Girls Basketball '22-'23: 15 Players to Watch in southeastern Minnesota

Pat Ruff, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·4 min read

Nov. 26—Gadient is a budding star. A 5-9 junior guard, Gadient beautifully plays the point and has shown that she can do some of everything. She averaged 15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals per game last season.

Miller is a sweet shooter, the 5-10 senior forward having hit at a 55% clip last season from the field en route to averaging 16 points per game. She's also an excellent defender and was an All-State selection last year.

O'Reilly is likely the most physically imposing player in southeastern Minnesota, a 6-1 senior who is fast, strong and can jump. All of that helped her set a Plainview-Elgin-Millville single-season record last year, grabbing 338 rebounds. She also averaged 22 points on 55% shooting.

The 5-foot-9 Shubert is among the state's best pure scorers. The senior gets her points in such a variety of ways that it's tough to slow her down. Shubert, who will play next season at Division I Xavier University (Cincinnati), averaged 22 points per game last year and shot a rare 42% on 3-pointers.

Strum is a serious problem for opponents on both ends of the court. The 5-6 senior guard averaged 17 points per game last year and also three steals. She's got ample speed and quickness, and she can also shoot (47% on 2-pointers last year, 38% on 3's). Strum was honorable-mention All-State last year.

Iverson recently officially committed to play college basketball at Southwest Minnesota State University. The 6-foot senior forward has been ultra productive for years, including averaging 22 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists per game last year.

A junior guard, Watson is already a veteran player for the Vikings as a multi-year starter. Watson scored a Hayfield record 672 points last season (19.8 ppg.). She is quick and aggressive and was named to the All-State team a year ago.

Walsh is one of the few returners from last year's state tournament team. She is a good one to hang onto, as the 5-11 senior is a heck of an athlete, with strength, speed and an ability to drive the ball to the hoop. Walsh shot 52% from the field last year when she averaged 12 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists per game.

A 5-10 guard, Harvey is a scorer. Last year as a freshman, she already averaged 17 ppg. as well as six rebounds. Harvey is one of the state's more up-and-coming players, with some height and a smoothness to her game.

Beaver has some height to her at 5-11 and is a forward. The junior averaged 17 ppg. last year when she scored 567 points, second most in program history. She shot a blistering 54% from the field, hit 46 3-pointers and grabbed 7 rebounds per game en route to being named All-State.

Ruen had a bunch of games where the strong 6-foot center was unstoppable a year ago. That included one game of 43 points and another of 26 rebounds. For the season, she averaged 19 points and 12 rebounds.

This is another player who's been around awhile. The 5-10 Torgerson, who was the team's second best player two years ago when the Hurricanes advanced to state, averaged 18 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals per game last season.

Ruberg has quietly been a star the last few years for Rushford-Peterson, which hasn't had much team success. The 5-9 senior guard/forward has scored more than 1,000 career points and averaged 19 points and nine rebounds per game for the Trojans last year.

The senior is already a 1,000-point scorer. Just 5-4, she put up big numbers last year despite that lack of height: 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals per game.

Hedin was one of the more up-and-coming players in the area one year ago. Now a junior, the 5-9 forward is a strong and smooth athlete who has nice variety to her game. She averaged 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals per game last year.