2024-25 Month 1 review

The 2024-25 season already has 1 month in the books.  What sticks out to me?  Let's go league by league.

City/Independents
Hiawatha taking down Johnson and Harding on the St. Paul side.  Then in Minneapolis they've beaten Hope and South and they had every chance to beat Minneapolis North.  Only lost by 1 to Park in the Harding holiday tournament championship game too. We knew the name Kam Solomon but soph forward King James has been the difference there.  He's having a breakout season and dominating inside. Section 5AA was already a section of death but besides the big 4 (Breck, Blake, SW Christian, Mpls N), you have undefeated Rockford, Hiawatha and 1 loss Jordan.  Not to mention Maranatha, more on them later.

EMAC
Liberty has been everything we thought.  Good section win at Trinity, really good home win over Spectrum and they came from 15 down to win a big league game at Twin Cities Academy.  Tigers would love to have that game back.  They have a big one to start next week at The Crash Pad against undefeated Avail.  That will be Avail's biggest test to date.  Hmong Academy already with more wins than all of last year.

MCAA
Legacy already has a major head start in the North division with a 3 point win at Spectrum.  Heritage had a bumpy road trip south to Iowa and then ran into a ranked Nevis squad over the holiday.  But they do have a solid home section win over Trinity and a win over Minneapolis Camden.  Big one at home on Tuesday to start play in the South division against Mayer Lutheran.

Skyline
St. Croix Prep off to a nice 6-2 start against a weak schedule but its 2 league wins and 4 section wins.  Middle of January features an important stretch of St. Croix Lutheran, at Maranatha and Concordia.  Speaking of Maranatha, yes they lost a ton but 2-5 hasn't been expected.  Tough stretch coming with St. Croix Lutheran, Lake City and at Concordia in the next 10 days.  Regardless, they aren't a team you want to draw as a low seed early in the AA section of death.  New Life lost a couple of expected players from the roster and its turned into a total rebuild year for them as they're still without a win at 0-7.

IMAC
Blake has run the table against a very tough schedule with home wins over Minnehaha and Annandale plus good wins over Spectrum and St. Croix Lutheran in the Hutton Winter Classic.  Minnehaha has played a tough schedule too.  Wins over Minneapolis North and St. Croix Lutheran plus South St. Paul show that the route to state in 4AA still goes down Lake Street.  Even with a new coach, that group has a chemistry that works to make the whole greater than the sum of the parts.  Breck has played an insanely tough schedule as well.  I just hope they don't take it out on my alma mater this weekend.  Miles Newton has been terrific so far for the Mustangs.

Tri-Metro
Only 2 teams with winning records right now in De La Salle and Richfield.  Congrats to CJ Armstrong for passing 2000 career points for Richfield over the holiday break.  As to the rest of the league, Columbia Heights is rebuilding along with Kennedy. Cooper having a down year at 1-7 with the only win over Fridley.  Fridley is still winless after a great year last year.  Brooklyn Center is super young.  

St. Paul City
No real shockers here.  Johnson and Central still the class of the league with Harding fighting to get in the discussion.  I haven't seen Washington yet but they appear to be more competitive this season which is good for the league.

Minneapolis City
This appears to be a wide open race. North has no size and that's hurt them in the games I've seen and they don't get after you defensively like North has historically.  I should add the word YET to that as I think Ahmil Jihad will get them after people at some point. Washburn with wins over Park Center and Armstrong but 4 other single digit losses against a schedule that looks more like a super big school AAAA schedule than you'd expect.  

Wright County East
Mound-Westonka has to be the story here as they stand 8-0.  We'll learn a lot more about them in the next week with games vs 7AAA Stewartville and at 2AAA Orono in a rivalry game.  Jordan 6-1 with a section win at Maranatha.  Another big section game for the Hubmen on Friday with Hiawatha coming to town.  Coach David Flom has always scheduled very tough and it shows in the 0-4 start for SW Christian.  Waconia, 2AAAA Hopkins and 1AA Albany no complaints with those.  They were able to force OT against Becker in the Granite City but ultimately fell short against a good AAA Mississippi 8 team.

Mississippi 8
Thunder Rolls!  Zimmerman 2-0 in the league and 8-2 overall.  They travel to Becker next Tuesday in an early season battle of league front runners.  The other front runner is Monticello.  They already have a win at Cambridge-Isanti on their resume.  Chisago Lakes 1-8 is eye opening but they lost a ton.  More eye popping is that they're allowing a staggering 91.9 PPG.

Metro East
North St. Paul good wins over South St. Paul, Harding and Armstrong catches the eye.  Also crazy that's the only 3 games they've played.  Compare that to 9 games already for South St. Paul.  South St Paul with an interesting section and league game vs St. Thomas Academy on Friday.  Early season league test for undefeated Tartan against Mahtomedi on Friday as well. 

Metro West
Benilde-St. Margaret's defense has stood out in their early season undefeated run.  Orono with the emotional openiing night win over Wayzata has been what we expected.  Section road wins over Delano and Richfield should pretty much ensure that it comes down to their 2 games vs BSM and the league standings for the top seed in 6AAA.  St. Louis Park jumping up into the rankings was more than I expected.  Their lineup is absolutely huge.  But consistency there is a question.  Farmington outdueled them down the stretch, particularly on the offensive glass, over the holiday. They're the kind of team right now that if it starts to go bad, it can get off the rails quickly.  I gave Chaska the Czar curse as they lost 5 tough games in a row after a 3-0 start.  They get Wayzata next week.

Outstate AAAA
Sauk Rapids with wins over Breck, Alexandria and Champlin Park before stumbling against Fargo Davies over the weekend.  SRR vs STMA next week in a huge section matchup that could determine the top seed.  Very versatile lineup that's fun to watch.  Moorhead has a nice group of youngsters and I'm a big fan of PG Brian Zarazua.  

On the southern side of things, Owatonna at 6-2 is a nice surprise even against a soft schedule.  Rochester John Marshall is hard to figure.  They have pieces but have lost to Burnsville and didn't look good in the game I saw vs Anoka.  But then they came back the next day and knocked off Farmington.  That shows that if they put all the pieces together, they aren't a team to draw in that 1AAAA opener.  A really fun rematch with Farmington could loom in the section semis.

Northwest Suburban
Totino-Grace giving up 44 to Max Lorenson and 40 to Cedric Tomes in a loss at East Ridge is mildly concerning.  They have a game of the year candidate at 1AAAA Cretin-Derham Hall on Friday.  Park Center has had a bunch of different lineups and now Xaver Frelix is out with a hand injury.  Yes the schedule has been very tough for the 2-7 Pirates but not having a real identity sticks out.  Anoka has a nice win over Eagan to start the season 8-1.  Big game for them coming up at Champlin Park.  Spring Lake Park lost a ton but they're 6-3 and have a nice junior group.  

Suburban East
No surprises at the top.  The league looks much like it did last year.  2 elite teams, a couple others that are decent that beat up on everybody else.  CDH has been elite as expected.  East Ridge played them tough for about  3/4 of the game until a late run blew it open.  Then the home win over Totino-Grace.  They did hit a hiccup against Eden Prairie over the holiday.  Mounds View, Park, Stillwater and Roseville (in no order) look to be the teams fighting for those next spots.

South Suburban
I thought Prior Lake could make a jump and the 8-1 start is impressive.  The only loss was the opener at Wayzata.  They already have home wins over Shakopee and Lakeville North in the conference race.  Wins over Minnetonka, Chanhassen, Eden Prairie and Chaska mean they're 5-0 in section games as well.  Those head to head wins won't be ignored come seeding time (I'm looking at you section 4AA)  Eagan off to a 6-1 start continuing the momentum from last year's trip to the state tournament.  They have a home win over Farmington and the only loss is to Anoka in the Capitol City Classic.  Farmington with wins over Totino-Grace, Chaska, Lakeville North and St. Louis Park.  Losses to Champlin Park, Eagan and Rochester John Marshall. Hard to figure.  A fun scheduling quirk means Farmington and Prior Lake will not play each other until Feb 18th and then the rematch is a week later.  Keaton Ressler has been great for Lakeville South but his backcourt mate Malachi Gant has stuck out to me as well.  Shakopee and Lakeville North both lost a ton from last year's rosters and are still putting it together.  North with a much more interior based attack thanks to their size.  Shakopee besides Tommy Auge isn't big and they want to run and shoot it.  They'll play each other Friday night.

Lake
Wayzata after back to back losses in week 1 has won 7 in a row with all but 1 of those by 27 or more points.  9 triples in the 1st 9 minutes to jump on Shakopee at their place was just the most recent example.  They've cleaned up the defensive side and now look like the team we expected at the start of the year.  Speaking of defense, Hopkins has just been mauling people with their defense.  And their offense didn't need the help.  Minnetonka with Jacob Hudson and Caleb Francois on the wings has been much better than I expected.  They've gotten thru a stretch without Isa El-Amin as well.  Good 7-1 start for STMA with wins at Maple Grove and over Champlin Park.  Only loss is a 5 point loss to Prior Lake in the Granite City Classic.  Moorhead and Sauk Rapids-Rice come calling in the next week in critical section 8AAAA games.

2024-25 Week 3 - What did we learn?

The 2nd full week of the 2024-25 season is in the books.  Teams starting to get in the flow of things as we prepare for the holiday break.  Here's what caught my eye this week.  By the way, if you're looking for the holiday schedules, I have a full set of them here.

Chaska Follow Up
I said last week we'd learn a lot about Chaska this week.  A tough 24 hours for them over the weekend as they lost to Prior Lake and Farmington.  Prior Lake junior wing Zach Christofferson 9th man in but came up huge with 14 points and 3 triples as the Lakers rallied from 8 down in the first half.  Chaska 2 turnovers in the last 1:04 of that game when it was a 1 possession game were very costly.

Forwards On Display
While most of the top prospects were at the Tip Off Classic last week, I had the chance this week to take in a couple 2026 bigs that weren't there.  Faribault and Ryan Kreager made the trip for a battle of green at Hill-Murray.  Kreager dominated early as the Falcons opened on a 10-0 run and won 66-44.  4 of his 5 blocks were early and kept the Pioneers at bay.  He finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks on my sheet.

Then Friday night was the first boys game on Galvin Court as White Bear Lake moves operations to the North campus.  Let's hope Donatelli's pizza is still on the concession stand menu.. The court is named after longtime boys coach Jim Galvin who led the Bears during their dominance in 1984 and 1985 where they won 2 state titles and 52 straight games.  Nice pregame ceremony for that.  As to the game itself, the Bears jumped out to a 14-0 lead against a rebuilding Forest Lake squad and won 68-55.  Forest Lake would go 1-3-1 and keep it from getting completely out of hand.  Huge night for White Bear Lake big man Colin Piper against the small Rangers lineup.  He goes nuts for 30 points and 22 rebounds on my officially unofficial stat sheet.

Owen Wilcek with most of his 24 points in the 2nd half for Big Lake in a 81-73 loss at Hutchinson.  He knocked down a couple of 3s in that game.  Fellow senior forward Max Siegrist also productive with 18 points for the Hornets.

Two Rivers forward Julian Greer with 5 triples and 34 points in a nice road section win for the Warriors at St. Paul Highland Park.

In 2027, a couple of names caught my attention.  Forward Tyler Erickson came off the Woodbury bench and knocked down 4 triples to help lead the Royals to a 80-73 win at Roseville.  Gideon Horne wasn't in the Hope lineup when I saw them the 1st time but he came off the bench this week.  That was in a 71-44 blowout section win over New Life Academy.  New Life in major rebuild mode this season.

Southside Showcase
Simley was down 17 to Maranatha early in the 2nd half of the 1st game of Saturday's Southside Showcase at Benilde-St. Margaret's.  They would cut that margin down to 8 with 4:10 left.  Then coach Willie Braziel broke out a 1-2-2 zone and the Spartans went on a 12-0 run to end the game and steal a 70-66 victory.  That's my adjustment of the week.

Its a very very young Simley roster with 3 sophomores (1 starting), plus a starting freshman PG and the starting PF is an 8th grader.  Add in 2 junior starters and they setup nicely long term.  They're off to a 3-1 start with games this week at Highland Park, the Metro East opener at home vs Hill-Murray on Friday and Saturday's game vs West Lutheran.

More youth on hand as Moorhead stayed in town for a Friday/Saturday metro back to back.  The Spuds held off Rosemount 76-67.  A late 10-1 run in a 3 point game put it out of reach.  Moorhead starts 3 sophs and bring a frosh off the bench.  David Mack leads that talented group.  He had 16 in this game and 23 in the Friday loss to Buffalo.  But its senior PG Brian Zarazua that holds it all together.  He had 20 points and a handful of assists to lead the Spuds.  Moorhead with single digit losses to Buffalo and Fargo Davies to start the year.  Spuds won't be an easy out in 8AAAA.  I'd love to see North Dakota realign and include Moorhead in a version of the Eastern Dakota Conference with Wahpeton and the Fargo schools.  While the travel logistics make sense, playing in a non-Minnesota conference would be a nightmare seeding wise.

Rosemount got another solid game from Peyton Gholson with triples.  He also played well in the win over Jefferson earlier in the week.  Big man Jordan Vanwinkle with a productive 2nd half as Rosemount stayed close.

The Big Stage
Game 1: Maple Grove 54 Eden Prairie 52
Eden Prairie played without point guard Hamze Yusuf.  Max Lorenson 25 to try and make up the difference.  Maple Grove with a 16-2 2nd half run to go up 47-40 with 8:10 left.  But the Crimson would go on a offensive drought of almost 6 minutes which allowed this one to come right down to the wire. Eden Prairie with a 10-0 run during that time.  Eden Prairie trailing by 2 late and fouled on a 3 for 3 free throws with 6.7 left.  But they miss all 3 free throws.  Keegan Harney leads Maple Grove with 16 points, soph Baboucarr Ann adds 3 triples and 12 points.

Game 2: Edina 66 Lakeville South 63
Lakeville South with 4 3s early in the 2nd half as they opened a 15 point lead.  Edina holds Lakeville South to 1 single point in the last 5 minutes as they finish the game on a 9-1 run.  Edina sophomore forward Vincent Cronin injured early in this one and did not return.  Billy DeMars 21 points to lead all scorers.  Mason Mohs adds 13 critical points off the Hornets bench including the go ahead bucket in the last minute.  Keaton Ressler 20 points and 4 triples to again lead Lakeville South but nobody else in double figures.

Game 3: Minnetonka 67 Waconia 64
Waconia jumped out to a 13-2 lead.  Minnetonka would respond with a 25-9 spurt to take the lead.  They would keep that lead at 49-38 with about 10 min left.  Waconia came roaring back with 18-7 run to take the lead 56-55. Will Kirsch and Jacob Hudson went back and forth all day.  Kirsch with a bucket for the lead but Hudson immediately counters with a beautiful cut for a bucket to put Tonka back on top.  Waconia misses and Tonka closes it out with free throws.  Will Kirsch with 34 to lead Waconia.  Jacob Hudson with a breakout performance for Minnetonka with 30 points and 4 triples.  Caleb Francois another good game adding 18. Anthony Ortiz with 13 and the 2 final bonus freebies.  Tonka played without Isa El-Amin again and no Duke Richardson.

Game 4: #8AAAA St. Louis Park 90 Park Center 69
Close first half but St. Louis Park runs away in the 2nd half.  The Curtis twins go for 37 of their 59 points in the 2nd half.  Both dominant as Micah went for 32 and Marley went for 27.  Xavier Frelix leads Park Center with 20 poits.  No Abu Keita for Park Center and Emmanuel Jentzen played limited minutes.

Game 5: #2AAAA Hopkins 113 #8AAA Richfield 92
Hopkins turned Richfield over early and often in this one as they started on a 13-0 and 30-12 run.  CJ Armstrong with a monster day would pull the Spartans within 36-26 on a 3 point play at the 6:32 mark.  He had 22 of the 26 Richfield points at that mark.  Hopkins counters with a 23-5 run over the next 4 minutes and its over.  Anthony Smith with 34 points, JJ Semanko with 18 to lead Hopkins.  Once again they don't need a big game from Jayden Moore.  Now 3 impressive wins over some of the best of class AAA for Hopkins.  CJ Armstrong doesn't disappoint for Richfield. He goes for 26 in the first half and adds another 27 in the 2nd half to finish with 53 points.

Game 6: #4AAA Totino-Grace 77 #3AA Breck 58
A battle of last year's AA and AA champs.  TG bench outscores Breck 27-6 thanks to 12 points each from Tian Chatman (1st game back) and star frosh Daniel Zoa.  Chace Watley's 16 points leads 5 Eagles in double figures.  Breck gets 19 from Miles Newton.  8 of those were early and a couple were late.  He was largely quiet inbetween.  JP Musoke adds 15.  TG uses a 15-2 run late in the 1st half to take a 9 point halftime lead.  Then another 12-2 run midway thru the 2nd half to blow the game open.

Game 7: #1AAAA Cretin-Derham Hall 75 #1AAA Orono 65
Now from last year champs to top ranked this year.  7-0 CDH start but Brady Wooley counters with 3 hoops to quickly bring Orono back.  Nolan Groves with 18 of his 29 in the 1st half to keep it a 2 point CDH lead at the half.  JoJo Mitchell sat a large chunk of the 1st half with 2 fouls and CDH is a very different team with him sitting.  He scored all 13 of his points in the 2nd half.  A couple of those buckets helped push the lead to 14.  Orono did get 2 highlights in this game.  A monster post dunk from Wooley and a huge chasedown block by Groves.  Tommy Ahneman a solid double double and good passing from the post too.  He finishes with 17 points.  Soph star Ty Schlagel terrific with 20 points.  Monteff Dixon also very productive with 14 points.  Just too much CDH firepower.  Brady Wooley with 17 points for Orono.

Interesting note that the first 3 games between the non-ranked teams had a combined winning margin (8 pts) that was less than the winning margin in any of the final 4 games that involved the ranked teams and high-profile matchups.

Czar Viewing Stats Year To Date
Number of Varsity Games Watched: 50
Number of Teams Seen: 86
Pepsi Consumption at games: 56 ounces
Coke Consumption at games: 0 ounces
Hot Dogs Consumed: 1

2024-25 Week 2 - What did we learn?

The 1st complete week of the season included the 1st big event of the season.  My thoughts on the Tipoff Classic main court can be found here.   Here's what I noticed in the rest of the week.

Team that caught my eye
Chaska had a couple of good wins this week to start their season 2-0.  That included a win over Shakopee that was only a 5 point final but Chaska was up 20 late in that game.  Tray Lenzen with a couple of 20+ point performances to lead the Hawks.  This is great prep for a tough schedule over the rest of the month.  They get Prior Lake at home followed by tough trips to Farmington and Champlin Park.  Then Minnetonka at home before playing at East Ridge to start the holidays.  You have Lenzen on the front line, Jimmy Coddington on the wing and Tyler Forrest at the point. All are veteran starters returning in a down year in section 2AAAA.  Its a very wide open section right now and I have to believe Chaska is in the mix.

Adjustment of the week
I love the whiteboard and the X and O side of things.  Even better when its junk defense.  Props to coach John Towle at Liberty Classical. He broke out a box and 1 on Trinity's Nathan Adbebe which contributed to Trinity sitting their top guard for the last 10 minutes of a big section game.  Liberty gets a 3 with 30 seconds to get the 47-44 road win.  It was an important section win as these 2 teams are on the next in line list behind Heritage in section 4A.

Southside Showcase
I didn't see every game there online but I did take in a couple of the big school games.  Osseo having to replace everybody in their rotation except 1 reserve guard.  They get 1 FG in the last 6:55 in a 70-59 loss to Park of Cottage Grove at the Southside Showcase on Saturday.  Forward Nebil Mohammed was a new name inside for the Orioles and had a productive 12 point game.  The Park guards just too much quickness though.  Miskir Esayas and Anthony Giadyu have another gear off the bounce and vertical bounce to go with it.  The tough combo combined for 37 points in the win.

Eagan took down Spring Lake Park 65-59 in a battle of teams that have promising futures.  Spring Lake Park usually reloads with seniors but only 2 in this year's starting lineup.  Junior wing Nolan Myren with a very nice 17 point game knocking down 3 triples.  14 of those points in the 2nd half to keep the Panthers close.  Add in forward Aaron Jeppson who can play inside and out plus guards Colin Welch, Cal Spencer and Sawyer Thomsen.  That's a group I like for this season and next season.  Eagan junior Alex Schroepfer continues to play well as he led all scorers with 23 points.  Soph forward Donjae Knox makes for a nice combo with center Kevin Kemp in the middle.  Junior guard Mikey McKenzie 3 of his 5 triples in the second half for the Wildcats.  He's the kind of shooter who can fill it up in a hurry.

Tipoff Classic Court 2
I took in the 1st 2 games online from the Edina Community Center.  Good win for Champlin Park over Farmington in the opener.  I expected Farmington's size and toughness to give the Rebels problems and it really didn't.  Cole Wilcek was fantastic for Farmington with 26 points but the Tigers guard play didn't really contribute.  Tyler Wagner with his 3rd straight game of 30 points in the win.  The Rebels get it done without soph guard Kwa Silikpoh in the lineup.  He turned an ankle earlier in the week.  Preston Thielke held down due to first half foul trouble.

In a matchup of 2 of the winningest coaches in Minnesota history, Tartan took out Lakeville North 65-62.  Tartan doesn't really have a true big man but they run their 5 out stuff really well.  Lots of Princeton like screen/away reject action in the game.  But they'll also pass and cut or have their big man chase into ball screens.  With a couple of starting freshmen, they have a bright future.  But it was senior CJ Banks who stole the day with 21 points and 3 triples to lead the Titans to the win.  Lakeville North on the other hand once again has a huge lineup.  Junior Dane Danielson with 18 points, Drew Kolander with 14 inside as they were a problem all day.  Add in an experienced backcourt and the Panthers may not have a huge name, but as shown by their win over East Ridge during the week, they're still going to be a tough team to play against.

Books and Balls
Eagle Ridge hosted the 2nd annual Books and Balls tournament.  Nova Classical took home the title with wins over section rival Mounds Park Academy and the hosts.  Caleb Taylor huge opener with 30 points to lead the Knights to a win on Friday night.  That over came a big night from Wyatt Srsen of MPA. Srsen just passed the 1000 career points mark.  Nova also beat section foe Humboldt on Wednesday to win their last 3 games of the week.  3-1 start for coach John Carrier's crew.  Math & Science lost do everything star Josh Balami to graduation, but coach Jamey Strand may have a better team this season.  Center Adam Olaoye has developed into a nice player in the middle and frosh Elisee Voumadi.  Voumadi will be a nice player for them as they move from the EMAC to the MCAA next season.  They had a big win over New Life Academy earlier in the week.

Miscellaneous
I mentioned Mikey McKenzie above but want to get in another couple of hot shooting performances that I saw this week.  Cole Kruschke of Owatonna with 7 triples in a loss at Waconia.  Keaton Ressler absolutely flammable for Lakeville South with 37 points and 7 treys in a win over Chanhassen.  He also had 21 in the Tipoff Classic loss to Chaska and 16 in a win over Eden Prairie this week.  

Community of Peace was too much for North Lakes.  Soph big man Joey Myatt with 31 for the Tigers in that win.  He looks he'll be one of the top interior guys in the EMAC over the next couple of seasons.  Speaking of small school soph forwards, Hiawatha's King James with a nice game against Minneapolis North to begin the week.  12 points, 16 rebounds with most of that damage in the 1st half.  Sat a huge chunk of the 2nd half with fouls and then promptly fouled out when he returned.  North's small lineup stole one from the Wolves late.  I think Hiawatha wins if James doesn't foul out.  Kam Solomon tried to carry them in the 2nd half.  Good measuring stick game that even though it was a tough loss should give Hiawatha confidence that they can compete with anybody in section 5AA.

Czar Viewing Stats Year To Date

Number of Varsity Games Watched: 29
Number of Teams Seen: 55
Pepsi Consumption at games: 56 ounces

1 12 pack of Coke wasted on Ryan James thanks to Minnesota winning Paul Bunyan's Axe.

Thoughts from the 2024 Tipoff Classic

The Breakdown Tipoff Classic has established itself as the top event of the season.  As usual I took all the games on the main court. This year that was a single court at Hopkins with the 2nd court being at the Edina Community Center.  While that did lessen the atmosphere a bit, still a very fun day of games.  Here's a glimpse at the day's events.

Game 1: Minnetonka 73 East Ridge 64
Minnetonka got ahead and largely stayed ahead in this one.  East Ridge had the lead down to 6 with 4:29 left, but 3 straight triples and a couple of stops, game over as the lead went to 15.  I've been very down on Minnetonka to this point but this one changed my thinking.  The Bryce Tesdahl grit is showing up again in the squad.  Caleb Francois 23 points and 3 triples to lead the way.  Malachi Boadi adds 18.  This was also without Isa El-Amin who didn't play due to injury.  They hold Cedric Tomes to 7-18 shooting for his 23 points.  Bennett Skinner with 12 points and 3 triples for East Ridge. On the other side, not sure who had East Ridge at 0-2 at this point.  A couple of tough losses to start the year and not pretty at that.  Their 3 guards were the top 3 scorers but only 19 points from everybody else.

Game 2: #7AAAA Sauk Rapids-Rice 97 #2AA Breck 93 OT
This turned out to be the most exciting game of the day.  Sauk Rapids-Rice couldn't get anything going early.  Meanwhile Miles Newton was lighting it up with 24 in the 1st half for Breck.  He headlined a 9-0 run as Breck opened a 6 point lead.  But the Storm were only down 4 at the break.  In the 2nd half, the Sauk Rapids big 3 carried the offense.  That helped them rebound from an 8 point margin with 8 minutes left.  Hudson Omoke had the 1st 9 Storm points of the haulf.  Keller Hanson back to back buckets to start a 7-0 run.  Another 3 to keep the margin at 2.  Spencer Swenson 2 critical hoops.  Big 3 point play from Newton countered by another Swenson hoop in the last minute.  87 all at the end when Breck decided to play it out in a tie game but they couldn't get a great look.  Sauk Rapids with back to back triples from Hanson and Swenson to start the OT and they never looked back.   Spencer Swenson 28, Keller Hanson 27, Hudson Omoke 26 to lead Sauk Rapids.  Miles Newton with only 2 FG after halftime.  He still ends up with 36 and 4 triples.  DeAngelo Dungey with 14 of his 16 in the second half to make it up.

Game 3: #4AAA Orono 77 Fargo Davies 62
The matchup of star guards Mason Klabo (Illinois St commit for Fargo Davies, #1 player in North Dakota) and Nolan Groves didn't disappoint.  Klabo 3 triples a 3 point play as this one was tied with 3 minutes to go in the 1st half.  Then Orono went on a 12-0 run to end the half.  Davies didn't go away though.  Klabo a pair of 3s and a skip pass for a 3rd cut the Orono lead to 53-52 with 11:58 left.  But Orono's defense would lead them on an 18-4 run over the next 7:45 to put the game out of reach.  Nolan Groves with 19 of his 30 points in the 2nd half to lead the Spartans.  I had him with 9 rebounds and a handful of assist.  10-22 shooting from the field.  Mitchell Kauch 4 triples and 15 points.  Soph Grant Hansen 14 points and 4 triples to provide a great spark off the bench for Orono.  Mason Klabo finishes his day with 27 points and 9 rebounds on 9-20 shooting.

Game 4: #6AAA Benilde-St. Margaret's 85 #4AAAA Shakopee 59
This blowout result is surprising but not as surprising as you may think.  Shakopee highly regarded to start the year but they were down 20 late to Chaska in a loss earlier this week.  BSM threatened to blow the doors off early as they were up 26-12 midway thru the half.  Shakopee's transition defense non-existent.  But the Sabers were able to cut it to 8 at the half.  But only 2 FGs for Shakopee in the 1st 9+ of the 2nd half doomed them.  BSM ran away from there.  Jaleel Donley terrific with 27 points to lead all scorers.  Jalen Wilson 21 points and showing that he could hit a couple jumpers.  That would be a great development in his game.  Eli Schroeder led the late 1st half rally with 10 of his 13 points and a pair of triples. Isaac Cordes 14 and Luke Wherley added 11.  Shakopee 0-2 just like East Ridge is a significant surprise.

Game 5: #3AAA Hopkins 87 #2AAA Mankato East 75
Too much guard play from Hopkins in this one.  Mankato East tried to take the sting out of the attack with a 2-3 zone to no avail.  Hopkins never really put this one away until late but there was very limited danger after Mankato East scored 8 of the first 9 points of the game.  They hounded Brogan Madson into an off day of 15 points and 6-21 FG shooting.  Lucas Gustafson 19 points to lead the Cougars with 5 triples most of that in the 2nd half though when the game was double digits.  He shows a ton of range on the jumper though.  Braden Petzel with a nice 2nd half inside too.  Anthony Smith leads Hopkins with 29 points.  Jayden Moore adds 15 though he didn't have the big rebounding and assists numbers that he's shown in other games.

Game 6: #1AAAA Cretin-Derham Hall 77 #3AAA Alexandria 71
The much ballyhooed matchup between Mr Basketball contenders Tommy Ahneman and Chase Thompson had good moments in the 1st half.  Thompson 14 points, 5 boards and a couple of blocks and triples.  Ahneman with 10 points of his own.  CDH struggled against the vaunted Alexandria 1-2-2 early but a 13-2 run got them back in it.  Soph star Ty Schlagel picking up the offense with 12 1st half points thanks to JoJo Mitchell having foul trouble.  Alexandria with a 56-49 lead midway through the 2nd half when disaster struck.  Chase Thompson visibly showing an injured shoulder tried to play thru it for a couple possessions but with 8:53 left, he had to take himself out of the game.

But Alexandria persevered without their star.  Mason Witt with a triple to keep the lead. Schlagel with 2 post feeds and got it right back for layups.  Then a steal for 2 more but a questionable T with 1:24 left.  Mason Witt makes the 2 FTs and Alexandria would keep it.  But out of a timeout they can't get it in and its a 5 second call.  Ahneman makes them pay with 1 foot fadeaway ala Dirk Nowitzki from off the right block with 1 minute left.  Alexandria misses a 3 on the next possession and the rest is free throws.  Ty Schlagel 20 points, Tommy Ahneman 22 points and 13 boards on my officially unofficial sheet to lead the Raiders.  Chase Thompson 19 points, 9 boards, 4 assists and 4 blocks before leaving.  Mason Witt 21 points with 5 3s.

Game 7: #1AAA Totino-Grace 71 #2AAAA Wayzata 68
TG would get a strong start from Chace Watley and Malachi Hill to take a 33-20 lead.  But Isaac Olmstead would lead Wayzata back as they finished the half on a 10-0.  33-30 TG at the half.  Olmstead with half of those.  Wayzata starts the 2nd half strong with a couple of buckets for the lead and then Dothan Ijadimbola picks up his 4th with 13:01 left and has to sit.  He'll sit for almost 4 minutes as TG treads water to stay within 46-44 when he returns at the 9:21 mark.  Hill 2 FTs and a hoop.  Ijadimbola matches that.  Its a 15-4 TG run after he returns.  59-50.  Vince Jacob a free throw and a triple to keep the lead at 9.  Olmstead isn't done though.  He nails 2 triples and finds Wyatt McBeth to pull the Trojans within 2.  66-64 TG with 1:50 to play.  Totino-Grace with 2 late turnovers but Wayzata with 2 misses can't cash in.  TG finishes it at the line.  Malachi Hill 20 points leading the way from the point for TG.  Chace Watley adds 17.  3 triples and 10 critical points from Vince Jacob in the 2nd half.  Isaac Olmstead with 23 to lead Wayzata.  Nolen Anderson adds 16.  I had Wayzata 7-29 from 3.  More disturbing though was that this was the 3rd Wayzata straight game I've seen (last year's state title game and the 1st 2 this year) where their opponent was the tougher team. Defensively they gave up 39 FTA to Orono and 29 in this one.  While they only got 7 FTA of their own in this game.

Game 8: #5AAA DeLaSalle 72 Park Center 63
This one was a very herky jerky type of game.  DeLaSalle grinding out a win by making less mistakes.  Dorian Pruitt showing nice improvement in his game with a game high 18 points.  Jaeden Udean 3 triples and 17 points for the Islanders.  Emmanuel Jentzen and Temi Omotoyinbo with 15 each to lead Park Center.  For the Pirates, they started off trying to run dribble weave to get down hill.  But they're still looking to figure out their identity on that end.  With a lineup that is mostly new, that's not unexpected in week 1.

Czar's All Main Court Tipoff Classic Team

• Tommy Ahneman - Cretin-Derham Hall
• Jaleel Donley - Benilde-St. Margaret's
• Nolan Groves - Orono
• Malachi Hill - Totino-Grace
• Mason Klabo - Fargo Davies
• Miles Newton - Breck
• Ty Schlagel - Cretin-Derham Hall
• Anthony Smith - Hopkins
• Spencer Swenson - Sauk Rapids- Rice
• Chase Thompson - Alexandria

2024-25 Week 1: What did we learn?

Opening week of the 2024-25 season has completed.  3 days of games in the books. A few teams have played twice while most will open this week with the first big game night of the season being on Tuesday.  Here's what stuck out to me during the half-dozen games I watched this week.

2027 stars
I got to see Jack Thelen (St. Michael-Albertville) twice and Mustafa Mohamed (South St. Paul) play this week.  Thelen's size is definitely a factor keeping opponents away from the rim.  He had a handful of blocks in their 2 wins and much more influence beyond that.  Inside he finishes with nice touch as he scored 27 points this week.  Very effective going over the right shoulder.  Mohamed didn't see a ton of time in the Packers blowout win over Columbia Heights.  Handled the ball a lot more than expected including some possessions bringing the ball up.  I also got to see Wisconsin's top soph Dooney Johnson.  He had foul trouble all night but still put up 24 points in Milwaukee Juneau's loss to Madison Memorial.  Smooth game though but overall seemed quiet.  Rough week for Juneau as they also lost 3 games in a top holiday tourney in Illinois to be 0-4 1 week into the season.

Outstate guard play
Jack Battaglia (Cloquet) and Jaxon Boschee (Bemidji) both put on a show this week.  Boschee 24 points and 5 3s in a flammable 1st half against STMA.  Battaglia 27 points (21 1st half) in Cloquet's win.  Both showed they can handle it and really shoot it.  Cloquet with a 11-0 run in the last 4 minutes to win their section 7AAA matchup 95-88 against Chisago Lakes.  Chisago Lakes 7 misses and a turnover during that stretch.  Battaglia kept them tied in the 1st half to get them there.

Adjustment of the week
I mentioned Jaxon Boschee's first half but the second half was notable too as he was held to only 7 points.  Great adjustment by the STMA staff to face guard Boschee and use a bigger defender on him.  Jordan Holm and Gavin Edlund doing great work there.  Boschee had 9 FG in the 1st half.  In the 2nd half, he had only 2.  1 on a broken play and the other a give away layup at the end.  Everything was else was strongly challenged.

Eye Opener of the week
Monticello took down Delano 72-53.  Keep in mind Delano was ranked in both the MN Basketball News and MBCA coaches polls this week.  Yes, I know about polls, don't get me started on them.  Max Iversen and Jake Schultz with 48 total points is no surprise.  Only 2 field goals and 5 points from the rest of the Delano roster though is an eye opener.  Will be interesting to see how new coach Bridge Tusler and the new system address that.  Its not a deep roster as they only played 7.  Guards Brayden Dollard and Carson Deibele combine for 40 points and 7 triples for Monticello to go with a strong 18 point outing from Jackson Soroko on the front line.  The Magic definitely looking like a contender in the Mississippi 8.

2024 CDH Jamboree Thoughts

The 2024-25 Season is upon us.  As usual its the traditional Cretin-Derham Hall Jamboree to get it all started.  CDH with brand new fancy electronic scoreboards.  A very nice addition to Joe Mauer Field House.  The concession stand upgraded to electronic payment as well.  Though they didn't have hot dogs available tonight.  OUCH!  But Domino's pizza makes up for it (almost).  6 rounds of 2 10-minute halves on the docket.  Here are some quick hitters from what I saw.  Always difficult to figure out how much to draw from these.  Remember Minneapolis South looked great in this last year against De La Salle (much better than I thought in my previews) and turned that into a banner season.

Game 1: Osseo vs Columbia Heights
Both teams having to massively overhaul their rosters for this season.  Osseo dominated this one with more continuity.  Columbia Heights looks like a team that could struggle in the halfcourt.

Game 2: Mound-Westonka vs Minneapolis South
South also revamping the roster.  I liked how they were picking up full court.  They'll need to do that long term.  Mound-Westonka played without Max Kraay.  Cole Drill showed how the Whitehawks will get their offense thru him and Kraay as the season progresses.  One of the few teams that has their guys back down in the post vs mismatches.

Game 3: Minneapolis Washburn vs Waconia
After seeing a couple of rounds of what was scrimmage material, this had a much more regular season feel.  Fun to see defensive emphasis on both sides.  Waconia also knocked down shots and moved the ball well on their way to winning both halves.  Washburn adjusting to life without Kyle Jorgensen.

Game 4: De La Salle vs Minnehaha
De La Salle jumped on Minnehaha quick in the 1st half with hot shooting, but Minnehaha ended up winning the 2nd half.  Minnehaha still figuring out the system for new coach Jadee Jones is to be expected.  Frosh Taaj Whitlock looks like the real deal for De La Salle.  Poised beyond his age at the point guard spot.

Game 5: Totino-Grace vs Minnetonka
Totino-Grace played without Dothan Ijadimbola and Tian Chatman but had no issues here.  Guard Chace Watley impressed.  He scored the last 10 points for TG in the 2nd half.  2 triples and 2 pretty plays in the post bullying a smaller defender.  PG Malachi Hill showed a burst I wasn't familiar with.  Big drop for Minnetonka from last year's state champs.

Game 6: St Paul Johnson vs Cretin-Derham Hall
A showcase of the top 2 big men in St. Paul and 2 of the best in the metro.  Kenny Turner will be one of the most physical matchups that Tommy Ahneman sees all year.  Was surprised but a great move by CDH to go with a very effective diamond press.  Pressing so much easier with an eraser in the back.  Ahneman doing a fantastic job of rim running often being the 1st guy down the floor.  That is going to open up so much for him and the CDH perimeter talent.  Johnsonn did try to come after them a bit, but the pressure defense never really became a factor.

2024-25 Season In A Nutshell

The Czar's 2024-2025 Season Preview series concludes with the traditional Season In A Nutshell preview.  Its a higher level season overview for the casual fans who don't eat, sleep and breathe hoops like I do.  Its who and what you need to see and when and where to see it.  If you missed any of the conferences or the 154 teams covered in this preview series, the full list can be found here.

New Coaches

• Belle Plaine - Brady Wohler
• Big Lake - Lance Pettis
• Blaine - Bernie Ward
• Bloomington Kennedy - Troy Bell
• Columbia Heights - Dedrick Jenkins
• Delano - Bridge Tusler
• Holy Angels - Jimmy Mireri
• Hutchinson - Randy Starke
• Jordan - Yuriy Malashenko
• Minneapolis Edison - Frank Webster
• Minneapolis North - Ahmil Jihad
• Minnehaha Academy - Jadee Jones
• Mounds Park Academy - Brendan Connolly
• North Branch - Trevor Walton
• Park of Cottage Grove - Isaiah Walfred
  
• Prior Lake - Brian Jungwirth
• Rosemount - Quincy Caldwell
  
• St. Francis - Robbie Whitney
• St. Paul Academy - Ramon Bender (1 yr interim)
• St. Paul City -TBA
• St. Paul Highland Park - Zach Towle
• St. Paul Washington - Chris McCray
• Simley - Willie Braziel
• Two Rivers - Isaiah Robinson

10 Notable Local Events

• Tipoff Classic (Breakdown) - Dec 7th (Hopkins)
• Southside Showcase I - Dec 7th (Minnehaha)
• Big Stage (Breakdown)- Dec 14th (Totino-Grace) 
  
• Southside Showcase II - Dec 14th (Benilde-St. Margaret's)
• Hutton Winter Classic - Dec 20-21 (Hamline)
• CSP Holiday Classic - Dec 27-28 (Concordia-St. Paul)
• Southside Super Showcase - Jan 11th (Minnehaha)
  
• Dream Classic - Jan 20th (Minneapolis Roosevelt) 
• The Collision (Breakdown)- Jan 25th (Cretin-Derham Hall)
  
• Community Clash (Breakdown)- Feb 1st (STMA, Becker and Delano)

10 Non-Conference Games to Watch (single game events only)

• Hopkins at Orono - Nov 27th
• Wayzata at Orono - Dec 5th
• Benilde-St. Margaret's at Breck - Dec 10th
• Totino-Grace at Farmington - Dec 10th
• Breck at Wayzata - Dec 19th
• Benilde-St. Margaret's at De La Salle - Dec 20th
• Wayzata at Shakopee - Dec 31st
• Totino-Grace at Cretin-Derham Hall - Jan 3rd
• De La Salle at Cretin-Derham Hall - Feb 15th
• East Ridge at Wayzata - Feb 19th

10 Conference Games to Watch

• Mound-Westonka at SW Christian - Jan 30th
  
• Park Center at Totino-Grace - Feb 3rd
• De La Salle at Richfield - Feb 4th 
• Maranatha at St. Croix Lutheran - Feb 4th
  
• East Ridge at Cretin-Derham Hall - Feb 7th
• Farmington at Shakopee - Feb 7th
  
• Wayzata at Hopkins - Feb 13th
• Blake at Breck - Feb 21st
• MCAA Crossover championship - Feb 22nd (Site TBA)
  
• Benilde-St. Margaret's at Orono - Feb 25th

10 Impact Transfers

• Tommy Ahneman - North Dakota to Cretin-Derham Hall
• Nolen Anderson - Eden Prairie to Wayzata
• Nigel Caldwell - Columbia Heights to Park Center
• Abu Keita - Benilde-St. Margaret's to Park Center
• Tyrel Pride - Tartan to St. Paul Johnson
• Tanner Rose - Benilde-St. Margaret's to St. Louis Park
• Ty Schlagel - Eden Prairie to Cretin-Derham Hall
• TJ Stuttley - Onalaska (WI)/Link Academy (MO) to Benilde-St. Margaret's
• Tyler Wagner - Totino-Grace to Champlin Park
• Daniel Zoa - Legacy Christian to Totino-Grace

10 Upperclassmen to Watch

• Tommy Ahneman - Cretin-Derham Hall (Notre Dame commit)
• CJ Armstrong - Richfield (Augustana commit)
  
• Nolan Groves - Orono (Yale commit)
  
• Dothan Ijadimbola - Totino-Grace 
• Jayden Moore - Hopkins
• JoJo Mitchell - Cretin-Derham Hall
  
• Cedric Tomes - East Ridge
  
• Tyler Wagner - Champlin Park
  
• Christian Wiggins - Wayzata
  
• Jalen Wilson - Benilde-St. Margaret's (Northern Iowa commit)
  

10 Underclassmen to Watch

• Baboucarr Ann - Maple Grove
• Vincent Cronin - Edina
• Tyler Forrest - Chaska
  
• Malachi Hill - Totino-Grace
• Mustafa Mohamed - South St. Paul
  
• Ty Schlagel - Cretin-Derham Hall 
• Kwa Silikpoh - Champlin Park
• Jack Thelen - St. Michael-Albertville
  
• Jaeden Udean - De La Salle
  
• Daniel Zoa - Totino-Grace
  

10 Local Teams to Watch

• Benilde-St. Margaret's
  
• Breck
• Cretin-Derham Hall
  
• East Ridge
• Hopkins
• Orono
  
• Park Center
  
• Shakopee
  
• Totino-Grace
  
• Wayzata

Active Streaks of 20 Games Or More In Conference Play
Tons of streaks for wins and losses were broken last season That included long winning streaks from Minneapolis North and Minnehaha.  Hill-Murray and Minneapolis Roosevelt snapped long losing streaks.

• Nova Classical Academy - 57 losses
• 0-57 all-time in 5 years of Skyline play
• 28 home losses. Last home win was 2/19/19 vs International School in TCAC play.
  
• 31 road losses.  Last road win was 1/25/19 at International School in TCAC play.
  
• Mounds Park Academy - 47 losses 
  
• 25 home losses -  Last home win was 2/9/18 vs St. Paul Academy
• 77 road losses including their years in the Tri-Metro.  Last road win was 2/1/08 at St. Paul Academy.
• 0-41 road record all-time in 10 years of IMAC play.
• St. Paul Washington - 24 losses
• Last win was 3/4/22 at St. Paul Humboldt

Section Winners

I gave thoughts on 16 conferences plus independents.  I'll match that here with predictions for the winners of 15 metro area sections.  That includes the 6 local A, AA and AAA sections and all 8 AAAA sections.

4A: Heritage with everyone back has to be the pick to repeat.  Sleeper pick here is Trinity with lots of their roster coming back.  The youth at Liberty Classical could also make a run.

4AA: St. Croix Lutheran was a 22 win team last year and returns most of the roster so they get my pick here.  Minnehaha has long ruled this section and still has enough to advance.  

5AA: Breck is once again my pick but its no cakewalk.  Southwest Christian and Blake are very dangerous with a ton coming back.  Minneapolis North is always a difficult opponent in this section.  Hiawatha with Kam Solomon could be a sleeper threat.

3AAA: This section had Minneapolis South as a great city story last year.  I'm going to pick a repeat this season but from St. Paul.  Give me Harding to learn from last year's first round upset and advance.
4AAA: De La Salle moves on again from this section.  Johnson is the main threat here.

5AAA: Totino-Grace continues their run without a ton of resistance.

6AAA: I'm going to pick Benilde-St. Margaret's to finally get it done in this super tough section.  Orono is the other major threat here.  Richfield, Mound-Westonka and Delano are no picnic here either.
1AAAA: Farmington is my pick to make a repeat trip.  Behind them its very wide open. Rochester John Marshall is the best option outside of the South Suburban in this group.

2AAAA: Shakopee loses their top guy but is still a heavy favorite with a deep lineup.  This normal section of death is way down this year.  Minnetonka, Chanhassen and Eden Prairie with heavy losses.  But a Isa El-Amin, Riley Johnson or Max Lorenson could decide to go for 45 and pull an upset.  Chaska could be a surprise here with their experience.

3AAAA: No star players or teams in the weakest AAAA section.  Like last year where 4-22 Eastview made a run to the final, chaos is likely again.  I'll take Apple Valley here to build on last season.

4AAAA: Cretin-Derham Hall is the favorite here with a loaded and deep lineup.  But East Ridge and Tartan are really good too and have the ability to knock them off.  The front line size for CDH is the major difference here.

5AAAA:  Park Center is my pick here.   Maple Grove and Champlin Park will look to make noise here too.

6AAAA: Wayzata moves on again after losing last year's state AAAA title game.  Hopkins is the usual opponent here to get out of section and with everybody back will be a very tough out.

7AAAA: This section I see coming down to a battle of rivals between Andover and Anoka.  Both have deep, talented and experienced guard play that will translate well to tourney time.  I took Anoka in my NW Suburban picks so I'll take them to win a 3rd meeting and advance to state.

8AAAA: Sauk Rapids-Rice is the favorite here with most of an 18 win roster coming back.  St. Michael-Albertville and Buffalo are the other contenders here. The tough Lake Conference schedule will be a major benefit for both of those teams prepping for tourney time.

Season Thoughts

Let's begin with the state tourney outlook. . I love the class AAA bracket this season.  Orono or Benilde-St. Margaret's out of section 6, Mankato East out of section 2, Totino-Grace out of section 5 and Alexandria out of section 8 makes for a potentially loaded final 4 at state.  So a TG 4 peat is going to be well-earned.  At the top of class AAAA, the discussion begins with Wayzata and Cretin-Derham Hall.  Hopkins and Shakopee both return a ton as well.  Breck is a favorite again in class AA.  Heritage looks to expand on last year's trip in the class A bracket.

The Mr Basketball race has 3 names that stick out to me to start the season. Chase Thompson at Alexandria, Tommy Ahneman at Cretin-Derham Hall (Notre Dame commit) and Nolan Groves at Orono.  Ahneman is on such a loaded CDH roster that it could hurt his cause.  CJ Armstrong is going to put up huge numbers for Richfield that will be hard to overlook.  Brogan Madson at Mankato East is going to show up on lists as well.  He also gets the benefit of folks looking for a non-metro vote.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the NFHS point of emphasis on flopping.  The infamous Tyus Jones head snap is specifically called out in this.  While in theory this is a good thing, in practice I'm wondering how much we'll actually see.  Also on the list is the new emphasis for making sure to give the ball to an official immediately.  None of this random throw up shots after the whistle stuff.  Also a good thing.  Penalty is a Delay of Game.  We also have the new uniform restriction where the numbers can't be the same color as the uniform.  This was long overdue and I'm all for it.  Those jerseys made games really hard to follow.

The time is now.  Go #ShockTheCzar.