There’s more to the Comets than Paige Meyer’s heroics
When we’re talking about the Minnesota Comets, it’s hard not to go on at length about Comets 2021 Elite and their fearless leader Paige Meyer of Albany. She’s one of the most exciting players in Minnesota high school basketball with…
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Continue ReadingWhen we’re talking about the Minnesota Comets, it’s hard not to go on at length about Comets 2021 Elite and their fearless leader Paige Meyer of Albany. She’s one of the most exciting players in Minnesota high school basketball with a very large bag of tricks and boundless energy. She carried her Albany Huskies to the high school state tournament this spring and is the undisputed leader of her AAU squad, as well. Not surprisingly, Meyer bested all scorers in the tournament’s top division at the Minnesota Stars Summer Kickoff with 77 points in four games.
The 2021 Comets are built around Meyer and the core of the Becker High School varsity lineup: Julia Bengtson, Courtney Nuest, Megan Gamble and Alaina Lindquist. But they aren’t the only Comets team constructed in that way. The 2023 Elite squad is led by a trio of standout 8th graders from Becker, as well, all of whom played a part in the Bulldogs’ impressive high school state tournament run.
We watched the 2023s closely on Saturday at the Summer Kickoff and it’s hard not to be excited about the future for Ayla Brown, Maren Westin and Dani Nuest. All three are guards. All three are super quick and very athletic. All three play hard and are smart basketball players. Where does Becker find all these kids?!
8th grader Dani Nuest of Becker is one of several nice prospects with the Comets. (Photo courtesy of the StarTribune)Four Comets 2023 prospects
Brown’s game is subtle but effective. She’s got great handles and knows how to control the pace of play. “She’s a leader on the floor,” said Comets coach Barry Peterson. “She’s very smart. She’s the one that gets us organized. She can score and pass off the bounce really well. She also has a good three-point shot but she needs to develop enough confidence to pull the trigger when she’s open.”
Perhaps Brown’s most important asset, however, is her ability to defend. “She’s an excellent on-ball defender,” Peterson said, “with a very high IQ on defense both positionally and just in general in a man-to-man setting.”
Maren Westin (right) even displays her athleticism while celebrating. (Photo courtesy of St. Cloud Times)Brown is also a little more calm on the court than her teammate Westin, who is one of the most energetic, athletic players that we have seen at any level. “Maren is not as even,” Peterson said with a hearty laugh and a healthy dose of understatement. “She has all of this God-given talent as you can see. I never want to get in her way. I never want her to overthink the game. I just want her to use that talent. The only thing that I emphasize with her is to try and simplify the game. She can do it all… She takes great pride in her defense now, she can shoot the three, she’s got great handles and she can score off the dribble with an array of moves.”
Perhaps the most exciting thing about Westin from the perspective of college basketball coaches is the fact that she has a sister who is 5’11. If Maren comes close to that height we’re talking about an amazing basketball package because she’s got assets that are very, very rare. “That doesn’t always translate,” Peterson said, “but if it does… Oh my!”
The third member of the Becker trio is Dani Nuest, who wasn’t there for the game I saw. We are nevertheless quite familiar with Dani because of her 6th-man role at Becker this season. She’s still small but man is she fast. She’s got skills and energy and a whole lot of potential. And, much like her older sister Courtney Nuest, Dani’s work ethic is unquestioned.
The one other Comets 2023 Elite player who caught our attention Saturday was post Jenna Gapinski-Vogt of Sauk Centre. Frankly we hadn’t paid a whole lot of attention to Jenna in our previous viewings of the team. On this day, however, you couldn’t help but notice her impact. She’s strong and long, has nice footwork, and showed some good touch around the basket.
“You just watched Jenna’s breakout game,” Peterson said after the final buzzer had sounded. “What she did so well today is there was no hesitation and good things happened. She was in attack mode all the time. She’s got a lot of really solid basketball ability and good instincts.” Gapinski-Vogt has a ways to go yet, but you can be sure coach Scott Bergman at Sauk Centre will do his best to turn her into a finished product. He has certainly done it before.
Top photo: Paige Meyer of Albany is one of the most exciting young point guards in Minnesota, but she’s not the only talented prospect in the Minnesota Comets organization. (Photo by Jared Martinson, Prep Hoops)