AAU Prelim Report, the Top Clubs
A quick digression to explore the question, Which club had the best Prelim? That’s easy. The Stars. They won 32 games, 11 more than anybody else. They got 7 top 10 seeds, just one short of the leader. And they…
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Continue ReadingA quick digression to explore the question, Which club had the best Prelim? That’s easy. The Stars. They won 32 games, 11 more than anybody else. They got 7 top 10 seeds, just one short of the leader. And they have the #5 winning percentage. Here are 3 “top 10” lists.
Most Wins
1. Stars 32
2. Tartan 21
3. Fury 16
4. Comets 15
5. Crossfire 12
6. Heat 10
7. Force (formerly 36ers) 9
8. Lady Get Shook 8
9-13 (tie). E1T1, Hi Impact, So Minn Fury, Tayler Hill E, Top Flight 5 each
Most Top 10 Seeds
1. Tartan 8
2-3 (tie). Fury and Stars 7 each
4. Comets 4
5. Crossfire 3
6-7 (tie). So Minn Fury, Tayler Hill 2 each
8-13 (tie). E1T1, Heat, Metro Stars, Rise, Suns, Top Flight 1 each
Best W-L Pct. (at least 2 teams)
1. Top Flight 5-2 .714
2. E1T1 5-2 .714
3. Force 9-4 .692
4-5 (tie). Lady Get Shook 8-4 .667 and Energy 4-2 .667
6. Stars 32-18 .640
7-8 (tie). Heat 10-6 .625 and Tayler Hill E 5-3 .625
9. Tartan 21-14 .600
10. Metro Stars 4-3 .571
11. Comets 15-12 .555
Made All 3 Top 10 Lists
1. Stars 1st, 2nd, 5th
2. Tartan 2nd, 1st, 8th
3. Top Flight 9th, 8th, 1st
4. Tayler Hill 9th, 6th, 6th
5. Heat 6th, 8th, 6th
1. Stars 32-18, 7 top 10 seeds
Leading the way for the Stars were the class of 2018 and the class of 2021. Or, one could say, leading the way for the Stars was coach Josh Hersch. His 8th graders took the #1 seed and his 11th graders got #3, though they were very clearly the 2nd best team in the field. Josh’s 2 teams each went 3-1. The 11th graders defeated Metro Stars Wiese 51-50 for 3rd place, while the 8th graders were the only team to beat Tayler Hill Elite 37-28.
Also in the 2018s, Stars DeSart snuck away with a #9 seed.
Among the 2019s, Nelson took #2, Amundson #5 and Buerman #10.
Among the 2020s, Antl took #4.
And among the 2021s, Hersch’s #1 was the Stars only seed.
But even with the #1, Hersch’s 8th and the Stars may not be favored in any of the classes. Tayler Hill got more than 4 points only from Kierra Wheeler in their loss to the Stars. Jade Hill scored 3. It’s hard to see that happening again. Meanwhile Katie Borowicz and Tamia Ugass scored 27 between them for the Stars and only 5 players scored. So Tayler Hills’ defensive game plan would seem to be pretty plain. Either way, this will be one of the feature games at the AAU Tournament, assuming the 2 play one another again.
2. North Tartan 21-14, 8 top 10s
Tartan is 1st in top 10 seeds with 8, and 1st in #1 seeds. They’re the only club with 2 #1s—Tartan 11 EYBL and Tartan 9—but both had surprisingly close calls. Stars 11 Hersch pushed Tartan 11 EYBL before losing 56-50 while Fury Blue pushed Tartan 9 before losing 53-50. Paige Bueckers scored 20 for Tartan 9, Ysareia Chevre 14 and Ravyn Miles 10 for the Fury. Heaven Hamling and Krystal Carlson scored 34 between them for Stars Hersch while Syd Stapleton scored 10 for NT 11. Tartan had 10 players in he scoring column, the Stars just 5.
Of the 2, I would expect a repeat (a tight game) at the 9s, maybe not so much the 11s.
Tartan also has a #2 seed (the NT 8 West, which again outperformed Tartan 8 Coley and Tartan 8 Kuppe) and a #3 (NT 10 EYBL). Their other top 10s are all at #6 or #7.
3. Top Flight 5-2, 1 top 10 seed
I suppose you could argue that Top Flight is the breakout of the year so far. You could. But I won’t. They have just 2 teams and one top 10, and both teams are in the same age group. Still the Top Flight 2021 Metro came out of nowhere this season so far to earn a #5 seed, and that is quite an achievement. Abigail Koboushek led the way with 10.5 ppg, Sydni Olson score 9 ppg, Abigail Deming 8 and Mara McMahon and Kate Trachsel 7.
What’s more, Top Flight South swept 3 games as Paige Kindseth was the #3 scorer in the division at 14.7 ppg. Peyton Blandin added 10 ppg.
4. Tayler Hill Elite 5-3, 2 top 10 seeds
The Hills had just 2 teams but both were of title contender caliber. The 11 Elites surprised by going just 1-2 in the weaker of the 2 top pools, losing to So Minn Fury and Metro Stars Wiese. They recovered to beat Tartan Elite for #5. Morgan Hill was 5th in the division with 15.5 ppg.
The 2021s went 3-1 for a #3 seed with wins over Tartan Coley, Tartan Kuppe and Fury Blue. Not bad. Kierra Wheeler is a force inside.
5. Heat 10-6, 1 top 10 seed
Heat is one of 6 clubs to win at least 1 game in every division—the others being Stars, Tartan, Fury, Comets and Crossfire. The top seed (a #5) was won by the 2020 Hinck team, which went 2-2 with a 43-32 win over Crossfire Jorgenson for 5th place. Heat Dineen went 2-1 in the same division as Katelyn Mohr was the #5 scorer in the division at 12.5 ppg.
Heat Dahl went 3-0 in the 2021 division, good only for the #14 seed, but in D1. Heat 2018 Vang went 2-1 to get the #15 seed, or the #1 seed in D2, as Althea Kluge led all scorers in the division.
Summary
Does this mean Top Flight or the Heat are better than the Fury or Comets or Crossfire. Probably not. Fury, Comets and Crossfire are #3, #4 and #5 in games won. The ability to win in every age group, to me, is the best way to evaluate the clubs. Of course, the Heat did that, as we mentioned above.
And, let’s be honest. Wins in Pool A and Pool B are more impressive than most other wins. But, as I’ve said before, it’s not the “not-golden”’s fault that they don’t get a shot at beating the big guys.
So, if your question is who had the best weekend at the Prelims, I like these 5—Stars, Tartan, Top Flight, Tayler Hill and the Heat. On the other hand, if you want to know who’s going to have the best weekend at the Tournament itself, then I’d go with the “Most Wins” chart and/or the “Most Top 10 Seeds” chart. But, everybody deserves their day in the sun so Stars, Tartan, Top Flight, Tayler Hill and Heat—enjoy.