Hopkins 78 Providence 74. That was the highlight of a full day of basketball at the girls Breakdown Tip-Off, and that game is reported in a separate post. Here are the highlights of the rest of a very full day of hoops at Southwest Christian high school in Chaska.
Chanhassan 70 Delano 63. The day began at 9 a.m. on the East Court as Class 4A Chanhassen and Class 3A Delano played one of the day’s best games, as measured by a lack of early season rust. Chan in particular gave a smooth, team-oriented effort relatively free of turnovers and other misplays. Junior guard Kate Arnold played an excellent floor game and scored 16 points, and was supported by junior forward Lyla Hentges, freshman wing Lucy Hilgert and junior big Skyler Mancini with 18, 16 and 10 points each. Seniors Cassie Wegman and Abbig Pietila led Delano with 20 and 17 points. This was a pretty well-played game for November.
Hill-Murray 82 Eden Prairie 68. The Hill-Murray Pioneers defeated a very inexperiened Eden Prairie team on the main court 82-68. Hill-Murray led 14-5, 24-16 and 34-27 at the half, but it was 27-all at 3:30 of the 1st half. It was still just 49-45 at 11:30 of the 2nd, but the Pioneers pulled away late. The Pioneers Mya Wilson is the #1 rated junior in Minnesota, while her sister Ashlee is rated among the top 8th graders in the country. Mya had 16 points and Ashlee 14 late in the 2nd half. Meanwhile, transfer Sarah Peopard (formerly of White Bear and Mahtomedi) had 13. Not sure what the final tally was since there don’t seem to be any box scores online anymore. The Pioneers are rated #7 in Class AAA (according to the Breakdown) and probably should be a little higher.
Lakeville South 73 Stewartville 65. This was perhaps a moral victory for Class AAA Stewie against Class AAAA South. My friend Erin Herman assured me that Stewartville’s Shindelar girls–senior Audrey, a South Dakota State commit–and the rising sophomore Danika–were terrific, but had a lot of hard luck shooting the ball. 9th grader Gabby McCarney “came out” for the Cougars.
Benilde-St. Margaret’s 68 DeLaSalle 61. The 3-time defending state AAA champs from Benilde fell behind 14-7 but pulled ahead 27-23 late in the 1st half. DeLaSalle kept it close throughout the 2nd half, but never quite caught up. It was just 29-27 Benilde at the half as Benilde shot just 10-for-30 but DeLaSalle turned it over 13 times. The Breakdown has Benilde rated #1 and DeLaSalle #10. Don’t be surprised if come March the Islanders aren’t more like #2. No question Benilde has better talent if you want to talk about 5-6-7-8 deep. But at the top of the food chain, DeLaSalle’s sophomore point guard Anaya Shaffa, junior forward Laila Moses, and 6-1 senior post Onyx Idoko are going to be competitive with anybody.
Mountain Iron-Buhl 62 Mayer Lutheran 45. MIB dominated the 1st half, leading 29-12 and 36-20 at the half as Izzy Wiitta and Anna Neyens combined for 20 points on 5-of-17 3-pointers. The Breakdown inexplicably has Mayer Lutheran #2 and MIB #4. My companion on this game thought that Mayer Lutheran was playing “lackadisical,” and I think that was right. This isn’t the most talented MIB team of the past 15 years, but it is perhaps the best integrated/coordinated MIB team (you know, no “I” in team) that I can remember.
Rochester Mayo 77 Maple Grove 69. The Breakdown has Mayo at #6 and the defending state runners-up Maple Grove at #4. So it was a surprise when Mayo controlled this game throughout, 30-20 late in the 1st half, 75-60 with 2 minutes to play. The final was closer than it really was. The Crimson had no answer for Mayo’s sophomore stars–power forward Maggie Dyer scored 33, and combo guard Amelia Mills scored 32. ‘Nuf sed.
Orono 69 Duluth Marshall 67. Orono seemed to be in control most of the way, but Duluth Marshall actually took a 67-66 lead in the waning seconds, but Orono matched a Duluth 3 with one of its own in the final seconds. I didn’t see the finale, however; one fan told me that Duluth’s Chloe Johnson scored about 30 points.
Lakeville North 78 Chaska 55. The Panthers looked just about as good as anybody today, beating a good Chaska team 78-55. And, they’re as young as anybody, too. Sophomore guard Lauren Robison scored 19, 6-2 soph Madilynn Bell scored 10, 2 other sophomores added 15, and 3 freshmen added another 14. Addi Schneider scored 18 for Chaska.
Pelican Rapids 58 New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva 44. NRHEG is rated #6, the Pelicans are unrated. So much for that.
Minnetonka 84 Crosby-Ironton 67. Tonka was a ton more athletic. They dominated on the boards and on turnovers. So it was hard to believe that C-I kept it close to 27-27 at 5 minutes of the 1st half, and 42-34 at the half. Gopher recruit Tori Oehrlein scored 31 for C-I but Tonka countered with 4 players in double figures–6-2 LeSedra Williams with 17, 6-1 sophomore forward Ari Peterson with 14, freshman guard Izzy Austin with 13, and sophomore foreard Tate Addler with 10.
Hillcrest Lutheran 51 Braham 39.
Hopkins 78 Providence 74. Again, there’s an entire separate post about this game.
Minnehaha 63 East Ridge 51. Holy cow. 8th graders Georgia (5-10) and Shea (6-0) Watkins, 6-1 freshman Addison Harris, and sophomores Danasia Anderson and Briana Foster are going to win a state title someday if they stay together.
Rosemount 61 Wayzata 56. #5 Rosemount surprised #2 Wayzata.
Becker 72 Jordan 38. OK, didn’t see these last 2 games. Was on my way back home and to bed by then.
Eastview 67 St. Michael-Albertville 53.
Tip-Off All-Stars
As noted above, there were games and teams that I did not see. Surely there were great individual players whom I did not see. Following are the best players that I saw.
Juniors and Seniors
Center–Onyx Idoka, DeLaSalle, 6-1, senior. I don’t remember ever seeing her before, and nobody seemed to know anything about her. She is one reason why DeLaSalle may be a championship contender by the time all is said and done. Kind of an Emma Walker style of player who can play inside and out.
Power Forward–Erma Walker, Hopkins, 6-0, junior. I keep telling my friends at Prep Hoops that she is the best junior in the state, but instead she just moved down from #4 to #5. @#$%&! She got 3 quick fouls and fouled at with 9:29 left in the game!
Small Forward–Tori Oehrlein, Crosby-Ironton, 5-11, senior. Couldn’t quite handle all of Minnetonka all by herself. Scored 31 points.
Point Guard–Jaliyah Diggs, Hopkins, 5-5, junior. Plays with an immense chip on her shoulder, maybe that comes from being 5-5. She drove Maddyn Greenway crazy, and probably gave her more bumps and bruises than anybody in years. Greenway still scored her 34 points, but Diggs finished with 23, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals, and the win.
Shooting Guard–Maddyn Greenway, Providence, 5-8, senior.
Juniors and Seniors 2nd Team
Center–LeSedra Williams, Minnetonka 6-2, senior. Scored 17 points.
Power Forward–Lexi Nicolai, Providence, 6-0, junior. Her 1st serious varsity minutes, against Hopkins no less, and she had a very nice game with 10 points, 9 boards, 2 assists and a block, and no turnovers.
Small Forward–Mya Wilson, Hill Murray, 6-1, junior. Rated the #1 junior in the state by Prep Hoops, who lists her as a combo guard, which is what she will be at the next level. In this world, on a team filled with smaller girls, she plays up front.
Point Guard–Maya Moore, Orono, 5-11, senior. Orono was in control the last I saw, but they ended up winning by just 2.
Shooting Guard–Ava Cupito, Hopkins, 5-10, junior. Just a solid all-around player. Not super quick or athletic but just very smart, very smooth, very efficient. Finished with 19 points on 6-of-15 shooting, including 3-of-8 3s, with 5 rebounds, 2 assits, a steal and one turnover.
Sophomores and Younger
Center–Sahara Wilson, Lakeville North, 6-4, sophomore. Actually, did not have a great night finishing, I think, with 9 points. Big but also mobile.
Power Forward–Maggie Dyer, Rochester Mayo, 6-0, sophomore. Plays bigger than she is, scored 33 against a good opponent.
Small Forward–Madilynn Bell, Lakeville North, 6-2, sophomore. A very effective point on a 1-2-2 half-court zone with a big wingspan, and scored 10 points.
Point Guard–Amelia Mills, Rochester Mayo, 5-8, sophomore. Scored 32.
Shooting Guard–Chloe Johnson, Duluth Marshall,6-0, sophomore. Rated among the best sophomores in the country. One onlooker said she scored 28-30 points as Marshall pushed favored Orono right down to the bitter end.
Sophomores and Younger 2nd Team
Center–Addison Harris, Minnehaha, 6-1, 9th grade
Power Forward–Shea Watkins, Minnehaha, 6-0, 8th grade
Small Forward–Georgia Watkins, Minnehaha, 5-10, 8th grade
Point Guard–Anaya Shaffa, DeLaSalle, 5-8, sophomore. Scored 10 points in the 1st half on just 4 shots. Held her own against Benilde’s excellent guards.
Shooting Guard–Ashlee Wilson, Hill-Murray, 5-10, 8th grade. Rated one of the top 2030s in America. Scored 13 yesterday.