Six area girls' basketball players earn AP all-state spots

WORTHINGTON -- Three members of last week's Class A and AA state girls' basketball championship teams, along with three other area stars, were tabbed as honorable selections for the Associated Press All-State team.

Kaitlyn Kramer and Laura Kramer from Fulda, along with Pipestone Area's Faith Tinklenberg, were tabbed as honorable selections after helping to lead their teams to the Class A (Fulda) and AA (PA) championships last weekend in Minneapolis.

Also tabbed for the team were Worthington's Holli Aggen, Adrian's Sam Lynn and Edgerton's Amy Kallemeyn.

Kaitlyn Kramer finished as Fulda's all-time leader in scoring (1,952 points), had 951 total rebounds, and ranks fourth all-time at Fulda in steals. Laura Kramer, meanwhile, was sixth all-time in steals, while first all-time in blocks (350) for the Raiders.

Fulda head coach Gregg Slaathaug said he knew Kaitlyn was going to be a star back in the fifth grade, when she was on a junior high tournament team along with seventh-grade players.

Her ability to play strong on the court can appear at times -- due to her results -- to be very easy. Nothing could be further from the truth.

"She made things look so easy sometimes it was almost like it was all natural," Slaathaug said. "Most of what she did was pure, hard work."

That hard work continued this year for the Raiders, who successfully defended their state championship. While others around school told Kaitlyn they expected the team to get back, she didn't let the pressure get to her -- or affect the rest of the team.

"We didn't take anything for granted," she said. "We know we had to work hard every night."

Laura Kramer leaves Fulda as the only player in school history to be in the top 10 all-time in steals, rebounds, points, blocks and assists. In fact, she's the only post player on the top 10 in assists.

"I've never seen a 6-foot-2 girl get on the floor as much as she has," Slaathaug said.

Laura said her goals from her freshman year were to get on the all-conference honorable, then the all-conference first team, along with all-area and all-state. She has done that and more with a work ethic that never let up.

"I just worked really hard in the summer to improve everything," she noted. "I felt the work I put in the past four years helped a lot."

Kaitlyn Kramer also noted how much sweeter it was to share the success with Laura, her cousin.

"We've had so much fun the last few years, and we work so well together," Kaitlyn said. "I think it says a lot about our team, how much talent we have and how hard we've worked."

Pipestone Area's Tinklenberg, a junior, ended her season with 1,060 career points, and averaged 16.1 points and 6.8 rebounds as the Arrows won the Class AA title for the first time in school history -- averaging 20 ppg at the tournament.

"She's a deserving kid who works hard in the summer," PA head coach Jay Johnson said. "It's good to be rewarded at the end of the season."

At the start of the season, Tinklenberg said she was hesitant to shoot, and her inability to hit at the clip she wanted certainly didn't do anything to relieve that pressure. But as time wore on, the pressure dropped, and Tinklenberg's shots followed suit -- especially at the state tournament.

"The first game, I was 0-for-5 from the 3-point line," Tinklenberg said. "The second game I was 4-for-6. Once I hit my first one, I felt confident."

And the confidence grew in her teammates as well as Tinklenberg continued to shine, and she gave credit to them for giving her that extra boost.

"I want to thank my team for being there for me all the time," she said. "I'm glad it was my team I made it to state with this year."

Aggen ended her season averaging 10.7 points for the Trojans, while gathering 128 rebounds, 44 assists and 39 steals. She also improved her work at the free-throw line this year, hitting 79 percent (81-of-102).

"Holli's followed that developmental period like you'd like," WHS head coach Eric Lindner said. "Last year, she was a player who played in the framework of the team and did what she had to. This year, she's come into her own as a shooter, has the ability to penetrate, and the biggest positive is when she gets found, she hits her free throws."

One area where Aggen had to adjust this season came from playing more of the off-guard position, she said.

"I had to get used to taking the ball out at the five spot," Aggen said. The five spot, as she noted, is the player who is assigned with taking the inbound pass.

For Aggen, a sophomore on the Trojans this year, she had extra motivation from her sister, Ashley, who continued to push her to play her best. Even with that work, along the play of all of her teammates, the honor was a surprise to her.

"It's quite an honor," Aggen said. "I didn't think I'd actually make it."

Lynn, also a sophomore, made the cut after leading the RRC in assists (7.5) and free-throw percentage (80.2), while finishing fourth in scoring (15.9) and from the 3-point line (40 percent).

"It's a reflection of the hard work she's put in her career so far," Adrian head coach Randy Strand said. "She works year round for it."

Lynn continued to develop her game this season and was selected as the most-improved player by her teammates. Such an honor is a sign of a player who is not complacent when it comes to bettering her game.

"It felt good," Lynn said of the team honor. "Just to let them know that I'm trying to become better so we can get further in the postseason. It's good to know that they see these things."

"When you're good at a young age, you have a tendency to sit back and take it as it comes," Strand said. "Sam didn't do that."

Kallemeyn wrapped up her career at Edgerton as the all-time leader -- boys and girls -- in scoring (1,896), and collected more than 1,000 rebounds. She also was an All-RRC selection four times.

"She's been a great influence on the younger girls," head coach Andrew Fleischman said. "We obviously had a very good year this year, and she was a big part of it."

With more scorers with her this year, Kallemeyn was able to do a solid job finding the other players in spots where they could score -- taking a lot of pressure off her from the previous season.

"Sometimes when I'd get box-and-oned or do a 2-3 zone and (the defense would) collapse on me, I'd feel like I was doing too much," she said. "If I had to do it, I'd do it."

The honorable mention selection is a special recognition not just for Kallemeyn, but everyone involved with the Flying Dutchmen.

"It's a great achievement for her, it's a great achievement for the school, and it's a great achievement for the Edgerton basketball program," Fleischman said. "She's worked so hard. She's very deserving of the honor."

Kallemeyn said she wasn't expecting the honor and really didn't think much about it. She also added that as she goes on, she'd like to add a little more muscle before she heads to North Dakota State next year.