Six Sharpshooters From the AAU State Tournament
Today wraps up PGH Minnesota’s five-part series outlining some of the best individual performances from the 2019 Minnesota AAU State Championship Tournament. Analytics behind what is considered a good shot are finding their way from the highest levels of the…
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Continue ReadingToday wraps up PGH Minnesota’s five-part series outlining some of the best individual performances from the 2019 Minnesota AAU State Championship Tournament.
Analytics behind what is considered a good shot are finding their way from the highest levels of the game down to even the most junior. And with that, the value and importance of the 3-point shot has taken center-stage on basketball courts all across the country.
Here are six players who shot lights-out this weekend at the State Tournament:
Kelly Boyle – 2023 – Minnesota Suns Bluestar (Hopkins) – Boyle is the lead point guard for the Suns’ top 2023 team. We watched her opening round game against Crossfire Vaughn on Saturday afternoon, and she was impressive. Kelly hit three first-half threes in route to a hard-fought Suns victory. At this point, the 8th grader from Hopkins looks like she shoots best off the pass. We’re looking forward to watching her grow into being able to create her own shot with more consistency as she gets bigger and stronger.
Lauren Frost – 2020 – Minnesota Fury UAA (Park Center) – Frost was at the top of her game this weekend. Lauren has always been known to include a little flare in her game, as behind-the-back and no-look passes are distributed with regularity. But Frost provided a whole lot of substance to the Fury UAA 2020 championship run this weekend as well. In the times that I was watching, I don’t remember Lauren missing a shot. She was hitting from everywhere – mid-range, 3-pointers, the parking lot, it didn’t matter. Seemingly whatever shot Lauren put up found its way to the bottom of the net. It was a treat to watch, as Frost and her Fury teammates played their way to a state championship.
Bella Hartzel – 2021 – UVA Coley (Hill-Murray) – Hartzel has mainly played a spot-up shooting role for Hill-Murray to-date. And while she continued to knock home threes this weekend, we came away even more impressed with other areas of Bella’s game. She looked more confident and assertive attacking the basket, finishing in a number of ways. And she played really solid on-ball defense. UVA Coley was short-handed for much of the weekend which hurt the win/loss column of some of their games. But it provided a nice chance for a Hartzel to step up, and she made the most of the opportunity.
Laura Hauge – 2024 – North Tartan Milan (St. Croix Lutheran) – We’re technically not supposed to be writing about 2024 players yet. But since Hauge is playing up with the North Tartan 2023’s, I was given ultra-secret extra-special permission to include her here. And thank goodness that I was, as it would’ve been a crime to keep her off this list. Laura’s NT team played in the first game of the tournament at 5:30 on Friday night. And she had swished in three 3-pointers by about 5:34. Hauge was the best player on the floor in many of her games, and she’s already one of the better shooters in the state. Both of those statements are true while Laura is still a month away from finishing up the 7th grade. Let that sink in for a minute. Hauge’s ten 3’s were tied for the most of any player in the tournament across all divisions.
Alexis Pratt – 2021 – Minnesota Fury UAA (Stillwater) – Pratt was feeling it all tournament long. Given that she stands somewhere in the neighborhood of 5’4″, Alexis has learned to make the most of her quickness and footwork to help get her shot off. She showed off a devastating, James Harden-like step-back 3-point jumper a few times throughout the weekend that looked to be nearly unguardable. Pratt rode her hot shooting to ten 3-pointers and 72 points on the weekend (only Desiree Ware had more total points across all divisions with 89).
Sydney Runsewe – 2022 – Minnesota P.R.E.P. (DeLaSalle) – Runsewe tore her ACL right around this time last year. And while she started playing again towards the end of the high school season, it’s good to see her back and seemingly at full strength. Sydney is a gym rat, and is meticulously dedicated to improving her already great outside shot. Her hard work was on full display at the AAU State Tournament, as she knocked in ten 3-pointers over Minnesota P.R.E.P.’s 4 games.
In-article photo of Sydney Runsewe is courtesy of the Star Tribune
Minnesota AAU State Tournament Series:
Six of the Best Floor Generals from the AAU State Tournament
Six Big Time Post Players at the AAU State Tournament
Six of the Best Defenders at the AAU State Tournament
Seven of the Most Versatile Players at the AAU State Tournament