But the other day I wrote a Breakdown Tip-Off preview and I recommended you watch Cromwell vs. Minneota. (Minneota 49 Cromwell 47.) I suggested you might want to see Minnehaha vs. Sauk Centre. (Minnehaha 89 Sauk 86 in 3 OT.) I suggested Park Center vs. St. Michael. (Park Center 72 St. Michael 69.) I recommended Farmington vs. St. Michael. (Farmington 92 St. Michael 79.) I recommended Park Center vs. Stillwater. (Park Center 75 Stillwater 69.) And so on and so forth.
Now, just to be clear. I didn't get out to the Friday night games, and I didn't stay on Saturday until the last dog was hung. But here's what I did see.
The Best Game
It wasn't the closest game but the 2 teams that displayed the closest to mid-season form were Farmington and St. Michael. There were 26 turnovers, the 2nd fewest on the day. The #3 Tigers were ahead pretty much the whole way, though I hesitate to say they were in control. St. Michael kept on pushing but in the end it was Farmington 92 St. Michael 79. Farmington has a remarkable array of weapons. 6-5 junior Sophie Hart had 22 points and, well, the official scorebook doesn't agree but a stats geek who is a college recruiting consultant sitting next to me had her down for 29 boards and 6 blocks. And, she wasn't even the MVP. That was guard Molly Mogenson with 25 points and a triple double. Paige Kindseth added 23 points. Farmington made 7-of-13 3s, 25-of-45 2s and 21-of-30 FT.
St. Michael just didn't shoot it well enough, under 40%, but freshman guard Tess Johnson scored 30 while Kendal Cox added 21. With its loss to Park Center, St. Michael is starting 0-2. I don't think that has happened in a long, long time, and now they're heading into the Lake Conference for the 1st time. 2 games vs. Hopkins. 2 games vs. Wayzata. St. Michael could lose 10 games this year and they'll still be a top 5 team.
Nail-Biter Award
Obviously, that's the Minnehaha-Sauk marathon matching up the last 2 Class AA champions. Sauk came in rated #1 in AA, 'Haha just #11, and Sauk indeed ran out to an 18-point margin early on (24-6, I think). Minnehaha got back to within 39-25 at the half and you knew it was gonna get tighter before it was done, but not that tight. In the end, RedHawks star Mia Curtis outscored Sauk star Tori Peschel 42-35 and Kate Pryor and Tanna Gallo chipped in with another 36. Julia and Michaela Dammann chipped in another 30 for Sauk, so Minnehaha won the 3-on-3 battle 78-65. Neither team looked like a state champion on the defensive end but no doubt both will be in the mix come March.
Nail-Biter II
Cromwell broke out of a 22-22 tie on 3 Shailey Hakamaki 3s to lead 31-23 at the half and the Cardinals looked to be on their way. But Minneota coach Chad Johnston "yelled at" his girls at halftime, he said, and they started guarding Shailey Hakamaki--and her cousin Taya Hakamaki, too--in the 2nd half and came back to win 49-47. The Hakamakis outscored Abby and Morgan Hennen of Minneota 37-24 but the Vikings depth was substantially better than Cromwell's. Once again, neither of them looked like a state champion but it's November and Minneota just won the state volleyball title. Somebody said, they're still playing volleyball.
Bombs Away
The bombs away award goes to Rosemount, whose starters made 16-of-28 3s, led by Larissa O'Neil with 9 of 15 for 27 points. Taylor Janssen and Alexa Ratliff made another 6 or 7 between them for 32 points. Rosemount clobbered Waconia 83-57.
Another Comeback
Maple Grove led Eden Prairie most of the way, including 33-27 at the half, but then the shots stopped falling and EP came back to win 68-65. EP sophomore guard Myra Moorjani played very sparingly most of the way, then came off the bench to score 10 points down the stretch. Guard Abby Schulte led all scorers for MG with 21 while Natalie Mazurek scored 20 for EP.
Let's Get Physical
They let Park Center and Stillwater get after it and so that's what they did. And the physical action favored Park Center who led 36-28 at the half and 48-32 midway through the 2nd. Stillwater fought back but it was too little, too late, and the Pirates won 75-69. The rebounds were 46-33 Stillwater but the Ponies had 29 turnovers and made just 4-of-22 3s. Adalia Mackenzie scored 29 after scoring 28 the previous night, while Lauren Frost added 17 to go with 18 on Friday. Alexis Pratt scored 25 for the Ponies. Mary Fultz was the most improved player I saw compared to a year ago, scoring 14. Delaney Wagner is out for the season for Stillwater with a torn ACL.
Also MIA
Along with Wagner, Alexandria's Ella Grove and Big Lake's Regan Sternquist and Simley's Ravyn Miles and Stewartville's Erin Lamb were the most notable MIAs. Grove and Sternquist will return shortly, but Grove is Alex's best player and without her Alex fell to New Prague 55-48. The Trojans' Amanda Giesen was terrific, scoring 19 points, while Emily Russo was solid. The surprises were the sister act(s) of junior Rachel Russo and 6-foot 8th grade forward Katie Vasecka (sister of senior guard Bethany). Katie was the breakout player of the day with 9 points and a lot of length and mobility.
Big Lake fell to Austin 59-37 without Sternquist. Austin felt no ill effects from playing on a 3rd straight evening.
Miles has been hurt a lot over the past year. She's expected back fairly soon but, without her, Simley wasn't going to score enough points to beat Chaska. But Simley was the single most physical team of the day. Erstwhile power forward Ysareia Chèvre did a nice job at the point, but then she wasn't posting up. Meanwhile, Chaska has a lot of weapons. Mallory Heyer and Kaylee Van Eps combined for 22 but against Simley's ultra-physical inside defense, it was freshman guard Kennedy Sanders from the outside who led the way with 17.
Stewartville's Lamb will not be coming back. She is a volleyball player and her basketball playing days are over. And, so, Albany was in control most of the way, including 40-28 at the half, but then Stewartville roared back to take a 65-61 lead with a minute-and-a-half to go. But they couldn't close it out, and Albany ended up squeezing by 68-67 as Paige Meyer made 4-of-4 FT inside of 30 seconds. Albany had 32 turnovers. Meyer, who never met a double-team she won't try to split, finished with 31 while Lily Welch scored 28 for Stew.
The Big 5
Center--Sophie Hart, Farmington, junior
Forward--Jenna Johnson, Wayzata, junior
Point Guard--Molly Mogenson, Farmington, senior
Shooting Guard--Adalia Mackenzie, Park Center, junior
Athlete--Alyssa Ustby, Rochester Lourdes, senior
Second 5
Center--Natalie Mazurek, Eden Prairie, senior
Forward--Taylor Janssen, Rosemount, senior
Point Guard--Abby Schulte, Maple Grove, senior
Shooting Guard--Mia Curtis, Minnehaha, senior
Combo Guard--Alexis Pratt, Stillwater, junior
Below AAAA
Center--Michaela Dammann, Sauk Centre, junior
Forward--Rachel Kawiecki, Holy Angels, junior
Point Guard--Paige Meyer, Albany, junior
Shooting Guard--Frankie Vascellero, Holy Angels, junior
Athlete--Tori Peschel, Sauk Centre, senior
Plus of course Ustby and Curtis from above
Underclassmen
Center--Emma Dasovich, Minnetonka, 6-1, 8th grade
Forward--Mallory Heyer, Chaska, 6-1, soph
Point Guard--Kennedy Sanders, Chaska, 5-8, frosh
Combo Guard--Mara Braun, Wayzata, 5-11, soph
Shooting Guard--Tess Johnson, St. Michael-Albertville, 5-9, frosh
Forward--Nia Holloway, Eden Prairie, 6-1, frosh
Forward--Ari Gordon, Maple Grove, soph
Forward--Katie Vasecka, New Prague, 6-0, 8th grade
Point Guard--Caroline Adamson, Rochester Lourdes, 5-9, soph
Combo Guard--Myra Moorjani, Eden Prairie, 5-7, soph
Combo Guard--Alexa Ratlaff, Rosemount, 5-9, soph
Combo Guard--Desiree Ware, Minnetonka, 5-6, soph
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