as it has often felt like they were going 2-against-5. But those 2! Breanna Wendland is of course a proven commodity, and she scored 65 points in 2 games last week to finish up the regular season at 19 ppg. Meanwhile, Maher has emerged as a big-time talent, especially as a long-range bomber. She scored 54 points last week for an average of 18, while also bringing her total of 3-pointers to 85, 2nd best in the state.</p> <p><strong>Abbey McDonald, Hibbing, 5-4, junior, guard</strong></p> <p>McDonald continued her stellar play, scoring 47 points in 2 wins, including a 62-58 OT win over highly-ranked Hermantown.</p> <p><strong>Sam Pogatchnik, Proctor, 5-9, sophomore, guard</strong></p> <p>Pogatchnik continued to lead Proctor’s big breakout season. Sam scored a total of 59 points as Proctor won 3 games by an average margin in 62-32.</p> <p><strong>Sara Scalia, Stillwater, 5-8, junior, combo guard</strong></p> <p>Scalia continued her season-long hot shooting in scoring 61 points to lead Stillwater to a pair of big wins—83-55 over Suburban East champion Cretin-Derham Hall, then 90-67 in the Ponies’ regular season finale over St. Francis. As a result, she is now 5th in scoring in the state at 26.5 ppg, and 1st in 3-point shooting with 88 of the long bombs.</p> <p><strong>Annaleise Tschida, Lakeville North, 5-9, junior, guard</strong></p> <p>With Lauren Jensen out with an injury, Tschida stepped up to score 30 points in a 74-61 win over Farmington. She then added 15 points as North defeated arch-rival Lakeville South 61-53.</p> <p><strong>Makayla Van Nett, St. Paul Como Park, 5-9, senior, shooting guard</strong></p> <p>You wouldn’t know that Van Nett was battling a painful stress fracture in her right foot, as she scored 55 points in 2 games, including 28 as Como Park won the TC Game Saturday vs. Mpls. South 80-74 for a record-tying 4th straight year. Earlier she scored 27 in a 74-45 rout of St. Paul Central to conclude an unbeaten season in the conference.</p> <p><strong>Shanice Vaughan, Mpls. Edison, 5-10, senior, combo guard</strong></p> <p>Vaughan closed out her regular season career with a career-high 42 points as Edison defeated Mounds Park 79-64.</p> <p><strong>29 is the number</strong></p> <p>Three players played in just one game last week, and scored exactly 29 points. They are Paige Bueckers, Hopkins sophomore guard; Mary Burke, Mountain Iron-Buhl senior post; and Brooklyn DeKam, Southwest MN Christian senior wing.</p>