KROX has unveiled our annual Section 8AA Girls Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll and Season Preview.
Section 8AA Girls Basketball will have a little bit of a new look this year with the addition of defending Section 8AAA champion Fergus Falls, defending Section 5A champion Menagha, and Section 6A runner-up Pelican Rapids. The section will have 18 teams and Fergus Falls is the heavy favorite to win the section while Roseau, Hawley and Crookston the top four teams. This could be the most competitive the section has been (at a high level) in over a decade.
We have the overall section favorites and the Sub-Section polls and season previews below.
OVERALL Section rankings (teams receiving top five votes)-
1. Fergus Falls – 64 points
2. Hawley – 49
3. Roseau – 42
4. Crookston – 37
5. Menagha – 16
6. East Grand Forks – 14
7. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton – 9
8. Pelican Rapids – 5
9. Perham – 4
| North (1st place votes) | South (1st place votes) | |
| 1. Crookston-15 (3) | 1. Fergus Falls – 8 (7) | |
| 2. Roseau – 18 (3) | 2. Menagha – 23 (1) | |
| 3. Hawley – 20 (3) | 3. Perham – 28 (1) | |
| 4. East Grand Forks – 26 | 3. Pelican Rapids – 28 | |
| 5. Dilworth-G-F – 34 | 5. Breckenridge – 32 | |
| 6. Park Rapids – 40 | 6. Frazee – 42 | |
| 7. Thief River Falls – 50 | 7. Barnesville – 47 | |
| 8. Warroad – 60 | 8. Wadena-Deer Creek – 58 | |
| 9. Bagley – 61 | 9. Staples-Motley – 57 |
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BAGLEY (Coach Brett Nordquist – 2nd year)
The Bagley Flyers went 2-25 last year with a loss to Roseau in the first round of the Section 8AA playoffs. Bagley beat Climax-Fisher and Warroad last season and they will be looking to make improvements this year under second-year head coach Brett Nordquist.
Top returners – Sadie Spaulding, Kelby Fultz, Kyra Frank, Shelbie Hanson, Gracey Halverson, Jory Fultz, and Rachel Brotten. There will also be some eighth and ninth graders that see some varsity time this year.
Season outlook according to Coach Nordquist – “We are very young. We know that there will be some growing pains. We do have a lot of younger players that have started investing more offseason time in basketball. We believe our future is bright. This year we are just trying to learn how to compete at a little higher level and stay in more games. We are working on having higher intensity at practice, and learning how to play faster and under pressure.”
BRECKENRIDGE (Coach Austin Imdieke – 2nd year)
The Breckenridge Cowgirls had an outstanding year last year going 15-11 with an 83-71 loss to the Roseau Rams in the Section 8AA semi-finals. The Cowgirls knocked off the Hawley Nuggets 56-54 in the second round of the playoffs last year and they will be returning a solid core and could be a dangerous team at playoff time.
Top returners – Jude Held (13 ppg, 5 rpg, 4 apg), Riley Lorenz (6 ppg, 5 rpg, 2 apg), Grace Conzemius (5 ppg, 9 rpg, 2 bpg)
Top newcomers – Camryn Kaehler, Carcie Materi, Abby Johnson.
Season outlook according to Coach Imdieke – “We expect to complete at a high level. We aren’t as deep this year, but the coaching staff is very excited about who we do have. The girls have their minds set on making a deep run in the playoffs and they have put in the work this summer and have been working really hard these first couple days.”
BARNESVILLE (Coach Ryan Bomstad – 8th year in Barnesville and 14th overall)
The Barnesville Trojans were 10-18 last year and lost to Roseau 77-57 in the Section 8AA semi-finals. Barnesville has a lot of young talent and could be a very dangerous team by playoff time.
Top returners – Sam Passa (4 ppg, 3 rpg, 2 spg), Kim Maesse (5 ppg), Emily Bredman (2 ppg, 2 rpg), Lauren Halverson (6 ppg and 5 rpg), and Lex Bolgrean (5 ppg and 4 rpg).
Top newcomers – They will have a number of sophomores and freshman that will be pushing for spots on the varsity and play key roles on the team.
Season Outlook according to Coach Bomstad – “This year’s team will be young and take a while to get used to playing together. They get along really well on and off the floor. We have really good upperclassmen in leadership roles. Practices will be highly competitive. We want our team to be playing their best in February and March. With a little luck and if we can stay healthy, we can hopefully make a run at tournament time.”
CROOKSTON (Coach Darin Zimmerman – 5th year at Crookston, 8th overall)
The Crookston Pirates are coming off one of their best seasons in several years going 18-11 and they made a run to the Section 8AA championship game where they lost to Roseau 73-48. Crookston made the deep run behind two seniors and now those players are gone and the young Pirate team is a year older and looking to take another step forward this year. They have a bunch of young talent and are light in the senior and junior classes, but have a big sophomore class. They pride themselves on defense, but they will have to pick up their offensive play if they want to make a run in the talent-rich Section 8AA. Crookston has a great addition to the coaching staff with Kamille (Wahlin) Meyer as a volunteer assistant coach!
Top returners –Seniors – Gretchen Theis, Kasey Cwikla, and Dani Boyle (6 ppg, 2 rpg). Juniors-Emma Borowicz (12 ppg, 4 rpg, 3 apg, 3 spg) and Emma Boll. Sophomore – Hayden Winjum (7 ppg, 5 rpg, 3 spg) and 8th grader Halle Winjum.
Top newcomers – There are many talented underclassmen who could provide depth throughout the season.
Season outlook according to Coach Zimmerman – “We bring back a lot of experience and talent. We are excited to get to work this season and play in what will be a very competitive Section. We have the pieces to be a very good team. We will need to play smart and efficient. We were able to play good team defense a year ago and expect that to be a strength again this year. The key will be continued growth and maturity on both ends of the floor.”
DILWORTH-GLYNDON-FELTON (Coach Tom Critchley Jr – )
The DGF Rebels had another outstanding season last year, going 17-10 losing to Crookston 64-47 in the first round of the Section 8AA playoffs. The Rebels lose some outstanding talent to graduation with Allie Critchley (all-state honorable mention and all-conference – now at Valley City State), Katlyn Brenna (all-conference), and Jocylin Cyr. The Rebels might be without Olivia Feigum (Sr.) after she hurt her knee in the last volleyball game of the year. Feigum might try to play this season. They will be loaded with upperclassman and even added a pretty familiar name to their coaching staff with Kacie Borowicz (of Roseau and MSU-Moorhead) to the staff.
Top returners – Maria Watt (Jr. All-conference, 17 ppg), Peyton Wilson (Sr), Kayla Molstre (Jr), Evelyn Moe (Fresh), Mariah Iwen (Sr.), Mallory Leitner (Soph.), Hannah Kohler (Jr.). They will also have Ally Freier (Sr) back this year after missing last year due to a knee injury.
Season outlook according to Coach Critchley – “We are going to have more length than we have had the last couple of years. This is not going to change our style of play, we are going to still press and run whenever possible. We are returning some very nice pieces and are excited about adding the girls from a competitive JV team.”
EAST GRAND FORKS (Coach Jay Frydenlund – 5th year and 33rd year overall)
East Grand Forks was 20-8 last year and lost to Crookston 47-35 in the Section 8AA semi-finals last year. The Green Wave has been hit by some adversity with an injury to one of their top players (Haley Burger) who will be out until the end of January. One thing we know, the Frydenlund coaching duo will have the girls ready at playoff time! They will now return one of the top players in the section, Chloe Torgerson and she will be asked to carry the load early in the season.
Top returners – Chloe Torgerson (Sr. one of the top players in the section), Haley Burger (Sr. 10 ppg, 6 rpg. She will have to miss the first two months of the season after shoulder surgery.) Kadynn Melquist (Jr. 4 ppg), Brynn Hillman (Sr. 3 rpg)
Top newcomers – Emmy Heisler (Sr) missed most of last season with a knee injury. Riley Regorrah (Sr), Ella Eggers (Jr), Hanah Jensen-Selnes (Jr), Halle Carpenter (Jr), Maddie Manger (Jr), Caitlin Hovde (Jr), Brynn Havis (Soph) and Anina Gerhrls (Soph)
Season Outlook according to Coach Frydenlund – “We will try to improve each game and gel as a team. We will be replacing four starters so we have a lot of rebuilding to do and we have to create an identity as a team.”
FERGUS FALLS (Coach Brad Strand – 8th year in Fergus Falls, 30th overall)
The Fergus Falls Otters are one of the three defending section champions in Section 8AA this year. Fergus Falls went 23-6 and won the Section 8AAA championship last year by beating Alexandria 43-42. At State, Fergus Falls lost to Holy Angels 58-57 and lost to Hibbing 63-58. Fergus Falls will have a lot of talent returning, but they lose some important players from last year’s team, including all-state honorable mention Lily Pearson. The Otters have two of the top underclassman in the state and have a great nucleus returning and that is the reason they are picked as one of the favorites to win the section.
Top returners – Ellie Colbeck (Soph. 16 ppg, 5 rpg, 4 apg), Tori Ratz (Soph. 10 ppg, 3 rpg, 3 apg), Sabrina Fronning (Sr. 8 ppg, 4 rpg, 4 apg, 3 spg)
Top newcomers – Paige Pearson (Jr), Anna Anderson (Jr), Gretchen Davis (Sr), Carlie Meis (Sr).
Season outlook according to Coach Strand – “This team plans to compete with the top teams in both the CLC Conference and also Section 8AA. The strengths of the team will be their athleticism and work ethic. Keys to a successful season will be to keep all of our girls healthy throughout the off-season and season. The girls will need to enjoy playing hard for each other whenever they step on the basketball court. It will be a brand new section and class for the Otters and we are really looking forward to the challenge! There are some great teams and coaches in Section 8AA. The group of girls loves to compete!”
FRAZEE (Coach Jason Reierson – 5th year at Frazee, 18th year overall)
The Frazee Hornets were 2-24 on the year and lost 72-55 to Breckenridge in the first round of the Section 8AA playoffs. Frazee returns a lot of key players including their two top players, Paige Oswald and Paige Ziegler who missed last year due to injury. They averaged around 30 points per game and will make Frazee turn things around pretty quick this season.
Top returners – Paige Oswald, Paige Ziegler, Talia Gabrialson, Ellie Reierson, Madison Starry
Top newcomers – Annika Reierson, Dani Piche
Season outlook according to Coach Reierson – Coach Reierson said they are looking at being competitive this season.
HAWLEY (Coach Bill Gottenborg – 32nd year)
The Hawley Nuggets are coming off another great year last year with a 16-8 record and lost to Breckenridge 56-54 in the second round of the Section 8AA playoffs. The Nuggets will be led by one of the top players in the section, Paige Thompson. The 6’3 senior is athletic and can shoot the long jumper or drive and on the defensive end, she is stellar. She signed to play basketball at Minnesota State Moorhead next year. That is a nice cornerstone to work around, but the Nuggets also have stellar guar play and will be one of the top teams and you know they are going to be well-coached and fundamentally sound. Hawley only loses one player to graduation from last year and the rest of the team is back. They will be one of the top teams in the section.
Top returners – Paige Thompson (Sr. 20 points/game, 14 rpg, 3 assists/game, 54 blocks) Abigail Rux (Jr. 6.1 ppg), Kaylie Crabtree (Soph. 7.8 ppg, 1.6 apg, 1.7 rpg), Kylie Crabtree (Soph: 7.8 ppg, 1.9 apg, 2.8 rpg)
Top newcomers – Lily Peterson (Soph. 3 ppg, 1.3 apg, 1.3 rpg), Rudee Hockett, Morgan Ames, Addi Dauner, Haley Reading, Alex Eilertson, Grace Fleming, and Anna Steer.
Season outlook according to Coach Gottenborg – “The team will be competitive and fun to watch”
MENAGHA (Coach Cody Pulju – 4th year)
The Menagha Braves went 30-3 last year and won the Section 5A Championship. At state, they beat BOLD 65-54, lost to Goodhue 47-43 and lost to Heritage Christian 60-52 to finish fourth place. It was the second straight year they made it to the state tournament. The lose some pretty good players to graduation and one moved out of the district (Soph – Greta Hilluka), but they will return a good core with seven returning letter winners and will be competitive this year. We will see how they adjust to the competitive Section 8AA playoffs in March.
Top returners – Tara Hendrickson (14 ppg, 7 rpg, 3 apg, 2 spg), Timbr Berttunen (6 ppg, 4 rpg), Martha Peterson (5 ppg, 4 rpg), along with Allie Pfeifer, Lela Peterson, Maryn Pinoniemi, and Kate Hendickson.
Season outlook according to Coach Pulju – “We will be young and inexperienced but have a lot of girls working hard and improving.”
PARK RAPIDS (Coach Justin Overmeyer – 4th year)
The Park Rapids Panthers went 14-11 last year, including 10-2 against section opponents. They beat Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 72-50 in the first round of the Section 8AA tournament and lost to Crookston 63-48 in the second round.
The Panthers lose some very good players to graduation, including Kaisa Coborn an all-state honorable mention and all-conference player. They also lose Kendra Coborn, Julia Johnson, Natalie Kinkel, and Whitney Steffel. They played an exciting style of basketball last year and with the graduation of the Coborn’s and having two very good post players, it will be interesting to steal what style of offense they use this year.
Top returners – Rilee Michaelson with (19.4 ppg, 11.2 rpg, and Paige Johnson with 8.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg)
Top newcomers – Katie Burlingame (Jr.), Holly Johnson (Soph.), and Abby Morris (Soph.), will be filling the starting positions. They are very athletic, but slim on varsity experience.
Season outlook according to Coach Overmeyer – “We graduated 5 of 7 varsity players so we have a lot of spots to fill. Honestly, I don’t know how the season will go.”
PELICAN RAPIDS (Coach Brian Korf – 19th year)
The Pelican Rapids Vikings were 26-2 and lost to Ada-Borup/West 49-46 in the Section 6A semi-finals. Pelican Rapids will make the jump back to Class AA and lose three players to graduation and two of them are playing college basketball, so that will be tough to replace. They have a solid core coming back and will be in the thick of things in a competitive section.
Top returners – Ryley Paulson (Sr) , Maddie Guler (Sr. 5 ppg, 4 rpg, 3 apg, 2 spg), Greta Tollefson (Jr. 13 ppg, 6 rpg), Anna Stephenson (Jr 11 ppg, 5 rpg).
Season outlook according to Coach Korf – “We have four players returning with varsity experience with 2 of them who were starters last season.”
PERHAM – (Coach TJ Super – 8th year at Perham – 14th overall)
The Perham Yellowjackets went 13-15 last year and beat Wadena-Deer Creek 52-32 in the first round of the Section 8AA playoffs and lost to East Grand Forks 73-47 in the second round. Perham got tough news when they lost Grace Minten to a knee injury combined to the loss of five players to graduation, including one all-conference player. They will return a lot of great talent, including three all-conference players that are a nice mix of guards. It is tough to gauge where Perham will be at, but they will likely be poised to make a run at tournament time and with only one senior, the future is very bright.
Top returners – Katie Johnson (Jr. – All-Conference, 11.3 ppg, 74 threes made (42%), Grayce Mickelson (Jr. All Conference, 7 ppg, 3.3 apg, 3 spg, 4 rpg), Sydney Anderson (Soph. All Conference honorable mention, 7.6 ppg, 37% 3’s, 45% FG, 3.6 rpg), Katie Zepper (Sr.), Lily DeBoer (Jr), Stella Raser (Jr), Mallory Belka (Soph)
Top newcomers – Greta Hilluka (Soph. transferred from Menahga), Mya Morris (Fresh), Willow Thiel (8th grader)
Season outlook according to Coach Super – “I would expect us to be competitive all season. We will be a team that shoots a lot of threes and pushes the ball up the court. We will be undersized in some positions so rebounding is going to be a real key for our team.”
ROSEAU – (Coach Kelsey Didrickson – 8th year in Roseau – 10th overall)
The Roseau Rams are have dominated Section 8AA with five straight championships!!! Even with the loss of Kacie Borowicz, who is playing at UND this year, they are still one of the top teams in the section. Last year Roseau went 30-3 and finished third at state. In the Section 8AA championship game, they beat Crookston 73-58 and at state they beat Redwood Valley 75-74, lost to Caledonia 65-55 and beat Albany 81-43 in the third-place game.
Top returners – Katie Borowicz and Julia Braaten have been a big part of the Rams success the past couple of years. Hannah Mooney, Morgan Boroos and Shavanda Bender are also solid players coming back.
Top newcomers – Kayla Bachleitner (hopefully), Faith Berger, Masynn Janicke. The Rams also have some talented 8th graders that could be in the mix if they prove they are ready.
Season outlook according to Coach Didrikson – “We’re young – no seniors. Lots of question marks as we work to fill spots (it’s not easy to replace a Kacie Borowicz). We won’t have a lot of size, but have girls that can play bigger than they actually are. It won’t surprise anyone that we’ll look to press. Of my seven years in Roseau this season presents the most unknowns for us but it’s exciting to see how it will all unfold…both within the section and within our own gym as girl work to earn spots.
STAPLES-MOTLEY (Coach Brian Smith – 2nd year)
The Staples-Motley Cardinals were 6-18 on the season last year with a loss to Barnesville 45-34 in the first round of the Section 8AA tournament. The Cardinals ended the year on an eight-game losing streak, including an overtime loss in that span. They will return everybody from last year and should see an improvement this season.
Top returners – Tabatha Allen (Jr. 10 ppg, 10 rpg, 3 spg), Kaitlyn Smith (Sr. 9 ppg, 5 apg, 4 rpg, 35% from 3) and Haley Cichos (Jr. 9 ppg, 4 rpg, 3 spg), Alix Peterson (8 ppg, 7 rpg in 10 games before injury last year)
Top newcomers – Addy Lorber (Soph), Aften Robinson (9th), Lauren Rutten (8th), Elizabeth Danilyuk (Sr. transfer from Milaca)
Season outlook according to Coach Smith – “I expect us to take another step forward this season, we didn’t have any seniors last year so we will bring everyone back.”
THIEF RIVER FALLS (Coach Laura Fay – 1st year)
The Thief River Falls Prowlers were 4-20 last year and lost to Hawley 55-45 in the first round of the Section 8AA playoffs. The Prowlers 4 wins on the year don’t tell you how good they actually were. They lost five games by 10 points or less and lost two games by a three-pointer or less! Theif River Falls lost two very good players to graduation with Rebecca Leier and Alexa Rogalla. They will also lose Hailey Rosendahl. The rest of the team is returning and they should move up in the standings this year.
Top returners – Annika Dalager, Brea Prickett, Olivia Hawkins, Carley Johnson, and Camryn Schwab.
Top newcomers – Brylee Lingen, and Madalyn Shaffer Determan
Season outlook according to Coach Fay – “We are fortunate enough to have eight returning seniors to bring some experience back to our team. We have two newcomers coming on board this season that will bring a lot to our team. We have some depth on our bench that will be ready to help assist when needed.”
WADENA-DEER CREEK (Coach Jordan Cresap – 2nd year)
The Wadena-Deer Creek Wolverines went 8-19 last year and lost to Perham 52-32 in the first round of the Section 8AA playoffs. The Wolverines are in their second year under the leadership of Jordan Cresap and he has some pretty good players coming back this season. The Wolverines only lose two players to graduation with one of those players being Ashley Adams, an all-conference honorable mention player. They return 12 letter winners and looking forward to an improved season this year.
Top returners – Kennedy Gravell (Sr) (14 ppg, 7 rrpg) who is a versatile guard/forward who does a lot of different things. Madison Carsten (Sr) (7 ppgs), a scrappy defender and good outside shooter.
Top newcomers – Madison Carsten (Fresh), a great defender and developing scorer/playmaker and will handle most of the point guard duties.
Season outlook according to Coach Cresap – “We expect to be more competitive from game to game this season. We have a good amount of experience returning so we hope to continue to gel and mesh as a team. We have good size, but we will need to continue to develop our guard play throughout the season. It is an unselfish group of girls who have really bought into what we are trying to do. We are just trying to improve day by day and we’ll see where that takes us in the loaded Section 8AA.”
WARROAD (Coach John Larson – 3rd year)
The Warroad Warriors were 2-25 last year and lost to East Grand Forks 79-17 in the first round of the Section 8AA tournament. Warroad beat Laporte and also had a section win over Bagley last year and showed signs throughout the year, but turnovers seemed to hurt them in every game last year. Warroad loses some of their starters to graduation, but have some good players coming back. Coach Larson has done a nice job at trying to get the program in the right direction and it hopefully the girls will see some more wins this year.
Top returners – Catherine Thompson, Laci Kennedy, and Lydia Tessier are three girls that will be leaned on heavily on and off the court this year.
Top newcomers – Brianna and Mallory Lalim are two nice additions for the team. They will also have some younger girls that will log some minutes.
Season outlook according to Coach Larson – “We are hoping to be more competitive this year on a daily basis. We were able to be competitive in small spurts last year and we are trying to convert those small successes into full games. We have some girls that had substantial minutes last year and hopefully, we can build off of that time.”
