Scouting report: 5 freshmen who have impressed in February
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Maddie Kamm – 5’6 guard, St. Peter Last week at Minnehaha Academy the Saints of St. Peter were struggling to get anything going offensively. They were down 12 at the half and quickly fell behind by another half dozen after…
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Continue ReadingMaddie Kamm – 5’6 guard, St. Peter
Last week at Minnehaha Academy the Saints of St. Peter were struggling to get anything going offensively. They were down 12 at the half and quickly fell behind by another half dozen after the break. It just wasn’t their night, a fact that was being amplified by a quality opponent. Then Maddie’s role was elevated and she was handed the task of guarding the Redhawks’ sensational 8th grader Addison Mack Addison Mack 5'9" | PG Minnehaha Academy | 2025 State MN . Kamm took on that rather challenging task with her typical gusto. Midway through the period, Maddie forced a turnover and scored in transition. Less than a minute later she did it again, and those two baskets that were created simply by playing the game hard, sparked a Saints’ comeback. St. Peter didn’t win but they played to a much higher standard the rest of the way home and forced Minnehaha to scramble at times to maintain their margin.
We love Maddie’s energy. She has quick feet, quick hands and a nice sense of anticipation. She’s also got skill. That caught our attention at the Prep Girls Hoops Top 250 Expo in October as did her performance in the Fall Exclusive. We first encountered her one year ago in Rochester when Maddie was also stellar on the defensive end of things, not something you often see from a player of that age. We said at the time we would be keeping an eye on Maddie and we’ll say it again now. This kid is going to go far.
Lauren Arnold Lauren Arnold 5'9" | CG Chanhassen | 2024 State MN – 5’6 guard, Chanhassen
Lauren is sneaky good, except lately sneaky has been morphing into something far more overt. Arnold is a very skilled combo guard whose quality play last summer for North Tartan earned her a place in our first ranking of the class of 2024 at #49. Perhaps subtle is the best word to describe how she plays. Arnold isn’t going to overpower you; she’s going to out-think and out-maneuver and out-clever you. It’s a package that just works. As the season has gone along for Chanhassen, Arnold has become a more and more important piece of the puzzle. She’s the third leading scorer for the Storm at 8.6 points per game, trailing Madi Hicks and the great Callin Hake Callin Hake 5'8" | PG Chanhassen | 2022 State #64 Nation MN (Nebraska). Lauren has been in double figures in five of her last six games, including a 14-point performance on Friday night in a 64-62 win over Bloomington Kennedy when Hake was sidelined. Lauren has nice touch and plenty of savvy and she’s going to get nothing but better as she matures.
Berit Parten – 5’7 guard, Minnehaha Academy
There are a lot of really good prospects in Minnesota’s freshmen class, and most of them are fast becoming household names. Although you probably haven’t heard this name before, you would be hard pressed to find many who are more athletic than Berit Parten. That’s because the Minnehaha 9th grader is a soccer-first kid and hasn’t been a fixture on the summer basketball circuit for that reason. Based on the way she has played over the past 18 months for the 9-1 Redhawks, and on how much her game has grown over that same period of time, Parten has the potential to be a terrific basketball prospect, as well.
Berit is usually first off the bench for Minnehaha and she never fails to insert a substantial degree of energy into the game. She defends like there is no tomorrow, and isn’t afraid to get in her opponents’ kitchen to stir up trouble. Sometimes Parten’s enthusiasm and emotion gets the better of her, but it’s way easier to reign that in than it is to coax it out of a player. On a team with plenty of big-time scorers, Berit is still averaging nearly 5 ppg. More importantly, she is forcing turnovers as she gradually becomes a more consistent offensive threat. If Berit decides basketball is her thing, she’s going to do well.
Jessika Lofstrom – 5’11 forward, Grand Rapids
We have been hearing about Jessika for some time now. Unfortunately we were not able to see her last summer which meant that she could not be included in our first ranking of the class of 2024. This week we spent time watching video of recent Grand Rapids games, and we spoke to several people up north who know Jessika’s game well. It’s obvious she is going to be a scholarship candidate with the length and work ethic to excel at the next level. Grand Rapids coach Kris Hamling loves Jessika’s potential and it’s not difficult to see why. Lofstrom can get up and down the court, although she’s more of a loping kind of runner than a sprinter. (Think 2024 #6 Mikayla Thomas Mikayla Thomas 5'11" | SF Spring Lake Park | 2024 MN of Spring Lake Park for example, or 2023 #15 Ella Johnson Ella Johnson 6'2" | SF Elk River | 2023 State MN of Elk River.)
Playing in both the 4 and 5 spot, Lofstrom is explosive to the rim. She understands body position, and both her footwork and her strength are improving. So is her ball-handling. She’s a bit of a streaky shooter and is currently averaging 9.5 points per game, second for the Thunderhawks behind sophomore Taryn Hamling Taryn Hamling 5'9" | PG Grand Rapids | 2023 State MN , who is an early commit to North Dakota State University. Lofstrom has been in double figures in half of her games, including an impressive 18-point outburst against Duluth Marshall. For now Jessika is a bit of a hidden gem, but when she fills out and gets stronger her work ethic and consistent improvement are going to pay off.
Tresa Baumgard Tresa Baumgard 6'0" | PF Chisholm | 2024 State MN – 6’0 forward, Chisholm
Baumgard is a player cut from the similar cloth to Lofstrom, except she is a little farther along in terms of physical development. She is also playing a bit weaker schedule than Jessika is and, as a result, is putting up impressive numbers for a team that is currently 7-4. We watched online this week as Northeast Range visited Chisholm’s throw-back gym on Monday night. Had this been our first exposure to Tresa it would have been difficult to tell just how much she is capable of. The pace was slow, and her length and athleticism was so superior to everyone else on the floor that it wouldn’t be fair to pass judgement. Fortunately we watched Baumgard last summer with the Wisconsin Playmakers. On the AAU stage, playing with and against higher-level players, we saw a scholarship-level talent who turned a lot of heads. That earned her the #45 ranking in our first sorting of 2024 prospects.
With outstanding length and athleticism (she’s a track star, too), Tresa is a terrific rebounder with a nice sense of timing and anticipation and the ability to out-reach the vast majority of her opponents. She can run the floor at pace, take opponents on one-on-one and is much stronger than most players of her age. She can also score. All of this is oh-so-obvious at the level her high school team plays as a 36-point, 18-rebound performance a couple of weeks ago against Littlefork-Big Falls will attest. Baumgard plays with a lot of emotion, and definitely wears her heart on her sleeve. That fire will carry her a long way.