The Breakdown Tipoff Classic has established itself as the top event of the season. As usual I took all the games on the main court. This year that was a single court at Hopkins with the 2nd court being at the Edina Community Center. While that did lessen the atmosphere a bit, still a very fun day of games. Here's a glimpse at the day's events.
Game 1: Minnetonka 73 East Ridge 64
Minnetonka got ahead and largely stayed ahead in this one. East Ridge had the lead down to 6 with 4:29 left, but 3 straight triples and a couple of stops, game over as the lead went to 15. I've been very down on Minnetonka to this point but this one changed my thinking. The Bryce Tesdahl grit is showing up again in the squad. Caleb Francois 23 points and 3 triples to lead the way. Malachi Boadi adds 18. This was also without Isa El-Amin who didn't play due to injury. They hold Cedric Tomes to 7-18 shooting for his 23 points. Bennett Skinner with 12 points and 3 triples for East Ridge. On the other side, not sure who had East Ridge at 0-2 at this point. A couple of tough losses to start the year and not pretty at that. Their 3 guards were the top 3 scorers but only 19 points from everybody else.
Game 2: #7AAAA Sauk Rapids-Rice 97 #2AA Breck 93 OT
This turned out to be the most exciting game of the day. Sauk Rapids-Rice couldn't get anything going early. Meanwhile Miles Newton was lighting it up with 24 in the 1st half for Breck. He headlined a 9-0 run as Breck opened a 6 point lead. But the Storm were only down 4 at the break. In the 2nd half, the Sauk Rapids big 3 carried the offense. That helped them rebound from an 8 point margin with 8 minutes left. Hudson Omoke had the 1st 9 Storm points of the haulf. Keller Hanson back to back buckets to start a 7-0 run. Another 3 to keep the margin at 2. Spencer Swenson 2 critical hoops. Big 3 point play from Newton countered by another Swenson hoop in the last minute. 87 all at the end when Breck decided to play it out in a tie game but they couldn't get a great look. Sauk Rapids with back to back triples from Hanson and Swenson to start the OT and they never looked back. Spencer Swenson 28, Keller Hanson 27, Hudson Omoke 26 to lead Sauk Rapids. Miles Newton with only 2 FG after halftime. He still ends up with 36 and 4 triples. DeAngelo Dungey with 14 of his 16 in the second half to make it up.
Game 3: #4AAA Orono 77 Fargo Davies 62
The matchup of star guards Mason Klabo (Illinois St commit for Fargo Davies, #1 player in North Dakota) and Nolan Groves didn't disappoint. Klabo 3 triples a 3 point play as this one was tied with 3 minutes to go in the 1st half. Then Orono went on a 12-0 run to end the half. Davies didn't go away though. Klabo a pair of 3s and a skip pass for a 3rd cut the Orono lead to 53-52 with 11:58 left. But Orono's defense would lead them on an 18-4 run over the next 7:45 to put the game out of reach. Nolan Groves with 19 of his 30 points in the 2nd half to lead the Spartans. I had him with 9 rebounds and a handful of assist. 10-22 shooting from the field. Mitchell Kauch 4 triples and 15 points. Soph Grant Hansen 14 points and 4 triples to provide a great spark off the bench for Orono. Mason Klabo finishes his day with 27 points and 9 rebounds on 9-20 shooting.
Game 4: #6AAA Benilde-St. Margaret's 85 #4AAAA Shakopee 59
This blowout result is surprising but not as surprising as you may think. Shakopee highly regarded to start the year but they were down 20 late to Chaska in a loss earlier this week. BSM threatened to blow the doors off early as they were up 26-12 midway thru the half. Shakopee's transition defense non-existent. But the Sabers were able to cut it to 8 at the half. But only 2 FGs for Shakopee in the 1st 9+ of the 2nd half doomed them. BSM ran away from there. Jaleel Donley terrific with 27 points to lead all scorers. Jalen Wilson 21 points and showing that he could hit a couple jumpers. That would be a great development in his game. Eli Schroeder led the late 1st half rally with 10 of his 13 points and a pair of triples. Isaac Cordes 14 and Luke Wherley added 11. Shakopee 0-2 just like East Ridge is a significant surprise.
Game 5: #3AAA Hopkins 87 #2AAA Mankato East 75
Too much guard play from Hopkins in this one. Mankato East tried to take the sting out of the attack with a 2-3 zone to no avail. Hopkins never really put this one away until late but there was very limited danger after Mankato East scored 8 of the first 9 points of the game. They hounded Brogan Madson into an off day of 15 points and 6-21 FG shooting. Lucas Gustafson 19 points to lead the Cougars with 5 triples most of that in the 2nd half though when the game was double digits. He shows a ton of range on the jumper though. Braden Petzel with a nice 2nd half inside too. Anthony Smith leads Hopkins with 29 points. Jayden Moore adds 15 though he didn't have the big rebounding and assists numbers that he's shown in other games.
Game 6: #1AAAA Cretin-Derham Hall 77 #3AAA Alexandria 71
The much ballyhooed matchup between Mr Basketball contenders Tommy Ahneman and Chase Thompson had good moments in the 1st half. Thompson 14 points, 5 boards and a couple of blocks and triples. Ahneman with 10 points of his own. CDH struggled against the vaunted Alexandria 1-2-2 early but a 13-2 run got them back in it. Soph star Ty Schlagel picking up the offense with 12 1st half points thanks to JoJo Mitchell having foul trouble. Alexandria with a 56-49 lead midway through the 2nd half when disaster struck. Chase Thompson visibly showing an injured shoulder tried to play thru it for a couple possessions but with 8:53 left, he had to take himself out of the game.
But Alexandria persevered without their star. Mason Witt with a triple to keep the lead. Schlagel with 2 post feeds and got it right back for layups. Then a steal for 2 more but a questionable T with 1:24 left. Mason Witt makes the 2 FTs and Alexandria would keep it. But out of a timeout they can't get it in and its a 5 second call. Ahneman makes them pay with 1 foot fadeaway ala Dirk Nowitzki from off the right block with 1 minute left. Alexandria misses a 3 on the next possession and the rest is free throws. Ty Schlagel 20 points, Tommy Ahneman 22 points and 13 boards on my officially unofficial sheet to lead the Raiders. Chase Thompson 19 points, 9 boards, 4 assists and 4 blocks before leaving. Mason Witt 21 points with 5 3s.
Game 7: #1AAA Totino-Grace 71 #2AAAA Wayzata 68
TG would get a strong start from Chace Watley and Malachi Hill to take a 33-20 lead. But Isaac Olmstead would lead Wayzata back as they finished the half on a 10-0. 33-30 TG at the half. Olmstead with half of those. Wayzata starts the 2nd half strong with a couple of buckets for the lead and then Dothan Ijadimbola picks up his 4th with 13:01 left and has to sit. He'll sit for almost 4 minutes as TG treads water to stay within 46-44 when he returns at the 9:21 mark. Hill 2 FTs and a hoop. Ijadimbola matches that. Its a 15-4 TG run after he returns. 59-50. Vince Jacob a free throw and a triple to keep the lead at 9. Olmstead isn't done though. He nails 2 triples and finds Wyatt McBeth to pull the Trojans within 2. 66-64 TG with 1:50 to play. Totino-Grace with 2 late turnovers but Wayzata with 2 misses can't cash in. TG finishes it at the line. Malachi Hill 20 points leading the way from the point for TG. Chace Watley adds 17. 3 triples and 10 critical points from Vince Jacob in the 2nd half. Isaac Olmstead with 23 to lead Wayzata. Nolen Anderson adds 16. I had Wayzata 7-29 from 3. More disturbing though was that this was the 3rd Wayzata straight game I've seen (last year's state title game and the 1st 2 this year) where their opponent was the tougher team. Defensively they gave up 39 FTA to Orono and 29 in this one. While they only got 7 FTA of their own in this game.
Game 8: #5AAA DeLaSalle 72 Park Center 63
This one was a very herky jerky type of game. DeLaSalle grinding out a win by making less mistakes. Dorian Pruitt showing nice improvement in his game with a game high 18 points. Jaeden Udean 3 triples and 17 points for the Islanders. Emmanuel Jentzen and Temi Omotoyinbo with 15 each to lead Park Center. For the Pirates, they started off trying to run dribble weave to get down hill. But they're still looking to figure out their identity on that end. With a lineup that is mostly new, that's not unexpected in week 1.
Czar's All Main Court Tipoff Classic Team
- Tommy Ahneman - Cretin-Derham Hall
- Jaleel Donley - Benilde-St. Margaret's
- Nolan Groves - Orono
- Malachi Hill - Totino-Grace
- Mason Klabo - Fargo Davies
- Miles Newton - Breck
- Ty Schlagel - Cretin-Derham Hall
- Anthony Smith - Hopkins
- Spencer Swenson - Sauk Rapids- Rice
- Chase Thompson - Alexandria
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