HIGH FIVE SATURDAY NOVEMBER 15 2025

15 D1 teams in action. Also the first D2 listings (primarily Northern Sun) is making their High Five season debut—late—this is their second weekend of action.

D1

Jocelyn Land, Montana, Holy Family 24

Olivia Olson, Michigan, Benilde-St. Margaret’s 20

Tessa Johnson, South Carolina, St. Michael-Albertville 14

Gianna Kneepkens, UCLA, Duluth Marshall 14

Madison Mathiowetz, South Dakota State, Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s 13

Totals: 85

This is the first appearance on the list for Land and Mathiowetz this year. This brings the total to 36 players this year. This is Tessa Johnson’s fourth time on the list which ties her for the lead for the year along with Liv McGill and Tori McKinney. This is Kneepkens & Olson’s third showing.

All classes repped on Saturday with AA leading the way with 2 and the other classes providing one.

All made the state except for Land.

Johnson & Olson were both state champions and Miss Basketball.

D2

This is the first time the High Five has appeared for D2 this year. When I say D2 the focus is on the Northern Sun Conference, but I will be stringing other players—-like the MIAAA (there are only two living there—neither made the cut yesterday).

Anna Vaaler, Sioux Falls, Andover 33

Emma Miller, UM Crookston, St. Michael-Albertville 23

Kylan Gerads, Southwest MN State, Albany 17

Rayna Klejeski, UM Crookston, Barnum 17

Leah Dengerud, Concordia-St. Paul, Totino-Grace 16

Nicole Maenke, Southwest MN State, Shakopee 16

Totals: 106

Vaaler, Miller, Gerads, Dengerud, and Maenke made the state tournament at least once during their high school career.

Dengerud won a state title. Miller and Gerads finished second.

Three of the six were AAAA; one AAA; one AA; one A

2026 PREVIEW

This is the first year of the new section roll outs. Some teams that made state last year swapped out classes—Monticello & Alexandria have moved to AAAA; Goodhue is up to AA; NRHEG is down to A. This will have an impact on March.

There have been coaching moves that have been generational in their impact. Some moves have been somewhat baffling (from an administrative choice perspective). The trend now is for shorter coaching stints. Several schools said goodbye to Hall of Fame caliber coaches. The days of 20 year coaches may be a relic of the past. Most coaches runs now are five years or less. We are looking at an inverse bell curve in a sense—bigger at both ends with the middle limited. Stability and continuity are lost.

Player movement will impact the standings. We will look at those developments later. No word if the portal will be coming to the off season to make things more transparent.

Also, the rich have gotten richer—as usual. The moves were not limited to coaches and players. Schools have left conferences for greener grass. The biggest move was AAAA runner up Maple Grove to the (Great) Lake from the Northwest Suburban. Look for the Lake to dominate the rankings, if not the Williams Arena field in March. There could be at least half the field from the Lake in state. The top 10s will certainly have half if not six schools crowding the field. The South Suburban should be the other conference with power in AAAA.

Privates will rule in the other three classes with state titles in the cards. Three likely to be playing in March in AAA with Benilde-St. Margaret’s looking for another crown; the usual suspects in AA with Providence sitting atop the mountain, and SESM claiming the top spot in the first seeding the state in A. Three other privates are waiting in the wings in A.

Repeat after me…..it looks like three schools could be repeats (or three peats or five peats) in their title quests this season. The exception—West Central in A who surprised the state with their title. They took a hit with graduation.

This will be the third year as a state that the shot clock will be in use. The learning curve has been established. Now this should be almost a habit.

Streaking….Don’t expect Providence to finish 2026 unblemished. They could get bumped off in their first contest of the season when they face AAAA champ Hopkins. The Royals will definitely have revenge on their minds and in their hearts when facing the Lions. Their current winning streak is 44.

The Week Ahead…..the real action begins on Thursday with a full slate of games. In previous years the first action was usually between Duluth East and Princeton on Thanksgiving Eve, but with the early start of the year there will be 49 games across all four classes. The epicenter of girls basketball will be Saturday at Southwest Christian in Chaska when the Breakdown will host their Tip Off Classic with a Sweet 16 slate of games all featuring teams that will be ranked, or close to it. The battle of Lion logos—(Hopkins’ EPL knock off v the regal Providence Medieval coat of arms style) will be the feature game at 5:30 on the main court.

SEEDING THE STATE

Here is the first Seeding the State edition.

AAAA

1. Hopkins (6)
2. Minnetonka (2)
3. Lakeville North (1)
4. Rosemount (3)
5. Maple Grove (5)
6. Michael-Albertville (8)
7. Andover (7)
8. East Ridge (4)

AAA

1. Benilde-St. Margaret’s (6)
2. Marshall (2)
3. Cretin-Derham Hall (3)
4. Becker (5)
5. Hill-Murray (4)
6. Stewartville (1)
7. Sartell (8)
8. Rock Ridge (7)

AA

1. Providence (5)
2. Crosby-Ironton (7)
3. Minnehaha (4)
4. Caledonia (1)
5. New London-Spicer (3)
6. Pelican Rapids (8)
7. Royalton (6)
8. Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton (2)

A

1. Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s (2)
2. Mountain Iron-Buhl (7)
3. MACCRAY (3)
4. Mayer Lutheran (4)
5. NRHEG (1)
6. Hillcrest Lutheran (6)
7. EGF Sacred Heart (8)
8. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (5)