Nate’s Weekly Evaluations
Starting this week, we’ll dig into the players I watched this week and evaluate them every Sunday on PGH Minnesota. Here are my evaluations from the following games I watched this week in Maple Lake and Delano.
NATE’S SCHEDULE
Tuesday, 1/14
Minneapolis Henry @ Maple Lake
Thursday, 1/16
Waconia @ Delano
Grace Heying, Forward, Maple Lake (2020)
A Minnesota-Moorhead soccer commit, Heying played with her length on Tuesday night in Maple Lake. Her ability to rebound strongly made Maple Lake so tough to beat on Tuesday. She doesn’t have blazing speed as a smaller forward, but she has a good mid-range game. Brings a dual-threat type to this Maple Lake Irish team.
Megan Lind, Guard, Maple Lake (2021)
A three-sport athlete for the Irish, Lind is a fearless competitor. She showed in that second half, especially how eager she was to get to the basket, as that was her weapon of being an elusive dribbler to the bucket. Look for Lind to continue to be a driving force for Maple Lake, and be the leader of the Irish next season, as she is one of the only current juniors that get quality minutes for the Irish.
Lanise Hunter, Guard, Minneapolis Henry (2023)
Hunter has a lot of potentials to be the driving force of this Patriots team. This Patriots team totals one senior on the entire roster and has struggled this year. Hunter, as the second-leading scorer at just under 6 ppg, plays with a chip on her shoulder. Although this young Patriots team needs a lot of work on the intangibles, I think Hunter could be a leader for them for years to come.
Oliva Janunich, Forward, Delano (2020)
Another three-sport athlete that impressed is Olivia Janunich of Delano. Her scoring ability in the first half of the game I watched on Thursday was outstanding as Delano didn’t look like a 2-11 team in that first half at all. Janunich is a pure athlete, that when she’s open and able to catch and shoot, proved with her 4 3 pointers that she can be dangerous. Although the hot steam of the Tigers cooled down in the second half, head coach Seth Potter should be proud of his girls in the way they competed with the depth chart that the Waconia Wildcats possess.
Ashley Brinkmann, Forward, Delano (2020)
The forward play of Janunich and Ashley Brinkmann was what made Delano go into the break only down 31-30. If you have never watched Brinkmann you would assume she would be a stout rebounder and a good presence in the post, which was not at all the case. She tallied 3 three-pointers in the first half which kept Waconia in check.
Tess Johnson Tess Johnson 5'9" | CG Waconia | 2020 State MN , Guard, Waconia (#69, 2020)
Johnson is an outstanding defender and ball-handler for the Wildcats. She tallied 7 steals (unofficial) mostly in the second half in Waconia’s big half against the Tigers. She also has great poise when driving to the bucket and has a smooth three-point shot as well.. Johnson is certainly a scholarship level athlete, who is one of Waconia’s eight 1000 point scorers in her career.
Addy Salzer Addy Salzer 5'10" | CG Waconia | 2021 State MN , Guard, Waconia (#38, 2021)
Salzer was one of the top scorers for the Wildcats on Thursday night in Delano. Her length was what impressed me as a 5’10 guard and she showed it off on multiple plays. Her ability to read the offense and make a play on the ball for a steal was the biggest thing that stood out to me as she did that on multiple occasions on Thursday night in Delano.
Ava Stier Ava Stier 5'10" | PF Waconia | 2022 State MN , Forward, Waconia (#39, 2022)
Stier was a rebounding machine against the smaller Delano Tigers. She tallied 12 rebounds on the night and was a force to be reckoned with as far as collecting the boards. Waconia has it made as far as depth and a lot of that depth for the future falls on Stier.
Audrey Swanson Audrey Swanson 5'11" | SF Waconia | 2022 State MN , Guard, Waconia ( #61, 2022)
Swanson was another class of 2022 guard that had a solid game for the Wildcats on Thursday. Another long guard for Waconia, Swanson displayed strong awareness with 6 steals (5 in the second half) and her 10 points were helpful to the charge of the Wildcats in the second half.
LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEK
Monday 1/20- Augsburg University
Bloomington Kennedy vs. Minneapolis Washburn 11:30 AM tip
Byron vs. Bloomington Jefferson 2:30 PM tip
Hibbing vs. Waseca 4:00 PM tip
Minneapolis Southwest vs. St. Paul Highland Park 7:00 PM tip
Tuesday 1/21
Minnehaha Academy @ Orono 7:00 PM tip
Thursday 1/23
Annandale @ Watertown-Mayer 7:00 PM tip