Unbeaten Rochester Mayo girls displaying a championship look

Feb. 24—When this basketball season is over, Rochester Mayo should send its four fastest starters out to the track.

The combination of starters Anna Miller, Lynnsey Hady, Mullk Hammadelniel and Hannah Hanson would make a heck of a 4x400 relay team. They can run all day and they cover ground in a hurry.

That starting lineup is rounded out by Elli Collins, a tall, strong point guard who finds her sprinters in stride with precise passes. And when she's not doing that, she's averaging seven rebounds, five points and one steal per game.

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This is one of the fastest, most lethal and talented teams in the state. The numbers don't lie. Mayo is a perfect 11-0, ranked eighth in Class AAAA, has already clinched a share of the Big Nine Conference title and is burying its opponents by an average score of 70-47.

Red Wing is the only team to have tested Mayo, and the Spartans still wound up a seven-point winner in that one.

Mayo third-year coach Ryan Carpenter saw something like this coming. His Spartans finished 23-5 last year, were two baskets from reaching the state tournament and returned almost all of their top players, including 6-foot-3 Anna Miller. She'll play next season at Division I Drake University, a frequent top-25 team in the country.

"This is about where I thought we'd be," Carpenter said. "I knew we'd be good because we were very good last year, we only lost by two points in the section final (to No. 2-ranked Farmington), and we're now more athletic and better defensively than that team. Being more athletic, it allows us to be even better in transition."

The biggest change in this team (not that it was begging for one) is arguably one player — sophomore forward Hannah Hanson.

Hanson was a nice contributor off the bench last year as a freshman, using her sprinter's speed to be a disruptor on defense.

The 5-9 sophomore is doing that all over again this season, but is now so much more than just a quick-silvered pest. She's become one of Mayo's top scorers, averaging 13 points on sparkling 54 percent field-goal shooting. She also averages three steals per game, helping Mayo ball-hawk its way to turning teams over 20 times per game.

"Hannah is one of our best players," said Hady, who like Miller, Collins and Hammadelniel is a senior. "Teams are so scared to have her guard them. She is a lock-down defensive player. She puts the fear factor into teams."

A BLISTERING PACE

Hanson, an actual track-and-field sprinter in the spring, goes furthest in allowing Carpenter to play the style — ultra fast — that he demands from this Mayo team. It's not just fast breaks that he wants, but also full-court trapping defense.

That quick offense and defense play into each other.

"I'm trying to get to the point where we have over 70 possessions per game," Carpenter said. "That's a lot. But when we're able to get out and run, that feeds into our defense because then we can score and set up our press."

Hanson happens to be the fastest player on a team brimming with speed.

And while she gives Mayo an up-and-coming star, this team isn't built around its youngster. Its foundation is those seniors — Miller, Collins, Hady and Hammadelniel.

All of them are having standout years. But Mayo has a clear MVP. It's that 6-3 (probably a shade taller than that) girl who last week had a 27-point, 22-rebound game.

That's Miller, who's gone from really good to truly great. Her stats have jumped in every category this season, now averaging 21 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks per game.

Much of that can be attributed to the work she put in the weight room since last season ended. After pumping iron up to four times per week, the slender and long Miller is much sturdier, and with it, unstoppable. She's combining that new-found strength with all of her length and rare speed and quickness for a 6-3 player.

"Anna is stronger now than she was last season," Carpenter said. "That, and the AAU season she had this summer, where she had to battle some really good bigs (centers) has helped her a ton. She is more aggressive and attacks the ball in the air. Anna's also improved in finishing inside and with her ability to attack off the (dribble). She's made that leap."

TOUGH LINEUP

So has this team. It's done it especially behind all five of those aforementioned starters. While Miller and Hanson have been huge contributors, so have Hady, Hammadelniel and Collins. After a cool shooting start, Hady has taken off. Hady, who is coming off a 20-point game in a win over formidable Austin, has her 3-point stroke back. Over Mayo's last five games, she's shooting a blistering 45 percent on 3's and 55 percent overall.

Hammadelniel does some of everything, including being a knock-down 3-point shooter when left open and also explosive in getting to the basket. And then there's Collins, a sweet complement to everyone else, so ably running the offense and using all of her size and strength to grab seven rebounds per game, a rare number for a point guard.

This has been a beautiful blend, also with a bench that nicely contributes. Sixth-person Taylor Hill is coming off a 14-point, four-rebound game and for the season is shooting a blistering 45 percent on 3-pointers.

Everything seems to be there for an eventual long tournament run. The Spartans have an obvious goal, and that is to get to the state tournament. They also know they have a large obstacle in their way. Farmington is back and looking as strong as ever. Mayo's fellow Section 1AAAA team is also 11-0 and ranked second in the state.