Summer Jam Sunday: North Tartans best hang on to the hardware

<p><span style="color:black">When preparing for a game against Nike North Tartan 11th EYBL, it’s probably best that opposing coaches not spend too much time overanalyzing the roster. Let’s just say that could be daunting considering Tartan has five of the top 10 players in Minnesota’s class of 2018 with another four in the top 25. It’s an arsenal with ample supply of size, speed and smarts. The only unranked player is guard Zoe Young, and that’s only because she’s from Iowa! In Sunday’s championship game of the Lake Minnetonka Division at the Summer Jam, the host team from North Tartan demonstrated its capabilities rather well in a convincing 52-35 win over Minnesota Stars Hersch 11. It was one of 17 championship games played on Sunday.</span></p> <p><span style="color:black">The number one ranked player in the class of 2018 is 5-10 combo guard <strong>Sam Haiby</strong> of Moorhead, who recently committed to Nebraska of the Big Ten. Haiby is very strong and very athletic. She can beat you in a variety of ways, driving to the rim with authority and hitting from three on a regular basis. She is an athletic speedster who averaged 24 points a game for the Spuds. Haiby was very good on Sunday with 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, a block and an assist. (Thanks as always to numbers guru Kevin Anderson for the detailed stats!) Power forward <strong>Megan Walstad</strong> of Eastview was equally good. At 6-foot-2, the #4 ranked Walstad is a handful. She’s strong and aggressive and mentally tough. At one point on Sunday she went tumbling into the end bleachers head first, taking a pretty scary blow. She got up slowly, shook off the cobwebs, and promptly scored the game’s next basket. Walstad has committed to Milwaukee. </span></p> <p><span style="color:black">I could go on and on about the talent on this team, from #9 <strong>Kayla Mershon</strong> (Nebraska) and #10 <strong>Megan Walker</strong> (Lehigh), both of Minnetonka, to #14 <strong>Emma Grothaus</strong> of Mahtomedi (another Lehigh commit) and forward <strong>Sydney Stapleton</strong> of Centennial, ranked #20 and heading to South Dakota State. The one other player I really liked on Sunday was 5th-ranked <strong>Maesyn Thiesen</strong> of Sauk Centre. Minnesota&#39;s quintessential point guard, Thiesen has an outstanding basketball IQ and great court vision. She is also one of the state&#39;s best perimeter defenders.</span> On this day, Thiesen ran the North Tartan offense as well as it needed to be run to take home the trophy.</p> <p><span style="color:black">Make no mistake, North Tartan beat a talented Stars squad, and we have written plenty over the past few weeks about the individuals who make that team go. This was the third time this summer season that Stars Hersch has suffered defeat at the hands of North Tartan. The Stars had Tartan down by 11 at halftime in the AAU State Qualifier before eventually losing by seven. In the state championship, North Tartan won by 24. Hersch is 27-5 on the season, with the other two losses coming at the Deep South Classic in North Carolina by three total points. They have captured three tournament titles and have wins over the Minnesota Fury’s best 2018 squad, two over North Tartan 11th Elite, two against Metro Stars Weise and one over Tayler Hill Elite. On Saturday, Hersch knocked off the top team from the powerful All Iowa Attack club, but on Sunday there was little the Stars could do about mighty North Tartan. </span></p>