2017 Boys Tipoff Classic Thoughts

Its the 14th annual Breakdown Boys Tipoff Classic.  Bigger than ever with 9 games on the main court and 8 on the east court.  Great crowd on hand for the Gopher recruits playing.  I make it thru the day with only 3 beverages (serious restraint) and choking down a couple of slices of pizza.  Give Hopkins credit for using healthier options but since when do I enjoy healthy.  Better than expected on the predictions as I went 15-2 missing 1 game on each court.  14 ranked teams in action out of the 18 I saw, 10 of them in the top 5 in their class.  Here are some of the sights and sounds from 14 hours and 36 minutes of games on the main court.

Game 1: #7AAAA Osseo 91 #3AAA St. Thomas Academy 77
A surprisingly high scoring affair.  Osseo's Zach Theisen and St. Thomas Academy's Jack Thompson would go back and forth early on to carry their offenses.  Then it was about Emmette Page (Osseo) and Sam Vascellaro (STA).  They both exploded in the latter stretches of the 1st half and the entire 2nd half.  The lefty Page with 21 of his 34 in the 2nd half with 5 triples.  The right corner was his friend for many of his 7 3s in the game.  Vascellaro attack at will and had 18 of his 31 in the 2nd half.  St. Thomas Academy would close to within 6 in the 2nd half before 2 Page 3s pushed the margin back to double digits.  Zach Theisen with 20 of his 27 in the 1st half.  Jack Thompson with 19.

Game 2: #9AA Perham 82 Breck 75
No Gopher FB recruit Logan Richter for Perham (all-star football game).  That would have been a big help against Breck star David Roddy.  Roddy goes for 37 points and 9 rebounds in the game as he had his way inside once again.  That gives him 30+ in all 3 of his games this year.  Joey Ganley would add 19 for Breck.  But Perham with too much firepower.  The junior duo of Jenson Beachy and Josh Jeziorski too much.  Beachy with 6 bombs and 36. Jeziorski with 3 triples and 24 points playing a PF role in the Yellowjackets offense.  Always fun to watch Perham execute their Euro ball screen offense (same stuff Apple Valley runs).  They slip screens, the bigs attack off the bounce, and have nice counters.  13 Perham triples ultimately the difference to overcome Roddy inside.

Game 3: #10AAAA Lakeville North 71 St. Cloud Tech 42
Tech missing a ton of guys for this one.  That included star F Brevyn Spann-Ford and James Kaczor who were at the all-star football game.  Tech was up 3 early but then went scoreless for 10 minutes while Lakeville North went on a 27-2 run.  North ran 2 very simple but well designed BLOB sets and got as many points in a game off of them as you'll ever see.  Another solid showing from Tyler Wahl as he goes for 19 pts and 16 boards for North.  Cole Anderson adds 16.  Trent Meyer with 5 bombs and 17 points to lead Tech.

Game 4: #5AAAA Wayzata 88 #9AAAA Woodbury 64
Another disturbing start for Woodbury as they were down early at Lakeville North last Thursday and fell behind 33-11 out of the gate in this one.  Wayzata hit 9 of their 14 3s in the 1st half and took a 24 point lead at half.  The lead would grow to 30 before Michael Jones would help trim that to 14.  Jones scores 24 of his 35 in the 2nd half and also adds 10 rebounds.  Jacob Beeninga 28 points with 4 3s, Luke Paulson 19 with 5 3s, Drew Galinson 4 3s and 16 points.  Keep an eye on 8th grader Camden Heide for Wayzata as well.  Solid 6 point performance off the bench for the youngster.  Freshman Kody Williams also part of the Trojans rotation.

Game 5: Rochester John Marshall 75 Lakeville South 72
Important section 1AAAA matchup in this one.  This one was tight the entire way.  JM would score 6 in a row to break a tie and lead by 6 with just over 2 minutes left.  Matt Hurt would foul out with 42 seconds left and the drama would begin.  Shae Mitchell with a FT and a jumper and a Beau Bailey 3 to cut it to 1.  South would get a driving layup chance to tie at the end but it was no good (maybe contact?). Shae Mitchell with 26, Beau Bailey 18 for South in quality performances.  But it was Matt Hurt with the performance of the day. 46 points, 17 boards, 4 blocks on 16-26 shooting.  He left 50 on the table though with a unexpected 9-15 at the line.  This after he lit rival Mayo up for 38 and 13 the night before.  They put him at the high post and he's just unstoppable when catching there.

Game 6: #1AA Minnehaha 61 #3AAAA Park Center 55
Jalen Suggs 2 quick fouls and a 3rd in the 1st half.  Park Center would jump out to a 19-3 lead.  But Minnehaha would claw their way back.  Jarius Cook would pick up his 4th foul right at the end of the 1st half.  An unbelievable mistake from James Ware.  Minnehaha within 11 at half.  Cook would sit well into the 2nd half.  That would allow Minnehaha to rally.  Cook would come back at the 9:48 mark with the lead at 4 but his rhythm was shot.  The Pirates would go up 12 with 14 minutes left after a mean tip dunk by Levonte Parker.  But they would have only 2 field goals the rest of the way until a late Cook 3 after the outcome was already determined.  Jalen Suggs 24 points to lead the Redhawks.  Jarius Cook 21 of his 24 in the 1st half.

Game 7: #4AAAA Hopkins 84 #1AAA De La Salle 79
De La Salle would lead most of the way in this one including by double digits. The connection of Tyrell Terry to Jamison Battle would work all day.  Terry to Battle for a layup and 2 Battle free throws would put the Islanders up 5 with 3 minutes left.  Then a Hopkins putback and 2 DLS turnovers would allow Hopkins to take the lead with just over a minute left.  Great drive by Rayquan Moore to score and get fouled with 19.5 left but the And 1 is no good.  Zeke Nnaji grabs a missed FT and puts it back for a 3 point play with 6.4 left to eliminate a final De La Salle chance.  Soph Kerwin Walton with 14 of his 17 (4 3s) in the 2nd half.  Blaise Beauchamp with 4 1st half 3s as Hopkins hung around.  He finished with 19.  Zeke Nnaji 17, Anthony Davis 16 as well for Hopkins.  Great outing for Jamison Battle with 6 3s and 24 points.  Tyrell Terry adds 3 3s and 20 points, love his poise.  Gabe Kalscheur had 1st half foul trouble and finished with 17.  The De La Salle offense much more open than in past years.  The role guys have far more freedom than ever.

Game 8: #2AAAA Cretin-Derham Hall 77 #2AAA Orono 76
The game of the day for the fans and we do get Jarvis Omersa and Daniel Oturu going at each other.  Oturu would get the better of the head to head battles as Omersa had problems scoring against him all day  CDH would lead the whole way and Orono could never get over the hump.  2 late Sy Chatman dunks as CDH would hang on.  Daniel Oturu 21 pts, 9 boards, 7 blocks on my sheet.  One of those blocks was a monster block with 25 seconds left and CDH up 3.  Jarvis Omersa 18 points and 13 boards.  Sy Chatman 17, Jaeden King 13 with 3 3s, Ryan Larson 16.  Max Bjorklund 19 of his 26 in the 1st half.  Colton Codute more aggressive than I've seen with 15 points.

Game 9: #1AAAA Apple Valley 81 #2AA Minneapolis North 73
Jimmy Butler and Jamal Crawford in the house with Tyus Jones for this one.  AV would go on a 10-0 to take a 10 point lead.  Tre Jones 2 quick fouls and then he sits the last 7:11 of the 1st half with his third foul.  North goes on a run during that time to get it back to even.  But with Jones and Luke Martens (injury) out, Apple Valley holds it together to remain tied at the half.  Odell Wilson was a problem all day and his bucket with 9:05 left would pull North within 60-57 with 9 minutes left.  Then 2 Tre Jones free throws, 2 North FT misses and Jones on the break with the dunk of the year so far.  He gets a T on the dunk and North remains within 5.  Then Zach Korba for 3, Nathan Macho and Korba convert turnovers and the lead is up to 12 with 4:45 left and its over.  Apple Valley shoots 33-53 from the charity stripe to 11-26 for North and the Polars fans weren't happy.  Tre Jones finishes with 19 points and 12 rebounds on my sheet.  Zach Korba 19 points and many were at important times.  Josh Arnold 20 on 16-19 FTs.  Tayler Johnson 21 for North.  Odell Wilson was the man inside with 20 points.  8th grader Trejuan Holloman with 12 points off the Polars bench as well.