The 31 Club is a convenient way of tabulating points, d stops and distributions into one number. The more a player shows up on that list, the more consistent performer they are. They are either getting a triple double or are 15/15 type player (points/rebounds). In other words these players are playing at a higher level.
Ninety 2020 players made the list over the course of five years. There were 193 total entries from the 2020 class beginning in their eighth grade year (2-14-30-59-88).
Some of these numbers are going to tilt to certain players. For example, since I work with Stillwater, they are going to be seen for the full schedule. The Suburban East opponents can be seen between two and three times a year due to the schedule as well. These facts need to kept in mind when evaluating the lists below.
MOST APPEARANCES
Liza Karlen, St. Paul Central, Stillwater 28 (2/26) (11 vs Non-Suburban East teams)
Paige Bueckers, Hopkins 17
Lindsey Becher, Mounds View 7 (4 vs Stillwater)
Tori Peschel, Sauk Centre 7
Mia Curtis, Minnehaha 5
Lauren Jensen, Lakeville North 5
Carley West, Woodbury 5 (4 vs Stillwater)
4 YEAR CLUB
Only five can say they made the 31 Club as a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior.
Lindsey Becher, Mounds View
Paige Bueckers, Hopkins
Mia Curtis, Minnehaha
Liza Karlen, St. Paul Central, Stillwater
Tori Peschel, Sauk Centre
MOST APPEARANCES IN GRADE:
8: Jaide Pressley, St. Paul Harding; Molly Mogensen, Farmington 1
9: Paige Bueckers, Hopkins; Tori Peschel, Sauk Centre 3
10: Paige Bueckers, Hopkins 5
11: Paige Bueckers, Hopkins 6
12: Paige Bueckers, Hopkins; Mackenzie Kramer, St. Michael-Albertville 3
YEARLY MILESTONE
38: 8TH GRADE: Jaide Pressley, St. Paul Harding vs St. Paul Washington Jan. 20, 2016
48: 9th GRADE: Paige Bueckers, Hopkins vs Minnetonka March, 14, 2017
50: 10th GRADE: Ava Hill, Mesabi East vs Two Harbors Feb. 21, 2018; Paige Bueckers, Hopkins vs Eastview March, 17, 2018
52: 11TH GRADE: Paige Thompson, Hawley vs Mahnomen/Waubun Feb. 2, 2019
66: 12th GRADE: Caitlin Clark, Dowling Catholic vs Holy Angels Nov. 30, 2019
FIRST APPEARANCE
Molly Mogensen, Farmington v Rochester Lourdes Jan. 18, 2017
LAST APPEARANCES
Paige Bueckers, Hopkins; Liza Karlen, Stillwater vs each other March 12, 2020, the last night of games before the health crisis.
HIGHEST SCORE
66 Caitlin Clark, Dowling Catholic vs Holy Angels Nov. 30, 2019
HIGHEST SCORE (MN)
Karley Motschenbacher, Park Christian vs Barnesville Feb. 1, 2020
TOTAL BY CLASS/STATE (RAW #, # OF INDIVIDUALS)
AAAA: 108/37
AAA: 18/15
AA: 48/25
A: 11/8
IA: 1/1
WI: 7/5
This shows that AAA, at least in the 2020 class, was thin. The 2021s have twelve entries and eight players in the club right now with a year to go. I saw 60 AAA teams, some multiple times throughout the 2020 season. The ratio is only 0.300, the lowest of any of the classes. The best is AAAA at 1.352 followed by AA .623 and then A at .478. Why the low numbers in AAA? Better defense? Less skills on offense? Hard to determine. There is a clear separation and it has followed throughout my charting. This is not a one year aberration.
TOP INDIVIDUAL BY CLASS/STATE (for all years)
AAAA: 17 Paige Bueckers, Hopkins
AAA: 3 Tiwaah Danso, Simley
AA: 7 Tori Peschel, Sauk Centre
A: 2 Taya Hakamaki, Cromwell-Wright; Jazlynn Prins, Southwest MN Christian; Kirstin Robbins, Heritage Christian
IA: 1 Caitlin Clark, Dowling Catholic
WI: 3 Lexi Donarski, LaCrosse Aquinas
41 CLUB
This is a step above the 31 Club. There are 29 total members in this club. Here are the top five:
Paige Bueckers, Hopkins 8
Liza Karlen, Stillwater 7
Mia Curtis, Minnehaha 3
Alyssa Ustby, Rochester Lourdes 2
Lexi Donarski, LaCrosse Aquinas 2
MARCH 31 CLUB
This tends to be an even more exclusive club with only 15 members. It means the players’ teams are making deep playoff runs. Here are the top six:
Paige Bueckers, Hopkins 10
Tori Peschel, Sauk Centre 4
Lauren Jensen, Lakeville North 3
Sam Pogatchnik, Proctor 2
Liza Karlen, Stillwater 2
Mia Curtis, Minnehaha 2
31 CLUB THROUGH THE YEARS
This give a glance at how certain grades fare. In all cases seniors lead the way except 2018 when the juniors had four more. The margin between the top two this year was only eleven. As for the year we were up ten from a year ago. But remember the last two days of the state tournament were not held this year. I don’t think they would challenge the record of 219 set in 2016, but they clearly would push past 200.
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Totals | |
| 2020 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 35 | 70 | 81 | 199 |
| 2019 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 31 | 59 | 87 | 189 |
| 2018 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 30 | 72 | 68 | 188 |
| 2017 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 31 | 75 | 96 | 217 |
| 2016 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 39 | 72 | 92 | 219 |
| 2015 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 32 | 46 | 87 | 179 |
| 2014 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 32 | 62 | 100 | 209 |
| 2013 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 19 | 52 | 91 | |
| 2012 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 50 | 75 | |
| average | 0.286 | 1.236 | 13.143 | 32.857 | 65.143 | 87.286 | 200.000 |
Or another way of looking at it: the juniors, sophs, 8th and 7th graders this year were above the averages. The youth movement continues.
Here is the year by year totals.
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
| 12 | 75 | 91 | 100 | 87 | 92 | 96 | 68 | 87 |
| 11 | 50 | 52 | 62 | 46 | 72 | 75 | 72 | |
| 10 | 23 | 19 | 32 | 32 | 39 | 31 | ||
| 9 | 2 | 9 | 15 | 12 | 13 | |||
| 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
| 12 | 88 | |||||
| 11 | 59 | 70 | ||||
| 10 | 30 | 31 | 35 | |||
| 9 | 14 | 18 | 11 | 9 | ||
| 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
The 2020s are 12 behind the all time mark for seniors set in 2014. They are fifth overall in the senior year. The 2020s follow a standard progression. They never led at any stage. For example, the 2021s are the best at the freshman level and have outpaced the 2020s ever since. The 2018s have the best marks at the sophomore and junior year, but then fell off the senior year, in fact to the lowest point ever. At this rate the 2021s are the only class to have had a player make the 31 Club in every year.
So where does 2021 individually compare with Paige Bueckers? After the junior campaign Bueckers had 14 entries into the 31 Club. The best 2021 is half that at seven entries. (again, no Stillwater comparisons because of the volume of games).
The only players in 31 Club double digits (from the last three years) are
2019 Kacie Borowicz, Roseau 11
2018 Jaclyn Jarnot, Maranatha 10
2018 Maesyn Thiesen, Sauk Centre 10