Tony’s Week 3 Takeaways

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another incredible week of hoops in the books! We saw some overtime thrillers, some great individual performances and a nice crop of young up-and-coming players making major contributions on both sides of the ball. Just a reminder that it's not all about wins and losses, but how players are showing up and showing out!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">[player_tooltip player_id='339197' first='Olivia' last='Wren'] - 2024 guard - Minneapolis Roosevelt</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wren led her Roosevelt Teddies to a 2-0 record last week by doing what she does best, staying poised and attacking the basket. The Kirkwood Community College commit is playing off the ball more than she ever has this season based on the needs of the team, but when the Teddies need a basket, they know who to call on. Against St. Anthony Village, Roosevelt trailed for most of the contest, but Wren spearheaded a defensive charge in the 2nd half and the Teddies went from down 7 late to go on to win by 10, 52-42. Wren led the team with 15 points and also snatched 10 rebounds to record a double-double. She followed that up with 20-point performance against Burnsville on Friday to lead her squad to their 3rd straight win after starting 0-2. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Kyla Laguda - 2027 guard - Cretin-Derham Hall</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I can't stress enough how often I share with parents and young players how scoring isn't the only way you can earn minutes and make an impact on a game. Laguda was the poster child for those very sentiments in Cretin's upset victory over rival Stillwater, a team CDH hadn't beat for at least 5 years. It was due to some big-time defense from a freshman on one of Minnesota's premier scorers. There's no disputing how great of a game the South Florida commit [player_tooltip player_id='178274' first='Amy' last='Thompson'] had, tallying a game high 31 points, but it was Laguda's defense down the stretch on Thompson that told the tale. Laguda's on-ball pressure defense forced Thompson into an over-and-back turnover and then was able to block a shot attempt a few plays later to help CDH pull off the thrilling win in OT 65-64. Laguda averaged just under 8 points a game off the bench during the week to help CDH go 3-0 and improve to 3-1 on the season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">[player_tooltip player_id='208185' first='Liana' last='Buckhalton'] - 2025 guard - Stillwater</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Buckhalton, the 11th-ranked prospect in the 2025 class, showed just how much her Stillwater Ponies value her presence on the court in a game against Woodbury last week that had the Ponies trailing by 11 at halftime, 35-24. To put things in perspective, the margin of victory had been north of 30 over the last 6 meetings for the Ponies over the Royals. Buckhalton picked up 3 fouls midway though the 1st half so she was relegated to the bench, and Woodbury took full advantage. Senior forward [player_tooltip player_id='304905' first='Mattea' last='Henry'] benefited the most from Buckhalton's absence, scoring 10 first-half points along with grabbing boards and hitting teammates for back-breaking 3's to thwart any Stillwater push. The Royals and their crowd was fired up going into the half. Fast forward to the 2nd half and Buckhalton got busy right out of the break. She was all over the court blocking shots, shooting the passing lane for steals leading to fast break buckets while also knocking down a couple of 3's showing off her substantial range. Her defense on Henry in the 2nd half was also a factor as Mattea only scored 2 points to finish with a team-high 12 for the game. Buckhalton would finish with 14 points but it was her defensive energy that seemed to be infectious as the whole Stillwater squad tightened up to hold the Royals to 21 second half points to pull away for a 71-56 victory. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">[player_tooltip player_id='520270' first='Harley' last='Wock'] - 2025 guard - Minnetonka</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There is no doubt that the Skippers will only go as far as [player_tooltip player_id='252387' first='Aaliyah' last='Crump'], [player_tooltip player_id='252383' first='Lanelle' last='Wright'] and future Golden Gopher [player_tooltip player_id='215958' first='Tori' last='McKinney'] takes them. While you need a certain element of star power, you also need players who are willing to sacrifice parts of their game for the greater good and overall team success. We've written about Wock's athleticism and trajectory a few times, but I'd be remiss to not show her some love with the overall effort she displayed in the 69-36 triumph over the Chaska Hawks. Junior [player_tooltip player_id='346160' first='Ella' last='Keenan'] has been on tear thus far though the early parts of the season, but Wock, with the primary defensive responsibilities, held the 2025 top 25 prospect to just 13 points and every one of them was earned. Along with just being a physical nuisance, Wock created extra possessions by being active on the offensive boards, getting deflections and forcing jump balls. You just don't find many players willing to put on the hard hat and do the dirty work, and that's why Wock will be a key cog in the success of the Skippers. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">[player_tooltip player_id='350105' first='Gabby' last='Fors'] - 2024 guard - Eastview</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Through 6 games this season the Lightning are 4-2. If you toss out the Hopkins game, and get a few favorable bounces against Maple Grove, the Lightning are sitting at 5-1, but unfortunately that's not how it works. Eastview features a pretty dynamic starting backcourt in [player_tooltip player_id='520263' first='Bra'ja' last='Torry'] and [player_tooltip player_id='212488' first='Myah' last='Maull'], but coming off the bench with some senior poise is [player_tooltip player_id='350105' first='Gabby' last='Fors']. Fors (pictured above) has been a mainstay with the [program_tooltip program_id='712362' first='Legacy' last='Hoops'] AAU program and just keeps getting better every year. Fast forward to the present and she's currently 2nd on the team in scoring at just under 10 ppg, and is shooting it very well from beyond the arc. She led the Lighting in scoring in a win over Andover with 18 and had 13 against Hopkins. The Lightning will need Fors to continue to give them veteran leadership and consistent outside shooting, and packaged with how well they defend as a team, they could be a tough out come March.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Other notable performances:</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='453752' first='Aubrey' last='Burkhart'] </strong>- 2025 guard - Southwest Christian</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='178263' first='Laura' last='Hauge'] </strong>- 2024 guard - St. Croix Luthern</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='471360' first='Mya' last='Moore'] </strong>- 2026 guard - Orono</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='304892' first='Anna' last='Vaaler'] </strong>- 2024 forward - Andover</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='850582' first='Allana' last='Bates'] </strong>- 2024 guard - Champlin Park</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->