SATURDAY SHOOTOUT 3 GAMES
Usually the first week after the state tournament is the province of the MYAS and the action tends to feature the single digit grades (4-8). That changed this year with the AAU Saturday Shootout. This event was designed for a quick hit of games with a low entry fee. The idea was to cross over and get more teams involved and move them up the escalator to the AAU side of things. Another format issue was the 20-minute running time halves (stop time if warranted at the end of each half). That kept the factory moving along.
As far as the action was concerned most of the teams, and there was some upper division action, had players that are hoping to crack the varsity level at the schools they reside in. The teams I charted are probably not going to be playing deep in their age brackets come May. Club ball is different that high school in that the bench is utilized a bit more. But the benches today were thin. The biggest was four others, the smallest was only one. Winning teams generally had more action in the paint, a deeper bench and shot better. But shot better may mean something different compared to the recent action in the state high school tournament. Only one team was north of 70 pp100, and that took place in a third-place game.
One of the themes of the day was the Hopkins tie in. Metro Stars 2020 is coached by Hopkins grad Ana Garcia and has Coach Cosgriff’s daughter on the team. MN Crossfire is coached by former Hopkins assistant Tim Sension.
AIR FORCE ONE 11TH 33, METRO STARS 2020 31
Air Force One escaped with a come from behind victory in the round robin portion of Pool A, the 10/11 division. Metro Stars held a 22-16 lead early in the second half, but AFO put a full court press on which took the MS out of their rhythm. A steal and lay up by Destiny Artis gave AFO their first lead of the half with 6:23 left (27-26). Two AFO possessions later Brookyn Dixon drained a three and the cushion would hold up the rest of the game.
This game turned out to be the championship in the round robin format of three teams. AFO early beat MN Crossfire 10 Sension.
Metro Stars 2020 moved, basically intact, from the MN Stars.
MN RAGE 2022 51, EAST METRO WAVE 8 BLACK 25
These were a couple of the newer programs the AAU was hoping to add to their roster of teams. The Rage, based in southeast Minnesota (they practice in Chatfield), used their full court pressure to double the turnover count of the EMW8B. The East Metro Wave is from the Park-Cottage Grove and surround communities. EMW8B actually had more rebounds, and shot better, but their bench trailed the Rage by twelve points.
This technically was the third place game. The Fury 2023 Blue team beat the Rage in the first game.
METRO STARS 2020 34, MN CROSSFIRE 10 SENSION 29
This was the correct score, at half Metro Stars had two points added to their totals. MS raced out to 6-0 lead and it took CF over six minutes before they found the bottom of the basket. That beginning differential was good enough to hold up the rest of the way. Part of the issue for CF was their starters only managed to score four points. In a reversal of every other team, the bench proved to be the strength for CF with a day’s high 25 points.
There was improvement for MS from their first performance as their pp100 increased by five. They also held CF to only two offensive rebounds, plus they did not let CF get to the line for any free throw attempts. CF did rally from nine down (when it should have been seven), cutting the margin to 33-29 (should have been 31-29) with 1:40 left after a three by Alana Hartman. That would be the final points for the CF as MS went to a delay game.
| Category | Air Force One 11th | Metro Stars 2020 | MN Rage 2022 | East Metro Wave 8 Black | Metro Stars 2020 | MN Crossfire 10 Sension |
| Points | 33 | 31 | 51 | 25 | 34 | 29 |
| Rebounds | 36 | 25 | 32 | 37 | 30 | 22 |
| Turnovers | 15 | 19 | 8 | 30 | 15 | 15 |
| 2FG% | 26.2 | 31.6 | 33.3 | 41.7 | 28.0 | 43.3 |
| 3FG% | 30.0 | 28.6 | 33.3 | 8.3 | 20.0 | 12.5 |
| FT% | 40.0 | 70.0 | 60.0 | 33.3 | 73.3 | none |
| Paint | 12 | 6 | 18 | 12 | 4 | 18 |
| Bench | 17 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 25 |
| Fast break | 4 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| Team | PP100 | scorer | Distributor | D stops |
| Air Force One 11 | 63.5 | Two with 7 | Destiny Artis 5 | Destiny Artis 10 |
| Metro Stars 2020 | 60.8 | Two with 9 | Audrey Stark 5 | SeSe Burks 14 |
| MN Rage 2022 | 83.6 | Tessa McMahon 12 | Tessa McMahon 6 | Three with 7 |
| East Metro Wave 8 Black | 41.0 | Justine Jameson 8 | Justine Jameson 4 | Emma Munter 11 |
| Metro Stars 2020 | 65.4 | Two with 8 | SeSe Burks 5 | Makenna Palmer 11 |
| MN Crossfire 10 Sension | 55.8 | Alana Hartman 13 | Anna Groth 3 | Camryn Pattel 8 |
TRENCH PLAYER
GAME 1: Destiny Artis, Air Force One 11th
GAME 2: Tessa McMahon, MN Rage 2022 (Chatfield)
GAME 3: Raina Moorjani, Metro Stars 2020 (Eden Prairie)
OVERALL: Tessa McMahon, MN Rage 2022.