SUNDAY SIX PACK FROM MN HEAT BATTLE FOR MOTHER
With the Minnesota state AAU qualifier set for next weekend, most club families spent the weekend gearing up for that nerve wracking event. There were a few teams playing this weekend with a dose of Iowa and Wisconsin teams (since they will not be able to play in the qualifier). I spent my time on championship court for the first six games. The recurring teams were High Impact and MN Heat. The Heat, despite hosting, were shut out three times in the title chase. High Impact was even at 1-1. Out state, and out of state teams ruled (except in game one—that went to St. Paul). Teams based in St. Cloud, Duluth (& NW Wisconsin), the Iron Range, Alexandria, plus Iowa were victors.
The tournament was the “Battle for Mom.” Championship teams were give a flower to give to their mother.
GAME 1: 8D1: BALLIN’ PRETTY 62, WI CITY 54
Because neither of these teams were thoughtful enough to put their names on the scoresheet nothing will be reported on this game. I can tell you Ballin’ Pretty is based out of St. Paul. WI City is more Eau Claire based.
GAME 2: 9D1: MN COMETS ELITE 53, MN HEAT VANG 37
It helps to have varsity players and it helps if those varsity players are all conference. MN Comets had players that were all conference (i.e. Paige Meyer) and she turned off the Heat. She was the only player to lead all three categories listed below and was the only member of the 41 club.
GAME 3: 8D2: WI PLAYMAKERS SNESRUD 41, HIGH IMPACT 8TH 39 OT
This was a compelling game in that it featured two northern Minnesota teams. Wait….WI? The Playmakers had a majority of their players from the Twin Ports with Duluth East, Cloquet and Proctor. High Impact is based more on the Iron Range. You can see the difference in pp100 for the eighth grade D1 and D2 matches—about 40 points. HI was up 37-33. Krisalynn Seelye made a critical 3 for WPS and then Justice Paro scored to tie it at 39. Both teams had four possessions to end the game in regulation, but couldn’t convert. There was only one score in the two minute overtime. Paro did the damage on WPS third chance.
GAME 4: 9D2: HIGH IMPACT 9TH 55, MN STARS BJORGAARD 8TH 45
One grade up High Impact was crowned champs. Again this was the D2 level. This time the differential from the D1 was smaller, but still significant in the pp100 category—about 10 points. The story in this game was Lexiss Trygg from Virginia. That is not a misprint below. She had 21 d stops, 16 of which were d rebounds. The 6-0 freshman scored inside, and she could step out and hit a 3. She was the only other player to get to the 31 Club today.
GAME 5: 10: WEST CENTRAL UNITED 10TH 63, MN HEAT DINEEN 60 OT
Don’t confuse this West Central program with a soccer team. Don’t confuse this West Central program with the Wildcats. This is a stand alone program with three teams this year. This looks like they are based out of Alexandria. What was confusing was there was some pairing with the 16u and 15u teams. That meant numbers 1 and 33 were duplicated. I didn’t realize this until midway through the first half. Once I figured out who everyone was the numbers were fine, but there was a tainted stat total for those two numbers. In easily the best game of the day, WCU rallied from a five point deficit with 2:49 left to tie the game for the second overtime contest of the day. The game was sent to an extra two minutes on Ally Brzenski’s 3 at the buzzer. WCU called time out with 3.5 seconds left and the ball on the left side line by their bench. The defense concentrated on the left side of the floor leaving Brzenski unattended to the right side above the free throw elbow. WCU connected on another 3 to start the scoring in the overtime. Madison Lindbo did the honors this time.
GAME 6: 11D2: IOWA DREAM 81, MN HEAT DAVIS 35
I was only at this contest in the first half. With the Dream making the Heat have a nightmare at 52-13 I figured I saw the winner. I was right. Since this was a D2 game, I think the Dream was misplaced and should have been placed at the D1 level. This was opposite of a compelling game (see games 5 and 3).
| Team | PP100 | scorer | Distributor | D stops |
| BALLIN’ PRETTY | 93.7 | #24 14 | #1 8 | #1 10 |
| WI CITY | 82.3 | #24 15 | Two with 4 | Two with 4 |
| MN COMETS ELITE 9 | 86.9 | Paige Meyer 17 | Paige Meyer 8 | Paige Meyer 16 |
| MN HEAT VANG 9 | 61.7 | Reagan Sorensen 13 | Danielle Schachtner 4 | Jenna Guyer 13 |
| WI PLAYMAKERS SNESRUD 8 | 53.5 | Krisalynn Seelye 11 | Sophia Morin-Swanson 4 | Sophia Morin-Swanson 10 |
| HIGH IMPACT 8 | 56.5 | Lauren Maki 11 | Brooke Niska 4 | Two with 6 |
| HIGH IMPACT 9 | 77.0 | Lexis T 13 | Amara C 8 | Lexis T 21 |
| MN STARS BJORGAARD 8 | 63.4 | Rebecca White 11 | Elizabeth Wildermuth 4 | Ellie Austad 7 |
| WEST CENTRAL UNITED 10 | 96.8 | Three with 11 | Mia McGrane 12 | Mia McGrane 9 |
| MN HEAT DINEEN 10 | 90.9 | Katelyn Mohr 17 | Hailey Herzig 6 | Two with 6 |
| IOWA DREAM | 142.9 | T Slaughter 19 | P Hagberg 13 | T Slaughter 9 |
| MN HEAT DAVIS 11 | 32.4 | Paige Weber 4 | Joelle Webster 2 | Payton Bruggers 4 |
TRENCH PLAYERS:
Game 1: #24 Ballin’ Pretty
Game 2: Paige Meyer, MN Comets Elite 9th (Albany)
Game 3: Justice Paro, WI Playmakers Snesrud 8 (Cloquet)
Game 4: Lexis T, High Impact
Game 5: Ally Brzenski, West Central United (Brainerd)
Game 6: T Slaughter, Iowa Dream
PLAYER OF THE DAY: PAIGE MEYER
| Category | BALLIN’ PRETTY | WI CITY | MN COMETS ELITE 9 | MN HEAT VANG 9 | WI PLAYMAKERS SNESRUD 8 | HIGH IMPACT 8 |
| Points | 62 | 54 | 53 | 37 | 41 | 39 |
| Rebounds | 29 | 29 | 23 | 32 | 37 | 42 |
| Turnovers | 17 | 25 | 14 | 28 | 28 | 26 |
| 2FGatt/% | 37/54.1 | 35/48.6 | 41/43.9 | 30/43.3 | 42/26.2 | 42/31.0 |
| 3FGatt/% | 10/20.0 | 4/25.0 | 10/40.0 | 3/0.0 | 9/44.4 | 13/23.1 |
| FTatt/% | 25/52.0 | 22/63.6 | 9/55.6 | 17/64.7 | 11/36.4 | 8/50.0 |
| Bench | 14 | 29 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 24 |
| Category | HIGH IMPACT 9 | MN STARS BJORGAARD 8 | WEST CENTRAL UNITED 10 | MN HEAT DINEEN 10 | IOWA DREAM | MN HEAT DAVIS 11 |
| Points | 55 | 45 | 63 | 60 | 52 | 13 |
| Rebounds | 56 | 33 | 46 | 32 | 24 | 13 |
| Turnovers | 22 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 4 | 15 |
| 2FGatt/% | 44/38.6 | 38/34.2 | 38/39.5 | 35/45.7 | 16/50.0 | 15/26.7 |
| 3FGatt/% | 15/33.3 | 21/19.0 | 21/28.6 | 21/33.3 | 20/45.0 | 5/20.0 |
| FTatt/% | 16/50.0 | 13/53.8 | 19/68.4 | 15/46.7 | 12/58.8 | 2/0.0 |
| Bench | 12 | 16 | 23 | 13 | 11 | 0 |