Recap of Sunday D1 Action with a MN twist; plus a look at the Lake Conference and the day ahead.
D1 HIGH FIVE
Liv McGill, Florida, Hopkins 21
Alyssa Ustby, North Carolina, Rochester Lourdes 17
Nunu Agara, Stanford, Hopkins 14
Anna Miller, Drake, Rochester Mayo 13
Shannon Fornshell, Drake, Wayzata 10
Totals: 75
Four of the five are AAAA grads. Ustby is from AA. Four of the five are 6-1 or taller with Miller the top at 6-3. McGill is the shortest at 5-9. Ustby is the oldest graduating HS in 2020. McGill is the youngest graduating last June. Hopkins has two players, and the Lake has three. Rochester also has two members.
A LOOK AT THE LAKE
In other years I would check off all the teams in a conference (or section) and examine their overall performance. I think the only conference (or section) that will get that treatment this year is the Lake. Of the seven teams in that venerable conference, five are ensconced in the AAAA top 10, but that league is now getting a dose of competition from the South Suburban which has three.
Year | w-l | Pct | Pp100 | 100+ | 31Club |
2023-24 | 7-4 | .636 | 87.23 | 3 | 12 |
2024-25 | 10-6 | .625 | 90.12 | 5 | 10 |
The won/loss percentage has drifted south this year. The pp100s look healthy at 90.12. When victorious the pp100s are even better as one might expect at 96.02. Included in that total is the first game of the year for Hopkins when they beat Lakeville North only getting to 60.6. Since that time in the three other chartings they are much better at 109.13. They not only have the lowest pp100 for winners, but the highest at 123 in the win over Two Rivers. On the losing side of the equation the average drops to 80.2. Minnetonka has the highest total there in the narrow loss to Rochester Mayo with a 90.4. Edina bottoms out that category at 55.6.
Individual performances have a ways to go to match up to the cast of characters from the 2024 season. They trail overall by two despite being charted five more times. In the 2024 class the Lake had impactful players already at the power five level at the D1 level with Liv McGill, and Tori McKinney. Add in Aaliyah Crump, now at a Florida boarding school, and the 31 Clubbers had high ceilings. This year multiple game 31 Clubbers include Rae Ehrmann of Eden Prairie who has made it all three times charted; Lauren Hillesheim of Hopkins who also has three memberships out of four chartings. Abby Hoselton of St. Michael-Albertville and Tori Schlagel of Eden Prairie have two apiece. Hoselton has been charted twice; Schlagel three times. These players are headed to mid-majors.
There will be more chartings of the Lake, including opportunities for some this week.
I expect that the Lake will be in the discussion for the AAAA title once again. They own the last three titles and have finished second the last three years too. They were locked out of the 2021 title game. But the conference is not as overpowering (at this stage) as it once was. Perhaps the upcoming conference battles will create separation with other leagues. This year the Lake might be challenged for conference supremacy by the South Suburban which has three teams in the top 10 at this point and four that have found that level.
Next season the Lake gains Maple Grove and that will only enhance an already powerful lineup.
DAY AHEAD
There are a slate of 60 games today. Usually Mondays are vacant in the bigger classes, but the South Suburban, NW Suburban and Metro East all have contests today.
Ranked on Ranked action
#10AAAA Lakeville North at #4AAAA Eastview
Other ranked teams playing Monday
AAAA #3 Maple Grove
AAA #7 Mahtomedi, #8 Totino-Grace, #10 Hill-Murray
AA nobody
A #6 Kittson County Central, #9 Walker-Hackensack-Akeley