Trio leads NT Contreras to 8th grade national championship
When you watch North Tartan Contreras play, it is almost impossible to take your eyes of guard Amaya Battle of Hopkins, the super-talented varsity veteran who most observers agree is the number 1 player in Minnesota’s class of 2022. What…
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Continue ReadingWhen you watch North Tartan Contreras play, it is almost impossible to take your eyes of guard Amaya Battle of Hopkins, the super-talented varsity veteran who most observers agree is the number 1 player in Minnesota’s class of 2022. What the dozens of Division 1 coaches watching Battle play this week discovered is that there’s a whole lot more to this team than just Amaya, enough in fact that NT Contreras went undefeated in Orlando and won the AAU 8th grade national championship. Battle was terrific, of course, but North Tartan couldn’t have done it without superior play from teammates Alayna Contreras and Tessa Johnson.
North Tartan did what it usually does: smother teams on defense and run them ragged. When they needed a bucket, one of the big three delivered. It was Johnson of St. Michael-Albertville who was particularly hot at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex – Tessa made 8 threes in one game – as she helped North Tartan go 7-0 and win it all.
Here’s the scoop on the kids of North Tartan with analysis from coach Mike Contreras.
Alayna Conteras, Amaya Battle and Tessa Johnson (L to R) led North Tartan to the 8th grade national championship.Amaya Battle, 5’9, PG, Hopkins (2022)
Battle has yet to set foot in a high school classroom and she is already one of the top guards in Minnesota regardless of grade. She’s big and strong and skilled. She’s savvy and smart. She can shoot and handle and score. Shall I go on? “I’m a little biased but I have got to say she is the top kid in her class,” said Coach Mike Contreras. “When we need a basket sometimes I just shut up because I can see her focused and zoned in. I just let her do what she does. She has a very high IQ. In timeouts she’ll tell me something she sees on the court and make a suggestion. I’ll usually say, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ Then she’ll go out and run it and she’ll be exactly right.”
Battle knows how to rise to the occasion as needed. As a 7th grader at Hopkins, she came off the bench to hit the game-winning shot – a three-pointer from the corner – to win the St. Olaf Christmas tournament. She also played the 6th man role at state that year. Last season she filled in as the starting point guard when Paige Bueckers was injured, and could have made the all-tournament team at state. “She is a great student, and she is a really nice kid,” said Hopkins coach Brian Cosgriff. “We’re expecting her to have a really big year for us. I think she’s going to end up being one of the great ones, I really do.”
One of the great things about Battle is her poise. At an age when players can get emotional and betray their feelings on the floor, Battle operates with a stone facade. “She is a rock, and I can always count on her to keep the girls up, to keep them focused,” Contreras said. “I didn’t teach her that; she came to me with that.”
Tessa Johnson, 5’9, SG, St. Michael-Albertville (2023)
When I watched North Tartan at the Mill City Invitational, Johnson was missing from the lineup. Her absence was painfully obvious as the team struggled to make anything from distance. “She is a great shooter and when she isn’t here we really miss her. That can be 15 or 20 or 25 points some days,” Contreras said. Tessa is the younger sister of Rae Johnson, who plays the point for Iowa State. There’s a lot of Rae in Tessa, including the killer instinct. “Last year at nationals, we were down three with 8 seconds to go,” Contreras recalled. “The other team missed a free throw, we got the rebound and got the ball to Tessa. She didn’t hesitate. Boom! It’s a tie game and we win in overtime… We call her the baby-faced assassin. She may have a baby face but once she gets on that court she’s all business.”
Alayna Contreras, 5’7, G, Hopkins (2022)
Alayna is skilled and quick, and she does a lot of the little things very well. She and Battle are best friends, and their chemistry on the court can be uncanny. Alayna has improved a ton since she arrived at Hopkins one year ago. “If you are handling the ball against Paige Bueckers every day you are either going to sink or swim,” Mike said. “Paige and Amaya absolutely took it to her and I’m glad they did because it made her better.” Coach Contreras would like Kid Contreras to be a little more aggressive on offense. “The team needs her to be a threat, that’s what I tell her. We need her to score, or be a threat to score, to keep the other girls honest. She’s starting to do that more.” Alayna may still be a year away from being a varsity regular. “We are pretty loaded at guard,” Cosgriff said. “It depends on her development. She’s going to get every shot in the world to prove what she can do, that’s for sure.”
Ari Gordan, 5’9, F, Maple Grove (2022)
A lot of observers are very high on Ari Gordan. Her offensive game is coming along, she is shooting the ball more and becoming more comfortable away from the basket. Gordan’s defensive game is well-developed already. “She can read defensive lanes so well and she gets a lot of steals,” Contreras said. “She’s long and she gets that arm out.”
Mya Williams, 5’10, F/G, DeLaSalle (2022)
Williams as a great athlete. This kid can jump out of the gym, plays with high energy, and is very, very aggressive. Mya’s shooting is a work in progress, but the progress this summer has been quite remarkable. “She can rebound the heck out of the ball, and she can play defense. We’re working on her getting more comfortable scoring,” Contreras said. “She couldn’t make a free throw when we got her. Now she hardly ever misses.”
Izzy John, 5’10, F, Champlin Park (2022)
Izzy is big and strong but past coaches have used her in a limited role because of it. Contreras has pushed John well out of her comfort zone to the point where she can now hit the mid-range jump shot and handle the ball. Izzy can defend on the perimeter, too. “Her upside is great because she is going to be so big. She might be 7 feet when it’s all said and done,” Contreras said with a laugh. John’s brother Theo is a 6’9 sophomore at Marquette. “Izzy is so coachable. She’ll look you in the eye, you tell her something, and she’ll go out and do it. She’s coming out of her shell now and is getting better every game.”
Aniyah Reuben, 5’9, G, Hopkins (2023)
Reuben may be North Tartan’s most reliable defender. That’s pretty remarkable given that she just completed 7th grade. She can guard bigs and she can guard guards. “When I put her in the game I know she is going to play tough D, I know she is going to take care of the ball, and at some point I know she is going to hit a big three if not two or three of them,” Contreras said. She could be two years away from Hopkins varsity and Cosgriff isn’t going to rush things. “That can really kill a kid’s confidence,” he said. “Nia Coffey played JV for me as a freshman. Nia Hollie played sophomore ball as a freshman. Even Paige played JV as a 7th and 8th grader.”
London Salberg-Thornton, 5’11, PF, Hopkins (2022)
London has size and athleticism and her skills are coming along nicely, but right now she is all about potential. She’ll have the opportunity to improve quickly at Hopkins in the fall. Prior to Contreras, she too was parked in the paint and told to stay put. Now she’s out on the wing and is negotiating the learning curve that comes with such a switch. “She is responding well,” Contreras said, “and she wants to learn and get better.”
Taylor Woodson, 6’1, F, Hopkins (2023)
When a big, strong specimen named Taylor Woodson showed up on the court for Hopkins last season, most observers assumed she was a high school transfer. Woodson was actually in the 7th grade. “She looks like a junior, and she is tough as nails,” Contreras said. “I love that she’s got the scorer’s mentality. It doesn’t matter who is in front of her, she’s going to get a bucket. She’s not your average big. She can play the three, she can play the two, she can play the point. We can put Taylor on anybody.”
Woodson has split her time this summer between North Tartan and the 7th grade Survivors squad. It’s almost comical watching her play against kids her own age because she is so much bigger and better. This kid has Big Ten written all over her. “She’s such a great athlete,” Cosgriff said. “It would be my goal to have her be the next Nia Hollie where she could play inside and out.”
Unfortunately, Woodson wasn’t with North Tartan in Orlando. In her place the team added another great prospect in 2022 guard Selam Maher of Richfield, who hit some big threes in the championship game. Maher is a highly-skilled player with a well-developed game who led Richfield in scoring last winter. There she was the big fish in a tiny pond. This fall she, too, will try her luck in the Hopkins ocean.
There are two more players on the North Tartan Contreras roster, both out for the season with serious knee injuries. Sydney Runsewe is a 5’8 guard who played at Simley last winter. Runsewe was in Orlando but couldn’t play. Kiani Lockett is a 5’6 guard who played at Minneapolis South as a 7th grader. Both are expected to be at DeLaSalle in the fall and both will be represented in the Prep Girls Hoops 2022 Top 50.
Photos courtesy of Mike Conteras.