2021 Spring Hit The Road

This weekend was setup to be the 2nd NCAA open period of the spring.  With the NCAA shutting down D1s until June, we don't get that.  But that doesn't mean teams stay home.  This weekend most Minnesota teams hit the road.  There are a couple small local tournaments as well.  As it was to be an open period, I'll focus solely on the 17U teams here.

Kansas City
Prepare for a traffic jam on I-35 going south during the day on Friday and coming home Sunday afternoon.  23 17U teams from Minnesota will make the trip south, not to mention all the other levels. Feels like this year's midwest version of Las Vegas. 

15 of those teams are in the Prep Hoops event.  That includes both teams from D1, Fury, Select and Magic plus 4 Heat teams including their top 2.  MSP Elite, Northstar Titans Terhaar and Real Phenom (not sure which team) make up the rest.  

Games of Note
Fri 8:10 SD Attack vs Heat MacDonald
Sat 1:25 D1 vs Power5 3SSB
Sat 6:50 D1 vs Team Lavine 3SSB
Sun 9:05 D1 vs Dallas Showtyme Elite
Sun 9:05 Fury Wilde vs Iowa Barnstormers Gold
Sun 12:20 D1 vs Team Impact UAA
Sun 1:25 D1 Prospects vs Tulsa Hawks

A couple of fun regional games with Heat Mac taking on South Dakota Attack and Fury Wilde getting the top Iowa Barnstormers squad.  I wish we did more of those (similar to what we saw in Ames last July).  If only my dream of a 16 team regional championship could ever get off the ground.  D1 Minnesota's top team struggled last week going 0-4 in Chicago.  They get more shoe competition and a Dallas Showtyme group that was undefeated last week.  The D1 Prospects can get revenge for the top team against the Tulsa Hawks.  The Hawks were one of the teams to beat D1 last week in a 5 point game.

In the Recruit Look Kansas City session, Grassroots with their top 2 teams and Howard Pulley get their seasons underway.  Hustle Hard, Real Phenom (again not sure which team), MN Lightning Ellerbusch and 2 Minnesota Suns teams round out the local delegation.  

Games of Note
Sat 4:05 Howard Pulley vs KC Run GMC
Sat 5:10 Grassroots-Weston vs Nebraska Supreme
Sat 7:20 Grassroots-Caldwell vs Kingdom Hoops
Sun 1:55 Grassroots-Weston vs Colorado Hawks

Howard Pulley doesn't have to wait until their tournament for their annual meeting with KC Run GMC.  Grassroots-Weston gets fellow Under Armour member Nebraska Supreme and Isaac Traudt.  That Nebraska Supreme team is a merger between the Team Factory and Lincoln Supreme programs that were so good the last couple of years.  In the Sunday game, the Colorado Hawks feature top 5 2023 big man Baye Fall.  

For those with Baller.TV, the games from both tournaments will be live there.

The Rest
NY2LA teams will be in Louisville for a gigantic 3 organization event.  Long time AAU followers will probably recall the old Eddie Ford event that went on there.  That event includes the MN Comets, Team GetShook and Gain Elite.  A few other teams will make the trip to Sioux Falls. West Central Wildcats, Crossfire-Pederson, SW MN Stars, MN Rise, Comets Belka and West Central United are all in the top bracket there.  A little mid Minnesota crime there as WC United gets Comets Belka at 6:30 on Saturday night.

Locally
Minnesota Select and D1 Minnesota both have small tournaments in town this weekend.  E1T1 with 2 teams and Starks Elite in the D1 tourney.  Howard Pulley's other teams are playing up in the Select tourney.  Northstar Titans Barker and Rip City amongst the others in that 17U bracket.

2021 Comets Shootout Review

Great to have the Comets Shootout return after being called off due to COVID last year.  This was my 1st tourney seeing COVID protocols in place in person.  The back to back scheduling is different but there's something to be said for it.  Get in, get out and be done.  While we didn't have the full usual crowd of fans and college coaches, there was enough there to have a reasonable game time feel.  Regardless, great to be back in the gym.  With many metro teams only getting 1 practice in before the tourney due to the quick turnaround and early week curfews, we'll definitely see much different basketball from these teams later in the season.  But that's also the great equalizer of this tournament.  

Show Me (but not in Missouri):  Good runs by WOTN Bertsch and Crossfire Barger to the 16U Blue semifinals.  Liked what I saw from 16u ECI Prospects freshman Isaiah Schafer (more that on later), Isaac Nyakundi (Duluth East) of Starks Elite and JT Thornton (Lakeville North) of WOTN.  Jasper Hedin (Winona), Brandon Melchoir (Elk River), and Hakeem Ford (Mpls SW) caught my eye in the 17s.

Team that Most Surprised Me:  Real Phenom-Nick 17s lost their opener to Heat MacDonald but then ran the table with wins over Comets Belka, WI Swing Bredesen and Heat Grow to finish 3-1 and win the consolation side of the 17U Blue bracket.  Productive weekend for Davion Evans (Robbinsdale Cooper).

Best Finish of the Weekend: 17U Team GetShook vs WI Swing Bredesen.  In the Saturday opener, GetShook was down 3 with the ball with under 30 seconds to go.  Swing had 3 fouls to give and gave 1 of them.  But they couldn't give another.  Donald Ferguson (Osseo) hit a tough 3 to tie and then after Swing went too quick at the end we had a scramble with 5 seconds left.  GetShook picks up and throws it ahead for a Keyon Broussard (Roseville) layup to beat the buzzer and a 42-40 win.

Clap Along (if you feel like like happiness is the truth): One thing that really stuck out in 17s was the lack of size.  Lots of bigger wing types but in terms of real post guys, they're hard to find.  That was a key edge for Select Ohnstad having Pharrell Payne (Park of Cottage Grove) in the middle.  His impact was definitely felt this weekend and as a breakout guy during the regular season, the progression will be fun to watch.  Particularly since he's playing for Mitch Ohnstad who's known for his work with bigs.

Jump Off My Page: I saw only 1 15u game all weekend and that was the 15U blue championship.  North Dakota's top ranked 2024 Jeremiah Sem highlighted that game. H was the most explosive player I saw all weekend, regardless of age level.  Athletically he was at another level than anybody he played.  The game was a defensive struggle but Sem sealed it with a 3 point play and dunk in the last minute to give ECI Prospects the 39-32 championship over Team GetShook.  That ECI roster has 3 of the top 4 ranked freshman in North Dakota and the 4th plays up on their 16s (and played well).  Looking forward to see that group in the coming years with 2 good guards and 2 solid bigs. 

17U Blue Bracket Results
4-0 - Select Ohnstad (1st)
3-1 - Fury Wilde (2nd), Heat MacDonald (3rd), Comets Elite (5th), Real Phenom (9th) 
2-2 - WOTN Johnson (4th), Team GetShook (6th), MN Rise (7th), Heat Grow (10th), WI Swing Bredesen (11th), MN Lightning Ellerbusch (13th)
1-3 - Team 1848 (8th), ECI Prospects (12th), Fury Narum (14th), Comets Belka (15th)
0-4 Magic Premier (16th)

16U Blue Bracket Results
4-0 - Fury Antl (1st)
3-1 - Playmakers Showcase Wausau (2nd), WOTN Bertsch (3rd), WI Swing Bredesen (5th), Team 1848 (9th)
2-2 - Crossfire Barger (4th), Heat Pratt (6th), ECI Prospects (7th), Starks Elite (10th), Hall of Fame (11th), MN Lightning Ellerbusch (13th)
1-3 - MN Rise (8th), Fury Hayes (12th), Magic Premier (14th), Comets Elite (15th)
0-4 - Real Phenom (16th) 

15U Blue Bracket Results
4-0 - ECI Prospects (1st)
3-1 - Team GetShook (2nd), Fury Zurn (3rd), Playmakers Showcase (5th), Heat Bohrer (9th)
2-2 - Team 1848 (4th), MN Rise (6th), Crossfire Ronning (7th), Heat PB&J (10th), WI Swing Bredesen (11th), MN Rush (13th)
1-3 - MN Lightning Lyga (8th), MN Select Altenhofen (12th), WOTN Mitchell (14th), Magic Premier (15th)
0-4 - Comets Elite (16th)

16U White Bracket: MN Bounce 4-0 (1st) for the Maple Grove based group who got to play all 4 of their games at Whitney.  Great balance from that crew in the championship game with 9 of the 10 guys scoring at least 2 buckets and nobody in double figures.  Fun team to watch play.

2021 State Tourney Quick Hits

Some quick observations from the 2021 State Tournament

Class A
It was a wacky class A tourney with the top seeds going out immediately in the quarters.  Junior forward Matt Thompson of Hancock was a big part of that in the north half of the bracket.  A name that definitely caught the attention of coaches.  On the other side of the bracket, Ethan Slaathaug put Hayfield on his back with a monster tournament.  He graduates but Hayfield returns a ton behind him.  Expect the Vikings to make another big run next season..  

Class AA
How about Caledonia playing without their star Eli King and beating #2 Minneapolis North in the semis and giving #1 Waseca all they wanted before Ryan Dufault's game winner with 2.3 seconds left in the championship.  Not to mention getting thru a very tough section 1AA.  Athletics remain as strong as ever for the Warriors.  Don't expect them to drop too far.  

After making the AAA championship game in 2019, Waseca came in #1 this season and lived up to all the billing.  Despite only 13 combined points from Andrew Morgan and Kyreese Willingham and 6-30 total 3 point shooting in the championship game, the Bluejays still found a way to win the game of the day.

Class AAA
No shock here that Minnehaha took home their 4th straight title, 1st in AAA.  Byron gave them a fight in the quarters before the Redhawks cruised thru the semis and championship game.  What a run with 2 of the top players in Minnesota history during that stretch.  While Minnehaha for the 1st time in forever won't be a prohibitive favorite to win a state title next season, the cupboard isn't bare either.  With Mercy Miller, Prince Aligbe, Donovan Smith and Chase Carter all returning, the Redhawks will still be very dangerous.

Class AAAA
Tre Holloman putting a whole new roster on his back and taking them to the title game was a sight to see.  I saw them struggle in game 1 of the year vs Mounds View but the nice adjustments to using Holloman more in the low post and pinch post along with a slower defensive minded style worked like a charm.  That defense really carried them later in the season.  The Raiders will be in a similar spot next season, hard to bet against them.

Wayzata will have just about everybody back from a roster that clicked this season after struggling last year.  They'll be the first pick to win it all again next season.  We often talk about all the guard play and shooting the Trojans seem to have.  That remains true but defensively, they really turned it up.  After a halftime adjustment vs Duluth East in the quarters, Wayzata's defense stonewalled teams and that put them over the top.