Thanksgiving tournaments recap: Dynamic duos
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They say good things come in twos. I’m not really sure who ‘they’ are, or if it’s even true, but it certainly looked that way this weekend at the two major Thanksgiving holiday basketball tournaments in the Twin Cities. Although…
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Continue ReadingThey say good things come in twos. I’m not really sure who ‘they’ are, or if it’s even true, but it certainly looked that way this weekend at the two major Thanksgiving holiday basketball tournaments in the Twin Cities. Although we were on the hunt for quality individual performances, we just kept seeing double. After two helpings of stuffing with gravy it made sense to focus on the dynamic duos who stood out at the Twin Cities Thanksgiving Tipoff and the Hamline University Pat Patterson tournament. Here they are.
Maddyn Greenway Maddyn Greenway 5'8" | PG Providence Academy | 2026 State MN & Maria Counts Maria Counts 5'11" | PF Providence | 2022 State MN , Providence Academy
It didn’t take long to find our first dynamic duo of the day on Friday at St. Thomas Academy. The 8th grader Greenway, whose reputation as a national-level prospect is building, put on a heckuva show. She started out by scoring 11 field goals and 23 points in the first half and 32 points in all, combining beautifully with the senior Counts, a big forward who made her presence felt both inside and out. Maria finished with 21 points. The pair helped their Lions defeat some Tigers and another pretty dynamic duo in Hutchinson senior Alyssa Stamer Alyssa Stamer 5'7" | CG Hutchinson | 2022 State MN and junior Brynn Beffert Brynn Beffert 6'0" | PF Hutchinson | 2023 State MN , who combined for 40 points on the day.
Jocelyn Land Jocelyn Land 6'0" | PF Holy Family | 2024 State MN & Sophi Hall Sophi Hall 6'1" | CG Holy Family | 2023 State MN , Holy Family
We have come to expect excellence from Hall. She is the 12th-rated prospect in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2023 and recently committed to Providence College of the Big East. We did not know quite what to expect from her new teammate, sophomore forward Jocelyn Land Jocelyn Land 6'0" | PF Holy Family | 2024 State MN . The 6’0 transfer from Vermont impressed us enough this fall to earn the #38 ranking in the class. Based on how the pair combined on Friday she’ll soon be trending in a northward direction. The pair totaled 32 points in Friday’s win over Simley. On Saturday they put up 25 more against Mountain Iron-Buhl. Land’s physical presence, combined with Hall’s skill and length and the passing wizardry of Nicole Bowlin Nicole Bowlin 5'6" | PG Holy Family | 2022 State MN (Colorado Christian) make Holy Family a team worth paying attention to.
Sam Wills Sam Wills 6'0" | SG Visitation | 2025 State MN & Olivia Johanns, Visitation
The arrival of hall of fame coach Faith Johnson-Patterson last season appears to have sparked a rejuvenation of sorts at Visitation as she has come out of retirement to bring some of the mojo that helped her teams win eight state championships at DeLaSalle and Minneapolis North. The arrival of 2025 Top 10 prospect Sam Wills Sam Wills 6'0" | SG Visitation | 2025 State MN has helped even more. Wills and her partner-in-crime Johanns were on fire at St. Thomas Academy, which is next door to their own campus in Mendota Heights. The pair scored 20 points apiece on Friday in a 61-40 win over Rockford. On Saturday they did it again, combining for 39 in a 63-36 win over Regis of Eau Claire.
Hannah Herzig Hannah Herzig 6'0" | CG Totino Grace | 2022 State MN & Leah Dengerud Leah Dengerud 5'9" | SF Totino Grace | 2022 State MN , Totino-Grace
If you read our first weekly recap of the high school season on Sunday – The Week That Was #1 – then you already know that the 6’0 Herzig delivered some excellence over the weekend. The #41-ranked senior in the state earned our Player of the Week nod after turning in two solid performances of 24 and 29 points respectively. It was her work with the 5’9 Dengerud that really made T-G go. The Concordia-St. Paul commit, rated 48th in the class, had 17 Friday vs Stewartville and followed with 16 more against Cretin-Derham Hall. The Eagles were impressive and it was the senior twosome that set the tone.
Zoey Washington Zoey Washington 5'9" | CG St. Croix Lutheran | 2023 State MN & Laura Hauge Laura Hauge 5'9" | SG St. Croix Lutheran | 2024 State MN , St. Croix Lutheran
When word slipped out a few weeks ago that Zoey had transferred from Mahtomedi to St. Croix Lutheran, the first words out of my mouth were these: ‘Wow. She and Laura could be really, really good together.’ Well guess what; two games into the season and it looks like she and Laura could be really, really good together. In Friday’s win over Mountain Iron-Buhl, Hauge made four threes, six twos and four free throws for a 28-point performance. Washington made three threes, two twos and two free throws for 15 points. It was impressive. On Saturday it was more of the same as the pair combined for 42 points in a win over Stewartville. Washington is ranked #23 in Class of 2023 and has committed to the University of St. Thomas. Hauge is the #4-rated prospect in the Class of 2024 and holds big-time offers.
Jordan Zubich Jordan Zubich 5'11" | SG Mountain Iron-Buhl | 2024 State MN & Sage Ganyo Sage Ganyo 5'4" | CG Mountain Iron-Buhl | 2023 State MN , Mountain Iron-Buhl
One of great things about truly dynamic duos is not just how well they combine for maximum effect in the same game but also how they have each other’s back when one or the other isn’t hitting on all cylinders. That was certainly the case on Friday for Zubich and Ganyo. Jordan was in deep foul trouble early and fouled out early in the second half (this was an officiating issue, not a lack of good judgement on her part) but Ganyo carried the mail, scoring 20 points and nearly bringing MIB the W. On Saturday the roles were juggled and Zubich was on fire. The #7-rated sophomore in the state went 7-for-13 from beyond the arc to score 29 points and secure the win over Holy Family. Jordan is one of the most exciting young prospects in the state. Sage is one of the most underappreciated guards around. Together they are truly a dynamic duo.
Audrey Swanson Audrey Swanson 5'11" | SF Waconia | 2022 State MN & Ava Stier Ava Stier 5'10" | PF Waconia | 2022 State MN , Waconia
Baseball had its Bash Brothers. I feel like these two from Waconia should be the Smash Sisters. We have had a front-row seat to the evolution of Audrey and Ava over the past couple of years and it has been so much fun to watch. They play with such passion. The hard-nosed twosome are strong, athletic and physical, and they take no prisoners. They’ve also got skill and score in bunches. This weekend at Hamline, the 37th-rated Swanson (Southwest Minnesota State) and the 42nd-ranked Stier (MSU-Mankato) went about their business as usual, scoring 70 points and bagging a bushel of rebounds to lead their squad to pair of impressive victories over Apple Valley and Lakeville South.
SOME INDIVIDUAL STANDOUTS
Of course the Twin Cities Thanksgiving Tip Off and the Hamline University Pat Patterson tournament also featured some fine individual performances over the weekend. We highlighted a number of them in our Week That Was #1 recap. Here are a few more individual performances of note.
Ashlee Burchette Ashlee Burchette 5'7" | CG Champlin Park | 2023 State MN – If you strolled into the gym and caught a glimpse of the 5’7 point guard from across the court, you might be convinced the Bloomington Kennedy junior was having a bad day, but that’s just her game face. Looks can be deceiving because Burchette was very good all weekend. Picking up where she left off at our Fall Exclusive, Ashlee scored 21 for Kennedy on Friday against Park Center and followed up with 24 against Farmington on Saturday. Ashlee is a skilled guard with plenty of tools and ability to execute under pressure.
Selam Maher Selam Maher 5'7" | CG St. Louis Park | 2022 State MN – The senior guard made her St. Louis Park debut this weekend after transferring from Hopkins in the off-season. The Top 50 prospect wasted no time in stamping her signature on the proceedings and was clearly the Orioles best player from start to finish. Selam was everywhere, offensively and defensively, and did great work against the best that Farmington and Minnetonka had to offer. After opening with a 29-point performance against Farmington on Friday, she scored 23 of her team’s 54 points against the Skippers on Saturday. Maher, who has committed to Smith College in New England, appears poised to make a statement in her senior season.
Lauren Eckerle – Lauren is a soccer player, which is why you haven’t read much about her here over the past few years. She doesn’t play AAU basketball and White Bear Lake has been a little under the radar the past couple of seasons. Well Lauren made everyone sit up and take notice this weekend at Hamline. The crafty guard with the quick feet and fiery demeanor scored 26 points on Saturday in an impressive 61-51 win against Orono at Hutton Arena. It’s not like Lauren hasn’t scored before. The All-Conference selection led the team a year ago at 17 ppg and had her two best outings – a pair of 27-point performances – against two tough opponents in Roseville and East Ridge. In this, her senior season, she’ll be expected to do even more.
Drew Johnston Drew Johnston 5'9" | PG Roseville | 2023 State MN – The Roseville point guard has really come into her own over the past 18 months. It certainly showed this summer where she was a steady guiding hand for her North Tartan team, a reliable floor general who could be counted on to come through in the clutch. Drew, ranked #31 in the Class of 2023, was in fine form this weekend. She scored 20 points in Friday’s 74-67 win over Holy Angels. On Saturday she had 18 in a 71-62 win over Hutchinson. That’s a step up from her 12.2 points per game average as a sophomore and 5.2 as a freshman. That is exactly the type of growth and progression you like to see and it bodes well for what lies ahead for this scholarship-level prospect.
Top photo: Maddyn Greenway Maddyn Greenway 5'8" | PG Providence Academy | 2026 State MN (left) and Maria Counts Maria Counts 5'11" | PF Providence | 2022 State MN (right) were a dynamic duo for Providence Academy.