23-24 Month 1: What Have We Learned

Happy New Year everybody!  The 1st month of the 2023-24 season is in the books.  40 games online with another 36 in person (would be 44-32 in person if I had made the Tipoff Classic).  I've seen 101 teams that I previewed with a few more outstate class AAAA schools.  That leaves just 5 class AAAA schools for me to see.  Apologies to Chanhassen, Edina, Prior Lake, Burnsville and Owatonna.  Let's take a look at what's stuck out to me in the 1st month. 

Section 1AAAA
Farmington off to an impressive 8-0 start before losing to Armstrong at Hamline.  A 40 point boat racing of section rival Lakeville South really stuck out.  Granted Lakeville South is still playing without wing Marley Baah-Yeboah which will be a big addition.  But they're still 6-3 and have played only 1 home game.  Lakeville North is what we expected.  Rochester Century is a dangerous squad with star forward Shaun Wysocki.  They showed that by taking Farmington to the buzzer at Farmington on opening night and beating Mankato East.

Section 2AAAA
Minnetonka took Park Center to the wire at CSP over the holiday and that's their only loss.  Andy Stefonowicz has been terrific running the show for them.  Lowest point total so far is 81 points so they can really fill it up as shown by the 103 they put on Lakeville South.  A fun test on the island awaits the Skippers January 6th.  

Eden Prairie is 5-4 with no bad losses there (LS, BSM, Farmington, Orono).  But in my viewing against Orono, their defense was porous and the offense was very stagnant.  4 wins in a row for the Eagles including wins at CDH, at East Ridge and vs Eastview in the East Ridge event is a good sign.

We reserve judgement on Chanhassen since A) I haven't seen them.  B) most of their schedule has been without star PG Max Woods..  But they did take a very good Buffalo squad to the wire at Buffalo.

Section 3AAAA
Big story here is Eastview off to a 1-6 start for new coach Danny Olsen.  Having an entirely new roster around Jon Mekonnen and a tough schedule have shown.  Rosemount has taken advantage of a soft schedule but they did pick up a close win over Eagan.  Eagan with experience and a bunch of length.  Soph Alex Schropfer has stepped into his rotation role nicely.  Max Buslee gives them a 16 PPG sniper.  Hastings got off to a hot start and then the Czar curse hit as they lost 4 of 6 games since I thought they might jump out to a crazy good record.

Section 4AAAA
East Ridge is 3-5 but they're still trying to get a couple rotation pieces back.  Woodbury 6-2 but the schedule has been soft.  Eagan's length and switching really took them out of offense at Hamline.  Tartan 6-2 with a tough loss at St. Louis Park but they did knock off Minneapolis North to win the 3 day Hibbing holiday tournament.  Young guard play for the Titans has made for some struggles.

Section 5AAAA
Park Center everything we expected.  Cash Chavis has enjoyed the bright lights as he's come up big at the end of wins over Lakeville North and Minnetonka.  Roseville off to a nice 4-2 start including a home win over Forest Lake.  Maple Grove 4-5 with a win over Benilde-St. Margaret's over the holiday.  Losing Brady Laliberte saps the Crimson lineup of a critical scoring option.  Champlin Park lost their 1st 5 and has won their next 5.  Wing Preston Thielke is having a breakout year for the Rebels.

Section 6AAAA
Wayzata just keeps it rolling as the top ranked team in AAAA.  Hopkins is 7-2 with the only losses to #1AAA Totino-Grace and #1AA Breck.  Washburn making their case too at 7-1.  Only loss is to Eagan but they have wins at Tartan, vs Eastview and at section foe Armstrong.  Speaking of Armstrong, they were on a 5 game losing streak before knocking off Farmington.  Seth Newbern should be back soon and that's a huge boost to the Falcons lineup.

Section 7AAAA
Forest Lake getting a nice year from Owen Waldoch to top yet another down year in this section.  Anoka knocked off Holy Family and gave a ranked Fridley team a run.  Trey Borchers was out of the Tornadoes lineup over the holiday so hopefully they get him back soon.  Centennial getting Ty Burgoon back was critical and they just knocked off Forest Lake.  Andover missing Chase Pemberton for the season deprives them of an offensive option.  Alex Kopetzki and Cam Begalle push the pace for an entertaining squad.

Section 8AAAA
Rogers at 9-1 to lead the section.  The loss is a 22 point loss to Buffalo though.  Losing Adam Broberg to injury is a major change to their season.  He had a great start.  Buffalo 7-2 but the 2 losses were blowouts to Mankato East and Sauk Rapids-Rice.  Bison 4-18 from 3 in the loss to Mankato East, 3-33 from deep in the loss at Sauk Rapids.  Sauk Rapids size was a major problem in that game.  Frosh forward Isayah Cook is one to keep an eye on for the Storm.  There's no bottom feeder team in this section so don't be shocked if we get another wild and crazy year of seed upsets at tourney time.

Class AAA
Totino-Grace won the 1st matchup with Park Center.  Only loss was a tight loss to Wayzata in the Tipoff classic.  So they've made it clear they're the top team in AAA at the moment.  Mankato East has staked their claim to the #2 spot in AAA with wins over Buffalo, Orono and Alexandria.  De La Salle and Benilde-St. Margaret's both ready to fall out of the AAA poll is a surprise.  BSM is struggling to figure out their offense and they have no depth.  De La Salle has the win over the Red Knights just before the holiday but they're still putting the pieces together.  Orono has also stumbled with a home rivalry loss to Delano and a Granite City loss to Mankato East. They did bounce back with a win over Stewartville.  Junior guard Nolan Groves is having a great season for Orono.

In section 3AAA, how about Minneapolis South jumping in the AAA poll at #7 this week with only 1 loss.  Jumarion Weh has been a nice addition on the wing with 19 a game.  That goes with 3 other holdovers averaging double figures including wing Poet Davis at almost 21 a night.  On Feb 3rd, they get section foe St. Paul Harding who's off to a 6-2 start.  Highland Park is off to a 1-6 start is a major surprise but I still think they can contend in the St. Paul City.  Tommy Hesse's grit and hard play for Two Rivers has been a real pleasure to watch.

In section 4AAA, Columbia Heights and St. Paul Johnson both squads that can make your life totally miserable with defensive pressure.  The Heights 30 point drubbing of St. Cloud Tech jumps off the page there.  We knew Mahtomedi would be down but an 0-7 start is a surprise.  Then they go and hit 19 3s against Austin including 10 from Tyler Swanson to get their only win.

In section 6AAA, the AAA section of death, we already mentioned BSM and Orono.  How about Richfield's CJ Armstrong.  He started the season with back to back 50 point games.  Then 38 in a buzzer beating loss at Orono.  He's still averaging 34.2 a night after 2 slower games in Wisconsin over the break.  On Thursday, the Spartans host Delano.  Delano is 8-2 and has won 5 out of 6 including the win at Orono.  Will Strandemo vs Armstrong is appointment viewing.  Holy Angels off to a 2-7 start with losses to Kennedy, Jefferson and a 3rd straight loss to Brooklyn Center.  But the Stars just beat Highland Park and Simley for new coach Troy Bell.

Class AA
In 4AA, St. Paul Academy with a blowout statement win against St. Agnes in the Harding holiday tourney sticks out.  Minnehaha has lost 4 in a row but all those were against AAAA schools.  Quick quiz, who has the top record in section 4AA?  That's right, the Nova Classical Academy Knights at 5-2.  Reality will set in very quickly now that they've started league play in the Skyline, but who would have thought.  Its a much improved defensive squad.  Math and Science has somehow played half a season already at 6-7.  Need buckets?  Take a look at Shawn Huberty of St. Paul Washington.  He's putting up 33.7 PPG from his guard spot.  Slippery getting to the rim off the bounce.

In 5AA, Breck ran the table at Augsburg including a win over Hopkins.  They are the standout squad in class AA right now.  Minneapolis North just reloads.  They lost a close game to Tartan in the Hibbing tourney final.  Their game on Wednesday at Holy Family looms large for section seeding.  Southwest Christian is lurking at 5-2 as they get ready for Wright County East play.  Blake and Maranatha also off to nice starts.  Liked what I saw from Providence Academy frosh PG Leo Giwa.  Cristo Rey at 0-7 with every loss in blowout fashion is a major surprise.

Class A
New Life is 4-3 and took a couple games on the chin in the Legacy tourney but 6 winnable games coming up to finish 1st rotation of Skyline play before a rematch at Maranatha (remember last year's double 5 min OT and stay there until 10:30 PM fiasco last season?).  Heritage has won 6 in a row including the Pierz holiday title to stand at 6-1.  Big MCAA game for them this week at Spectrum.  Both of these teams have tight home wins over Avail Academy.  Avail lost by 1 at New Life and 3 at Heritage.  Avail started out 1-4, all on the road.  But that 1 win was at Park Christian who beat New Life over the holiday.  Now they've won 4 in a row including a blowout win in their big EMAC showdown vs Math & Science.  The next group in the MCAA looks to see if they can capture that 4th spot.  Will it be PACT who has a win over Avail?  How about 6-3 United Christian?  Or does somebody come out of nowhere and make a run?  Hope Academy 1-8 as they have a young roster starting 2 freshmen and an 8th grader but with senior wing Brian Moss, they are dangerous since 4A is so weak after the top 3.

2023 Big Stage Thoughts

Its the 2023 Big Stage event.  This season its at Park Center.  Chick-Fil-A at the concession stand is a major win.  Big crowd around the rails for the big nightcap.

Game 1: #2AA Holy Family 77 Robbinsdale Armstrong 45
Armstrong coming off a game at Park Center the night before and it showed.  Not having Seth Newbern doesn't help either.  Holy Family ran whatever they wanted and got great looks.  Luke Graff took advantage of that for 23 points and 5 3s.  Kole Hanson got it going in the 2nd half and ended up with 3 triples and 24 points.  They ran a shuffle set to death that got open 3s or easy post ups for Brayden Carlson.  Depth and decision making are the questions that come up for me.  Desmond Ware led Armstrong with 13 points.

Game 2: Minneapolis Washburn 64 #10AAAA Eastview 59
Another brutal 1st half for Eastview as they went 0-8 from 3 and turned it over 13 times.  That allowed Washburn to jump out to a quick 14-4 lead and keep it at 8 at the half.  Then a quick Jon Mekonnen 3rd foul send him to the bench very early in the 2nd half for a long break.  Eastview would go on a 9-0 run and take the lead.  Abdulqadir Abdulqadir with a pair of 3s, a bucket and 1 of 2 free throws off the Eastview bench for a 51-47 Lightning lead with 6:27 left.

Kyle Jorgensen took over the ending for Washburn.  Triple, bucket, triple in a personal 8-0 run to put Washburn back on top within 2 minutes.  He adds 2 free throws and then the skip pass out of the post for a dagger 3 from Blake Bergren with 1:05 left.  Jorgensen seals it with both ends of the bonus after another Abdulqadir 3 cut the margin to 3 with 5.9 left.  Abdulqadir with 17 of his 19 in the 2nd half to lead Eastview.  Jon Mekonnen added 16 points in the matchup of Colorado State commits.  Kyle Jorgensen 22 of his 34 points in the 2nd half to go with 10 rebounds on my sheet.  Clearly the MVP performance of the day.

Game 3: Cretin-Derham Hall 63 Maple Grove 54
Cretin-Derham Hall's defense was the story here.  Their man to man pressure totally took Maple Grove out of anything they wanted to run.  That forced 24 Crimson turnovers that CDH turned into 35 points.  Monteff Dixon solid work inside with 15 points while Joe Mitchell led CDH with 19 points and 3 triples from his guard slot.  Keegan Harney 16 points and 4 3s to lead Maple Grove.

Game 4: #4AAA Orono 92 Eden Prairie 72
Orono dominant in this one but like last week at the Tipoff Classic they almost let a big lead slip.  Eden Prairie cut a 23 point margin to 5 with 4 minutes left before a 8-0 Orono run finally put the game out of reach. Orono outscores EP 42-22 on points in the paint.  Eden Prairie very stagnant and 1 on 1 jump shot oriented in their offense.  Plus they put up very little resistance defensively as Orono shot 35-64 from the floor. That included 11-26 from 3 while EP was 8-32 from deep.  Nolan Groves another impressive showing with 25 points and 3 triples.  Brady Wooley adds 19.  Guard Hamze Yusuf leads Eden Prairie with 19 points.  JJ Sullivan 17 and Max Lorenson 16 for the Eagles.

Game 5: #5AAAA Minnetonka 99 #9AAAA Osseo 78
Tough matchup for anybody but Osseo's size an especially difficult task to try to guard the Skippers.  Osseo had no answers in that chess match.  Minnetonka at 1 point scored on 23 out of 28 trips down the floor.  Skippers shoot a crazy 40 of 67 on the day thanks to 22 of 32 in the second half.  Huge edge of 64-38 on points in the paint for a smaller Minnetonka lineup.  Greyson Uelmen 28 points and 3 triples.  Andy Stefonowicz another nice showing with 21 points.  De'Mari Larkins leads Osseo with 28 points of his own.  Temi Denado adds 16.

Game 6: #8AAAA Hopkins 89 #7AAAA Lakeville South 78
The scrambling Hopkins defense looked like it would run Lakeville South off the floor early as the Royals jumped out to a 22-9 lead.  But the Cougars settled down and moved the ball well to take a 2 point halftime lead.  This was a 4 point game with 5 minutes left but the turnovers reared their ugly head.  Back to back giveaways for 5 points and you can't dig out from that.  22 Lakeville South turnovers for a 22-3 points off turnover edge for Hopkins in this one.  Anthony Smith 31 points and a couple of big second half 3s to keep the Hopkins offense going.  Davie Hart adds 21.  Keaton Ressler 6 triples and 20 points to lead Lakeville South.  Ryan Johnson adds 16.  DaMarcus Burks 12 points and the unenviable task of guarding Jayden Moore who he held to 11 points.

Game 7: #1AAAA Park Center 77 #2AAA Benilde-St. Margaret's 60
Overall a pretty sloppy game as the teams combined for 35 turnovers.  BSM got off to a nice start but after the first 10 minutes, this one was mostly all Pirates.  BSM 1 FG in the last 8 minutes of the 1st half as the PC lead grew to double digits.  Park Center's defense really held down Jalen Wilson who had 12 points with a bad shooting day.  Jaleel Donley with 24 points to lead the Red Knights.  4-23 from deep for Benilde-St. Margaret's which will be an ongoing theme to watch for them.  Great balance from Park Center.  Jackson Fowlkes with 3 triples and 22 points.  Cash Chavis and Chiang Ring each add 19

All Big Stage Team
Luke Graff - Holy Family
Nolan Groves - Orono
Kyle Jorgensen - Minneapolis Washburn
Anthony Smith - Hopkins
Greyson Uelmen - Minnetonka

Notable Underclassmen
Baboucarr Ann - Maple Grove
Drew Coleman - Holy Family
Joe Mitchell - Cretin-Derham Hall
Tre Moore - Hopkins
Joel Saah - Robbinsdale Armstrong
Ty Schlagel - Eden Prairie
Hamze Yusuf - Eden Prairie

Czar Insights

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

Best of the EMAC 2023-24

Prologue
Its the EMAC game of the year as Math & Science with league MVP candidate Josh Balami visit Avail.  Since a group of rhinos is called a crash, I'm now calling the Avail gym The Crash Pad.  Its Avail's home opener after playing their 1st 6 on the road.  The concession stand is open but no ball in the nachos.   Tom Petty's Runnin Down a Dream and Tears for Fears Everybody Wants to Rule the World amongst the hit music selections.

Game Time
Balami attacks for a bucket on the 1st trip of the game and scores 4 of the first 5 Dragons buckets.   Kiro Kamel adds a 3 point play and its 14-12 Math & Science at the 11 minute mark.  Lincoln Bock 2 putbacks and a free throw as Avail turns the tables to take a 23-19 lead with 8:22 left in the half. Justin Kroeze 3 late buckets countered by 2 more Balami hoops.  45-43 Avail at the break.

We're still close at 53-50 Avail after a Zeb Shefa 3 from the left corner.  Then Issac Aune knocks down a pair of triples to start a 14-0 run.  Valor score on 6 straight trips for that run.  The Rhino is in control up 17 with under 12 minutes left.  Zachariah Schaap drives for a bucket with 8:22 left and that puts him at 1000 points for his career.  Its a 17 point game with 3:15 left before a late run allows Avail to hit the century mark.

Post Game
Math & Science gets 39 points from Josh Balami.  He knocked down 4 3s on the night as he tried to will his crew on.  Guard Kiro Kamel with a nice performance of 15 points with a couple of 3s.  He had 13 of those points in the 1st half.  The Dragons fall to 2-5 with the loss and have lost 5 of 6 since the opening night win at Eagle Ridge.  They have the quick turnaround at Nova on Friday.

Avail improves to 3-4 overall.  Their 4 losses are by a combined 13 points.  That includes a 1 point loss at New Life and a 3 point loss at Heritage.  Those are 2 of the favorites in section 4A.  Isaac Aune 15 of his 26 in the second half thanks to 5 3s.  He's a dangerous big wing shooter.  Zachariah Schaap 13 of his 20 in the 2nd half to pass 1000 points for his career.  Justin Kroeze adds 17 with 2 others scoring 9.  The early season schedule has been tough but softens up now to the point where they may be favored in most every game the rest of the regular season.  They get AFSA and LILA at home with a trip to West Lutheran sandwiched between those for their last 3 games before the holiday break.  Avail pounds the offensive glass for a 21-5 edge and 14-2 advantage in 2nd chance points.  They shoot 21-34 in the 2nd half to blow the game open.  Avail is a fun team to watch as they share the ball, make open shots, get rebounds and cut well.

Czar Insights

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

 

2023 Breakdown Tipoff Classic Review

Another great day of games at the 2023 Tipoff Classic.  As is tradition I took in all 8 games played on the main court.  But this season I had to do them on video due to illness.  Here's a review of the great day of hoops I saw.

Game 1: #7AAA Mankato East 85 #9AAAA Buffalo 51
Mankato East very impressive as they jumped on Buffalo early and never let up.  Carson Schweim looks like a hometown steal for Minnesota State.  He scored 24 of his 28 points in the 1st half and knocked down 5 3s.  3 others in double figures for the high powered Cougars offense.  They had a ridiculous 67% EFG%. Defensively they held a good offensive team to 40% EFG.   Jordy Sorenson 3 triples and 14 points to lead Buffalo

Game 2: #4AAA Orono 74 #10AAAA Eastview 68
Rack up another one for class AAA in this one.  Eastview 1-19 from 3 in the 1st half as they fell behind 49-18 at the break.  Jon Mekonnen would score 21 of his 32 in the 2nd half with 4 of his 5 triples.  Kam Mestas in foul trouble all game held to 6 points for the Lightning.  Nolan Groves another showcase game as he poured in 27 points.  Brady Wooley added 13 of his 17 in the 1st half.

Game 3: #1A Cherry 73 #2AA Holy Family 69
Gopher fans got a chance to see recruit Isaac Asuma play and he was solid with 21 points.  Cherry would use a 21-5 first half run to take a 6 point halftime lead.  Holy Family's Brayden Carlson was a major advantage inside with a 17 points double double.  Holy Family pounded the offensive glass but didn't convert those chances.  Add in 3 triples on his way to 21 points from Luke Graff and the Fire were poised for a win. But down 3 with 3:20 left, Cherry would go on a 10-0 run to win it.  Isaac Asuma with a dagger 3 to close it out.  Kole Hanson held to 1 3 in in each half after going off for a school record 47 against Chanhassen earlier in the week.

Game 4: #1AA Breck 71 #3AAA Alexandria 68
The smaller class school keeps the run going with this win.  Alexandria would survive 1st half foul trouble from their stars Grayson Grove (Gopher commit) and Chase Thompson to take a 5 point lead into halftime.  Sophomores Mason and Talan Witt carrying the offense in their absense.  Thompson would lead the Alexandria offense with 4 triples and 23 points.  Daniel Freitag (Wisconsin commit) came off the Breck bench in the 1st half before starting the 2nd half.  3 buckets in the 1st half before he controlled the 2nd half with 18 more points and finding corner shooters vs the Alexandria 1-2-2 zone.  Grayson Grove passed the 1000 career points mark in the game.  It was also the 1st game of the day that would come down to the final possession as Alexandria had a final chance to tie with a 3 but missed (HINT HINT!).

Game 5: #8AAAA Hopkins 73 #7AAAA East Ridge 72
Hopkins would take a 25 point lead in the 1st half and a 17 point lead to the half.  Soph guard Bennett Skinner 10 second half points with 2 bombs as East Ridge would pull all the way back to even.  JJ Semanko would break a 5 minute Hopkins drought by scoring 11 straight Royals points.  East Ridge late rally with a Cedric Tomes hammer 3 and a layup off a turnover. Hopkins then misses a free throw to seal it.  East Ridge out of a timeout tries to go back to the same hammer play for Tomes, but Hopkins recognizes it.  The layup on the slip allows the clock to run out.  JJ Semanko 16 of his 25 in the 2nd half to lead all scorers.  Jayden Moore 18 pts 3 triples for Hopkins and Cedric Tomes 19 points 5 3s for East Ridge in the matchup of the top 2 2026 point guards in the state.  Bennett Skinner and Charlie Theis add 16 each for East Ridge.  East Ridge without a couple of important pieces for this one in Charlie Bern and Grant Miley.

Game 6: #1AAAA Park Center 81 #3AAAA Lakeville North 79
2 turnovers for Lakeville North and 4 trips into the game, Park Center was up 10-0.  That lead would grow to 15 but Lakeville North calmed down and wiped away the margin before halftime.  Xavier Frelix with 3 of his 4 triples early during the Pirates run.  Park Center would push the lead back to 11 before a North rally.  Jack Robison 7 straight in that stretch.  Andrew Quam adds in a 3 before a Robison bomb and its 76-72 Panthers with 2:45 left.  Cash Chavis 2 and the foul and another bucket and we're tied under a minute.  2 Matt Drake free throws with 24 seconds left keep it tied and here we go.  Give the ball to Chavis and get out of the way. He fits the floater at the buzzer for the win.  Another classic between these 2 teams.  Chavis with 23 points to lead Park Center.  Chiang Ring 20, Jackson Fowlkes 16 for the Pirates.  Jack Robison 25 to lead Lakeville North.  Andrew Quam 4 3s plus interior play on his way to 22 points.  Matt Drake adds 17.

Game 7: #2AAAA Wayzata 83 #1AAA Totino-Grace 81
Totino-Grace would open a pair of 7 point leads in this game, 1 in each half.  Isaiah Johnson 3 late buckets for TG.  McAndrew carrying the Wayzata offense.  Last possession and its Wayzata with it.  McAndrew drives, tough shot from the left elbow at the horn to win it.  Another wild finish.  McAndrew with 22 of his 38 in the 2nd half in the win.  Wyatt McBeth 11 for Wayzata.  Wayzata played without wing Christian Wiggins.  Very balanced game for Totino-Grace.  Chace Watley 19 points including interior buckets against smaller guards.  Gotta love guards in the post.  Dothan Ijadimbola, Isaiah Johnson and Tian Chatman all add 17 points.  Johnson and Ijadimbola both look like they could go for 40 on any given night. 

Game 8: #6AAAA Minnetonka 103 #4AAAA Lakeville South 92
Marley Baah-Yeboah not yet back in the Lakeville South lineup.  Minnetonka would jump out to a 42-23 lead in the 1st half.  That lead would be cut to 13 at the break.  Minnetonka with a very thin bench but 4 starters in double figures.  Andy Stefonowicz and Jordan Cain with 27 points each.  Grayson Uelmen adds 20.  Ryan Johnson and Lauson Schmidt with 20 each for Lakeville South.  Forward Hudson Greene 18 points off the Cougars bench with 3 triples. 

What a day of games.  The smaller class school goes 4-1 on day.  McAndrew's buzzer beater prevents the sweep.  The stars showed out, games came down to the end, big rallies so we had just about everything.

All Showcase Court 1st Team
Cash Chavis - Park Center
Daniel Freitag - Breck
Jackson McAndrew - Wayzata
Carson Schweim - Mankato East
Andy Stefonowicz - Minnetonka

All Showcase Court 2nd Team
Isaac Asuma - Cherry
Nolan Groves - Orono
Jack Robison - Lakeville North
JJ Semanko - Hopkins
Chase Thompson - Alexandria

Czar Insights

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

 

A weekend of wings

Now on special at Buffalo Wild Wings, we have all these new flavors!   OK that's not what we're here for.  I took in 4 games on video over the opening weekend and the wing play was a major factor in all of them.  Here are some standout names from those games.

Farmington 80 Rochester Century 78
Another big day for Century's star wing Shaun Wysocki as he had 25 and cleaned the glass in the Friday night loss at Farmington.  Big, athletic, passes well and lefty to boot.  Definitely one of the best remaining unsigned 2024 guys out there.  Reid Weckwerth with 16 points for the Panthers in a nice supporting role.  Wing Ryan Beckwith 17 critical points including a pair of 3s off the Farmington bench   Brandon Hrncir getting to play a more perimeter role for the Tigers this season with his shooting had 4 triples and 29 points in the win.  Farmington with a run out for the winning layup with 4 seconds left after Century missed 2 chances to win it and didn't hold for the final shot in a tie game.  Farmington is a very interesting team with all their size but still the ability to shoot it, move it and execute.  They ran a great set multiple times vs zone after Century went to it because of foul trouble.

Rogers 83 Centennial 64
Rogers off to a nice 2-0 start and after watching their Saturday matinee with Centennial, I definitely have underestimated them.  Adam Broberg has had 2 quality outings for the Royals.  But in this one, the Rogers also got 18 points each from Trey Mix and Christian Wagner off their bench.  Lots of mix and match pieces for a wing laden Rogers squad.  Centennial is coming off a late start due to football and played without Ty Burgoon (football all-star game).  Add in that Rogers already had played once and this one was going to be tough.  Soph forward Tristan Hanson 11 points off the Cougars bench.  Junior wing Jackson Driessen scoreless in the 1st half but heated up for 30 with 5 3s in the 2nd half.

St. Anthony 64 Mahtomedi 36
Kenji Asai 15 points off the wing for St. Anthony in their blowout home section win.  Very entertaining to watch 3 easy layups he got off of slipping screens.  They get 10 3s from 5 different guys in a classic showing of how they'll win games.  Mahtomedi having to replace their entire lineup didn't have anybody in double figures.

Chaska 71 Champlin Park 67
No 1st game jitters in this Saturday afternoon game as both teams already had a game in.  Champlin Park with the quick turnaround after a loss at Maple Grove Friday night.  Junior Jimmy Coddington with 25 points and 3 triples from his wing spot to lead Chaska.  That picked up for forward Trey Lenzen missing a bunch of minutes with foul trouble.  But early on it was Champlin Park junior wing Preston Thielke doing the damage.  He had 17 of his 27 in the 1st half.  He's a clone of teammate Amory Peterson.  Freshman guard Kwa Silikpoh able to get to the rim off the bounce to cause major problems late.

A High Quiz Bowl convention broke out

Prologue
Night 2 of the season takes me to a new opening season tourney at Eagle Ridge Academy in the depths of the Opus office park.  Its a group of high academic schools so its aptly named the Brains and Balls tourney.  Nova Classical Academy, Mounds Park Academy, Eagle Ridge Academy and Math & Science Academy all represented.  Chick-Fil-A at the concession stand so I'm all over that at halftime of the 1st game.

Game 1: Mounds Park Academy 48 Nova Classical Academy 43
Good first half for Nova as they take a 5 point lead to the break.  No answer inside for Silas Revenaugh as he scores 13 of his 19 points in the half.  Adnaan Said heats up with 11 of his 20 in the 2nd half.  Micah Hudock 3 triples in the 2nd half (13 pts for the game) to keep MPA close.  Panthers trail by 4 with 11 minutes left but finish the game on a 14-5 run to win. Nova with 4 of their 22 turnovers late to stop any chance they had.  Nova started 16-31 from the floor but finished 2-15 in those last 11 minutes.

Game 2: Math & Science Academy 56 Eagle Ridge Academy 53
First half of this one was the Josh Balami show for Math & Science.  He scores 22 of the 28 Dragons points in the half.  Eagle Ridge starts off 1-18 from the floor to fall behind by double figures.  But they manage to stay within 5 at the break.  Eagle Ridge would show zone for most of the 2nd half and that did slow Balami down.  Balami spent time mostly playing at the FT line region after starting outside against that.  The Gryphons cut the lead down to 4 but see it blow up to 13 with under 3 minutes left.  Then Balami fouls out with 1:21 left and all havoc breaks lose.  Turnovers on 6 of the next 7 trips for the Dragons.  Eagle Ridge had 5 fouls to give and it was almost a blessing that the fouls forced inbounds plays for turnovers rather than free throws.  The lead is down to 3 with 6.5 seconds left.  Dragons can ice it at the charity stripe but the front end is no good.  Rebound tapped out towards half court and it goes back to Math and Science in the last 5 seconds.  Dragons get the last inbounds pass in and hang on to win.  Josh Balami outstanding with 22 of his 28 points in the 1st half for Math and Science.  He added in 14 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals on my officially unofficial stat sheet.  First reaction for a player like this in the EMAC is that he gets a ton of shots and lights up bad competition.  While its true the competition isn't great, its far easier when watching him to make the case that he's unselfish to a fault.  Very poised and willing to share the ball and be a team player first.  Only 3 missed shots to get those 28 points.  Math and Science commits 20 of their 27 turnovers in the 2nd half including 6 in the last 1:20 with Balami fouled out.

Czar Insights

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