Records fall and so do some favorites on opening day at State
In this article:
Maddyn Greenway Maddyn Greenway 5'8" | PG Providence Academy | 2026 State MN made a giant splash to mark her arrival at the Minnesota high school basketball state tournament on Tuesday night as the 7th grader scored 32 points to…
Access all of Prep Girls Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingMaddyn Greenway Maddyn Greenway 5'8" | PG Providence Academy | 2026 State MN made a giant splash to mark her arrival at the Minnesota high school basketball state tournament on Tuesday night as the 7th grader scored 32 points to lead Providence Academy to a 94-91 victory over Duluth Marshall on opening day. Amazingly enough, Greenway’s grand entrance was overshadowed by a stunning Gianna Kneepkens Gianna Kneepkens 5'11" | CG Duluth Marshall | 2021 State #86 Nation MN swan song performance as the Duluth Marshall senior scored a state-record 67 points in her final high school appearance.
Kneepkens has shredded the record books all season long, so it’s only fitting that she would steal the show one last time. The University of Utah commit had 10 three-point baskets, 10 two-point field goals and was 17-for-19 at the free throw line. Unfortunately even that was not quite enough as Greenway led the Lions to an impressive victory in their class AA quarterfinal. Although Kneepkens will draw all the headlines, the performance of Providence Academy’s two big post players – sisters Maria Counts Maria Counts 5'11" | PF Providence | 2022 State MN and Grace Counts Grace Counts 6'1" | PF Providence | 2023 State MN – was the real story here. Grace had 25 points for PA while Maria added 16. Both owned the boards. As a result, the Lions were one of 12 squads to advance as the big tournament opened at various locations across the state.
Not the only nail-biter
While the Providence win was certainly dramatic, it wasn’t the only close encounter in class AA on day one. The Monahan sisters from Glencoe-Silver Lake made sure of that. Senior Miah Monahan Miah Monahan 5'8" | CG Glencoe-Silver Lake | 2021 State MN , an Eastern Illinois commit, and her 8th grade sister Mylea Monahan combined for 43 points to lead GSL to a stunning comeback win over Minnehaha Academy. The Panthers trailed by as much as 18 points in the first half, but they parlayed their scrappy defense and never-say-die attitude into an excellent second half that limited the Redhawks to just 14 points. Junior Telia Graham Telia Graham 5'10" | SF Minnehaha | 2022 State MN was Minnehaha’s leading scorer with 21.
Meanwhile Mountain Iron-Buhl pulled off some heroics of its own against Cass Lake-Bena. The favored Rangers trailed throughout the game as Taryn Frazer Taryn Frazer 5'4" | PG Cass Lake-Bena | 2022 State MN , Krisalyn Seelye and the Fineday girls brought their A game to the gym for CLB. The experienced Rangers kept chipping away at the Panthers’ lead, however, and pulled ahead in the final minute to capture a 50-49 victory, their third win of the season against Cass Lake-Bena. Hali Savela led the Rangers with 18 points while Sage Ganyo, Ava Butler and Lauren Maki Lauren Maki 5'9" | SF MIB | 2022 State MN collected 8 points apiece. Seelye had 18 for the Panthers.
Farmington falls to the Irish
Farmington’s state tournament did not go they way the Tigers wanted in 2020 when the event was shut down by the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic thereby scuttling their shot at Hopkins for a state title. Their 2021 appearance will likely be even harder to swallow. Nobody can put together a more effective defensive game plan than Rosemount coach Chris Orr and the Irish proved it on opening night with a 52-44 upset of the Tigers. After falling twice to Farmington in conference play, Rosemount rose to the big occasion at state led by junior Alexa Ratzlaff Alexa Ratzlaff 5'9" | CG Rosemount | 2022 State MN with 18 points, senior Ivory Finley Ivory Finley 5'8" | CG Rosemount | 2021 State MN (UMass-Lowell) with 13, and 8 points each by senior Helen Staley Helen Staley 6'0" | PF Rosemount | 2021 State MN (Oakland) and sophomore Nicole O’Neil Nicole O’Neil 5'10" | SG Rosemount | 2023 State MN . Senior Peyton Blandin Peyton Blandin 5'8" | SG Farmington | 2021 State MN (SMSU) had 26 for Farmington while Sophie Hart Sophie Hart 6'4" | C Farmington | 2021 State #44 Nation MN (North Carolina State) scored 14. Rosemount will play Centennial in round 2.
Chaska, Hopkins & Centennial advance
The meeting between Chaska and Stillwater in class AAAA was considered by most to be the biggest game of the day, but it didn’t turn out to be quite the battle folks expected. Thanks to a 31-point performance by sophomore point guard Kennedy Sanders Kennedy Sanders 5'8" | CG Chaska | 2023 State MN , and another strong outing from junior Mallory Heyer Mallory Heyer 6'1" | PF Chaska | 2022 State #36 Nation MN with 19, Chaska scored a convincing 75-57 victory over the Ponies. Junior Amber Scalia Amber Scalia 5'9" | CG Stillwater | 2022 State MN led Stillwater with 17 points while Lexi Karlen Lexi Karlen 6'0" | SG Stillwater | 2023 State MN had 12 and Alexis Pratt Alexis Pratt 5'5" | PG Stillwater | 2021 State MN (Omaha) had 11 in her final high school game. In the semifinal round Chaska will face Hopkins, which scored a 76-44 win over Forest Lake, its 78th consecutive victory. Taylor Woodson Taylor Woodson 6'0" | PF Hopkins | 2023 State #28 Nation MN led the Royals with 15 points while Maya Nnaji Maya Nnaji 6'4" | PF Hopkins | 2022 State #7 Nation MN had 14.
Centennial was the other team to advance in class AAAA as the Cougars took care of business in a 63-51 win over Elk River. Centennial was led by North Dakota commit Jodi Anderson Jodi Anderson 5'11" | CG Centennial | 2021 State MN , who scored 24 points. Senior Jenna Guyer Jenna Guyer 6'2" | C Centennial | 2021 State MN and freshman Marisa Frost Marisa Frost 5'8" | PG Centennial | 2024 State MN had 11 points each while junior Camille Cummings Camille Cummings 5'8" | CG Centennial | 2022 State MN posted 10. Senior Elly Bahr Elly Bahr 5'7" | CG Elk River | 2021 State MN (UW-River Falls) led the Elks with 14 while senior Johanna Langbehn Johanna Langbehn 6'2" | C Elk River | 2021 State MN (St. Thomas) and her sophomore sister Jordan Langbehn Jordan Langbehn 5'11" | SG Elk River | 2023 State MN had 11 apiece.
No big surprises in class AAA
We knew the Tigers of Marshall were good, but they went above and beyond to prove just how good on opening night in a 63-32 beatdown of St. Croix Lutheran. Marshall’s defensive pressure was dominant from the get-go as they managed to pretty much stifle the Crusaders’ four 1,000-point scorers, holding 2024 standout Laura Hauge Laura Hauge 5'9" | SG St. Croix Lutheran | 2024 State MN to just 12 points. Emily Meier led Marshall’s offensive output with 19 points, three more than senior Jordyn Hilgemann Jordyn Hilgemann 5'10" | SF Marshall | 2021 State MN (Northern State).
Hill-Murray wasn’t quite so emphatic in its 60-47 defeat of Austin on opening night, but senior guard Lilli Mackley Lilli Mackley 5'11" | CG Hill-Murray | 2021 State MN of the Pioneers certainly made a statement. The Dakota State commit scored 27 points for Hill-Murray, which also had 14 from senior Bella Hartzel Bella Hartzel 5'8" | SG Hill-Murray | 2021 State MN . Junior Hope Dudycha Hope Dudycha 5'6" | CG Austin | 2022 State MN topped the Packers scoring charts with 14 points while Cassidy Shute Cassidy Shute 5'8" | CG Austin | 2023 State MN had 9, Elyse Hebrink Elyse Hebrink 5'7" | CG Austin | 2021 State MN had 8 and Reana Schmitt scored 7.
Meanwhile, Holy Angels asserted its dominance in a 93-69 win over Grand Rapids. Junior Kassie Caron Kassie Caron 6'0" | SF Holy Angels | 2022 State MN , a Missouri Western commit, scored 30 points for the Stars to lead an impressive Holy Angels attack. Seniors Frankie Vascellaro Frankie Vascellaro 6'0" | SF Holy Angels | 2021 State MN and Rachel Kawiecki Rachel Kawiecki 5'10" | PF Holy Angels | 2021 State MN scored 19 and 12 respectively while Grace Massaquoi Grace Massaquoi 6'0" | PF Holy Angels | 2022 State MN and Jenna Buer had 12 each. The Stars will play Marshall in the second round.
Elsewhere on opening day.
- Mackenzie Rich and Emma Hanson led an all-out aerial assault as New London-Spicer combined suffocating defense with hot shooting to spoil Lake City’s first trip to the state class AA tournament in 37 years. Rich and Hanson combined for 49 points in a 78-49 win for NLS in the Wildcats’ 19th time at state under coach Mike Drier, who now has 984 career victories. NLS will play Providence Academy in the semifinals.
- Albany’s senior point guard Paige Meyer Paige Meyer 5'6" | PG Albany | 2021 State MN is an offensive juggernaut who has earned herself a next-level opportunity at South Dakota State. On this night Meyer and her Huskies’ teammates were near flawless defensively, as well, as they scored a 41-12 win over Pelican Rapids. They’ll face Glencoe-Silver Lake next week.
- Senior Abby Hennen Abby Hennen 5'9" | CG Minneota | 2021 State MN and junior Natalie Rolbiecki Natalie Rolbiecki 5'10" | CG Minneota | 2022 State MN scored 21 points each to lead heavily favored Minneota to a 67-34 triumph over Houston in class A. They’ll meet Mountain Iron-Buhl in the semifinals next week.
- Elsewhere in class A, sophomore guard Abby Berge scored 27 points to lead Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa to a 76-71 win over West Central Area in a game that was probably closer than most people expected. The Jaguars had 13 points from senior Josie Knutson and 11 by MSU-Moorhead commit Alissa Knight Alissa Knight 5'11" | F Belgrade-Bruton-Elrosa | 2021 MN . BBE will play the winner of Wednesdays game between Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s and Mayer Lutheran.
The state tournament continues on Wednesday with two more quarterfinal contests. In class AAA, Becker will face Alexandria at 8 p.m. in Perham. In class A, Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s will meet up with Mayer Lutheran at 5 p.m. at Mankato East.