Nate's 10 Best from Section 6AA Semifinals from St. John's

COLLEGEVILLE-- We headed north up I-94 to watch a doubleheader of section 6AA semifinal games from Sexton Arena on the campus of Saint John’s University. MVP: [player_tooltip player_id="109739" first="Paige" last="Meyer"], Guard, Albany ( #16, 2021) If I have a daugther anytime soon and I wanted her to be a basketball star, I’m going to have to name her Paige especially with the track record of guards named Paige in our great state of Minnesota. Albany’s [player_tooltip player_id="109739" first="Paige" last="Meyer"] lived up to her top 20 rankings in the class of 2021 for sure last night. She has a phenomenal shot but is a scrappy guard that got all up in Royal’s frontcourt and gathered 9 rebounds on the night which is more than you can ask from your 5’6 guard. Her 25 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 assists along with being a team motivator on the court gives her my MVP from Wednesday night in Collegeville. This guard is going to have plenty of Division I coaches passing through Albany after it’s all said and done you can quote me on that. Best Senior Guard: [player_tooltip player_id="56232" first="Tori" last="Peschel"], Guard, Sauk Centre ( #34, 2020) St. Cloud State Commit The second game we watched wasn’t as close as Royalton-Albany but the pure dominance of [player_tooltip player_id="56232" first="Tori" last="Peschel"] was superb. Peschel’s length was a problem for the Dragons defenders but her versatility is what impressed me most. She started her night showing off her long stroke but the rest of the night she was all in the paint with her strong drives at the bucket which is where she got about 95% of her scoring on Wednesday night. The Huskies are going to be happy on landing Peschel, as she made the 3 seed from Pine City look like they didn’t belong in that game, as Peschel in the first half had more points than the entire Dragon’s team. Best Big: [player_tooltip player_id="110874" first="Jenna" last="Anderson"], Center, Royalton (#83, 2020) Bemidji State Commit Anderson was the first dominant post player I got to watch this year with Prep Girls Hoops Minnesota. She did face some much stronger competition than St. Cloud Apollo, but she still was in her element as far as being active in the post. A post player doesn’t just pound the rebounds, they also are smart at where exactly they position themselves in the post and being mobile enough to make sure their not causing turnovers with that 3-second rule. Watching Anderson, she did a great job controlling her body even with a bigger forward in Madi Herkenhoff guarding her consistently. It might not be what the Royalton faithful could have wanted, but Anderson will go down as one of the best posts to ever play for the Royals as she takes her talents to the Beavers of Bemidji State next year. Best Defender: Macey Petron, Guard, Royalton (2020) Anderson played well for the Royals, but there wasn’t a better defender at Saint John’s tonight than Petron tonight who gathered 6 steals in the close loss to Albany. She led all players in the team points category for all four teams I watched and has to think that she left every ounce of hard work on the floor for the Royalton Royals who tied a school record this year with 23 wins. Best Game: Albany vs. Royalton When you have one game that was won by 30 points and another that was back and forth and only a seven-point win, you know what one you had to pick. We saw one of the 320’s best senior centers vs. the next top guard to come out of the 320 area code in the 2021 class, so that’s a no brainer why Albany’s win over Royalton gets my "best game" award. Best Plays: [player_tooltip player_id="110874" first="Jenna" last="Anderson"] vs. [player_tooltip player_id="109739" first="Paige" last="Meyer"] and [player_tooltip player_id="109739" first="Paige" last="Meyer"] vs. [player_tooltip player_id="110874" first="Jenna" last="Anderson"] Play 1) Midway through the game [player_tooltip player_id="109739" first="Paige" last="Meyer"] went to the hoop and got blocked into the next county by [player_tooltip player_id="110874" first="Jenna" last="Anderson"] which sent a message that she wasn’t here to play, the Royals were here to contend for section final. Play 2) At the end of the game when Albany got a very small lead with just a few minutes left on the clock the ball was passed to [player_tooltip player_id="110874" first="Jenna" last="Anderson"] at the top of the key. Before Anderson could even think to get a pass off, she got pickpocketed by [player_tooltip player_id="109739" first="Paige" last="Meyer"] who put the icing on the cake and with her fast-break layup sealed the Huskies ticket to the section final game which will be played at St. Cloud State. Best Sisters: [player_tooltip player_id="56236" first="Julia" last="Dammann"] and [player_tooltip player_id="109770" first="Michaela" last="Dammann"], Center, Sauk Centre (2020) Watching these two twins go to work against Pine City was something I’m going to miss in girl’s basketball in the 320 area code. They both are outstanding rebounders that had a total of 15 rebounds on the night. Although Julia and Michaela have a great size they also are not afraid to find the open look from outside if one of their teammates has shot open, which was something I saw consistently in the Pine City game. "The Main Street Towers" of Sauk Centre are going a tough stop for Albany on Friday night. Best Travelling Fans: Royalton I’m not a big numbers guy besides when I take stats but I would say Sexton Arena holds about 3000 people in total. I would say each side of the court holds 1000, and both bleachers behind each basket are about 500 each. I looked up the population of Royalton the other day and found out its around 1200 people. When I got in the gym to go up to my press table, that whole side of the court didn’t have a seat and was filled with maroon and Royals gear. This is why I love small town basketball folks because the whole town is coming to watch you play. I also remember from my game at Apollo earlier in the year, that Royalton is faithful to their Royals and they travel amongst the best I’ve seen in the 80+ teams I’ve covered this year. Best Fight: Madi Herkenhoff, Center, Albany (2022) Having to match up with Anderson’s 6’3 frame is no easy task but young Madi Herkenhoff put her to the test. Herkenhoff carved up two blocks and half a dozen rebounds on the night and with her raw talent, showed some things that could help the Huskies in the frontcourt with some addition to more power and agility down low for the Huskies. Best Freshman: <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/sophie-lahti/">[player_tooltip player_id="108318" first="Sophie" last="Lahti"]</a>, Guard, Pine City (2023) Although Wednesday night’s section semifinal game didn’t turn out well for the Dragons, Lahti showed off some raw talents that have plenty of development left in her game. As a 6’0 guard coming off averaging around 14 points per game as a freshman. I think on some plays tonight, Lahti didn’t fully trust her gut on what to do with the basketball, which you can’t expect a freshman to nail down right away. It’ll be interesting to see the skills Lahti will develop playing for North Tartan this spring and summer. Photo Courtesy of St. Cloud Times. Albany’s [player_tooltip player_id="109739" first="Paige" last="Meyer"] looked like a Division I talent brewing on Wednesday with 25 points, as she sits in the top 20 of our 2021 class.