2015 Breakdown Boys Tip-Off Classic Preview

Breakdown Tip-Off Classic - Saturday
Saturday's Breakdown Tip-Off Classic is the top event of the season and as always it is loaded.

Ranking the games 1-15

1. #1AAAA Apple Valley vs #2AAAA Hopkins
2. #3AAAA Maple Grove vs #7AAAA Wayzata 
3. #5AAAA Rochester John Marshall vs #6AAAA Shakopee
4. #2AA St. Croix Lutheran vs #3AA Braham
5. #1AAA De La Salle vs #4AAAA Champlin Park 
6. #1A Minneapolis North vs #4AAA Fridley
7. Tartan vs Linn-Mar (IA)
8. #6AAA Northfield vs #5AA Minnehaha Academy 
9. #9AAAA Osseo vs Eden Prairie
10. #10AAAA Edina vs Lakeville South
11. #8AAAA Cretin-Derham Hall vs Minnetonka
12. #9AAA Benilde-St. Margaret's vs Kasson-Mantorville
13. #9A Mountain Iron-Buhl vs #6AA St. Paul Academy
14. Waseca vs #5A Browerville/Eagle Valley
15. Centennial vs Chaska

The top 4 games are all heavyweight matchups with big implications in their class.  The Shakopee/JM game gets the nod over the big time AA game because of the only local appearance of the Hurt brothers.  I love how Wayzata matches up with Maple Grove.  I'm hoping Champlin Park does a cross match to have McKinley Wright guard Gabe Kalscheur in the De La Salle game.  I think that could have a major impact on the De La Salle offense.  North vs Fridley has athletes all over the place, might not be pretty basketball but it should fast and fun.  Tartan game is a chance to see Jordan Horn against Iowa commit Jordan Bohannon and Western Michigan commit Jared Printy

2 ranked teams and a quality match of versatile bigs puts that Northfield game in the middle of the list.  Just into his 3rd season, coach Andy Berkvam had Northfield up to #2 in the polls.  That was before heartbreak hotel losing on a full court buzzer beater to #5AAA Austin this week.  Eden Prairie vs Osseo is a battle of teams going in opposite directions with Osseo going up.  Edina vs Lakeville South is a quality matchup of perimeter players.  CDH has plenty of athletes and length to guard the Minnetonka perimeter trio but how does Tonka deal with Daniel Oturu inside.  Centennial without South Dakota commit Tyler Peterson (knee) and no Alex Facon puts their matchup last.  Chaska to a solid 4-2 start so far and I think they roll in this one.

Individual Matchups

Main Gym (in order of game)

• Nick Dufault (Waseca) vs Bryce Irsfeld (Browerville/Eagle Valley)
• Chris Olson (Braham) vs Aage Rovney (St. Croix Lutheran) 
• Tirik Reeves/Tyree Caruthers/Shyheem Murray/Tessy Pal (Fridley) vs Tyler Johnson/Jamil Jackson/Issac Johnson/Odell Wilson (Minneapolis North)
• Jordan Horn/Kingston Myles (Tartan) vs Jordan Bohannon/Jared Printy (Linn-Mar)
• Tre Jones/Gary Trent (Apple Valley) vs Vinnie Shahid/Amir Coffey (Hopkins)
• Brad Davison/Reed Nikko (Maple Grove) vs Johnny Beeninga/Austin Slater (Wayzata)
• Goanar Mar/Samm Jones (De La Salle) vs Theo John/McKinley Wright (Champlin Park)
• Jordan Ammons (Cretin-Derham Hall) vs Amar Miller (Minnetonka)

East Gym (in order of game)

• Walt McGrory/Will Moreton vs Jack Sorenson/Shae Mitchell (Lakeville South)
• Allan Anderson/Damario Armstrong/Mar Mar Hughes/Zach Theisen (Osseo) vs Ryan Jacobus/Owen Chose/Brady Rudrud/Kyler Kluge (Eden Prairie)
• Luke Harris (Northfield) vs JaVonni Bickham (Minnehaha)
• Jaylon Holmes/Archie Winans (Mt Iron-Buhl) vs Dalante Peyton/Kent Hanson (St. Paul Academy)
• Braxton Raymond (Kasson-Mantorville) vs Sam Baker (Benilde-St. Margaret's)
• Steffon Mitchell (Shakopee) vs Michael Hurt (Rochester John Marshall)

Others players of note that I didn't mention above

• Ade Murkey, Trenton Krueger (UMD commit) - St. Croix Lutheran
• Brock Bertram (Buffalo commit), Cameron Kirksey - Apple Valley
• Tywhon Pickford - Maple Grove
• Ryan Lindberg - Wayzata 
• Joevon Walker, Jarvis Thomas - Tartan
• Simon Wright - Hopkins
• Gabe Kalscheur - De La Salle
• Daniel Oturu - Cretin-Derham Hall
• Seth Coatta (NDSU commit) - Minnetonka
• Carter Coughlin (Minnesota football commit) - Eden Prairie
• Jalen Suggs - Minnehaha
• Myles Hanson - Chaska
• Matthew Hurt - Rochester John Marshall

Czar's Picks

Main Gym

• Waseca over Browerville/Eagle Valley
• St. Croix Lutheran over Braham
• North over Fridley
• Linn-Mar over Tartan
• Hopkins over Apple Valley
• Wayzata over Maple Grove
• Champlin Park over De La Salle
• Cretin-Derham Hall over Minnetonka

East Gym

• Edina over Lakeville South
• Osseo over Eden Prairie
• Minnehaha over Northfield
• St. Paul Academy over Mountain Iron-Buhl
• Benilde-St. Margaret's over Kasson-Mantorville
• Chaska over Centennial
• Rochester John Marshall over Shakopee