AAU State Tourney: Metro Stars, Fury win all the hardware
Their magic number must be 2. At least that’s how it seemed on Sunday as Metro Stars Starks 2022, a new team that has only been on the court for about 2 months, scored 2 dramatic victories by a margin of just 2 points apiece in only its 2nd tournament of the season to capture the 2022 Division at the Minnesota AAU state girls basketball championship. Oh yeah, the Metro Stars came from 22 points down to do it. At the same time the Minnesota Fury grabbed three of the four major titles as they dominated the victory celebrations for the 2nd summer in a row.
Yes, it was a dramatic Championship Sunday in Shakopee, a day that saw the Fury win the 2021s in a nail-biter, the 2023s by a comfortable margin and the 2024s in a romp just one year after the club completed an historic Sunday sweep by winning all four titles among the high school divisions covered by Prep Girls Hoops. It could not have been a more exciting tournament, a three-day event made even more special during this unfathomable year of upheaval, an unprecedented stretch of history that included the scuttling of the high school state tournament and weeks of uncertainty over whether there would even be an AAU season.
Here’s a quick rundown on Sunday’s games with details to follow in the days ahead.
Fury UAA defeats North Tartan to win 2021
The Fury captured the 2021 state championship last summer in a dramatic win over Gerard Coury’s top North Tartan team by just 4 points. This time around it was even closer, and there was no less stress involved, as Tim Peper’s team won a repeat title with a 67-65 win over North Tartan. The Fury trailed by as much as 12 points in the first half before closing the margin to 5 at the break. In the second half they were down by a dozen once again before pulling ahead for the first time with under four minutes remaining. It was Sophie Hart Sophie Hart 6'4" | C Farmington | 2021 State #44 Nation MN , a North Carolina State commit from Farmington, who scored on a put-back with just 4.2 seconds remaining.
North Tartan had one last gasp to win it as Wisconsin commit Maty Wilke of Beaver Dam put up an off-balance three-point attempt at the buzzer that missed the mark. Unfortunately Wilke suffered a hip injury on the play as she crashed to the ground amid the chaos. As the Fury celebrated their dramatic win, Wilke remained on the floor in pain for an extended period of time before eventually being transported to hospital. Fortunately, medical test later revealed that the injury was not serious.
Hart had an excellent game on Sunday as did Alexis Pratt Alexis Pratt 5'5" | PG Stillwater | 2021 State MN of Stillwater (Omaha). Kaylee Van Eps Kaylee Van Eps 5'11" | SF Chaska | 2021 State MN of Chaska (Lehigh) and Jade Hill Jade Hill 5'8" | PG Mpls. South | 2021 State MN of Minneapolis South combined for more than a dozen free throws down the stretch to secure the victory. The Fury had scored a convincing 16-point win over Minnesota Stars 2021 Hersch in the semifinals earlier in the day. Their previous wins at the event came over Minnesota Comets Elite, another versus the Hersch team, and the Southern Minnesota Fury
Metro Stars Starks knocks off North Tartan to capture 2022
Tara Starks’ MN Metro Stars got off to a late start this summer, not playing their first tournament as a unit until last week’s Summer Jam where they lost in the final to a very impressive Minnesota Stars Nilsen team. After sitting out earlier events due to health concerns related to the COVID-19 virus, the team lived up to its advanced billing in week one as one of the powers of the 2022 class, and followed that up with a dramatic run to the 2022 state title this weekend. It definitely was not easy.
In Sunday’s semifinal game, the Metro Stars dug themselves a huge hole in a repeat encounter with Matt Nilsen’s squad. Led by top-10 incoming senior Desiree Ware Desiree Ware 5'8" | CG Minnetonka | 2022 State MN of Minnetonka (Alabama-Birmingham), the Stars built a lead of 22 points just a couple of minutes into the second half. That’s when the Metro Stars turned up the defensive pressure and altered the course of events. The team is led by a core of seven players from Hopkins High School, where they have played in countless crucial contests and understand what big-game pressure is all about. The most impressive of those Hopkins Royals on Sunday was incoming junior Amaya Battle Amaya Battle 5'10" | PG Hopkins | 2022 State #29 Nation MN , who had 48 points on the day and made one vital play after another. Junior-to-be Alayna Contreras Alayna Contreras 5'7" | CG Hopkins | 2022 State MN and incoming sophomore Taylor Woodson Taylor Woodson 6'0" | PF Hopkins | 2023 State #28 Nation MN were nearly as good.
We’ll give you the full details on the game in a separate story – Battle won it 57-55 for the Metro Stars with a pair of free throws with 0.4 seconds on the clock – along with their equally exciting 66-64 win over North Tartan in the championship game. After falling to Marqus McGlothan’s top North Tartan team by three in their opening game on Friday, the Metro Stars followed that up with wins over Southern Minnesota Fury and North Tartan Elite prior to defeating Stars Nilsen and the premier North Tartan team on Championship Sunday.
Fury UAA triumphs over Minnesota Stars Hersch in 2023
Last year’s edition of Fury 2023 UAA was impressive as they rolled through the state tournament before defeating Minnesota Stars Hersch in the championship game. This year, Matt Froehle’s girls did it again, scoring a comfortable 59-38 repeat victory over Josh Hersch’s team. Led by a 16-point performance from 6th-ranked Molly Lenz Molly Lenz 5'8" | CG Eden Prairie | 2023 State MN of Eden Prairie, and 15 points by #4 Kennedy Sanders Kennedy Sanders 5'8" | CG Chaska | 2023 State MN of Chaska, the Fury established an early lead and controlled the championship game from start to finish. They did likewise in the semifinals on Sunday as Sanders had another 15-point outing while #17 Ashley Schuelke Ashley Schuelke 5'10" | SF Chaska | 2023 State MN of Chaska scored a dozen to lead their team to a 19-point win over North Tartan Elite. Along the way the Fury knocked off North Tartan Milan by 18, Suns Bluestar by 13, Suns Fried by 36, Metro Stars Wiese by 30 and in the semifinals on Sunday defeated North Tartan Elite by 19.
This team is just so strong. As if they were not impressive enough last year, this year’s edition boasted the addition of three elite talents – #7 Shania Van Nett Shania Van Nett 5'7" | CG Como Park | 2023 State MN of St. Paul Como Park, #15 Sophi Hall Sophi Hall 6'1" | CG Holy Family | 2023 State MN of Holy Family and #16 Abby Krzewinski Abby Krzewinski 5'11" | PF Wayzata | 2023 State MN of Wayzata. Unfortunately Krzewinski suffered a torn ACL in July and was relegated to spectator duty at the state tournament. Sadly, Van Nett went down this weekend with what appears to be her second ACL tear in the past 12 months.
Stars Hersch was led throughout the weekend by one of the premier shooters in the state as Aby Shubert Aby Shubert 5'8" | CG Kasson-Mant. | 2023 State MN of Kasson-Mantorville demonstrated once again why she is a top 20 talent in the Prep Girls Hoops class of 2023. The 5’7 combo guard scored 88 points in six games, including 18 three-point baskets. Stars Hersch defeated two North Tartan teams, 43 Hoops Martin, Crossfire South Modrynski and Fury 2023 Yellow en route to the title game.
Fury UAA wins the 2024 Division over Minnesota Stars Amundson
Nobody who is familiar with Nick Storm’s Minnesota Fury 2024 UAA squad should be surprised that the team is among the best of the state’s incoming high school freshmen, but pretty much everyone was surprised that they won the championship on Sunday by beating Minnesota Stars Amundson. After all, it’s not often that a #12 seed even makes it to a title game but that’s what Greg Amundson’s girls did by putting together an outstanding string of victories.
This Fury squad is loaded. Led by Power 5 prospects Katie Vasecka Katie Vasecka 6'1" | CG South Dakota | 2024 MN of New Prague and Olivia Olson Olivia Olson 6'1" | CG Benilde-SM | 2024 State MN of Benilde-St. Margaret’s, the Fury scored four convincing victories before running over Amundson’s team by a score of 60-24 in the championship game. Vasecka scored 14 points in the game while Olson added 10, but it was Sophia Zay of Holy Family who led the way on this day with 19. At the same time Amy Thompson Amy Thompson 5'10" | SG Stillwater | 2024 State MN of Stillwater was bombing threes from the corner as usual. The Fury, seeded #2, dominated the tournament, twice defeating North Tartan Elite by 19, scoring a 21-point win over MN P.R.E.P Scott and doing likewise versus Minnesota Stars Gardner.
Beginning the tournament way down in the H pool, Amundson’s team became the Cinderella story of the weekend. On Friday they upset a strong Crossfire South Corley team and followed up with a win over MDB 8th to earn the 12th seed. On Saturday they knocked off #5 North Tartan Tinjum and #4 MN P.R.E.P Scott. On Sunday morning they ousted #1 North Tartan Ohnstad in the semifinals before colliding with the big yellow Fury machine. The Stars’ run to the title game was led by a pair of imports from Fargo – Karley Franks and Ashton Safranski – along with big Kam King of Jordan.
Division 2 winners
2021 – Minnesota Stars DeSart
2022 – North Tartan SE Speer
2023 – Minnesota Impact
2024 – Southern Minnesota Fury
Coming up: Over the next couple of days we’ll have separate stories on each of the four age groups along with the Prep Girls Hoops State Tournament All Star selections.
Top photo: MN Metro Stars 2022 Starks had plenty of celebrate on Sunday as they captured a state championship. (Photo courtesy of Crisha Walton)