Rivals releases final 2009 rankings

Rivals.com released their final class of 2009 rankings today. Read the entire rankings here. Here are the changes to Minnesota players (and others of note) from the last period (August 19, 2008).

Minnesota Players

• Royce White #19, Minnesota (no change)
  
• Trent Lockett #80, Arizona State (down from #73)
  
• Rodney Williams Jr #100, Minnesota (down from #95)
• Sam Dower #116, Gonzaga (up from #119)
• Mike Bruesewitz #118, Wisconsin (up from #124)

Wisconsin Players

• Jeronne Maymon #47, Marquette (down from #46)
• Jamil Wilson #94, Oregon (down from #93)
• Johnny Lacy #143, Providence (down from #110)
  

Other players who have appeared locally

• DeMarcus Cousins #2, Kentucky (no change)
  
• DJ Richardson #38, Illinois (up from #57)
• Darius Smith #71, Connecticut (up from #113)
• Naji Hibbert #97, Texas A&M (down from #88)
• Joseph Bertrand #128, Illinois (down from #116)
• Diamond Taylor #129, Wisconsin (down from #118)
• Michael Dixon #136, Missouri (down from #130)

#1 Hopkins holds off #2 Henry Sibley

Chris Halvorsen

Ah the big affair that was #1 Hopkins making the trek to #2 Sibley. A full house at Sibley (what a nightmare parking was). Blake Hoffarber, Ben Biewen and Edina, Greg Meyer and Minnehaha and Jonah Travis from DLS. All the usual AAU suspects in attendance too with Rene Pulley (cha ching), Al Harris (43 Hoops) and Tom Krosschel (MN Pump N Run) all watching for talent. And of course, the famous Taco In A Bag! Huge Sibley student crowd tonight and they are amped up as they're chanting even before warmups start (but surprisingly docile during the JV game).

Hopkins with the 1st 6 of the night in 2:41 as Sibley is very sloppy against the Hopkins pressure D. Sibley trying to play some 1-2-2 zone to hold the Royals down. Very interesting considering Hopkins hit 13 triples last night. But that zone does allow you to get to shooters (in theory). Sibley claws back to 16-11 as Maurice Hernandez gets a bucket off the flex (aaaah, electric shock). Hopkins goes on a 13-4 run over the next 3:45. Coach Novak really hot at the 1 of the young officals during the run and gets a Technical (that official had a really bad night with at least half a dozen whistles that were way late or dreadfully wrong). Mike Bruesewitz with 1 of the 2 free throws but Sibley couldn't make anything of the possession. After the run, the other young official (who I actually think does a good job) calls an absolutely horrendous T on Trent Lockett for slapping the backboard trying to block a shot. You don't make that call in this type of game, period. Bruesewitz with 1 of 2 again and then converts a bucket on the possession. Jimmy Ryan with late Sibley points in the half for a spark and Sibley survives down 43-33 at the break. Cowles 4 triples for 12, Trent Lockett 8, Royce 7. Rostampour and Bruesewitz with 6 each. Sibley couldn't get into any offense and they didn't use Francis Bungue all that much to handle. Sibley 4-11 FTs in the half to 11-14 for Hopkins (3-6 Royce after 1-8 yesterday).

Royce starts the half with an isolation from the right elbow for 2. Nice set to take advantage of Royce's skills and stay within the system (it comes out of their base motion set). Broghammer with 2 inside for a 50-37 lead at 15:25. But Hopkins is taking quick 3s in transition and they're not going. Coach Novak not pleased and he wants time out. 2 FTs from Marcus Williams gives Hopkins a 56-44 lead with 12:43 to go. But every good team has a run in them and Sibley's starts now. Bruesewitz with 2 free throws, Jake Kreuser with a bucket, Royce with a quick miss and then Halvorsen goes around him for 2. Hopkins turns it over and Kreuser scores again on an offensive rebound. 56-52 Hopkins after an 8-0 Sibley run and the crowd is back in it. Timeout Royals at 10:17.

Broghammer with 2 FTs and then Royce with a dunk off a Sibley turnover. 60-52 Hopkins with 7:39 left. Then a bad Sibley sequence. Broghammer ends up on Maurice Hernandez but they never get him the ball with the opportunity to exploit the mismatch. Kelvin Minnig ends up missing a bad shot instead. Hernandez does get a 3 after Royce misses on another iso. 60-55 Hopkins with 6 minutes left. Lockett with a layin and then Broghammer puts it down from the foul line for 2+1 at 5:14 and the lead is 65-55 and it looks like Hopkins has survived the run. But on the next possession at 5:01, Royce fouls Bruesewitz hard going to the rim and then proceeds to make a demonstration with some comments which earns him a technical. Let's just say that my other obligations unfortunately force me to keep my feelings on this issue to myself. Bruesewitz only makes 2 of the 4 free throws, they get nothing on the possession as Hernandez misses a triple. Kreuser misses the front end of the bonus at 4:44. 66-57 Hopkins and this one is basically over. Hopkins makes enough free throws to win it 77-66.

For Sibley, a tough loss but credit to them for fighting back to within 4 and only being down 10 at the half despite playing very poorly. Mike Bruesewitz leads the way with 15 points (only 3 FGs and 9-13 FTs). Chris Halvorsen and Maurice Hernandez with 12 each. I was surprised that Sibley didn't try to take more advantage of Bruesewitz on the outside when Broghammer was guarding him late (after Royce went to the bench with the T and 4 fouls). Unfortunately in the zone they didn't find Cowles and didn't rebound well so they had to play more man defense than they may have initially wanted to. They did settle down and take better care of the ball in the 2nd half. They're now 8-2 and the rest of their schedule is in the Classic Suburban except for the Border Battle game vs Kaukauna, WI on January 24th.

For Hopkins, Mike Broghammer with a nice night of 17 points to lead Hopkins (9-11 FTs). Ray Cowles with 5 more triples for 15 points. Trent Lockett slashed his way to 15 points also. Royce White quiet with 11 points and had a disappointing night. He made some nice plays but he seemed kind of out of it tonight. Next major challenge for the Royals may be against Milwaukee Vincent at the East Metro Showcase on January 23rd.

Chris Halvorsen picture courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net

2009 Timberwolves Shootout Thoughts

Here's what I saw at the 2009 Timberwolves Shootout. This is the 5th consecutive shootout I've attended. In terms of competitve games, this was the worst one I've been to with 4 blowouts and 1 other game that got back to 4 points, but wasn't in doubt for much of the game. At least the Sibley/Memorial game lived up to the hype. That and a couple of Rodney Williams dunks were the main highlights.

Game 1: Cloquet vs Pelican Rapids
I got the not close part of the prediction correct as Pelican Rapids made 7 1st half 3s and got 29 total points from their stars Tydan Storrusten and Eric Shulstad. Nothing like triples to bust zones. Very strange that Chad Calcaterra played very limited 1st half minutes. Only 6 and 4 in the 1st half for him. He finished with 21 and 10 and 2 blocks (and 4 dunks, more on that later). Beyond Chad, Cloquet has almost nothing. Their inability to deal with the Pelican Rapids halfcourt trap was really painful to watch. They may have most of their roster returning for next season but that won't be enough. Pelican Rapids with all seniors except for 1 sophomore. Very impressive to watch. Storrusten with 29, Shulstad with 27 in the 87-56 win.

Game 2: Osseo vs Sioux Falls Roosevelt
Sam Dower with only 1 1st half point and 2 fouls that forced him to sit the last 13:15 of the 1st half. Osseo still had a 30-20 halftime lead as Aaron Anderson stepped up with 8 points. Osseo cranked up the 2nd half defense and Dower dominated inside in the 2nd half. 82-43 Osseo in another rout. Dower with 22. He hit jump hook after jump hook inside with no Roosevelt answer. Cody Larson with 14 for the Roughriders but didn't do anything of note. I did almost get their point total right. Nice job by Osseo with their full court scramble to generate some points from their defense.

Game 3: Henry Sibley vs Madison Memorial
Final Score 67-64 Memorial, I predicted 65-64 Memorial in my preview. Better to be lucky than good. Jeronne Maymon was an absolute stud in this one and clearly the MVP of the day. Totally unguardable. He scored the 9 of the 1st 11 Memorial points in the 2nd half and then got a couple of assists not long after that. Late in the game, Chris Halvorsen stripped him clean for a reverse dunk that brought Sibley back to a 56-55 lead after being down 55-50. But then he made a jumper and hit Vander Blue for a triple. Sibley with 3 straight turnovers vs the Memorial 1-3-1 in a 1 minute span with 3 minutes left that just killed them. Memorial missed a couple of late free throws that gave Maurice Hernandez a good look from the NBA line that would have tied it but no good and Memorial wins a thriller 67-64. Maymon with 26, Vander Blue with 16 all in the 2nd half including 9 in a row and he didn't start. Frosh Junior Lomomba didn't start either and finished with 6 points. He made a clutch shot late to push the lead to 5. Mike Bruesewitz with 20 and 10 for Sibley, but he was overmatched against Maymon.

Game 4: Hopkins vs Lake Geneva Badger
50-15 at the half as Hopkins used a 28-2 run over 8:30 to blow this game wide open. Royce White still put on a show with 13 and 6 in the 1st half as he showed all his skills. Trent Lockett with a couple of nice dunks during the half too. 79-41 Hopkins rolls as the clock runs the last 8 minutes (not 9 thanks to the scorer's table).

This game was totally pointless for both teams and shouldn't have been played. But the fans turned out in force for it so they got the financial part right. This game was a huge black eye to the Shootout. Badger is well coached, but they had no business being here. Not a single player in the rankings of any class in Wisconsin. It would have been one thing if this had happened in the Border Battle or East Metro Showcase. But this is the Minnesota showcase event, put on by our professional team with maybe the best Minnesota high school team ever. This cannot happen again. I know they tried to get teams like Chicago Whitney Young and other very good teams to come in and couldn't get anybody. I'm not criticizing the effort, but I have a hard time buying the idea that there were no teams in the midwest with a noteworthy player that would have come here for this instead of Badger.

Game 5: Eden Prairie vs Cooper
Rodney Williams with a double-clutch jumper and then a floater to beat the 1st half buzzer on a steal for a 28-18 Cooper lead at the half. Williams had 8 points with 3 blocks (2 of the volleyball spike variety) in the half. Ethan Wragge 5 points but cold shooting. Cooper stretches the lead to 16 in the 2nd half before Cooper goes back to their 1 on 1 offense and allows EP to come back within 4. Rodney gets a 360 dunk and then a half-court lob for a reverse dunk that puts the icing on the cake. He gets another lob but misses the dunk to make Chad Calcaterra the happiest guy in the building as both finish with 4 dunks on the day. 57-50 Cooper wins. Rodney with 16 points on 4 dunks and 4 blocks. Again, not a shooter. Brett Ervin with a big 2nd half as he finishes with 17 points. Ethan Wragge with 9 points but he couldn't buy a shot (he was something like 3-15). But his misses were all good looks (except 1 or maybe 2) against Rodney so I'm not buying the Rodney shut him down argument.

Game 6: St. Cloud Tech vs Manitowoc Roncalli
The building empties out which is a shame because they should have stayed for Nate Wolters of Tech. He had 9 first half points. Roncalli star soph Ben Stelzer 11 for a 35-34 Tech lead at the half. But Wolters gets 17 in the 2nd half with 3 steals for layups. They don't need him to guard Stelzer as Roncalli couldn't buy a shot in the 2nd half. 78-49 Tech rolls. Alex Hanks with 15. Stelzer finishes with 18. Nate Wolters with 28 points and a half dozen steals. Whatever school ends up with him is going to be very happy as I think they're getting a steal.

All Shootout Teams
1st Team
Jeronne Maymon - Madison Memorial (MVP)
Royce White - Hopkins
Sam Dower - Osseo
Vander Blue - Madison Memorial
Nate Wolters - St. Cloud Tech

2nd Team
Eric Shulstad - Pelican Rapids
Mike Bruesewitz - Sibley
Chad Calcaterra - Cloquet
Rodney Williams Jr - Cooper
Tydan Storrusten - Pelican Rapids

Minnehaha vs Sibley Thoughts

Game 2 of the opening day at Bethel gives us #5AA Minnehaha vs #2AAAA Henry Sibley. These teams met in fall league play and Sibley won huge. With no Greg Meyer for Minnehaha (out due to injury), could the Redhawks compete in this one?

Chris Halvorsen with the assignment on David Burnham in this one. Jake Kreuser off to a nice start with a couple of post buckets and an assist to Mike Bruesewitz for a triple. Taylor Hanson off to a nice start with a couple of buckets for Minnehaha. 16-12 Sibley at 11:45. Hanson then goes by Kreuser for 2, Burnham with a jumper and Taylor Sparkman knocks down a couple of 3s and Minnehaha leads 24-16 at 8:20. Its a 12-0 run over 3 minutes. Sibley chips away and gets 7 in a row of their own over 2:15 and its 26-25 Minnehaha with 5 minutes left in the half. But Burnham and Sparkman make triples in an 8-0 run to end the half and the Redhawks have a 38-29 going to halftime. Sparkman with 4 3s and 12 points in the half. Burnham and Hanson with 7 each. Bruesewitz with 13 points. Kreuser with a nice 1st half of 7 points, 6 rebounds and a block. Minnehaha 6-16 from the deep beyond in the half and staying even on the boards.

2nd half is even to start. Taylor Sparkman with a nice curl move to lose Halvorsen which he converts into a layup and Minnehaha leads 44-34 at 14:15. Mike Rostampour in now to deal with the dribble penetration of Hanson (instead of Kreuser). He gets a bucket off a scramble. Bruesewitz with 2 layups and a steal that leads to a Halvorsen dunk and we're tied at 44 with 11:15 left. Can Minnehaha get back ahead? Answer: An emphatic No. Rostampour with a post up, a drive and then a jumper for 6 straight Sibley points. He then got a steal that should have been 2 more, but he got his footwork messed up going in for the dunk. Hanson with 2 FTs and its only 50-48 Sibley with 7:51 to play. But Maurice Hernandez puts this one out of reach with a pair of triples along with a Halvorsen layin and post up for 2. 60-48 Sibley leads with 5:36 to play. All added up its a 26-4 Sibley run over 7:30. Rostampour continues to add on inside late but this one is over. 72-59 Sibley wins.

For Minnehaha, Taylor Sparkman finishes with 17 and 9 and he hit big triples in the 1st half. He was 2-7 shooting in the 2nd half to finish 6-17. Taylor Hanson with 12 points but he was able to get in the lane and was active. But he only shot 1-9 in the 2nd half with some good looks. David Burnham quiet with only 9 points (1-3 FG in the 2nd half). They shot 1-11 from 3 (7-26 overall in the half) and got outrebounded 15-7 in the 2nd half.

For Sibley, Mike Bruesewitz solid with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 4 blocks. Mike Rostampour with a monster 2nd half of 14 points and 7 rebounds in 9 minutes. His ability to slow Hanson down off the dribble without Kreuser in there was big. Nice adjustment by coach Dasovich. Maurice Hernandez with 13 of his 16 points in the 2nd half including 3 of 5 shooting from deep. Sibley shot an astronomical 18-27 (66.7%) from the floor in the 2nd half to outscore Minnehaha 43-21. Overall, they shot 28-51 for the game.

Osseo at Sibley Thoughts

Maurice Hernandez

I'm not the biggest fan of seeing a team twice in a row, but tonight's game of #8 Osseo at #2 Sibley makes it all worthwhile. Gotta love the Taco in a Bag, $3, but worth every penny and a nice variety for the Czar's ever expanding waist line. I must confess I did have it with the works (sour cream and salsa included, yum!). Note to self, must re-measure to see if I still have more height than depth. If you're familiar with the little game called Lightning (line of players at FT line, 2 balls, you have to put your ball thru the basket before the person behind you does or you're out, last one standing wins), a great one tonight at the half. Mike Bruesewitz's dad was the emcee with students from Osseo and Sibley participating. Big cheers from the Sibley students section when someone from Osseo was eliminated. One of the female members of the Sibley section went on to win. We even had a Rene Pulley sighting as he came in for the 2nd half. To the real game at hand.

Osseo's Jayvin Reynolds gets the assignment on Mike Bruesewitz and Bruesewitz gets the task of guarding Sam Dower. After Dower starts the game with a jumper, Bruesewitz with a post up for 2, Maurice Hernandez with a triple, Chris Halvorsen with 2 free throws and Hernandez gets 2 FTs for Dower's 2nd foul and to the bench he goes. 10-2 Sibley at 14:08 for a 10-o Warriors run. Dower with 3 of the 4 Osseo turnovers during the spurt and the Orioles couldn't buy a call either. Reynolds picks up his 2nd at 10:20 on a charge and back comes Dower. He gets a dunk off a Sibley turnover and the Sibley lead is cut to 12-9 at 9:47. Bru drives by Dower for 2, gets a tip in with another Hernandez 3 to push the lead right back to 10. Dower with a dunk and then he gets a rebound and runs the floor for the bucket +1 reward (always reward the big guy for running the floor). Bruesewitz again before Osseo's Aaron Anderson gets hot along with Sibley turnovers. Anderson hits back to back 3s then a floater via a steal to cut it to 23-22 Sibley. Mike Rostampour (Psycho to the Sibley students, love that), with a putback and the foul for a free throw. Technical on the Osseo bench at 5:05 gives Sibley the ball back for a Halvorsen assist to Francis Bungue. 29-22 Sibley at 4:15. Another Hernandez triple makes with 32-24 Sibley at 3:30. Osseo gets 6 of the next 7 to cut the lead to 3 but off a scramble Bungue nails a three at the 1st half buzzer and Sibley leads 36-30 at the break. On my highly unofficial stat sheet ,Dower 11 and 4, Aaron Anderson 11 for Osseo. Hernandez 3 triples and 12 points, Bruesewitz with 8 and 3 for Sibley.

Bruesewitz comes out on fire in the 2nd half. A drive for a bucket, an offensive rebound for 2, a jumper over Dower, a swat that stops a Osseo possession. Halvorsen converts a tough layin 8-1 Sibley run. Timeout Orioles at 15:12 44-31 Sibley leads. Bruesewitz again on the offensive glass for 2 and another swat. Then a handoff on an inbound to Hernandez who makes the defender look silly and knocks down a cold blooded 3 (4th triple of the night) and the lead is 48-31 Sibley. 12-1 run over the 1st 5 minutes of the 2nd half led by Bruesewitz. Unlike other games you'll see, Osseo isn't done yet. Bobby Fischer breaks the run with a 3, Anderson with 2 FTs, Dower an offensive rebound of his own for 2 free throws. Bruesewitz then called for a goal tend (close call but the right one it appears) and then a miss and Osseo's Joey Sonnenfeld makes on the other end over Halvorsen. 11-0 run for Osseo over 3 minutes, timeout Sibley at 9:40 48-42 they lead. Bruesewitz still getting it done with a tip in to break the run. DJ Phillips then misses 2 FT that would have cut it to 6. Halvorsen with 2 on the other end. Dower misses 2 FTs of his own. Rostampour dunks 2 minutes later to push the lead to 12 and Osseo doesn't threaten again. Hernandez with his final 3 of the night at 3:45 keeps the lead at 13. Bruesewitz handling the ball vs Osseo pressure too. Final Score 64-51 Sibley wins. To the highly unofficial stat sheet.

For Osseo, Aaron Anderson with 13 points. Sam Dower with 22 and 11 and at least 4 turnovers. He really didn't do much inside though from a post up point of view. His buckets were in transition or off the offensive glass. Great hands though and can really run the floor. After a hot 1st half, Anderson with only 2 free throws in the 2nd half. Kyle Mason with only 1 of 2 FTs on the night. He has to be a scoring threat for them in big games.

For Sibley, Bruesewitz 21 and 7 with 4 blks (not counting the goaltending call, all blks in the 2nd half). 5 triples and 19 points for Maurice Hernandez. He made all his open looks. Mike Rostampour with his required 4 fouls but in reserve minutes I had him for 8 pts and 10 rebounds along with a big time block late. He's such a relentless rebounder and such an effort player. Great motor.

(Czar's note 12/10/08, wow was I off, 16 rebs is being reported, I'm usually within 1 or 2, this one surprised me

12/11/08, now that I've seen a highly respected Gopher Hole reader say he had Bruesewitz for 8 rebounds, I'm calling shenanigans on the StarTrib report.)

X and O of the Day
Osseo on the inbounds in the subject of today's X and O segment. They'll have Dower set an interior screen right in the middle of the lane. His defender plays toward the baseline as that's where the ball is. As that happens, they'll throw the ball out high and Dower will turn and look for the ball posted in front of the rim with the guy on his back. Simple and effective.

Henry Sibley at Apple Valley Thoughts

Varmah Sonie

The opening Friday night of the season takes the Czar on the miserable journey to Apple Valley (#9 Star Trib Metro Top 10) for their season opener with #2 Henry Sibley. Ken Novak Sr and DJ Peterson on hand from Hopkins. John Hedstrom from Minnetonka also in attendance. AAU represented by Tom Krosschell and Al Harris. Even John Millea of the Star Tribune showed up for this one.

Maurice Hernandez with a tip in to give Sibley the 1st 6 points at 14:30. Mike Rostampour comes off the bench and immediately shows his energy with a steal that leads to a Francis Bungue layin and its 11-4 Sibley at 13:15. After a lull, Chris Halvorsen with a nice jump hook, a dunk and a layup thanks to an assist and block by Mike Bruesewitz. 21-12 Sibley at 6:48. A Hernandez triple makes it 28-20 Sibley before Bruesewitz goes to the bench with 2 fouls at 3:25. Steve Parks with a miracle shot thru Jake Kreuser at the 1st half buzzer cuts the lead to 31-27 Sibley. 11 points for Halvorsen, Hernandez and Bruesewitz with 8 each. Thomas Shalk and Mitch Bires each with 8 points for Apple Valley.

Sibley gets 9 of the 1st 11 points of the 2nd half. Halvorsen with a triple and a steal for a breakaway dunk in the sequence. Shalk with another baseline jumper to cut the lead to 43-34 at 12 minutes. The play of the night happened inside 11 minutes. Bruesewitz down the right wing tries to go up for a monster 2 handed dunk over Varmah Sonie that would be a play of the year but gets fouled and goes down very hard on his right shoulder. He temporarily left the game for treatment but did come back within 20 seconds of game time. Off a Bungue steal, Bruesewitz pulls up and buries a dagger triple. Halvorsen with a dunk off a nice inbounds set (we'll look at it in the X and O segment) to add spice to a 13-2 Sibley run over 4 minutes that put the game away. 56-36 Sibley inside 8 minutes and they cruised from there. 70-47 Sibley wins.

Halvorsen with 18, Bruesewitz with 17 and 13 by my unofficial sheet. Hernandez with 15 for Sibley. Mike Rostampour was very active but also very foul prone as he fouled out. For Apple Valley, Bires with 13, Shalk with 12, only 5 free throws for Varmah Sonie. He had his way on offense getting whereever he wanted, but he didn't have a FG all night. He wasn't much of a factor either on defense when AV played man. They did have some success with a 2-3 zone though.

X and O of the Day
In the X and O segment, we look at the Halvorsen dunk to top off the game deciding run. The basics are this. Box set with Hernandez inbounding. Halvorsen steps out from the ball side block to the corner to receive the pass. The ball side wing then breaks out to get the 2nd pass. Hernandez then sets the back screen and they throw it up for Halvorsen who can go get it with anybody in the state. This is great 2nd half play because they run it as a counter to another of their nice plays which is the exact same motion but Halvorsen down screens for Hernandez for the corner three. So you lure his defender into looking for the corner shot and he forgets to help on the back screen.

Varmah Sonie photo courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net

Best of National Signing Day

For the class of 2009, Rivals named their best prospect at each position for each conference today. Plenty of local flavor.

Royce White: Top SF for Big Ten
Mike Bruesewitz: Top PF for Big Ten
Chris Halvorsen: Top SF for Horizon
Sam Dower: Top PF for West Coast Conference

Others who made a local appearance last season.

Jeronne Maymon of Madison Memorial: Top SF for Big East
DeMarcus Cousins of Mobile LeFlore: Top PF for Conference USA

Week 2 of the MBA Fall League

Action from week 2 of the MBA fall league at Minnehaha Academy.

Session 1 Scores: NYA def Blake 74-29, Maple Grove JV def North Branch JV 35-20 and Edison def Dunwoody Academy 56-28.

Session 2 Scores: Blake def North Branch JV 44-43, Maple Grove JV def NYA 44-37 and Maple Grove blew out Edison 63-35 in an ugly game.

Session 3: A couple of real good ones here to start my day. Armstrong vs Sibley in the one of the biggest games of the league in my featured game. Regular season rosters mostly intact for this game which adds to the excitement. The game is even early as Damarius Cruz goes over Jake Kreuser for an early bucket to pull Armstrong within 11-9 4 minutes into the action. Sibley uses 5 Mike Bruesewitz points and alley-oop to Chris Halvorsen to lead 27-18. 37-28 Sibley at the break behind 16 points and 5 rebounds from Bruesewitz.

Sibley opens the 2nd half on a 10-2 run over the 1st 3:50 of the 2nd half to blow the game open 47-30 with 16:10 to play. Maurice Hernandez with a couple of buckets in that run. They go on to win 68-55. Bruesewitz finishes with 25 and 11, Hernandez with 21 for Sibley. Damarius Cruz with 21 for Armstrong. Interesting to see Halvorsen spend some time guarding Cruz in this game. Armstrong with no answer for the Sibley size.

In other session 3 action, Dunwoody Academy def NYA 47-35. In the other game, Minnehaha got 7 straight points in the last 2 minutes to go from 1 down to 6 up on TNL. Taylor Sparkman with the 1st 5 of those points to lead the Redhawks to the 76-70 win.

Session 4: Coon Rapids vs St. Peter. Ben Baker with a quick start for Coon Rapids with 10 of the first 13 Cardinal points. They lead 25-18 at the break. They start the 2nd half on a 15-4 spurt over the first 12 minutes of the 2nd half to break the game open. Coon Rapids wins 48-27. Baker with 20 points and 7 rebounds.

In other session 4 action, Hoops Training def Park Center 44-36. Maple Grove def St. Paul Central 52-44.

Session 5: Minnehaha vs Sibley in another premier league matchup. Parker Hines gets a steal and layup to give Minnehaha an early 10-6 lead. Sibley then goes on a 13-0 run over the next 8 minutes to take control. Chris Halvorsen with a nice drive and dunk within that run. A Mike Rostampour putback at the buzzer gives Sibley a 33-23 lead at the break. Nice balance on both sides as Rostampour and Bruesewitz each have 8 and Hernandez with 7 for Sibley. Greg Meyer, David Burnham and Hines all with 5 for Minnehaha.

Hernandez comes out and hits 2 quick threes and Halvorsen gets a dunk off of the nice Sibley inbounds package to push the lead to 17. Hernandez finishes the spurt with a 3 point play to make it 54-30 with 11 minutes to play. Taylor Sparkman with 8 late points for Minnehaha to try and make it interesting but the game is long over. Sibley wins 64-51. Mike Rostampour with 16 and 10. Hernandez with 18 for Sibley. Taylor Sparkman with 12 points all in the 2nd half. Greg Meyer also with 12 for Minnehaha. Sparkman was playing center and often guarded by Jake Kreuser. I thought Sparkman could exploit Kreuser by stepping outside, but that didn't happen until late in the game after the outcome was already determined.

In other session 5 action, Coon Rapids blew out Mankato 78-41. TNL blew out Mpls Demons 53-35.

Session 6: Hoops Training vs Armstrong. Armstrong ice cold early and in a major shock its 25-8 Hoops Training with 7:45 left in the 1st half. Then Damarius Cruz blows the roof off as he goes down the lane with a thunderous 1 handed dunk to put some life back in the Falcons. 29-15 Hoops Training with 5 minutes left in the half after the dunk. 33-21 Hoops Training at the break. Cruz the only offense for the Falcons as he had 15 points.

Trevor Gruis (Ellsworth) gets a couple of buckets for Hoops Training to keep the lead at 12, 39-27 after 3 minutes of the 2nd half. Its a 10 point lead with 13 minutes to play before Armstrong comes to life. Marquel Curtis with back to back blocks on the same possession leads to an Andy Seidlitz triple. Cruz finds Seidlitz for a layup and then gets another dunk plus a layin and Armstrong is all the way back to lead 52-49. That concluded a 19-6 Armstrong run over an 8 minute stretch. Gruis doing it all for Hoops Training down the stretch. He gets 2 buckets and then after an Armstrong turnover, gets the assist to give them the lead back 55-54. After a Curtis miss, Gruis dunks with 31 seconds left to give Hoops Training a 57-54 lead. Cruz with a clutch triple from straight away to tie it with 18 seconds left. Gruis doesn't touch it on the last possession and we go to overtime. Ted Vogt with an early bucket and Curtis with a free throw for the final 60-57 margin as Hoops Training doesn't score in the 2 minute OT. Cruz with at least 24 for the Falcons in the win.

Park Center def St. Paul Central 55-53 in the other game. PC missed a FT to give Central a shot at the buzzer to win it, but the 3 was off.

Session 7: Sibley vs Mpls Demons. A rout all the way. The Demons with only 3 1st half field goals. Sibley leads 27-11 at the break. More ugliness in the 2nd half as the Demons needs 7 minutes to get their 1st field goal of the half. So that's 4 field goals in 27 minutes. Yikes, nice job by Sibley on the defensive end. 45-21 Sibley wins. Bruesewitz with 12 and Halvorsen 11 for Sibley.

St. Peter def Mankato 60-47 in the other game.

Random thoughts from the days action:

• You can really tell the teams that use this for the regular season and those who don't. The dead giveaway is the teams that are running all of their regular season stuff (Armstrong, Sibley) and those who are just running around (Edison, Mpls Demons). Its one thing to build the system for the regular season. Its entirely another to build bad habits that have to be broken once the regular season comes along.
  
• This was my 1st chance to see Sibley's Mike Rostampour play. He didn't play varsity last year, but he's grown 5 inches in the last year and he's got the same motor that Mike Bruesewitz has. He was very active on the glass and around the basket all day. He'll be fun to watch this season.
  
• Chris Halvorsen's cold shooting continues to surprise me. He didn't shoot well when I saw him at the Twin Cities Summer Classic and today he was 5-16 shooting free throws. I'm not sure I saw him hit an outside shot all day.
• Sibley's biggest question this year in my mind will be point guard play. They really struggled with that today. Granted they had a kid missing there, but they used Maurice Hernandez and Mike Bruesewitz (especially vs pressure) to do some of the ball handling. Shows the skills that Bruesewitz has and how he'll be a nice fit for Bo Ryan. But it also shows that this is an area that the Warriors will continue to look at.
  

Rivals releases end of summer top 150

Rivals.com released their end of the summer recruiting period updates today. Read the entire rankings here. Here are the changes to Minnesota players (and others of note) from the last period (July 1, 2008).

Minnesota Players

• Royce White #19, Minnesota (down from #18)
• Trent Lockett #73, Arizona State (down from #53)
  
• Rodney Williams Jr #95 (down from #28)
• Sam Dower #119 (up from #130)
• Mike Bruesewitz #124, Wisconsin (up from #125)

Wisconsin Players

• Jeronne Maymon #46, Marquette (down from #42)
• Jamil Wilson #93 (down from #60)
• Johnny Lacy #110, Prep School (down from #97)
  

Other players who appeared locally this year

• DeMarcus Cousins #2, UAB
  
• DJ Richardson #57, Illinois (up from #74)
• Naji Hibbert #88, Texas A&M (up from #142)
• Darius Smith #113 (down from #80)
• Joseph Bertrand #116, Illinois (down from #81)
• Diamond Taylor #118, Wisconsin (down from #86)
• Michael Dixon #130, Missouri (down from #100)

U of M targets Eric Bledsoe and Matt Vogrich come in at #67 and #131 respectively.

The drop of Rodney Williams is totally shocking (read why here). Sam Dower was the only Wisconsin or Minnesota player to make a noteworthy move upward.

Rivals releases updates to 2009 rankings

Rivals.com has made another tweak to their 2009 top 150 before the July recruiting period (read it here). Here are players that caught my attention.

Minnesota
Royce White (#18, no change)
Rodney Williams Jr (#28, no change)
Trent Lockett (#53, big jump from #98)
Mike Bruesewitz (#125, up from #144)
Sam Dower (#130, up from #130)

Wisconsin
Jeronne Maymon (#42, moves up from #60)
Jamil Wilson (#60, drops from #58)
Johnny Lacy (#97, up from #99)

Others who appeared locally or will be playing at the Twin Cities Summer Classic
DJ Richardson (#74)
Darius Smith (#80)
Joseph Bertrand (#81)
Diamond Taylor (#86)
Michael Dixon (#100)
Nik Garcia (#109)
Jack Cooley (#147)

MN and WI stars move up in new Rivals 150

Rivals.com released their new top 150 today. I wrote previously that Royce White dropped out of the Scout.com top 100, but not the case with Rivals. Royce White moves up to #18, Rodney Williams to #28, Trent Lockett stays at #98, Sam Dower moves in at #139, Mike Bruesewitz in at #144. Some Wisconsin names of note. Jeronne Maymon continues to move up with a big spring as he comes in at #60 only 2 spots behind Jamil Wilson. Johnny Lacy is the other Wisconsin player in the list at #99. Players from last weekend Sabes Invititational are included as follows. DJ Richardson who played for the champion Illinois Warriors last weekend came in at #57 and teammate Darius Smith is #62. Michael Dixon of KC Pump N Run is #75.

The only Scout.com ranked player in MN is Rodney Williams Jr at #87. Wilson (#9), Maymon(#72) and Lacy (#91) are the Wisconsin ranked players. Richardson and Smith are unranked. Dixon came in at #47.

Royce White commits to the Gophers

Congrats to Royce White on his verbal commitment to Minnesota. While there were schools making a late run at him (UCLA for 1) with his big performance at the Kingwood tournament last weekend, Tubby gets it done by getting the top prospect in the 09 class. Rodney Williams Jr is the next target. Even if Tubby doesn't get Rodney, the recruiting class will still be largely viewed as a success. The general consensus was that the Gophers had to get at least one of those 2. With Trent Lockett and Mike Bruesewitz already off the table, it limited the options. Though Bruesewitz may be better in Wisconsin's system than the up-tempo style Tubby has played over the years.

Minnetonka vs Sibley Thoughts (AAAA Final)

Total 4 day tournament attendance 69,637 and 11,663 on Day 1 at Mariucci Arena. 6,953 for the A and AA finals. 10,272 for the AAA and AAAA finals. By contrast, the total attendance for the 3 day Wisconsin tournament was 94,100. Noah Kaiser guarding Anthony Tucker. Sibley starts out on a 12-0 run thanks to an offensive rebound dunk by Mike Bruesewitz and then he finishes the run at 12:36 with a monster 1 hand dunk driving from the left wing and 1. CJ Erickson finally gets Tonka on the board at 10:26 with a layup to make it 12-2. I could never imagine that Tonka team going scoreless for 7:34. Bruesewitz all over the glass in this game. Maurice Hernandez hits a sick stepback 3 on UT Udo @8:07 and its 22-4 Sibley. Tucker counters with an NBA 3 to make it 22-7. Hernandez makes a great hustle play which leads to an offensive rebound + 1 for Kavon Martin and holy mackeral its 33-11 Sibley with 3:16 left in the half. Peter Leslie is on the bench with foul trouble and Tonka goes on a 9-0 run capped by a buzzer beating 3 by Andy Burns and after all that its only 33-20 Sibley at the half. 6-24 shooting for the Skippers with 12 turnovers. Anthony Tucker with 7 points. Kavon Martin with 7 points in a very productive half.

Tonka carries the momentum of that 9-0 run to the 2nd half with the 1st couple of buckets of the 2nd half. But Hernandez and Bruesewitz counter and its 37-24 with 16:17 to go. Chris Halvorsen picks up his 4th foul with 16:02 to go. Now Anthony Tucker goes nuts. He gets 2 straight buckets and then a sick dribble move to get a 3 and 2 more with 12 minutes to go and its 41-36 Sibley. Marcus Garcia makes 1 of 2 to make it 42-36 with 11:41 left. Andrew Latzke gets a tough hoop, then a steal leads to a breakaway dunk for CJ Erickson and Tucker steals the inbounds and knocks down a cold-blooded 3 and out of nowhere its 7-0 in 20 seconds and Tonka leads 43-42. Sedrick McBounds gets a steal for 2 and Andy Burns knocks down a 3 after Bruesewitz misses 2 FTs and its 48-42 Tonka with 9:31 to play. All totaled its a 37-9 Tonka run over 12:45. Sibley gets the next 2 buckets from Martin and Leslie to cut it to 48-46. Tonka gets 10 of the next 13 to make it 60-49 with 4:10 left (17-24 FGs for Tonka in the half so far). Amazing how explosive they are offensively.

But Sibley doesn't go away. They get the next 6 points but hurt themselves with missed FTs (missing 6 in a row at 1 point in the 2nd half). They're within 5 after a Peter Leslie bucket, but then he goes down with some head or eye injury with 2:13 left and doesn't return. That's unfortunate as Chris Halvorsen pulls Sibley to 62-59 with 1:40 left and you don't have Sibley's floor leader out there. Especially when he led them in scoring with 17 points. But Tucker hits 6 of 6 from the line late and Tonka wins 68-59.

Anthony Tucker with 20 in the 2nd half to finish with 27. Kevin Lynch made the comparison to Dell Curry during the game. Could he be a Stephen Curry for Iowa in the future? Mike Bruesewitz played well on the big stage, gotta like how he can handle it and shoot it. The more I watch the more I like him and on the must see list for next season. He finished with 9 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks.

Woodbury vs Sibley Observations (4AAAA Semi #1)

Woodbury played Stillwater tough twice and then beat them in the tourney and gave CDH 2 tough games. Could they do the same with Sibley? Full house tonight at Concordia-SP for my 1st trip ever the Gangelhoff Center. I just wish the PA system was better as its useless to those of us on the top row.

The first half is gun slinging so its only appopriate we have Aaron "Machine Gun" Myers. Sibley gets out to a 24-17 lead at 8:35 of the 1st half thanks to hot shooting from Maurice Hernandez. UW recruit Mike Bruesewitz with a nice half as he gets 3 buckets in the last 6 and half minutes. 39-36 Sibley at the break. Bruesewitz with 10 1st half points. Hernandez with 11 on 3 3s. Myers with 4 3s keeping Woodbury close via 14 points. Soph Nick Quicksell with 10 points.

Sibley tries to get out on a quick start but Woodbury keeps it at 47-42 with 13 minutes left. Sibley goes on a 13-2 run with Peter Leslie knocking down a 3 after Woodbury left him in transition and Bruesewitz with a couple of buckets. 60-44 Sibley with 9 minutes left. Woodbury shows zone and Sibley has Bruesewitz out high moving the ball which is a nice demonstration of his versatility. Myers gets a bucket with 5:25 to go to pull the Royals within 8. But with it still an 8 point game at 3:39, 65-57, Sibley runs off the last 11 points breaking pressure to win 76-57.

Bruesewitz with 18 and Peter Leslie with 18 for Sibley. Hernandez with 15 and Chris Halvorsen with 10. They have all the parts with good point guard play from Leslie, solid role players in Hernandez and Noah Kaiser and good size and options up front with Bruesewitz and Chris Halvorsen.

Observations from Tonka/Sibley

My thoughts from Tonka at Sibley, what a game. Give Sibley credit for hanging tough.

Sibley Notes
Sibley JV coach got tossed right before the half of the JV game. Hair-trigger temper from the official, but the coach grandstanding to the crowd after he got tossed was pathetic. Just as players are held accountable for their Ts, so too should the coaches. Dasovich should discipline him for his actions with a 1 game suspension and he shouldn't have been on the bench for the varsity game.

Mike Brusewitz is the real deal. I wish all players had his intensity.

Peter Leslie had a nice game at the point, but he flops way too much on defense.

Jake Krueser. DNP-Varsity. Very surprised at this just because of the Varsity minutes he got last year. Played most of the JV game. You can see the talent is there, but defensively he still looks lost at times. I wonder about his morale after all the varsity minutes he saw last year and now he's been relegated to JV. Him and RJ Lennon played most of the 1st half of JV and Tonka's JVs blew them out.

With 3 starters and Krueser back next year, Sibley will be dangerous again. No fluke this year either with a heartbreaker at Osseo and taking Tonka to the limit. 4AAAA looks more brutal everyday with Sibley, Stillwater, CDH, Tartan and Central all together.

Minnetonka Notes
Tonka's talent level (JV and Varsity) is just criminal. JVs are loaded, Varsity bench could win many leagues. Just loaded.

Anthony Tucker, silent assassin. Up 3 in the last 2 minutes he hits a big 3 (that wasn't the greatest shot in the world, but when you're that good a shooter, you can say its never a bad shot) and gets a clutch assist which were the final daggers. With his quick release and their transition game, he'll get a ton points that way alone.

Sedrick McBounds didn't start and didn't play as much as I thought. Looks like he's still trying to find his place in the new system. But I can understand why coach Hedstrom would want to keep that starting group intact.

No Kyle Risinger, but lots of Cole Stefan. So much for my prediction there.

UT Udo looks like he's improved and he gave them nice minutes off the bench.

Best moment of the night. With 7 seconds left, Tonka student section chants "This game's over" and proceeds to walk out as a group right past the Sibley students. Absolutely classic.

Finally, do we really need hand-dryers in restrooms to be as strong as leaf-blowers? I thought I was going to get blown away.