Before any Minnesota girls basketball player gets to run up the steps to Williams Arena’s raised floor at the state tournament, they have to help their team get through sections.

Those section tournaments start this week, and some top players might cruise through theirs. Many will be in for a battle. Despite tough section competition ahead, these 10 standouts have what it takes to steer a team to state.

Sophia Anderson

Maple Grove senior guard (Class 4A, Section 5)

The Crimson reached its first state championship game last season, then graduated four of its starters. As Maple Grove looks to make it three trips in a row to Williams Arena, Anderson has slotted gracefully into the role of a reliable starter — and the leading scorer — for the top seed in Section 5.

After averaging 6.3 points per game as a junior, the Augustana commit is putting up 18.6 this year.

Andersyn Changamire

Becker freshman guard (Class 3A, Section 5)

The Bulldogs might be the Class 3A, Section 5’s No. 2 seed behind Totino-Grace (14-12), but Becker (19-7) has the hot hand of Changamire on its side.

The freshman has been shooting 37.8% from three to the tune of 18.9 points per game, plus 7.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists. Her sophomore sister, Adele, is just behind her in scoring, with 17.1 points per game for the 2021 Class 3A state champions.

Gigi Coleman

Minnehaha Academy junior guard (Class 2A, Section 4)

The Redhawks (15-11) have long been a Class 2A powerhouse, only missing state three times since 2010 and winning two titles in that span. This season, they’ve managed numerous injuries to earn the No. 1 seed in their section.

Underclassmen have gotten plenty of playing time, so look to junior guard Coleman to be an experienced leader and a disruptive defender for the Redhawks come postseason.

Jaliyah Diggs

Hopkins junior guard (Class 4A, Section 6)

When Diggs is making buckets — in addition to dropping dimes and playing stifling defense — it becomes tough for section-rival Wayzata to stop the defending state champion Royals, which are seeking an 11th consecutive trip to state.

Two of the best teams in the state play through this section tournament, and last year, Diggs scored a game-high 20 points against the Trojans in their section final victory. The teams split this year’s regular-season meetings, with Diggs scoring a game-high 31 points in Hopkins’ win on Feb. 17.

Maggie Dyer

Rochester Mayo sophomore forward (Class 4A, Section 1)

The Spartans, champs in 1995 and 1997, are a near-perfect 25-1 and hungry to reach state for the first time since 2015. Dyer could help end that drought. The 6-0 sophomore is averaging 18.6 points per game this season and scored a game-high 30 in an early-January win over what could be the Spartans’ biggest threat for the section crown, No. 2-seed Lakeville South.

Aria Garrett

Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton senior center (Class 2A, Section 8)

The top-seeded Rebels (22-4) have beaten the section’s No. 2-seed Perham twice this regular season, and Garrett has shown she can put up a 20-point double-double on any given night. The 6-1 Minnesota State Moorhead commit eclipsed 1,000 career rebounds this season as the Mustangs chase their first trip to state since 2003.

Chloe Johnson

Duluth Marshall sophomore guard (Class 2A, Section 7)

The Class 2A, Section 7 tournament pits some of the state’s best guards against one another. In last year’s section championship, that was Crosby-Ironton’s Tori Oehrlein (Minnesota) facing Proctor’s Chloe Carlson (University of Mary) after Proctor edged out Duluth Marshall 46-44 in the section semis.

But the Hilltoppers are the No. 2 seed this year and have one of the best point guards in the country in Johnson. SportsCenter NEXT’s third-ranked player in the class of 2028 put up 27 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists when beating Proctor 76-71 in January.

Duluth Marshall hasn’t reached state since 2021, as Oehrlein and top-seeded Crosby-Ironton have won the last three section titles.

Mya Moore

Orono senior guard (Class 3A, Section 6)

For the past two seasons, a strong Orono team has had its season ended in its section title game at the hands of eventual 3A state champion Benilde-St. Margaret’s.

But Moore, a Creighton commit averaging 27 points per game, is having an especially strong senior season for the Spartans (22-3), helping them to the No. 1 ranking in Class 3A and making them the team to beat in its section tournament.

Moore scored a combined 73 points in two wins over the Red Knights this regular season, and another 20 in a win over the section’s No. 3-seed Delano.

Kate Thayer

Northome/Kelliher senior guard (Class 1A, Section 8)

What a senior year it’s been for Thayer, who became the state’s first girls or boys player to break the 1,000 career steals mark in late January. Thayer will look to cap off her senior season with the Mustangs’ first trip to the Class 1A state tournament.

Thayer is averaging 27.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists and, of course, 8.5 steals per game for the No. 1-seed Mustangs.

Samantha Voll

Monticello senior guard (Class 4A, Section 8)

The St. Thomas commit is a do-everything point guard for the Magic, averaging team highs in points (25.6), rebounds (7.2), assists (3.7) and steals (4.5).

Monticello, fresh off making the program’s fourth trip to state in Class 3A last season, was bumped up into Class 4A due to its growing enrollment. As one of the smallest teams in Class 4A, the Magic have earned the top seed in its Section 8 tournament.

More of Minnesota’s best

For more high-impact players to keep an eye on in section playoffs, check out our preseason Dream Team, a recent list of the state’s top uncommitted recruits and our midseason check-in of players to watch.