2022 Capitol City Classic Day 2 thoughts

Back to Hamline to take in the full 2nd day of games there in the Capitol City Classic.  A couple of new teams I wanted to cross off my list in person and then a couple of fun night games.

Game #1: White Bear Lake 70 Duluth East 68
No Isaac Nyakundi?  No problem for Duluth East as still have 2 bigs to put in the middle.  Crazy how much size they've had in recent years.  The Greyhounds shoot 15-25 in the 1st half including 11 of 13 from 2.  That gives them a 3 point lead at the break.  In the 2nd half, Jack Janicki shows his most assertive side of the week.  He scores 18 of his 25 in the 2nd half to put the Bears over the top.  Jack Misgen carried the WBL offense in the 1st half with 12 of his 17 points.  Also like what frosh Colin Piper did in the 1st half off of the WBL bench.  Jobe Juenemann with 1 of his 5 triples late to give the Greyhounds 1 last chance that didn't work out.  He finished with 21 points.  Michael Kastelic added 3 triples and 15 points for East.  Rocco Paulson is one of those bigs mentioned for East.  He was solid inside with 10 points on the day.  Both offenses efficient.  Hard to imagine East losing when my shot chart for them is a totally ridiculous solid green.

Game #2: Eagan 68 Mound-Westonka 50
This was the lowest possession game I've done in my year plus of doing Czar Insights.  Only 98 total possessions (50/48 Mound).  But that doesn't mean snoozefest.  Eagan 12-25 from 3 and 26-49 overall with their new Chin Offense.  The high flare 3 is a thing of beauty and while it didn't show today, they slip the post off that screen too.  The lead would be 11 at the half for Eagan. Mound-Westonka came out with 4 straight buckets to start the 2nd half and cut the margin to 42-40 with 15:40 left.  But they only make 2 of their last 16 shots.  That was after a 16-31 shooting start.  They get their last FG with 6:33 left to cut the margin to 52-48.  Eagan closes strong with a 16-2 run to win big.  Oscar Khazon 4 triples and all 16 of his points in the 1st half to lead the Wildcats.  Junior PG Carter Reinbold 12 points is a tough guy that coach Andre Phillips will love having for another year.

Game #3: #7AAAA Farmington 75 Robbinsdale Armstrong 65
These teams trade early runs in a very even first half.  Baiden Bean not on fire from 3 like last night, but hot from midrange with 16 1st half points for Farmington.  Tigers lead 31-29 at the break.  Farmington makes a 2nd half run with Seth Newbern going to the bench with 4 fouls.  Armstrong's own flamethrower Owen Skram with a pair of 3s as the Falcons keep it at a 3 point game when Newbern returns.  But Farmington gets buckets on 5 of the next 6 trips.  Rob Conover 2 drives for hoops and another for a dropoff assist.  Add in a couple Tigers layups beating the press to get the final.  Baiden Bean 16 of his 23 in the 1st half.  Brandon Hrncir 17 of his 19 in the 2nd half for Farmington.  They win points in the paint 42-18 plus 15-5 in 2nd chance points.   Owen Skram 6 triples and 24 points to lead Armstrong.  Seth Newbern adds 16.

Game #4: Minnetonka 77 #5AAA Mahtomedi 68
Minnetonka started 4-19 from the floor in this one.  That was largely because of questionable shot selection.  That allowed Mahtomedi to jump out to a 21-11 lead midway thru the 1st half.  But the Skippers offense is hard to keep down for long and Mahtomedi's defense showed last night that it can have trouble getting stops.  Minnetonka shoots 23-39 the rest of the way.  Ibo El-Amin with a putback to beat the halftime buzzer and then Minnetonka adds the 1st 7 of the 2nd half.  They never give up the lead after that.  Owen Carlson would score 10 of the last 13 Mahtomedi points but Minnetonka was able to close it out.  Ibo El-Amin 16 of his 24 in the 1st half to lead Minnetonka.  3 others in double figures for the Skippers.  Owen Carlson 23 points for Mahtomedi.  Will Underwood adds 17, AJ McCleery with 13.

Czar Insights

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2022 Capitol City Classic Day 1 Thoughts

Rolling along with the holiday season.  My 2nd day was a split day for the Capitol City Classic in St. Paul.  I took in the 1st 2 games at Concordia-St. Paul and then hit Hamline for the final 2 games there.

Game #1: St. Paul Central 65 Anoka 59
Anoka just couldn't get anything to drop in the 1st half with 6-30 FG woes.  But despite that they were only down 5 going to the break.  Anoka soph Trey Borchers with a pair of triples in an early 2nd half run to put Anoka up 3.  He finished with 5 3s and 22 points to lead Anoka.  Too much from guard Allen Lankfard is the story here.  He goes for 22 of his 32 points in the 2nd half for Central.  The Minutemen make 20-22 FTs in the second half to hang on for the win. 

Game #2: Minneapolis South 66 Fridley 54
I was looking forward to seeing what South had after the offseason exodus of their roster.  When I saw them at the CDH jamboree they showed better than expected.  This one was close all the way.  South used an 11-0 run midway thru the 2nd half to take the lead for good. James Underwood a couple big 3s in that run for South.  Junior wing Maurice Hargrow with 12 of his 16 in the 2nd half for South to lead the way.  If that name sounds familiar to locals, it definitely is.  His dad is 2001 Mr Basketball finalist Moe Hargrow who played at Minnesota.  Fridley has 4 of their 5 starters in double figures.

Game #3: #5AAA Mahtomedi 80 #7AAAA Farmington 78
I skipped the final game at Concordia St. Paul to make the tip of this one.  Glad I did as this was one of the better games of the season so far.  Baiden Bean with 5 early 3s for Farmington as they come out blazing.  26-11 Tigers and we're not even midway thru the first half.  Then Farmington turnovers allow Mahtomedi to climb back into the game.  Add in Will Underwood heating up and the Farmington lead is only 3 at the break.  Farmington shoots 19-30 with 8-12 from 3 in the half.  But 11 turnovers were very costly.

The Tigers continue to cling to that lead 59-57 with 10:10 left.  Then its Owen Carlson for 3 the easy way and then the hard way plus another bucket. Will Underwood with a triple as well.  All of a sudden its 70-62 Mahtomedi with 7:20 left and what the heck happened.  Farmington responds with a 12-0 run of their own.  Brandon Hrncir and Cole Wilcek doing work against the smaller Zephyrs lineup during the run.  74-70 Farmington before a triple and bucket from Underwood.  Heavy punches being thrown here.

Nik Domier gave Farmington great bench minutes in the 1st half along with Bean.  After a very quiet 2nd half for both, its Domier with 2 hoops and a Bean bucket.  78-75 Farmington on top with 1:42 left.  They get a stop but miss a front end.  Then its Owen Carlson fouled on a 3 with 53.2 left.  He makes all 3 to tie it.  Farmington misses with under 30 seconds left and Mahtomedi takes time to setup a final play.  AJ McCleery has the ball on the right wing.  He goes to a nice crossover and the defense parts like the Red Sea for an easy layup with 5.5 left.  Farmington has 1 last chance.  They throw ahead and its out of bounds with 0.1 left on the side.  No luck on the lob tip attempt.  Mahtomedi comes from 15 down in the 1st half to win a thriller.  Will Underwood terrific with 5 3s and 31 points.  Owen Carlson adds 19 including the 3 late clutch FTs for Mahtomedi.  Baiden Bean 24 points and 5 3s to lead Farmington.  Nik Domier 17 points off the bench.  32 of their 41 points in the 1st half.  Stat of the night here is Mahtomedi winning points off turnovers 29 to 7.  They took advantage of the 2nd chances and turnovers to prevail despite giving up better than 50% shooting.  The 2nd half defense for both sides was much better than the 1st.

Game #4: Minnetonka 68 White Bear Lake 59
Jack Janicki in the lineup for White Bear Lake after starting the season injured.  Minnetonka's guard depth and speed finally got to the Bears in the 2nd half as Tonka pulled away.  A 18-3 run put the game out of reach.  Jordan and Jalen Cain running wild for easy buckets as they combine for 42 points on the night.  Jack Janicki leads White Bear Lake with 19 points.  White Bear Lake only 5 offensive rebounds and got outscored 48-34 in the paint.  Plus they didn't get to the foul line either.  Size was their advantage in this one and they didn't use it.

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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2022 TCO Holiday Classic Day 1 Thoughts

The annual holiday week in the gym starts with a trip to Augsburg for day 1 of the TCO Holiday Classic.  A marvelous winter day means we have the grill fired up and burgers at the concession stand.  Along with Pepsi, that will most definitely work.  Lithgow evaluating the early games.  Now to the game action and Czar Insights.

Quarterfinal #1: #5AAAA Hopkins 83 Cambridge-Isanti 54
Since the tournament's inception in 2009, Hopkins has won the title every year from 2010 until now except for a 2016 loss to Minnehaha (and COVID in 2020 of course).  The Royals look on pace to continue that streak.  They blow open an 11 point halftime game by shooting 60% in the 2nd half.  That's despite 8-32 from 3 for the game.  They win points off turnovers 31-11 thanks to 21 Bluejackets turnovers.  That also leads to a 44-18 advantage on points in the paint.  Jayden Moore another outstanding game with 33 points and distributing.  Anthony Smith 19 points with 3 triples.  Kobe Karels 4 triples in the 1st half to help C-I hang around.  He finishes with 20 points to lead the Bluejackets.

Quarterfinal #2: Andover 78 Minneapolis Southwest 58
Fun matchup here with each team featuring a guard who's having a monster year.  Ben Kopetzki with 17 of his 24 points in the 1st half to lead Andover.  Landyn Nelson adds 4 triples and scores all 16 of his points in the 1st half for Andover.  7-17 from 3 for Andover to build a 10 point halftime lead.  Liam Farniok having his own big year for the Lakers.  He has 9 early points in the 2nd half to keep Southwest within 7.  Sam Musungu with a couple of steals for buckets to kill 1 of the Southwest runs.  He scores 15 of his 16 in the 2nd half.  Andover wins despite only shooting 1-15 from 3 in the 2nd half.   They make up for it by winning points off turnovers and 2nd chance points.  A very common theme on this day.  Baraka Tarleton with 4 critical baseline jumpers in the 2nd half for Andover as well.

Quarterfinal #3: Minneapolis Washburn 64 Forest Lake 54
A delightful meeting of AAU teammates with Kyle Jorgensen taking on Owen Waldoch.  Jorgensen was a monster against Hiawatha last week and showed up big again today.  Waldoch didn't disappoint on his side of the matchup either.  He went on a personal 8-0 run to put Forest Lake up 5 early in the 2nd half.  Then in a 1 point game, Jorgensen decided to 1 up him.  A putback, a steal for 2, a triple and a baseline jumper and why not convert a turnover too.  Down the stretch he scores 17 out of 18 Washburn points.  Washburn goes 22-12 on the offensive glass with Jorgensen being a factor there.  But a 21-6 edge on turnover points was huge.  Kyle Jorgensen leads Washburn with 20 of his 29 points in the 2nd half to go with 11 rebounds on my officially unofficial stat sheet.  Owen Waldoch 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead Forest Lake.  Brennan Sauvageau made important shots in the 1st half for Forest Lake. He finished with 14 points and a pair of threes.

Quarterfinal #4: Osseo 66 Richfield 46
On paper this looked like the best matchup of the day.  Richfield would get the 1st basket of the day and then promptly turn it over 9 times before scoring again.  Osseo would go on a 12-0 run thanks to that and never give up that lead.  Richfield would pull to within 23-20 at the 5 minute mark thanks to buckets on 6 out of 7 trips.  But only 2 hoops on their other 28 possessions of the half.  The drought led to a 16-0 run across halftime and allowed Osseo to take a 39-20 lead early in the 2nd half.  Richfield would get no closer than 11 the rest of the way. 15-1 2nd chance points edge for Osseo with 50-28 points in the paint.  Alvin Jones with great bench minutes to lead Osseo with 10 of his 12 points and both of his 3s in the 1st half.  2 others with 10 points and 2 others with points in a very balanced attack for the Orioles.  CJ Armstrong leads Richfield with 17 points.  Jalen Hayes adds 10.

Czar Insights

For details on exactly what the value in the chart mean, click here for the full explanation of Czar Insights. 

Thoughts from The Big Stage 2022

The Big Stage event was held at Osseo High School.  Another long day of games with the headlining #1 vs #2 matchup in class AAAA to finish it off.  Here are some thoughts from those games.

Game 1: #8AAAA Robbinsdale Cooper 63 Champlin Park 58
My how the mighty have fallen.  Champlin Park used to reload every year and now the talent has dropped way off from the high standard they held for many years.  Molley Kamara with good bench minutes in the 1st half before having to sit with 2 fouls.  On the other side, the strong start to the season continues for Michael Cooper.  Another game over 20 points with 22 in this one.  Guard Sam Massaquoi adds 19.  The Hawks would expand a 6 point halftime lead to 15 in the 2nd half.  Champlin Park would come back to take the lead with 2:09 left.  But a couple of Rebels turnovers allow Cooper to score the last 6 points of the game for the win.

Game 2: #10AAAA Hopkins 66 Maple Grove 60
A 14-0 Hopkins run to end the 1st half would give the Royals a 12 point halftime lead.  Maple Grove would cut that lead to 3 with about 10 minutes left but get no closer.  Forward Vince Hillesheim doing great work inside for Hopkins.  He scored 16 of his 23 points in the 1st half.  Star PG Jayden Moore controlled the last 7 minutes.  6 points and a pair of assists for triples from soph wing Daveion Hart put the game away.  Junior guard Henry Stang with 17 of his 21 points in the 2nd half to lead Maple Grove.  He had 10 straight Crimson points in their run that cut the lead.

Game 3: Minnetonka 95 St. Cloud Tech 68
A hot start from junior PG Tameron Ferguson would allow Tech to open an early 6 point lead.  He had 16 of the first 22 Tech points.  But only 1 tough field goal after that.  Tech just couldn't get stops in this one.  Tonka scores on 21 of 24 trips split evenly across halftime.  That allows the Skippers to turn a 4 point deficit into a 31 point lead with about 11 minutes left.  Cruise control from there.  Minnetonka with 4 players in double figures.  Jordan Cain leads with 20 points.  Ibo El-Amin 3 triples and all 17 of his points in the 1st half.  Tameron Ferguson 16 of his 22 points early to lead St. Cloud Tech.

Game 4: #2AAA De La Salle 73 Stillwater 48
Another quality performance from DLS PG Nas Whitlock in this one as he leads the Islanders to the win with 24 points.  A slow start for Max Shikenjanski in the point guard matchup but he leads the Ponies with 22.  No other help for him though.  Jaden Morgan with his best game so far for De La Salle he knocks down 2 first half triples in the run that started to open the game up.  And holy Moses, I have been removed.  I have seen the spectre and I was there too!  Israel Moses with 1 of the nasty dunks of the season to get that run started.  Another solid game for him with 13 points and a couple of 3s.

Game 5: Cretin-Derham Hall 64 #7AAAA Robbinsdale Armstrong 57
We got to see some fired up Jerry Kline and that's always entertaining.  JERRY JERRY JERRY!  CDH hung around and hung around.  Then a late 8-0 run breaks a 45 all tie and puts the Raiders over the top.  Guard Jake Little with great minutes off the CDH bench.  He finishes with 15 points including the last 2 buckets of that critical run.  Seth Newbern 17 points to lead Armstrong

Game 6: #6AAAA Eastview 73 Osseo 55
Great balance and quality defense from Eastview in this one.  The Lightning get 4 in double figures led by Dylan Omweno off the bench with 16.  The front line of Mario Adams, Jon Mekonnen and Chet Kloss all in double digits too.  Trey Smith with 26 points to lead Osseo.  Nobody else got going for Orioles though.

Game 7: #5AAA Benilde-St. Margaret's 82 #9AAAA Andover 78
Andover opening up a 1st half lead, but then a big 2nd half rally by Benilde-St. Margaret's.  Then the Red Knights held off a final rally.  Soph forward Jalen Wilson with 20 of his 30 points in the 1st half.  He bullied his way to a ton of easy inside buckets.  Never had to make an outside shot.  Soph guard Jaleel Donley sparked BSM in the 2nd half with 16 of his 18 points and added 10 assists for the game (per some guy who prefers Coke over Pepsi).  He's super fast with the basketball in his hands.  BSM still has plenty of youthful moments but very entertaining when they have it going.  Ben Kopetzki with 23 of his 33 points in the 2nd half to lead Andover.  Sam Musungu back in the lineup adds 20.

Game 8: #1AAAA Park Center 78 #2AAAA Lakeville North 71
The main event did not disappoint as we got close to a full house for the nightcap.  Lakeville North would open an 11 point first half lead.  Nolan Winter with a quick start to help that.  The Pirates then started to pillage everything in site as they went on a 19-1 run.  As we also saw in their game at De La Salle, when they turn up the defense, it is scary.  This is where Lakeville North's lack of a true point guard showed.  Lakeville North showed their resilience coming back at Wayzata on Tuesday and it showed again here.  A 7-0 run finished by a Jack Robison 3 tied the game with under 6 minutes to play.  Cash Chavis 6 straight points late and took a critical charge that essentially ended the Panthers chances.  Chavis leads the Pirates with 23 points, Chiang Ring 18 and CJ O'Hara adds 15.  Nolan Winter leads Lakeville North with 27 points.  Jack Robison leading the late comeback with 13 of his 18 in the 2nd half.  He was sitting with 2 fouls when Park Center made their big first half run.  A rematch of this game in the state tournament would definitely be something I'd want to see.

Thoughts from the 2022 Tipoff Classic

Always a great day when you have the biggest day of the year.  Even if I did have to pay Ryan James a 12 pack of Coke for Wisconsin losing Paul Bunyan's Axe.  As always I took in the 8 games on the main court, sorry back court.  Here are some sights and sounds.

Game 1: Robbinsdale Cooper 94 Andover 83
Andover coming off a quality win over Lakeville South just 12 hours earlier.  Those effects showed up in the 2nd half as the Huskies just ran out of gas.  Cooper wins  the 2nd half by 14 to overcome being down by 3 at the break.  Credit to the Cooper full court man style for helping to wear Andover down.  No Bo Powell on the bench for Cooper.  What a stretch for Andover's Ben Kopetzki.  He put up a school record 48 in that Friday win and followed up with 40 in this one.  Huskies without football star Sam Musungu as another scoring option.  For Cooper, wing Michael Cooper (not to be confused with the former Lakers star) was outstanding.  His rim attacks led him to 24 points.  Guard Sam Massaquoi with 19 of his 30 points in the second half.

Game 2: Maple Grove 53 Cretin-Derham Hall 37
CDH with 2 freshmen and a sophomore in the rotation.  That will help them in later years.  As to now, this is the least talented team they've had in many many years.  Plus you add in new faces for the standard early season adjustment period and the major struggle showed.  Maple Grove grinds out the win as they have a couple of missing pieces.

Game 3: #2AAA De La Salle 69 #5AAAA Minnetonka 67
Tie game at half at 31.  Andy Stefonowicz with a putback to put Tonka up 63-58 with 2:30 left.  Nas Whitlock wasn't going to be denied.  He goes triple, triple, hoop and harm and D reclaims the lead.  2 Tonka free throws tie it.  Whitlock has it on the final possession.  Tonka runs a 2nd defender at him.  He pulls up from the right elbow, BANG, BALL GAME! Whitlock scores 18 of the last 21 DLS points in the final 7:30.  He finishes with 34 in the win.  Ibo El-Amin 15 of his 20 in the 1st half for Tonka.

Game 4: #9AAAA East Ridge 59 #7AAAA Osseo 52
East Ridge coming off a blowout loss to #2AAAA Lakeville North in their opener.  U of Mary commit Alex Mattes 10 1st half points to lead East Ridge to a 25-21 halftime lead.  They lead would grow to 10 with 3:45 left.  Osseo attempted a late rally but East Ridge made 7 of 8 FTs late to close it out.  5 of the last 6 from frosh PG Cedric Tomes.  He added a couple of 1st half 3s for team high 18 points on the day.  The frosh is currently undersized but if he grows to be his brother's height (Sid played at Air Force), that will be dangerous.  He already has deep sniper range and a great feel.  UMD commit Trey Smith with 20 points to lead Osseo.  He's the only rotation guy back from last year.  But they have a very solid guard line up with Minneapolis South transfer De'Mari Larkins, Ty Swanson and Temson Denado.

Game 5: Hopkins 84 #10AAAA Bloomington Jefferson 76
The highlight matchup of the top frosh in the state, Jayden Moore, against the top junior in the state, Daniel Freitag, did not disappoint.  It was Moore going nuts early with 16 of the 1st 20 Hopkins points.  That put Hopkins up 6 midway thru the 1st half.  Then Freitag came to life scoring 13 of the next 16 Jaguars points.  Hopkins never really put this one away.  Freitag 2 freebies countered by 2 bonus FTs from Moore.  Freitag 2 and the foul to keep the Jags within 2 with 5:40 left.  Jags so undersized and couldn't get critical rebounds.  That allowed Hopkins a couple critical extra chances that made the margin too large.  Freitag ends with 36 points and a couple of 3s in the loss.  But most of his damage was done in the post as he got a favorable matchup with a smaller guard most of the day.  Jayden Moore ends with 32 and that was with 7 missed free throws.  Anthony Smith 2 important late hoops and 2 late FTs helped close it out.  He ended with 23 points.

Game 6: #3AAA Orono 106 #4AA Minnehaha 97
Defensive stops optional in this one.  Plenty of fun performances in this one.  Isaiah Hagen outstanding with 30 points to lead Orono in the win.  Soph Nolan Groves adds 3 triples and 26 points for the Spartans.  Rolyns Aligbe was a beast inside for Minnehaha with 33 points.  Fun work by Orono against the Minnehaha 1-2-2 press.  Reverse the ball and throw it ahead for wing 3s.  Fun full court offense and diamond spacing to start.  Minnehaha rolled the dice with 9+ minutes left when Jerome Williams picked up his 4th foul.  As is luck in those spots, he promptly picked up a charge and was gone with 9:02 left.  Lorenzo Levy tried to pick up the slack in his absence but Orono made the plays to hold on.

Game 7: #6AAAA Eastview 81 #4AAAA Wayzata 75
The high profile juniors in this one did not disappoint.  Wayzata's Jackson McAndrew 3 1st half triples.  He ends with 5 of them and 21 points.  Eastview's Jon Mekkonen 21 points as well.  His shot continues to develop.  He's an interesting tweener at the forward spot.  Great minutes from forward Mario Adams allowed Eastview to take control in the 1st half.  Wayzata went to an early foul strategy with 2 minutes left and it almost worked.  Eastview got a little rattled and a couple of Isaiah Habte triples allowed Wayzata to get back within 1 possession with 1:08 left.  But 8 of 10 FTs and a Wayzata turnover allow Eastview to close it out.  Another nice game for Hayden Tibbits for Wayzata.  The Trojans playing again without Myles Barnette which is a major piece out of their lineup.

Game 8: #2AAAA Lakeville North 68 #1AAA Totino-Grace 65
Nolan Winter with 3 triples and 11 points to help Lakeville North jump out to a 1st half lead.  8 point Lakeville North lead at half.  Taison Chatman comes out of the game 1 min into the 2nd half.  TG not phased as they rally to tie the game at 50 with 9 minutes left on Isaiah Johnson's 2nd hoop of the half.  Patrick Bath with a quality night inside for TG.  He finishes a pretty pick and roll and TG takes a 56-54 lead with 6:50 left.  2 Lakeville North turnovers.  Those result in a layup on the 1st and an intentional foul on the 2nd.  13-4 TG run for a 63-56 lead with 4 minutes left.  TG only converts 1 of the intentional foul free throws and gets nothing on the possession.  Panthers rally behind a Hudson Vaith triple and then his layup puts the Panthers up 66-65 with 26 seconds left  TG miss and a tough call on a blocked shot gives Lakeville North 2 final free throws  Nolan Winter 16 of his 18 points in the 1st half, but very quiet in the 2nd half.  Hudson Vaith came up big late and finished with 17 points.  I see lots of similarity between him and Isaiah Hagen of Orono (see above).  Both worth keeping a serious eye on.  Jack Robison adds 11.  Patrick Bath with 18 points to lead Totino-Grace.  He was scoring inside and had a great blocked shot sequence on the defensive end.  Isaiah Johnson adds 12.  

Czar's Tip Off Classic All-Star Team
Jayden Moore - Hopkins
Nasir Whitlock - De La Salle
Isaiah Hagen - Orono
Rolyns Aligbe - Minnehaha
Patrick Bath - Totino-Grace

Czar's Tip Off Classic Breakout Team
Michael Cooper - Robbinsdale Cooper
Sam Massaquoi - Robbinsdale Cooper
Mario Adams - Eastview
Nolan Groves - Orono
Anthony Smith - Hopkins

Cashing in on an island return

Prologue
A huge non-conference battle as #2AAA De La Salle hosts #1AAAA Park Center on the island.  Its a return bout from a super intense game last season.  Its also the return of Cash Chavis to DLS after transferring late last season.  Not a super packed crowd since its a weeknight game.  DLS breaking out Chick-Fil-A at the concession stand.  I'm all over that.  YUM!  Got to sit by TWolves guy Matt Bare.  Always great to see him and support the games he puts on at Target Center.

Game Time
Aidan Higgins for 3 and D jumps out to a 5-1 lead.  Then PC goes on a 9-0 run and never looks back.  Nas Whitlock 2nd foul midway thru the half sits him down.  But he comes back in for D and scores 7 in a row to keep the Islanders within 36-31 at 3:30 after they were down by 13.  PC blows it open with a 16-2 run to end the half.  Cash Chavis half of those.  52-33 Pirates at the break.  A long half with 33 FT attempts as both teams racked up the fouls.

DLS with a couple of threes to start the 2nd half but Chavis will stop the momentum with a bomb after an offensive board.  Whitlock with 4 free throws around a Israel Moses triple.  70-56 PC still leading with 11 minutes left.  Chavis 2 more buckets.  Kaden Cook 2 putbacks.  The lead is 88-69 with 2:47 left.  PC pours it on as JJ Ware hits a triple for the century mark.  PC rolls 102-71 though it wasn't quite that bad.

Post Game
De La Salle falls to 0-1 on the season.  Hard to imagine a De La Salle team giving up 102 anywhere but especially at home.  Doesn't get any easier as they have the high powered Minnetonka offense next in the tipoff classic.  Nas Whitlock with 27 points to lead the Islanders.  12 of those at the charity stripe and 1 triple.  PC used multiple guys to harass him.  Plus they'd jump him with a 2nd guy in the backcourt.  Israel Moses with a breakout game.  4 triples and 18 points for him.  But no other firepower for the Islanders.

Park Center with another blowout win to improve to 2-0.  They'll open NW Suburban play at home against Anoka and Coon Rapids next week.  Then they close out the week with the huge game vs #2 Lakeville North at Osseo on Sat Dec 17th.  Cash Chavis goes nuts in his return to De La Salle with 35 points to lead all scorers.  Much of that off the pressure defense for easy buckets.  CJ O'Hara adds 20.  JJ Ware with 17, Jackson Fowlkes with 11.  Also need to mention the great workman effort of Kaden Cook off the bench.  8 points but did all the grunt work asked of him.  O'Hara and Chavis were just a couple of the guys PC used to hound Whitlock on the defensive end.  That ball pressure really disrupted the Islanders offense that really doesn't have many options.

Czar Insights

For details on exactly what the value in the chart mean, click here for the full explanation of Czar Insights. 

Park Center is bigger, stronger, deeper, more athletic and all of that shows in the numbers.  Park Center beat up De La Salle 29-9 on the offense glass for a 30-5 edge in 2nd chance points.  Add in 23 DLS turnovers that PC turned into 34 points.  PC gets 24 more shots out of that.  The bench goes 20-7 thanks to quality minutes from Kaden Cook and Jackson Fowlkes.

 

A wild 2022 opening night

Prologue
Its opening night of the 2022 season.  No better place to be than in the gym.  I ventured out to Twin Cities Academy for their east side non-conference showdown against Hill-Murray.  Cornell Pillow making his head coaching debut for Twin Cities Academy with his entire staff decked out.  Even had his freshman coach in a bowtie.  Super slick.  Its a super tight and cramped setup at TCA and no concessions.  But that's the beauty of being in the gym.  TCA rebuilding with a boatload of youth after the graduation of the McNeal twins.  Hill-Murray with only 3 seniors as they continue their rebuild.

Game Time
Fouls quickly mount in this one.  After the 1st 8 or 9 minutes go quickly the rest of the half was like walking in quicksand.  Fouls and free throws and turnovers and no flow.  Hill-Murray would open a 15-10 lead before TCA wiped that away with a 9-0 run.  The Pioneers going about 5 minutes scoreless during that stretch.  But they pull back to even and we go to the break tied at 27.  27 fouls and 27 turnovers in the half.

The second half picks up though with Hill-Murray making a quick spurt out of the gate.  TCA PG Jamal Randle with a 3 triple and 3 free throws being fouled on another.  We're even at 40 with 13 minutes left.  Pioneers on another spurt with their leader Xavier Daniels going hoop and harm for a 5 point Hill-Murray lead as we go under 9 minutes left.

The home Tigers go on their big run of the night.  Frosh Jacob Stiele had to sit with 3 fouls in the 1st half.  He finishes off a stretch of scoring 10 straight for TCA with a short baseline jumper and a straight away bomb to tie the game.  Then forward Giovanni Alonso with 2 triples of his own.  That's all part of a 17-4 TCA run.  That puts the Tigers up 64-56 with 3:38 left and Hill-Murray needs time.

3 straight turnovers for TCA and 3 free throws from Daniels as Hill-Murray tries to rally.  Randle makes 4 straight free throws for TCA and they lead by 6 with 55 seconds left.  Then the craziness begins.  Pioneer putback and TCA misses 2 free throws.  Then we have a foul on a 3 point attempt with 23.7 left.  With a chance to cut the lead to 1, the 1st 2 FTs are no good.  Then a TCA sub steps on the floor before the 3rd FT.  Its a technical foul for too many men.  Oh my!  The 3rd of the 3 FTs is no good but the 2 technicals are made.  Not to mention Hill-Murray gets the ball back down 2.  But they turn it over.  TCA makes 1 of 2 free throws.  Time out Hill-Murray with 16.4 left.  Its Zach Frey with the left corner 3 off the drive and kick.  1 last chance for TCA with 7.5 left.  They go high ball screen and its called illegal with 3.1 left.  Hill-Murray misses a heave and we'll play free opening night basketball tied at 71.  7-1 Hill-Murray run in the last 55 seconds for force the OT.

The first OT is a snooze fest with only 1 bucket.  That bucket was from Hill-Murray.  TCA would hold for 1 and not score.  So that means more free basketball.  HOORAY!

Andrew Emelife converts 2 dumpoffs for layups to start the overtime.  That helps TCA jump out to a 5 point lead as Stiele adds a right corner 3.  Hill-Murray ties it on a Frey layup with 1:05 left.  TCA again tries to hold for last shot.  Its Alonso off the bounce and his right wing fadeaway is no good.  Daniels has the rebound for Hill-Murray and he gets fouled with 8.1 left.  Daniels makes the 1st misses the 2nd.  TCA can't get a shot off.  Hill-Murray steals one in a double overtime thriller 81-80.

Post Game
Twin Cities Academy falls to 0-1 on the season.  They play Saturday at noon at Harding.  Junior forward Giovanni Alonso is much improved.  He knocked down 4 3s and topped the Tigers in scoring with 24 points.  Frosh Jacob Stiele with 3 triples and 20 points.  Soph PG Jamal Randle added 17 points.  The Tigers play a fun dribble drive style and they'll let Alonso work off the bounce.  6'8 8th grader Mustafa Mohamed sees rotation time for a group that has 5 underclassmen and only 1 senior.

Hill-Murray starts 1-0 for the season.  Power wing Xavier Daniels bullied his way to a game high 26 points.  Soph guard Joe McGurran added 21 points.  Always fun to see the old Johnny Orr, Al McGuire 2-3 high offense in action.  Brad Underwood and Dana Altman most known for it in today's game.  The Pioneers came out in 2-3 zone to start the 2nd half and it was effective.  Was a little surprised they didn't get back to it down the stretch or in the overtimes.  They host St. Paul Academy in their next game on Tuesday. 

Czar Insights

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It wasn't pretty but it was entertaining.  At least 56 fouls.  Teams combine for 40-81 from the free throw line.  49 turnovers plus cold shooting.  Hill-Murray 5-24 from deep but hammered the offensive glass for 30 offensive boards.  Granted both teams numbers on the offensive board are inflated by the huge number of missed free throws.  20 extra FG attempts lead to 4 more makes.  But this one never should have gone to overtime.  Between missed free throws, turnovers and the late technical, this is a game TCA will want to learn from as its one they should have closed out without overtime.