Take a lap through Williams Arena and Maturi Pavilion at this week’s girls basketball state tournament and you’ll pass future college basketball standouts, promising underclassmen hoping this is the first of many trips to state and, of course, 32 teams jostling for state titles across four size classifications.

Somewhere in that crowd, or on the court, you might spot these dozen players who could make a difference for their squads.

This list is in addition to our 2026 All-Minnesota team, which includes 17 players competing for state titles across the four size classifications. That team features Providence Academy’s Maddyn Greenway, Duluth Marshall’s Chloe Johnson, Hopkins’ Erma Walker and many more players to keep an eye on.

Players are listed in alphabetical order, with their teams’ classification.

Kate Arnold

Chanhassen junior guard (4A)

Arnold’s standout season has helped her Metro West Conference team book its first trip to the state tournament. The 5-foot-11 guard, committed to South Dakota, is primed to put up a 30-piece or hit a game-winner on any given night, averaging 21.3 points per game. She scored 22 points in the Storm’s 79-68 section final victory over top-seeded Minnetonka and is tough to get past, averaging 2.8 steals and a block per game for the Storm.

Alivia Bell

Benilde-St. Margaret’s junior guard (3A)

Even if it’s her first state tournament playing for the 3A defending champions, Bell has experience in state title games. She had four points, two rebounds and three assists in Hopkins’ 4A title game win last year. The point guard now helps orchestrate Benilde-St. Margaret’s well-rounded offense, dishing out a team-high 4.6 assists while grabbing 2.8 steals per game and putting up 10.6 points of her own. Bell is one of four Red Knights players who average in double-figure scoring.

Ayla Caskey

New London-Spicer senior guard (2A)

The Wildcats’ record is nearly flawless at 29-1, and part of their success has come from All-State Hamline commit Caskey, who averages 13.2 points per game. She is both a major disrupter and creator for New London-Spicer, tallying 3.8 steals per game alongside 3.8 assists. She is also committed to run track at Hamline, so her quickness on the court checks out.

Marianna Davis

Hopkins eighth-grade forward (4A)

The defending Class 4A champion Royals’ top three scorers are juniors, but after that comes a player who we likely will be seeing at state several more times, should Hopkins’ streak of now 12 consecutive tournament trips continue. At 6-feet-1, Davis adds length to Hopkins’ smothering defense and adds to the Royals’ inside presence, scoring about 10 points per game.

Sienna Duininck

Central Minnesota Christian junior guard (1A)

Duininck, a 5-foot-7 combo guard, stuffs the stat sheet for the Bluejays with 24.0 points, 7.1 rebounds and 6.8 steals per game. She and Central Minnesota Christian will look to make a deep run in the program’s first trip to state since back-to-back appearances in 2000 and 2001.

Madeleine Hamiel

Cretin-Derham Hall freshman guard (3A)

Last year, seeded No. 7 in Class 3A, the Raiders pulled off an upset of No. 2 Monticello with Hamiel, an eighth-grader, bursting onto the tournament stage with a 15-point, seven-rebound, three-steal game. She picked up right where she left off to start her freshman campaign, dropping 27 points in a season-opening win over Hill-Murray.

Now the Raiders face No. 5 Hill-Murray again in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A tournament. Hamiel averages a team-high 14.2 points per game.

Lexi Lamppa

Rock Ridge senior guard (3A)

The 5-foot-8 guard has been a constant for the Wolverines through three consecutive trips to the state tournament. Lamppa scored a game-high 25 points and reached 2,000 career points in the Wolverines’ 77-41 section championship game win over Cloquet. Both Lamppa twins, Lexi and Maija, are headed to play college ball at Minnesota Crookston.

Amelia Mills

Rochester Mayo sophomore point guard (4A)

In the Spartans’ Section 1 title game against perennially state-bound Lakeville North, Mills heated up in the second half and finished with a game-high 15 points to help Mayo end a 10-year state tournament drought. The point guard, also a reliable shooter from deep, has come up big for the Spartans all season, averaging a team-high 21.5 points per game.

Anna Neyens

Mountain Iron-Buhl junior guard (1A)

Only four players in the state technically can be the leading scorer for a No. 1 seed, but for the top team in 1A, the wealth gets shared. Neyens, a 5-foot-7 combo guard, averages 16.9 points per game for the Rangers, shooting a reported 43.4% from three-point range. Meanwhile, sophomore guard Izzy Wiita is step-in-step with 16.3 points per game, making the Rangers’ backcourt tough to beat. Mountain Iron-Buhl won the 2023 Class 1A title.

Jayci Rath

Stewartville senior forward (3A)

Alongside the Shindelar sisters, Rath is one of the Tigers’ top scorers, averaging 14.1 points per game for the top-seeded team in Class 3A. The 6-foot-1 forward is one of a few future St. Thomas players at this year’s tournament, in addition to Chanhassen junior Lyla Hentges and Monticello senior Samantha Voll.

Camryn VanMaldeghem

New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva senior guard (1A)

VanMaldeghem sits seventh in the state in points per game (29.3). The Panthers, Class 2A champions in 2013 and 2014, face a new challenge in Class 1A as the school’s enrollment shifts. VanMaldeghem is in elite scoring company with another NHREG 2,000-point player, former Gophers standout Carlie Wagner, who helped the Panthers to those two titles. VanMaldeghem is also another player taking the court alongside a sister, in this case her senior twin, Quinn.

Ashlee Wilson

Hill-Murray eighth-grade guard (3A)

Wilson is another eighth-grader looking to play a major role for her team on a big stage. As Hill-Murray seeks its third state title, Wilson averages 20.3 points, behind only junior sister Mya in scoring, plus 5.9 assists per game for the Pioneers. Ashlee, a 6-foot guard, has netted 103 three-pointers this season and has tallied 28 points or more in four of her last five games.