2020 State Tournament: Class AA Preview

It's like Christmas in Minnesota this week as the Minnesota State Girls Basketball Tournament will take place in Minneapolis on the University of Minnesota campus starting on Wednesday. Today, we'll take a took at Class AA which has the whole state represented in it from Rochester to Pelican Rapids and everywhere in between. Rochester Lourdes got the number 1 seed, but will they make it to Saturday afternoon? Will Pelican Rapids, which has not one player in our prospect rankings, remain undefeated and win Class AA? Or will the team-oriented Wildcats from New London-Spicer get another state title? Or will the power scoring offense of Duluth Marshall take some hardware back to the hill? These are all questions we will get answers to starting tomorrow at two adjoining venues at the University of Minnesota in Williams Arena and Maturi Pavilion. <strong>6 p.m. - #1 ROCHESTER LOURDES vs. #8 CONCORDIA ACADEMY </strong><strong>@ Williams Arena</strong> <strong>Rochester Lourdes Eagles (27-2)</strong> The Eagles are led by North Carolina commit 2020 <strong>#3</strong><strong> [player_tooltip player_id="1917" first="Alyssa" last="Ustby"] </strong>who's length and finesse will overpower almost any guard or forward that goes up against her with her near 28 points per game average. At point guard, the Eagles have <strong>#22 [player_tooltip player_id="109125" first="CJ" last="Adamson"]</strong> who has been a consistent force in the Eagles offense averaging 12 points per game as just a sophomore. A player that's taken her game up a notch in section play was junior guard <strong>Sydney Elliott, </strong>who cashed in as the Eagles stock riser in the section with just over 13 points per game after a regular-season campaign of around 8 ppg. Senior <strong>Anna Otto</strong> is a steadying influence at guard. Freshmen <strong>#39</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="108335" first="Vivica" last="Bretton"] and <strong>#60</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="148325" first="Emily" last="Bowron"] will play important roles. <strong>Concordia Academy Beacons (20-9)</strong> I would say a lot of the metro thought that Minnehaha Academy would be in the tournament, but the sneaky Beacons as a 4 seed in the section are the ones that made it. The Beacons have some strong juniors in the Prep Girls Hoops prospect rankings that are led by combo guard <strong>#38 [player_tooltip player_id="109748" first="Ivane" last="Tensaie"] </strong>who stepped up big against the Redhawks in the section final with 23 points, four more than her season average. At forward, the newest member of the 2021 rankings is <strong>#144 </strong><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="146175" first="Sydney" last="Pelzer"] </strong>who isn't the biggest forward you'll ever see but has a newfound edge to her game we've seen this season. Rounding out the junior Beacons you have <strong>#121 [player_tooltip player_id="109803" first="Grace" last="Landvik"] </strong>who adds a zest of acceleration to this Beacons roster up and down the floor. Senior guard <strong>Gracie Coultas</strong> has played her best basketball this year. <strong style="font-size: 1rem">8 p.m. - #4 PELICAN RAPIDS vs. #5 WASECA @ Williams Arena</strong> <strong>Pelican Rapids Vikings (29-0)</strong> You have to start with <strong>Maddie Guler </strong>for the undefeated Vikings as her last-second buzzer-beater sparked the Vikings faithful to get to Minneapolis in an upset over Fergus Falls. The 5'1 guard is quick and as you've probably seen the video all over Minnesota sports stations, can hit it from long range. She also has raised her stock not only from that shot but near doubling her scoring average in sections when the Vikings needed it most. The Vikings possess a strong forward in 5'10 junior <strong>Greta Tollefson </strong>who averaged 18 points per game this season and is also an excellent rebounder. She scored 27 against Wadena-Deer Creek and had 30 against Frazee. Another grinder in the front court is 5'11 junior <strong>Anna Stephenson </strong>who has dropped multiple 27 point games this season. Pelican Rapids is known best for its defensive play and they'll need to defend well to knock off the Bluejays. <strong>Waseca Bluejays (24-6) </strong> Talk about adversity. Waseca has risen above it. Playing without 2020 guard <strong>#27 [player_tooltip player_id="110535" first="Gus" last="Boyer"] </strong>(UM-Duluth) for more than the last month in the heat of the season, the Bluejays have had to find multiple answers to their success and have done it. The Bluejays play such a balanced game. Boyer's replacement at guard in <strong>Brittney Draeger</strong> has been consistent in section play, doubling her production from the regular season. Alongside her is <strong>#106 [player_tooltip player_id="110888" first="Hannah" last="Potter"]</strong> who when I watched her earlier this season, I thought was one of those "total package" players who can carry the load well from everywhere. Another player that has developed over the past few years and turned into a nice post with lots of strength is Iowa Lakes CC commit <strong>#97 [player_tooltip player_id="110882" first="Rachel" last="Breck"]</strong> who can rebound strongly with her 6'1 frame. Another frontcourt player who has been consistent in section play is freshman center <strong>#52</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="108346" first="Kloe" last="Wadd"]</strong>. <strong>6 p.m. - #3 NEW LONDON-SPICIER vs. #6 DULUTH MARSHALL @ Maturi Pavillion </strong> <strong>New London-Spicer Wildcats (28-1)</strong> You won't find tons of players in our prospect rankings from the Wildcats, but they all know their role on the team and it's gotten them to 28 wins this season. <strong>#144 [player_tooltip player_id="109820" first="Ava" last="Kraemer"] </strong>has been a force at forward and the 6-footer leads the Wildcats in rebounding. Also in that same frontcourt is 6'2 center <strong>Erin Knisley</strong> who is another strong body who plugs up tons of space down low. Another player that averages over 10 rebounds per game is 6'1 junior <strong>Grace DeSchepper</strong> who gives smaller rosters problems. At the guard spots, you have two players in 5'8 junior <strong>Emma Hanson </strong>and 5'7 junior <strong>Mackenzie Rich </strong>who both average over 12 points per game but have created sparks of 20+ points a game multiple times this season which may need to be seen again against the high scoring Hilltoppers from Duluth. NLS coach Mike Dreier has more wins than any coach in the history of Minnesota girls basketball so you know the Wildcats will be ready to go. <strong>Duluth Marshall Hilltoppers (25-5) </strong> The Hilltoppers are surely loaded at the guard position starting with the mobile, ankle-breaking junior, <strong>#7 <span class="playerName" style="font-size: 12pt">[player_tooltip player_id="2126" first="Gianna" last="Kneepkens"] </span></strong><span class="playerName" style="font-size: 12pt">who averaged 32 points per game and is a high-quality Division I prospect coming out of Duluth. Another Division guard is <strong>Grace Kirk </strong>who is committed to Brown next year and is a ball handler's dream and has been on a tear during section play. On the season, she averaged around 22 per game but is up to over 31 points per game and has been hitting threes like no tomorrow shooting almost 60% from deep. These two combine for over 70% of the Hilltoppers offense in the regular season. Junior <strong>Merlea Mrozik</strong> is a defensive presence for Marshall while 5'11 sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="109188" first="Dasia" last="Starks"] and 5'8 sophomore <strong>Laila Monroe</strong> will be important, as well.</span> <strong>8 p.m. - #2 SAUK CENTRE</strong> <strong>vs. #7 PROVIDENCE ACADEMY @ Maturi Pavillion</strong> <strong>Sauk Centre Mainstreeters (28-2)</strong> The leader of this offense is St. Cloud State commit  <strong>#34 [player_tooltip player_id="56232" first="Tori" last="Peschel"]</strong> who brings so much length and can crank it from long range and is a phenomenal driver at the bucket. Down low, you have the <strong><span style="font-size: 12pt">Dammann </span></strong><span style="font-size: 12pt">sisters who can rebound to no end whatsoever. Jamestown commit <strong>#40 [player_tooltip player_id="56236" first="Julia" last="Dammann"]</strong>, in my opinion, is more mobile than her little sister as she showed plenty of range in in the section semifinals I witnessed at St. John's, but junior center <strong>#75 </strong>[player_tooltip player_id="109770" first="Michaela" last="Dammann"] has more length at 6'2 and still has time to develop more of an outside game. Sauk Centre were the 2018 AA champs and Scott Bergman's team could end up back on top this year.</span> <strong>Providence Academy Lions (25-5)</strong> The top seed from Section 5AA has a consistent mix of young up and coming guards, a swift senior point guard, and similar to Sauk Centre, forwards who are sisters. That swift senior guard we mentioned is Sioux Falls commit <strong>#138 <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/hailey-hoehnecker/">[player_tooltip player_id="145081" first="Hailey" last="Hohenecker"]</a> </strong>who brings an "in your face" straight to the bucket spark to the Lions offense. Another impressive freshman guard is <strong>#66 [player_tooltip player_id="148331" first="Kyra" last="Miller"]</strong> who is another "stock riser" who developed an increased scoring spark in section play by more than 4 points per game. Miller is an excellent prospect with a fluid outside shot and a strong build. At forward, we have Counts sisters in <strong>#86 [player_tooltip player_id="57963" first="Maria" last="Counts"]</strong> who's a sophomore, and <strong>#71 [player_tooltip player_id="148338" first="Grace" last="Counts"] </strong>who's a freshman. Maria holds the upper hand in my book as far as grabbing boards, but both sisters are sturdy rebounders who will be needed big time against the Dammann sisters of the Mainstreeters. 6'2 senior <strong>Lauren Kettler</strong> and 5'7 senior guard <strong>Madie Anderson</strong> will also be important for the Lions.