OK, today I’m a happy man because I’m anticipating Saturday’s (November 23) girls Breakdown Tip Off. You’ll have to take my word for it that it is the best day of basketball of the entire year, better even than the state tournament in March. Well, OK, I’m not happy that the event has been moved from the traditional Hopkins location to SW Christian in Chaska. It’s another fifteen minutes west (I am departing from Stillwater which is practically in Wisconsin). Still, I will be there for, oh, pretty close to 12 hours and 16 girls basketball games.
Here are what I imagine to be the best ballgames.
1. Maple Grove Crimson (#3AAAA) vs. Providence Lions (#1AA), 5:30 p.m., West Court. Providence and the incredible Maddyn Greenway will be gunning for a 4th straight state Class AA title and will in fact be heavily favored. As long as Greenway is around, anything is possible. In her 8th, 9th and 10th grade seasons she averaged 31 ppg, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals and the Lions won 87 games while losing 10. Two years ago they beat the Class AAAA champions Hopkins 87-80 and finished 30-2 and, despite their status as a lowly Class AA team, were clearly Minnesota’s best team. Well, they’ve lost a fair amount talent since last year, though they’re still favored to win in Class AA. Overall? Well, not so much. But a win against the #3AAAA team would be a start. Oh, yeah, for the record, Greenway has just committed to play college ball at Kentucky, never a women’s power but of course one of the top men’s programs and also winners of an NCAA volleyball title. With Greenway, you can anticipate the Wildcats competing for a national title. She will be apperoximately as good as Caitlin Clark at the next level.
Maple Grove of course boasts the #1 senior Jordan Ode, but in fact both teams will be hampered by a lack of depth. My pick: Providence 68 Maple Grove 67 (OT).
2. Benilde-St. Margaret’s Red Knights (#1AAA) vs. Minnetonka Skippers (#2AAAA), 7 p.m., West Court. A couple of years ago, I put together a matchup of Benilde and Tonka at the High School Hall of Fame Winter Classic. I mentioned that I expected a close game. Tonka coach Brian Cosgriff said, “Against a AAA team. No.” He was right. But I’m slow to learn my lesson, so I expect a close game. This is of course a matchup of 2 defending state champions, and while Benilde lost Olivia Olson to Michigan, Minnetonka lost Aliyah Crump to Montverde Academy.
Benilde returns 7 top-50 rated players including the #3 senior, point guard Kendall McGee, but Wright missed all of last year with an injury. Still, that’s a lot of talent. Tonka returns just 3 to-50 rated players but all 3 are top 10, including the #5 junior, point guard Lanelle Wright. If McGee is not too rusty, this could be the best individual matchup of the day. My pick: Minnetonka 62 Benilde 61.
3. DeLaSalle Islanders (#4AAA) vs. Eden Prairie Eagles (#5AAAA), 2:15 West Court. It’s now or never for the Eagles and coach Ellen Wiese. They have 4 Top 50 rated players, all of them seniors. Meanwhile, at DeLaSalle, there’s always next year, and I mean that in a good way. Frankly, I think they’re going to win the Class AAA title though tghe AP (e.g. Kevin Anderson) only has them #4, and, yeah, Benilde has that ton of talent. But the Islanders have senior point guard Aneisha Scott. She’s rated the #13 senior by Prep Girls Hoops to Kendall McGee’s #3. Well, nothing against Kendall McGee, but in a tight high school game, I’ll take my chances with Aneisha Scott. And, she’s supported by the #21 junior Maddy Blaylark. (Well, that’s too low, too.) And the #19 soph Laila Moses. OK, maybe that’s about right. My pick: DeLaSalle 64 Eden Prairie 59.
4. Orono Spartans (unranked AAA) vs. Minnehaha Red Hawks (#2AA), 5 p.m., East Court. Orono is unranked despite 4 Top 50 ranked players, though it must be acknowledged that they’re all even-numbered players in an odd-numbered year. That is, they’re juniors and freshman including the #6 junior Mya and the #13 freshman Ally, the Moore sisters. But, in this matchup, all that matters is they’re capable of making the incredible Addie Mack show off all of her skills, and Orono is good enough to do that. Mack is rated #2 among seniors behind Jordan Ode. I’m not convinced she’s not #1 and I’ll bet that Brenda Freese would agree with me. (Mack is going to Maryland.) Minnehaha has won state titles in 2010 and 2019 though during the Addie Mack era they’ve been stuck behind the Maddyn Greenway era at Providence. So while Providence won 3 state titles at 87-10 and Greenway’s line was 31-7-6-4, Minnehaha failed to get to a state final, winning 77 times and losing 19 while Mack averaged 28-4-4-4. In any other era, Mack would be Ms. Basketball and, again, considering that Greenway is still a junior, she may be that yet. My pick: Minnehaha 79 Orono 67.
5. Crosby-Ironton Rangers (#3AA) vs. Jordan Jaguars (#8AA), 10:30 a.m., East Court. Here the main attraction is not the 2 top 10 rated teams but the 2 top 10 rated players. For the Rangers it is of course 5-11 U. of Minnesota-bound combo guard Tori Oehrlein and her incredible line of 35 ppg-15 reb-7 asts-5 stls and 3 blks. Jordan’s Morgan Staloch is still personna unknown for many Minnesota fans, but not to Ruth Sinn and St. Thomas, which is where she’s going to be playing her college ball. Last year she averaged 19 ppg with 5 boards and 3 steals. With a little more aggression, well, I’m not saying 35 ppg or 15 rebounds, but I am saying she could be the #3 or #4 player in her class before she’s done. She’s got all the tools. The difference in this game may be supplied by Regan Juenemann, a transfer from Duluth Marshall, where she scored 20 ppg last year. My pick: Crosby-Ironton 71 Jordan 67.
6. Eastview Lightning (#7AAAA) vs. Wayzata Trojans (unranked), 12:45 p.m., West Court. Well, somebody (Kevin Anderson) knows something that I don’t know because he (that is, the “AP poll”) has Wayzata unranked in the Class AAAA top 10, while I had them #1 in my pre-season poll. Well, I said it was “too-early” of a preview. Still, I don’t know what gives. Somebody must be hurt. So, we’ll just have to get on out to SW Christian and find out. My pick: Wayzata 71 Eastview 63.
7. Stewartville Tigers (#3AAA) vs. Alexandria Cardinals (#2AAA). 11 a.m., West Court. The #2 and #3 rankings says it all, though I’ve got both Benilde and DeLaSalle ahead of them, so in other words Alex #3 and Stewartville, oh, wait, oh, my, goodness, #10. So my pick: Alexandria 78 Stewartville 66.
8. Rosemount Irish (#9AAAA) vs. St. Michael Albertville Knights (#4AAAA), 3:45 p.m., West Court. Come to watch 2 great coaches at work. but stay to watch the #3 sophomore and the #4 freshman, the Ramlall sisters, Amisha and Ashna, who play for Rosemount. Oh, yeah, and stay some more to watch the #3 junior Cali Jahnke and the #8 soph Mariah Sexton, who play for St. Michael. My pick: St. Michael 63 Rosemount 62.
Well, that’s half of the day’s games, and we still haven’t mentioned the defending Class AAAA champions and current #1AAAA (according to you know who) the Hopkins Royals. They get the Lakeville North Panthers, and I think they’ll (Hopkins) win easily with 8 top to rated players. OK, 5 of them are sophomores and younger, and surely you want a glimpse of Hopkins circa 2027 and 2028. In order to do that you’ll have to stay up to 8:30 p.m., way past my bed time not to even mention an hour drive back home to Stillwater. I’m personally going to have to do that another night. That’s why I’ll be out in Chaska at 9 a.m. Catch as many games as I can before I fall asleep. See ya there.
