Summer Jam recap: Best of the best in Shakopee

We have seen some pretty good basketball over the past few weeks in spite of the extended layoff and rather odd circumstances surrounding the 2020 summer season. What we haven’t seen a lot of is head-to-head encounters between Minnesota’s very best players and teams. Until this weekend the competition was split between tournaments in Iowa and those taking place on home soil, but the North Tartan Summer Jam managed to bring the top talent together for the first time this season. The result was great competition and some superior performances. Among the state’s highest quality squads in the top four classes, only a couple were missing due to the super strict COVID protocols which mandate that teams sit out under a variety of circumstances that can best be described as overly cautious. As a result we did not see the uber-talented Fury 2023 UAA or North Tartan 2022 EYBL teams but there was still plenty of exceptionally good action. Today we give you the best of the best at Summer Jam – the top half dozen elite performers of the weekend. [player_tooltip player_id="108299" first="Tessa" last="Johnson"] – guard, North Tartan 2021 EYBL (St. Michael-Albertville) Everyone was talking about Tessa’s play this weekend. Even the referees, who are normally oblivious to the specifics of who is playing in a game they are officiating, were buzzing after the final whistle on the things Johnson was getting done on the court. Tessa had a breakout high school season, averaging 19 points per game including a 27-point performance in the state tournament against Farmington. This weekend, on a team loaded with top talent where she plays two years above her grade level, Johnson stood out the most as North Tartan defeated Fury 2021 UAA to win the championship of the top 11th grade division at Summer Jam. Johnson was recently elevated to the #1 spot in the Prep Girls Hoops class of 2023 rankings. This weekend she punctuated that circumstance with a rather loud exclamation point. [player_tooltip player_id="6431" first="Anna" last="Miller"] – forward, North Tartan 2021 EYBL (Rochester Mayo) Very few players anywhere can go toe to toe with Farmington’s 6’4 center [player_tooltip player_id="13045" first="Sophie" last="Hart"]. The North Carolina State commit is a gigantic handful. If North Tartan was going to beat the Fury, Miller would have to match up well with Hart, who is taller, stronger and more sturdily built than the long and lanky Miller. On this day, Anna was up to the task as she more than held her own against Hart just as she did two weeks ago in Des Moines against the #1 player in the 2022 class, [player_tooltip player_id="12712" first="Maya" last="Nnaji"]. The Drake University commit was aggressive, physical and mentally tough. It’s not like one player really got the better of the other on Sunday, but by negating some of Hart’s dominance Miller did what she was tasked to do and North Tartan came out on top. Miller’s game has grown substantially over the past couple of years and Sunday’s performance would have to be considered a high water mark. [player_tooltip player_id="12713" first="Amaya" last="Battle"] – guard, Metro Stars Starks 2022 (Hopkins) This weekend marked the debut of Metro Stars Starks 2022 which boasts a strong roster that includes Battle, the Hopkins point guard who is a top three prospect among Minnesota’s incoming juniors. It was great to see Battle back on the court for the first time since her Hopkins squad saw its quest for another undefeated season and state high school championship scuttled by pandemic fear back in March. Because she has long played in the shadow of the incomparable [player_tooltip player_id="1915" first="Paige" last="Bueckers"], people sometimes forget that Battle is one of the top handful of players in the state regardless of age. This weekend she shook off the rust to lead the Metro Stars to the championship game in the top 2022 division. She was as smooth and smart and skillful as always which is a key reason why the Metro Stars will be in the hunt for a state title this coming weekend. [player_tooltip player_id="178276" first="Katie" last="Vasecka"] – guard, Minnesota Fury 2024 UAA (New Prague) Katie has been the dominant force in the recent past for the Fury’s top team of incoming freshmen. She is super long, extremely skilled, highly intelligent and very, very crafty. This season she has taken a back seat at times to [player_tooltip player_id="177728" first="Olivia" last="Olson"], the elite prospect from Benilde-St. Margaret’s who has grabbed her share of the spotlight and more for the Fury with a string of dazzling performances in July. This weekend Olson was playing with a cast on her right thumb and was quite limited in what she could do. Not to worry because Vasecka was dominant in every sense of the word at both ends of the floor. She can score the basketball any way you want, is a focused defender and an elite talent with a team-first orientation. In the long run both Vasecka and Olson will take center stage among the class of 2024. On this weekend it was Katie’s turn to shine. [player_tooltip player_id="2098" first="Katie" last="Borowicz"] – guard, Minnesota Stars 2021 Hersch (Roseau) Never ever underestimate a Borowicz with a basketball in hand. The youngest of the super sisters from Roseau to grace us with their superior skills and enormous drive is Katie, a University of Minnesota commit who illustrated once again this weekend that she is one of the most dynamic players in this state and beyond. Unfortunately it took a little bit of a stumble by Stars 2021 Hersch on Saturday for Katie to really show what she could do as the squad fell behind by deep double digits to a strong Cal Stars EYBL unit from the West Coast. That’s when Katie went to work with one dazzling possession after another. She scored inside and outside and upside and downside as the visitors scrambled to keep up with her slashing and spinning and shot-making. Borowicz led the home team all the way back to a late lead before the Cali girls escaped on a last second shot. [player_tooltip player_id="12714" first="Mallory" last="Heyer"] – forward, Minnesota Fury 2022 UAA (Chaska) This wasn’t the best of weekends for the Fury’s top 2022 squad, a loaded outfit that is the current state champion among the incoming juniors and boasts a lineup chock-full of Division 1 prospects. The Fury were a little out of sync and dug themselves a deep hole against Minnesota Stars Bjorgaard before winning on a last second shot. They lost by one point to the Metro Stars before ultimately finishing third. One player you can almost always count on, however, is Heyer. Her energy is contagious, her motor is constantly running at full RPM, and she has the physical tools and basketball skill to render defenders helpless much of the time. Regardless of how the team plays on any particular weekend (and they almost always play well) you can be sure Heyer will do her darndest to get the W. One final note: A player who definitely deserves to be on this list is Minnesota Stars 2022 guard [player_tooltip player_id="109139" first="Mackenzie" last="Schweim"] of Mankato East, who turned in an outstanding performance on Sunday to lead her team to the championship in the premier 10th grade division. We’ll feature Kenzie in a separate article coming up shortly. Top photo courtesy of Vanderpool Studios. Left to right: [player_tooltip player_id="108299" first="Tessa" last="Johnson"], [player_tooltip player_id="109760" first="Takara" last="Mason"], Maty Wilke, [player_tooltip player_id="2100" first="Kendall" last="Coley"], [player_tooltip player_id="29521" first="Jenna" last="Guyer"] and [player_tooltip player_id="57120" first="Allison" last="Miranda"].