The 15th edition of the Border Battle is in the books. Here some of the sights and sounds from the day
Game 1: Maranatha Christian 74 Rice Lake 48
Rice Lake running some of the same offense we saw in the late game from Brookfield East. A 20-2 run right before the end of the 1st half sends MCA to the break up 34-14 and no trouble from there. Maranatha just too big and athletic. They hold Rice Lake star Tyler Orr to 7 points. Rice Lake shoots 3-21 from 3. They turn it over 20 times for 28 MCA points. Bailey McDonald leads MCA with 16 poitns.
Game 2: #6 D1 Eau Claire Memorial 84 Richfield 63
Mitchell January 12 early points and its Richfield opening a 30-21 lead. All Old Abes after that. Richfield goes a stretch of 31 possessions with only 2 field goals. The end of that stretch also ends a 29-3 Eau Claire Memorial run that started the 2nd half. That took a 3 point halftime deficit and turned it into a blowout. Memorial goes 5-7 from 3 during the run and 10-16 from 3 in the 2nd half. They finish 14-28 from deep for the game. Mitchell January leads all scorers with 24 points for Richfield. Mekhi Shaw leads Eau Claire Memorial with 20 and tons of support from role guys.
Game 3: #2 D2 Pewaukee 78 Robbinsdale Armstrong 52
This one was over quicker than I could give the Kevin Garnett suit speech about Armstrong's awful uniforms with blue numbers on black. Pewaukee hits 8 of their 1st 12 3s to open the game on a 35-7 run. They only hit 3 of their next 17 attempts from deep but it didn't matter after the start. Armstrong shoots 1-11 from 3 and 10-30 in the 1st half to trail 46-22 at the break. Hillsdale commit Ashton Janowski leads Pewaukee with 4 triples and 25 points. Gopher offered Milan Momcilovic adds 15 showing a high skill level. Ben Johnson arriving quickly after the Gophers win to watch the day's stars including Momcilovic. Peyton Newbern leads Armstrong with 15.
The head to head matchup of Taison Chatman and Seth Trimble did not disappoint. Add in the wing matchup of Demarion Watson and Steven Clay and this one was a joy to watch. Totino-Grace would take a 59-50 lead midway thru the 2nd half. Falls would respond with a 21-3 run with Watson on the bench with 4 fouls for lots of it. Seth Trimble goes off for 35 points getting to the rim at will. Clay adds 27. Chatman with 22, Watson with 21 and a feisty battle with Clay. TG held Falls to 42 points in their 1st 45 trips. Falls scores on 19 of their 21 trips of the game for 41 points starting just before Watson's 4th foul with 11:01 left.
Game 5: #1 D2 Wisconsin Lutheran 78 4AA Minnehaha Academy 60
This game was tied at 15 early thanks to a strong start from Prince Aligbe with 9 points and 2 assists for triples. Aligbe quiets down and its all Wisconsin Lutheran after that as they go on a 21-2 run to blow the game open. Jamiir Allen too quick from the point guard spot. He leads the run with 8 straight points and finishes with 21 points. Top soph Kon Knueppel with a quiet 17 points including 3 triples. Prince Aligbe 23 points but much of his damage was early. Rolyns Aligbe adds 16. The rest of the roster is incredibly young with 4 freshman and a soph seeing time.
Game 6: #1AA Minneapolis North 62 Brookfield East 59
Let's save the most drama for last. Brookfield East did a fantastic job taking care of the ball with only 8 TO and most of those were when North switched to a halfcourt 1-2-2 zone. East made quick adjustments to deal with it. North's shooting gets them the win. Willie Wilson and D'Meiko Anderson heat up in the 2nd half. North goes on a 14-2 run in the 2nd half to claim the lead but this one goes right to the end. Wilson 7 in a row with a clutch 3 and then putting back a miss off a turnover. That ties the game. Brookfield East misses a layup and that gives North 1 final chance. They'll hold for the last minute. Out of a timeout, let's find a hot hand. Its Anderson with the step back from the top with 3.3 left to break a 59 all tie and win it. Anderson and Wilson lead the Polars with 19 points. Gani Stevens scoreless and didn't play a ton. Very surprising considering his counterpart Nollenn Tabaska had all 12 of his points inside in the 2nd half. Dan Gherezgher and Matt Schmainda with 4 3s and 16 points each for Brookfield East. North shoots 10-21 from 3 to match the 10-33 shooting from East. East actually won the points off of turnovers 13-11.
The Czar's 2022 All Border Battle Team
Seth Trimble - Menomonee Falls (MVP)
Jamiir Allen - Wisconsin Lutheran
D'Meiko Anderson - Minneapolis North
Steven Clay - Menomonee Falls
Ashton Janowski - Pewaukee
Mekhi Shaw - Eau Claire Memorial
2023 Border Battle
Wisconsin wins this year's edition 4-2. That wasn't surprising as they had the deeper field of teams. Minnesota is now 54-37 all time and they've won 9 of the 15 events. Next year's Border Battle will be held at Prescott. That's a nice smaller gym there. Pewaukee and La Crosse Central top Wisconsin teams that are rumored to be attending.
Czar Insights
For details on exactly what the value in the chart mean, click here for the full explanation of Czar Insights.
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