Saturday at the 2009 Pump N Run Showcase

Saturday action at the Pump N Run showcase, here's what I saw.

Session 1
I started the day with the Madison Spartans 16U team taking on MSB, a 10-2 start for the Spartans pretty much sums it up. Their 1-2-2 halfcourt pressure quickly effective giving Nimrod Hilliard a handful of easy layups. 37-24 at the half, 67-48 Spartans win. Nice job by the Spartans of converting from defense to offense by pushing the ball. In 17U games Fox Valley Storm rolled 69-53 over EOTO. Big Game Sports defeated Iowa Mavs Blue 90-78.

Session 2
Josh Oglesby of the Iowa Barnstormers 16s is the real deal. He breaks open a close game with the Heat Select for a 74-60 win. Heat Elite 16s win their pool opener big over 94 Ft.

Session 3
Pump N Run 15s pound the NW WI All-Stars with a 47-16 halftime lead. Fox Valley Storm 17s win another pool game in a rout, 67-36 over Fury Gold. Simon Krych of Holdingford from the Comets 16s elites joins the Comets Seevers 17s today. After leading by 1 with 12 minutes left, the Seevers squad came from 7 down with 5:30 left to win 65-63 over Triple Threat-Rhodes. Scott Nystrom with 7 points down the stretch including the game winner wtih 13 seconds left. Another nice game for him.

Session 4
A rare exception on AAU days where I sit thru an entire game. But the Redhawks vs Iowa Mavs Black game was well worth it. Parker Hines of the Redhawks hot out of the gate with 7 points and an assist for a 3 point play. 15-13 Redhawks. The Mavs counter with a 19-1 run over the next 4:30 for a 32-16 lead as Alex Vogel knocks down a set of pull up jumpers. The Redhawks awaken and score the next 14 points to cut the lead to 2. Redhawks down 6 at the break. Fast forward to 3 minutes left and the score tied at 55. Vogel with a pair of turnovers trying to convert at the rim. A Taylor Hanson post bucket gives the Redhawks a lead they won't give up. Hines with 5 of 6 FTs and a late steal to seal the win and his outstanding individual performance of at least 19 points. Redhawks win the pool 65-57

Session 5
Staying with the single game theme, I took in the 16U Heat Elite vs Wisconsin Playmakers game. Being a Wisconsin guy I'm obligated by kingdom law to cover last night's Swing-Selk game and this Playmakers game with #7 2011 player Paul Jesperson. All props to Luke Preiner in this one as he had most of the chore of guarding Jesperson. Jesperson only 3-15 shooting and 9 points. Rob Daul bulled his way to 21 points, Riley West with 18 points as the Heat just dominated the Playmakers with physical play. Heat win 69-54 and that's with a couple of late 3s against that score. So much for best pool game of the day. Jon Christensen also deserves mention for crashing the glass and scoring 14 points. Connor Miller with 4 triples and 14 points for the Playmakers.

Also in the session, MSB 17s vs Iowa Barnstormers. After 2 FTs, the Barnstormers up 3 with 6 seconds left and MSB has the ball out of a timeout at halfcourt. Inbound goes to David Stanley who misses a left corner 3. The ball caroms between the circles where Troy Klingsporn tracks it down and heaves and is fouled at the horn. He steps up with no one on the line and buries all 3 freebies to send us to OT. But a last second layup by the Barnstormers wins the pool in OT 62-60.

Session 6
Play-in games for the 17s or lunch. Play-in games for the 17s or lunch. I'm thinking lunch. But I do catch the 2nd half of the Comets Seevers vs Fury Gold matchup. The Comets were up 15 with 12 minutes left but the Fury mount a furious comeback. Joe Conley, Michael Lindberg and Austin Rink all nail triples and the game is tied at 58. Conley gets the Fury over the hump for a 60-58 lead with 3:10 left. Mike Jenson with a triple and then a Joey Cuperus hoop put the Comets up 3 late. Jayme Moten (also up from the 16s) with 3 of 4 FTs to seal a 66-62 win.

Big Game Sports came from 12 down at half to defeat Iowa Mavs Black 66-60. Alex Vogel DNP down the stretch in that one for the Mavs. Don't know if he had fouled out or what the deal there was.

Session 7
Triple Threat-Rhodes vs Comets Blue. Seth Hinrichs up from the Comets 16s Elites and he nails a triple at the horn to force OT but Triple Threat hangs on 66-64 in OT. Wisconsin Force pounds the MN Sharks 77-57 in the other play in game.

Session 8
Damarius Cruz with the Triple Threat-Weber squad for today's action as they only had 6 guys. He had a big 1st half. Alex Koch with 7 in a row as TC Elite gets it going to over come that squad 81-62. MSB lead WI Swing-Shaw 33-29 at half but gave up a 10-0 to start the 2nd half and Swing-Shaw moves on 58-45. MN Xplosion won 63-56 over MN Panthers. Heat Select had a big 1st half lead on Fury Blue that was cut to 4, but they extended to a 9 point halftime lead and moved on.

Session 9
16U-Round of 16 games underway. Playmakers use with a diamond press vs TC Elite for a 17 point 1st half lead and win 69-56. Madison Spartans back and forth with the Heat Black team. A Bryan Sprang layin gives the Heat a 45-44 lead with 2:45 to play. Miles Chamberlain with a 3 point play with 2:06 left that put the Spartans up 49-47 and they don't look back. 58-49 Spartans move on as they used a 10-0 run after Heat lead 47-46 late. Heat Elite won big over Fury Blue. Wear Out The Net continued to impress and they won their bracket opener 67-28. Fury Gold defeated Iowa Mavs Black 71-66 in a 17U friendship game.

Session 10
17U - Round of 16 games. Pump N Run moves along 71-45 over Comets Seevers, Zach Noreen making an appearance. Willmar star soph Brian Reeves showed with Comets Blue during the day as well so the very good Comets 16s getting some good exposure here. Iowa Barnstormers pulled away from EOTO in the 2nd half for a 86-62 win. Big Game Sports defeated 94 Ft of Game 49-41 with some of the strangest end of game clock management I've seen in a while (both teams). Wisconsin Force were up 4 with 9:40 to play but back to back 3 point plays put them up 10 and they went on to a 59-48 win over Triple Threat-Rhodes.

Session 11
The botttom half of the 17U bracket gets their Round of 16 games in this session. Fox Valley Storm are storming thru the bracket as they win their bracket opener 66-46 over WI Swing-Shaw. The Storm are 3-0 with the closest win by 16. WI Swing-Selk rolled 81-52 over Heat Select. Fury Elite defeated MN Xplosion 71-56. The Mpls Redhawks took out TC Elite 77-60 with a big 2nd half.

17U Quarterfinals
Pump N Run vs Big Game Sports
Iowa Barnstormers vs Wisconsin Force
WI Swing-Selk vs Fury Elite
Fox Valley Storm vs Mpls Redhawks

Pool Winners
17U: Pump N Run, Swing-Selk, Fox Valley Storm, Iowa Barnstormers, WI Force, Mpls Redhawks, Fury Elite and 94 Ft of Game
16U: IA Barnstormers, Pump N Run, IA Mavericks Black, Wear Out The Net, MN Heat Elite, Madison Spartans

Pool Champion Prediction Record: 8-0 17U, 5-1 16U (Playmakers wrong)

7 of 8 teams in the 17U Quarters with brownie points for saying my 1 wrong answer (94 Ft) was the #1 seed most likely to be upset.