The single biggest day of girls basketball in Minnesota–Saturday at the Breakdown Tip-Off Classic–is in the books. Think about it. 15 games, 30 teams, every single one of them, well, except for one, rated in Minnesota’s top 20, 16 of those 19 in the top 10, and the only team not ranked in Minnesota’s top 20 was Hortonville, WI. The best games of the day rank right up there with the best games of the 2nd best day of girls basketball each year, and that is the 12 games of the 1st round of the state tournament, and the worst games on Saturday were a lot better than the worst games in the 1st round of state tournament play.
So here, first, is a summary of those 15 games. And, then, below, is our list of the top individual performers. Oh, yeah, the rankings shown here represent my own special sauce. It’s a composite of the Breakdown book, the Minnesota Basketball News rankings (which are actually compiled by Kevin Anderson), and my own top 20.
Breakdown Tip-Off Day 2
#2AA Albany 84 #5AA Duluth Marshall 65. I’ll be reporting this game in detail in a separate post.
#10AA Jordan 75 #15AA Visitation 57. More to the point, this one matched up the #5 junior in the state, Viz’ 6-0 shooting guard Sam Wills, and the #8 sophomore, 6-0 Morgan Staloch of Jordan, and the matchup went to Jordan and Staloch. This was my 1st exposure to Staloch, and she is a stunning talent–long, mobile, smooth as silk, highly skilled in every phase, she knows how to play the game. 6 of the 7 girls who rank ahead of her among the 2026’s played in the Tip-Off, and based on yesterday, at least, I could see Staloch at #2, 3, 4. She led all scorers with 28. Wills was very good, too; a little more athletic and explosive than Staloch, she finished with 18.
#4AAA DeLaSalle 74 #2AAA Alexandria 64. By the numbers, this is an upset. But, seriously, it’s almost never an upset when DeLaSalle wins. Alex kept it a one-possession game at late as 67-64 at the 2 minute mark but De scored the last 7 points. 5-7 junior point guard Aneisha Scott–small but tough, tenacious and highly skilled–made 5-of-6 FT and assisted on a Taylor Starks 2. She finished with 36 points. Alex coach Wendy Kohler has her 4 juniors and a sophomore quintet playing at a high pace and with precision, but they could not quite match De’s size and strength inside. Junior wing Hadley Thul, 6-2 but rail-thin, scored 22; 5-9 junior guard Chloe Scholl added 20; and 5-6 junior guard Macee Linow 14. Between the 2 rosters are a total of just 3 seniors.
#3AA Minnehaha 82 #6AA Perham 45. Amazingly, Perham led 33-31 at the half, but Minnehaha blitzed the Yellowjackets 51-12 in the 2nd half. The RedHawks’ 5-9 junior point guard Addi Mack was her usual dominant self with 41 points. Perham’s 6-0 senior Willow Thiel scored 23.
#1AAAA Minnetonka 67 #19AAAA White Bear Lake 34. On paper, this was the biggest mismatch of the day, what with the White Bears being just one of 3 participants not ranked in the top 10. And on the court, it proved to be just such a mismatch, as Minnetonka led 5-0, 20-9 and 35-18 at the half. 6-1 junior guard Aaliyah Crump put on a show, scoring 21 of her 26 points in the 1st 10 minutes. She opened with a 3, had 3 pick-six steals, scored off the offensive glass, and then another 3. Candy from a baby. 6-1 senior forward and Minnesota Gopher recruit Tori McKinney and 5-9 sophomore point guard Lanelle Wright took over the scoring from there with 15 and 12 respectively.
#8AAA Delano 73 #3AAA Stewartville 48. On paper another upset. But Stewartville, last year’s AAA runner-up, is learning to play without point guard Haylie Strum, now graduated, while post Ella Theobald, their #2 scorer last year, is out with injuries. Still, they stayed closed through 35-29 late in the 1st half. Delano scored that last 4 points of the 1st half and the 1st 9 of the 2nd half to make it 48-29. Delano had great balance with 19 points from 6-1 senior post Taylor Tool, 17 from sophomore wing Cassie Wegman, and 15 from sophomore combo guard Abbie Pietila. Stew was led by 5-9 senior shooting guard Savannah Hedin with 21.
#8AAAA Eden Prairie 76 #7AAAA Andover 52. A big surprise. Andover is a relative newcomer to this kind of showcase while many of the other participants are not. Eden Prairie is not. Eden Prairie played comfortably, Andover did not, and EP cruised to a 47-18 halftime lead. 5-9 junior combo guard Tori Schlagel, already a South Dakota signee, led EP with 23. Anna Vaaler, a 5-10 senior wing and Sioux Falls signee, matched Schlagel’s 23 for Andover.
#4AA Crosby-Ironton 73 #8AA Sauk Centre 55. A bit of a surprise that this was not closer but this was for all intents and purposes the Tori Oehrlein show. The 5-10 sophomore combo guard, the #2-rated player in her class according to Prep Girls Hoops, is now more mobile, more assertive and more dominant than ever before. She scored 37 yesterday. C-I meanwhile made it hard for Sauk to get the ball inside to 6-3 post Tori Jennisen, the #19 junior, who finished with 17.
#9AAAA Rosemount 89 #5AAAA Wayzata 85 (OT). The most entertaining game of the day and another surprise. Rosemount, formerly known for a grinder, ball control style of game, now showed a variety of scoring options that kept Wayzata off-balance all day. Of course, Wayzata had a number of scoring options of its own, and so neither team had much success on the defensive end of the floor. Four different players scored in OT for the winners. A 3 by 5-10 senior shooting guard Avery Moeller, who is headed to Winona State, gave the Irish the lead for good, and Moeller in fact led the Irish with 25 points. Wayzata was led by their dynamic 5-11 combo guard Kate Amelotte with 29.
#6AAAA St. Michael-Albertville 61 #10AAAA Prior Lake 46. The Knights slowly and methodically pulled away from the Lakers, leading 6-0 and 17-7. The Lakers made it a one-possession game in the 1st half at 23-20, only to fall back 31-23 at the half. They got within 44-43 and 48-45 in the 2nd half but got outscored 13-1 down the stretch. St. Michael shot just 12-of-35 in the 1st half but with zero turnovers. 5-9 senior guard Ava Haus, 5-11 junior power forward Abby Hoselton and 6-2 sophomore wing Cali Jahnke were everywhere for St. Michael, combining for 36 points, 29 rebounds, 6 assists, 7 steals and just one turnover among them. 6-2 senior post Cece McNair, who is headed for Wisconsin-Milwaukee, led the Lakers with 14 points. The Lakers’ highly-regarded 6-2 junior wing Bree Bowman looked great out on the floor, but not so much on the stat sheet. She had 7 rebounds and a pair of assists in the 1st half, but finished the night with 2 points on 1-of-7 shooting.
#1A Mountain Iron-Buhl 65 #2A Buffalo Lake-Hector 43. Again, one team was used to the big stage, the other not so much, and MIB’s defending state champions took a 39-24 halftime lead and they coasted home from there. 5-11 senior shooting guard and North Carolina-bound Jordan Zubich again led the Rangers with 22 points–on 6-of-10 3s and 1-of-8 2s. One an also now say that of the 2 almost identical twin Buffalo Lake sisters, #1 Rachel is the point guard and ball-handler and perhaps slightly more dynamic than Kristi, at least yesterday she was. And when Rachel went out with a bloodied nose for about 3 minutes midway through the 1st half, things started to slide for Mustangs.
#4A Hancock 51 #3A Goodhue 47. Goodhue celebrated its return to Class A (well, OK, it played and defeated Rochester Lourdes 50-48 the previous night) with an uncharacteristically listless effort, but it did come against a very good Class A opponent, the 2022 state champions from Hancock. (Goodhue won it in 2016 and 2017, before moving to AA for a few years.) Hancock led most of the way including 35-32 at the half. That can only mean that the 2nd half was a grinder with Hancock outscoring Goodhue 16-15. Goodhue sagged down the stretch after 5-10 junior shooting guard Kendyl Lodermaier fouled out.
#1AA Providence 95 Hortonville (WI) 86. I’ll have a detailed game report in a separate post.
#6AAA St. Peter 51 #11AAA Becker 23. Despite St. Peter’s higher ranking, this is a shocker. Becker is of course perennially powerful and is accustomed to playing on the big stage. St. Pete has been knocking at the door but they are truly new to this level of exposure. Still, they’re an experienced, confident team and they played like it, dominating every aspect of the game, and especially in stifling Becker’s usually high-octane offense. 5-10 senior guard Rhyan Holmgren is particularly impressive, though I don’t have a box score so I don’t know what her numbers are, or anybody’s from this game.
#2AAAA Hopkins 91 #1AAA Benilde-St. Margaret’s 52. Finally the home-standing Hopkins Royals won their 2nd Tip-Off challenge in as many night but, compared to Friday night’s 49-48 thriller, this one came with relative ease. Of course Benilde is without the #1-ranked senior in the state, Michigan-bound shooting guard Olivia Olson, who is expected to miss a month (if all goes well) with broken bones in her hand. And, so, it was a surprise that Benilde was within 41-34 at the half, thanks mostly to 11th grade post Josephine Nnaji and 9th grade guard Pressley Watkins. But Hopkins won the 2nd half 50-18 behind senior point guard Liv McGill (22 points), 5-11 sophomore wing Lauren Hillesheim, 5-10 junior combo guard Tatum Woodson and 5-10 9th grade point guard Ava Cupito. Rumors of Hopkins’ demise are decidedly premature.
Top Performers
Center–Alyssa Sand, Albany, 6-3, senior, 26 pts vs. Duluth Marshall (St. Thomas)
Power Forward–Abby Hoselton, St. Michael-Albertville, 6-0, junior, 13 pts vs. Prior Lake
Small Forward–Morgan Staloch, Jordan, 6-0, sophomore, 28 pts vs. Visitation
Point Guard–Maddyn Greenway, Providence, 5-9, sophomore, 43 pts vs. Hortonville (WI)
Shooting Guard–Rainey Welson, Hortonville, 5-11, junior, 41 pts vs. Providence
6th Pkayer–Tori Oehrlein, Crosby-Ironton, 5-10, sophomore, 37 pts vs. Sauk Centre
2nd Team
Center–Cece McNair, Prior Lake, 6-2, senior, 14 pts vs. St. Michael (Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
Power Forward–Cali Juhnke, St. Michael, 6-2, sophomore, 12 pts, 10 reb, vs. Prior Lake
Small Forward–Lauren Hillesheim, Hopkins, 5-11, sophomore, 20 pts vs. Benilde
Point Guard–Aneisha Scott, DeLaSalle, 5-7, junior, 37 pts vs. Alexandria
Shooting Guard–Aaliyah Crump, Minnetonka, 6-1, junior, 26 pts vs. White Bear Lake
6th Player–Addi Mack, Minnehaha, 5-9, junior, 41 pts vs. Perham
Diaper Dandies
One of the big themes this year is youth. The senior class is perhaps not quite up to par, but there is younger talent everywhere you look. We’ve already noted sophomores Greenway, Oehrlein, Staloch, Juhnke and Hillesheim. Here are still more underclassmen who stood out yesterday.
Power Forward–Maren Day, Wayzata, 5-11, sophomore, 7 pts vs. Rosemount. She also scored 11 pts the previous night vs. Lakeville South.
Small Forward–Ari Peterson, Providence, 6-0, 8th grade, 12 pts, 7 reb vs. Hortonville
Point Guard–Kallie Peppler, Hortonville, 5-9, sophomore, 15 pts vs. Providence. Peppler took an absolute beating against the super-duper-physical play of Providence, leaving the game briefly early on after a blow to the facial area. But she never backed down and never ran out of gas. She protected the ball and got her team into its offense as well as anybody could against Providence’s relentless pressure. She finished with 15 pts on 5-of-13 shooting, 1-of-2 3s, just 1-of-4 FT, 5 rebounds, an assist and 2 steals, plus just 2 turnovers while handling the ball against an elite pressure defense for probably 35 minutes. If I’m a Big 10 coach, I think I want this girl.
Combo Guard–Kate Amelotte, Wayzata, 5-11, sophomore, 29 pts vs. Rosemount. She didn’t make our top 2 teams, but considering the incredible guard talent listed above that’s hardly a criticism. With her combination of size and skill, she might have the most upside of any of our sophomores and younger. She’s still listed on rosters and rankings as a small forward, but that’s ancient history. As a freshman, she wasn’t going to be a ball handler. Now she is, and of course a big time scorer as well. For the record, Prep Hoops has her #4 among the sophomores behind Greenway, Oehrlein and Lanelle Wright and ahead of Cali Juhnke. That, my friends, is a hell of a class.
Shooting Guard–Chloe Johnson, Duluth Marshall, 5-11, 8th grade, 28 pts vs. Albany. The 28 pts came on 10-of-18 shooting, including 6-of-9 3s plus 3-of-4 FT; to which she added 3 rebunds, 4 assists and a block, plus just 3 turnovers as the primary ball-handler. Someone who kn0ws about such things predicted that Chloe will in a few years come to be known as Minnesota’s best player since Paige Bueckers.
6th Player–Ava Cupito, Hopkins, 5-10, 9th grade, 13 pts vs. Benilde. Either Cupito or Pressley Watkins. Prep Hoops has Watkins #2 and Cupito #3 among the 9th graders. And Watkins (Benilde) outscored Cupito 13-12 on Cupitos’ home floor, and has 2 inches on Ava. So take your pick. But as for me, here are your Miss Minnesota Basketball winners in future years.
2026–Maddyn Greenway; darkhorse, in case of injury, e.g., Kate Amelotte
2027–Ava Cupito, though if Kallie Peppler was a Minnesotan, she would be the choice; Watkins is #2
2028–Chloe Johnson; darkhorse Ari Peterson
3rd Team
But not to shortchange the upperclassmen, here is my 3rd team of 6 players from yesterday: Live McGill, Hopkins; Avery Moeller, Rosemount; Tori Schlagel, Eden Prairie; Willow Thiel, Perham; Sam Wills, Visitation; Jordan Zubich, Mountain Iron-Buhl.
So that’s the Tip-Off in a nutshell; well, OK, more like a sack o’ nuts. Now the waiting begins for the 2nd best day of Minnesota girls basketball which will come on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, with the 1st round of state tournament play in Classes AA, AAA and AAAA, where you are almost sure to see a vast majority of entries who played these past 2 days in the Tip-Off.