The Week That Was #10: Beyond the marquee match-up
There’s no question that the highlight of the week had to be Hopkins’ win over Wayzata Tuesday night. It was a good one. We have already covered that one in depth (read it here if you haven’t already), as well…
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Continue ReadingThere’s no question that the highlight of the week had to be Hopkins’ win over Wayzata Tuesday night. It was a good one. We have already covered that one in depth (read it here if you haven’t already), as well as Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day events in St. Paul. On Wednesday I saw Wisconsin defeat Minnesota in Big 10 action. The accolades that follow are from four more high school games seen Thursday through Saturday: Concordia Academy at St. Croix Prep, Champlin Park at Blaine, Moorhead at Bloomington Jefferson and East Ridge at Tartan.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Winner – Samantha Zimmerman, junior forward, Moorhead. I had high hopes for Samantha from the first time I saw her a couple of years ago playing AAU ball for ND Pro. She’s long and athletic, has tremendous natural instincts and a solid understanding of the game. We have been patiently awaiting Zimmerman’s breakthrough and now it has happened. Zimmerman scored 28 points Saturday in the Spuds win over Jefferson, nailing a pair of three-pointers, a half dozen twos and going 10-for-12 at the free throw line. She’s playing with confidence now and it shows. Zimmerman combines beautifully with MSU-Moorhead commit, #41-ranked Rylie Polomny. Samantha leads the team in scoring at 17 ppg. Polumny is next at 16. As these two go, so goes Moorhead. Saturday they went very well.
Zimmerman is currently weighing her options in volleyball and basketball at the Division 2 level. Basketball coaches need to hop on board quickly or we might lose another one. Zimmerman’s current ranking of #87 reflects her past performance. Come back in a few weeks when the new rankings are released, which will reflect where she is at now. Polomny, by the way, had 10 points in the game and is now just 15 short of 1,000.
Runner-up – Ivane Tensaie, junior guard, Concordia Academy. Tensaie is one of the most exciting players in Minnesota’s junior class and she certainly showed it Thursday. The 5’6 point guard is super quick and can really fire the basketball. That combination enabled Tensaie to dominate in Concordia Academy’s 77-31 win over St. Croix Prep. Coming off back-to-back 40-point performances, Ivane had 19 in the first half against the Lions. She finished with 23 after basically exiting the game a few minutes into the second period. You had the feeling Tensaie would have gone for another 40 if sportsmanship had not been a factor. CA struggled out of the gate this season as they adapted to the loss of big Lydia Lecher (Hamline) to graduation, dropping 7 of their first 8 games. Tensaie has led a sharp turnaround, however, as the Beacons have won their last six in a row. Ivane is talking to a couple of smaller D1 schools and is open to any and all options. She’ll play once again this summer for North Tartan Elite.
Honorable mention – Kayla Bohr, senior forward, Blaine. Bohr’s breakout season continued Friday night as she poured home another 28 points in Blaine’s overtime win against Champlin Park. The 5’10 power forward is big and strong, and powers her way to the rim as well as anyone. There’s not a lot of finesse to Kayla’s game but her bully-ball brand of basketball is definitely effective. Bohr is averaging 20 points per game and has a couple of D2 visits planned.
FRESH FACES THIS WEEK
Ruthanna Doely, 8th grade guard, St. Croix Prep – I have been hearing good things about the lengthy guard who is leading the Lions in scoring at nearly 15 points per game with a season-high of 28. She did not disappoint in this first viewing. Doely is about 5’8, with long arms, long strides and quality skills. Her feet are quick, and she bounces around the floor with that light-footed ease that always captures my attention during a first look. Doelly made good cuts, played with a high level of intensity and showed solid court awareness. She had the unenviable task of guarding Tensaie much of the night which was obviously difficult. Ruthanna is working hard to improve her shooting. Although she has a long way to go, Doely is clearly a good candidate to eventually play college basketball. She’ll take another step in that direction this summer with the Minnesota Heat. The other St. Croix youngster who caught my attention was 8th grader Charlotte Peterson, an impressive little athlete who nailed 4 three-pointers in the game. Big freshman post Lauryn Schutz also showed flashes of potential.
Caroline Hemann, freshman guard, Bloomington Jefferson – Hemann is one of several young Jaguars with future possibilities. Jefferson used four freshman and three sophomores in its rotation Saturday. That’s a recipe for current frustration but future success. Hemann is lengthy 5’9 guard who runs well, has good feet and is athletic. Others youngsters to watch in the Jefferson lineup would include 6’2 post Angelina Chapple, 5’5 guard Emma Felt, 5’7 guard Emily Roach, 5’8 guard Abi Jo Nelson and 5’7 sophomore Emma Nelson. Each of them has potential.
TOP PERFORMERS ELSEWHERE
There were plenty of great performances this week in games we didn’t see. These include…
- Junior Adalia McKenzie, the #1-ranked prospect in the class of 2021, had a 37-point game in a win over Rogers on Friday night. It wasn’t McKenzie’s best performance of the week, either. That took place Wednesday at Target Center in Minneapolis when Adalia scored 49 in a win over Spring Lake Park. This kid is incredible!
- On Tuesday St. Michael-Albertville guard Mackenzie Kramer (Lehigh), ranked in the top 5 among Minnesota’s 2020s, broke the STMA school record with 9 threes as she scored 31 points in win over Moorhead.
- Junior guard Julia Knudson of Orono had quite a week. Knudson, who is known more for her excellent distribution, had a 30-point performance against Benilde-St. Margaret’s in a 74-70 victory. Julia, who plays AAU for Minnesota Fury 2021 Yellow, followed that up 24 hours later with 19 against Delano.
- In what was probably the most exciting game of the week Kasson-Mantorville scored a 76-74 overtime victory against a very strong Goodhue side. The Komets were led by junior forward Mya Suess, who had a 24-point, 20-rebound double-double.
- After missing more than three weeks with an ankle injury the #2 senior in the state is back in the lineup for Lakeville North. Lauren Jensen returned on Jan. 21 with a 28-point performance against Shakopee and followed that up a couple of nights later by scoring 30 against Rosemount.
Como Park sophomore Ronnie Porter with her AAU teammates Nia Holloway (left) and Myra Moorjani (right)
MILESTONES
- Rochester Lourdes senior Alyssa Ustby became the school’s all-time leading scorer this week. The North Carolina commit, who is #3 in the class of 2020, scored 33 points in a win over Caledonia to break the career-scoring record of 2,165 previous held by Stacy (Sievers) Paulson. Lourdes has a storied history in girls basketball but Ustby has completed transformed the school’s record book in a remarkable career.
- Junior point guard Lily Peterson of Crosby-Ironton recorded her first career triple-double this week with a 15-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist performance. That enabled her to reach the 1,000 career points mark. In doing so Lily became the third generation in her family to hit that milestone, an achievement completed by her mother and grandmother before her.
- Como Park sophomore Ronnie Porter scored 21 points in a dominant win at Minnehaha Academy on Thursday night. In doing so she reached the 1,000 career points mark. The top-20 prospect will no doubt soon be joined by her teammate Kaylynn Asberry, who is rated #10 in the sophomore class and is closing in on 1,000 herself.
- Other 1,000-point scorers this week included Robbinsdale Cooper junior Andrea Tribble and Waterville-Elysian-Morristown junior Brielle Bartelt, who became the 5th player in school history to do it. Tribble will play this summer for the Minnesota Suns. Bartelt will be back with the Minnesota Rise.
- Hawley coach Bill Gottenborg this week became the 9th girls basketball coach in Minnesota history to reach 600 career wins. It was a good week for the Nuggets, who won all three games to run their season mark to 12-3.
- Hill-Murray coach Erin Herman reached a big milestone herself this week, winning for the 500th time with the Pioneers. This is Herman’s 31st year as the head coach at Hill-Murray where she is also the school principal. She was inducted into the Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame 15 years ago and has taken the Pioneers to the state tournament seven times.
WHAT’S NEXT
There’s a full slate of games on my schedule coming up this week. We’ll be in Belle Plaine on Monday night to see the 13-1 Tigers, who are led by juniors Lauren Johnson and Sarah Lenz. They’ll face St. Peter in what should be a good one. Tuesday we plan to be in attendance for the twice-yearly slugfest between White Bear Lake and Roseville. Coach Jeff Crosby versus coach Jeremy Post is always worth watching. Wednesday we’ll be in Anoka for the Tornadoes’ encounter with Robbinsdale Armstrong. Thursday we’ll be at Cambridge-Isanti as the Bluejackets host the high-flying Bulldogs of Becker.
Weather permitting we’ll hit the road Friday night, stopping to see Elk River versus Park Center before heading up I-94 to Moorhead for the Heart O’ Lakes Showcase where the lineup includes Park Christian, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, Henning, Pelican Rapids, Hawley and Moorhead.
Hawley coach Bill Gottenborg became the 9th girls basketball coach in Minnesota history to reach 600 wins.Top photo: Junior Lily Peterson of Crosby-Ironton (back row, third from left) became the third generation in her family to reach 1,000 points in high school girls basketball.