AAU Week #9: Reaping rewards on the PGH Circuit

The Prep Girls Hoops Circuit was created for one reason: To give athletes on lesser-known AAU teams the opportunity to shine on a bigger stage. For the second year in a row, it has done just that across the country. We spent the weekend at the PGH Circuit Legacy Region Finals. The event at Wayzata High School brought together teams from across the Midwest to determine the regional champions and offer one final showcase opportunity for 2022. That’s the focus here in our recap of AAU Week #9. <strong>SHINING ON A BIGGER STAGE</strong> The PGH Circuit was made for programs like West Central United. The Alexandria-based club has had success regionally in recent years, and they’ve produced a number of very nice college players. When they joined the Circuit last season, however, the stakes became a lot higher, the competition was challenging and the number of opportunities for exposure grew exponentially. West Central’s 2023 and 2025 squads certainly made the most of it. The 2023 team (top photo) has had a lot of success and no two players have gained more notoriety on the Circuit than Perham High School teammates [player_tooltip player_id="220846" first="Mya" last="Morris"] and [player_tooltip player_id="178271" first="Willow" last="Thiel"]. The 2023 point guard Morris and the 2024 post player Thiel have established themselves as very good next-level prospects. We’ll be naming our 17U All-Tournament Team tomorrow and you shouldn’t be surprised if both players make it into such select company. They have been consistently excellent. Morris is averaging 13.2 points and 5.2 assists per game. She’s shooting 47% from the field, including a very impressive 44% from beyond the arc. She’s made 79 threes this spring. The 5’11 Thiel is a beast down low. She’s averaging 11.7 points and 7.3 rebounds with a shooting percentage of 54 and 106 two-point makes. That’s heady stuff, and the two leaders aren’t alone. 5’10 <strong>Katelyn Vesledahl</strong> of Fosston (6.4 points, 4.6 rebounds) is also shooting over 50% Six more players are in the 40-49% range including big [player_tooltip player_id="389635" first="Jacee" last="Hauser"] of Detroit Lakes, a 5’10 prospect who is built like a power forward, has the skills of a guard, and is averaging 7 and 7. Shooting guard <strong>Sydney Strand</strong> of  Barnesville is working her way back from a torn ACL and has next-level tools, as well. It’s an impressive group, and the 2023s made it to the final four again this weekend. The 2025s are even more talented. 6’3 post [player_tooltip player_id="396422" first="Tory" last="Jennissen"] of Sauk Centre, currently rated #21 in Minnesota’s freshman class, is now on everyone’s radar. She’s averaging 11 points, 12 rebounds and nearly 4 blocks per game. Ditto for crafty point guard #58 [player_tooltip player_id="396428" first="Allie" last="Haabala"] of Alexandria, who leads the team in scoring, steals and assists. Twins [player_tooltip player_id="396437" first="Aubrey" last="Morrison"] and <strong>Avery Morrison</strong> of Walker-Hackensack-Akeley are skilled guards. Lengthy guards <strong>Sydney Dahl</strong> and <strong>Megan Thorfinnson</strong> of Minnewaska have the tools to be next-level players, as well, as do <strong>Halle Eischens</strong> of Park Rapids and more. It is a formidable group. All of these West Central United kids may have been noticed eventually, but by competing on the PGH Circuit the past two years college coaches know about all of them now. That’s the whole point. <strong>MINNESOTA DIAMOND ELITE SHOWED OFF ITS GEMS</strong> Of course WCU wasn’t the only program to raise its profile, improve its level of performance and offer its players a whole lot more exposure than they had ever had before. Minnesota Diamond Elite is a two-year-old brand that emerged out of the former Lady Get Shook program. For years they have had talented kids, but with traditional tournaments almost always relegating their teams to lower pools and secondary courts it was difficult to showcase their wares. This season MDE was front and center. At Wayzata this weekend, we saw some great stuff from 2023s like [player_tooltip player_id="148330" first="Ella" last="Pritchard"], [player_tooltip player_id="302265" first="Shyla" last="Moore"], [player_tooltip player_id="148332" first="Ashlee" last="Burchette"], <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="436099" first="Zhane" last="Singer"]</strong> and <strong>Anna Rynkiewich.</strong> The top team went 3-1 on the weekend, including an impressive win over Let It Rain Black in their final game. They are an aggressive, fast, physical group. The 2024s were equally impressive as they knocked off Iowa Prep, Air Minnesota and Let it Rain, losing their other two games by a combined three points. Minneapolis Roosevelt guards [player_tooltip player_id="339197" first="Olivia" last="Wren"] and <strong>Jaida Walker</strong> did great work, Minneapolis Southwest guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="418240" first="Rebekah" last="Gendler"]</strong> showed off her significant improvement, and 6’1 forward <strong>Raina Hartman</strong> of Roosevelt turned some heads, too. The 2025s didn’t have their best results in the finale, but several of the kids continued to build solid reputations for themselves, including newcomer <strong>Desi Chappell</strong> of Richfield, <strong>Aeyva Howard</strong> of Cooper, <strong>Elayna Marinaro</strong> of Roseville and <strong>Brielle Pankake</strong> of Shakopee. We didn’t get to watch the 2026s this time but we will soon.  Because of the exposure they gained on the PGH Circuit, and how they improved over the past few weeks playing against strong regional competition, there will be several new players in the Prep Girls Hoops rankings from both Diamond Elite and West Central United. <strong>AIR MINNESOTA &amp; THE CITY EARNED ACCOLADES</strong> At the Legacy Region event in Omaha a few weeks back we profiled a ton of players from Air Minnesota of Rochester. This was their second year on the circuit, as well, and the improvement was palpable. Numerous players emerged as strong college prospects from the Air Minnesota teams, including 2024s <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="432490" first="Kiru" last="Othow"]</strong> of Austin and her Packers teammate 2025 <strong>Ajiem Agwa</strong>. Her fellow 2025s from Owatonna – <strong>Kennedy Schammel</strong>, <strong>Maryn Pool</strong>, and <strong>Lexie Klecker</strong> – plus <strong>Carmen Kadlec</strong> of Rochester Lourdes are all going to make a ton of noise going forward. Ditto for 2026s <strong>Betsy Gillette</strong> of Hayfield, <strong>Jensyn Storhoff</strong> of Lanesboro and <strong>Lalie Scaccio</strong> of Lourdes. No Minnesota team showed more on the PGH Circuit than The City 2025 Black, which captured its second consecutive Legacy Region Championship on Sunday. The second-half show put on by [player_tooltip player_id="296527" first="Aneisha" last="Scott"] of DeLaSalle and [player_tooltip player_id="215457" first="London" last="Harris"] of Hopkins was one of the very best we’ve seen all summer. Scott dazzled at both ends of the court and made a case that she should move up from her current ranking of #29 In the Class of 2025. Harris, ranked #34, demonstrated how much more consistent she has become and how much her game has grown in the past year. Other players raised their profiles substantially, too, including <strong>Addie Dolan</strong> of Hopkins, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="339170" first="Ella" last="Hardwick"]</strong> of Eden Prairie and <strong>Jordyn Cooke</strong> of Cooper. #35 [player_tooltip player_id="339206" first="Maliyah" last="White"] of DeLaSalle continued to put up numbers and [player_tooltip player_id="296514" first="Alaya" last="Carter"] of Prior Lake confirmed that she is a Top 15 prospect in the Class of 2025. The City prevailed by a score of 65-57 over Wisconsin Lady Shooters in the championship game. If they can stay together, this group is going to win a lot of hardware before they are done. <strong>COMING UP</strong> Over the next couple of days we’ll have the 17U All-Tournament team for you. Our colleagues Brady Peterson in Wisconsin and Rudy Ruffin in Minnesota will bring you the other All-Tournament squads. We’ll also look at some fresh faces and stock risers from the Legacy Region Championship. This coming weekend we’re back to local coverage once again, splitting our time between the Minnesota Stars Summer Kickoff and Crossfire’s Battle on the Hardwood. In between all of that we are preparing to release the 2026 Watch List and updating the rankings for 2023, 2024 and 2025 during the month of June as the summer of 2022 keeps on keeping on.