Shakopee at Burnsville Thoughts

Devon Knopke

We end the opening Saturday tour of The Kingdom with a trip to Burnsville for their game against Shakopee. Burnsville also redid their bleachers this season. The color scheme showing BLAZE on 1 side and BHS on the other side. And you can never go wrong as Burnsville has Pizza. Shakopee's Matt Zager injured a knee in their Tuesday opener vs Concordia Academy and didn't play tonight. So Sabers fielded a very young lineup (3 sophs and 2 juniors in the rotation) that featured no starters from last year and no one taller than 6'2.

Shakopee playing 2-3 zone all game. Burnsville has plenty of shooters so would this work? The major inside threat for Burnsville, Alex Wheeler with 24 and 21 points in their last 2 games, picks up his 2nd foul 2 minutes in and has to sit. The Blaze are rightly trying to use their athletic advantage to press the Sabers but while Shako did have turnovers, that press was the best offense Shakopee had as they got points when the broke it. 10 all at 13:30. Shako's Jason Perkins (Magic 15U Elites this summer) over the Blaze's Jeff Fallat (Magic 16 Black this summer) for a 3 pt play at 12:30. A Devon Knopke triple ties it at 13 all with 11:30 left in the half. Shako senior Matt Korthour heats up with a jumper and Ethan Petrill (another Magic 15U Elite player) with a steal for a layup and its 23-15 Sabers at the 8 minute mark. Wheeler back into the game and he scores to make it 25-17 at 6:30. Perkins with a kick out of the post and he gets it back reposting (something teams don't do enough of) and converts to make it 27-19 with 4:15 left in the half. Shakopee then starts giving the ball away like its a Christmas present. That lets Burnsville get on a run to end the half. Knopke with a floater, Landon Berge with a triple, Jack Ghizoni with a putback and 2 FTs from Berge give the Blaze the last 10 of the half over 4 minutes and its 29-27 Burnsville at halftime. Shakopee getting very little movement in their 4 out-1 in offense and doing a poor job of finding Perkins in the post. Korthour with 10 points for Shakopee. Knopke with 6 for the Blaze.

Korthour with the 1st 7 of the 2nd half for Shakopee and they lead 35-32 90 seconds into the 2nd half. Perkins in a couple of minutes later to try and guard Wheeler and he gets a bucket. Wheeler gets one of his own from Ghizoni after Perkins had to help and its 39 all at 13:30. Wheeler then gets his 4th foul against Perkins and back to the bench he goes. Perkins makes the free throws and then finds fellow sophomore Dylan Ulferts and Shako leads 43-41 with 12:40 left. Jeff Fallat gets the next 6 Burnsville points working around the rim and behind the zone via the short corner and with a foul line J (the other weakspot you want to find vs a zone). 47-43 Burnsville with 9:50 left. Nice adjustment by Shakopee get go to their power motion offense to get more movement instead of their 4 out. Korthour gets 2 jumpers out of it and Petrill chips in one of his own and Shakopee leads 49-47 with 6:50 left. Knopke with a jumper, Wheeler inside and a nice cut against the zone gets Ghizoni and easy bucket. Knopke then makes 2 FTs via an offensive rebound and Wheeler finishes a 9-1 run with a free throw. 56-50 Burnsville with 3:09 left. Shakopee strangely goes back to their 4 out offense. Korthour drives for 2 and then makes a jumper and the Sabers are within 56-54 at 2:20. Patrick Rogers makes a 3 right after that to extend the lead back to 5. Perkins kicks out against a Burnsville 2-3 zone (1 possession out of a Shako timeout) and Petrill knocks down the a triple to cut it to 59-57 Burnsville at 1:20.

1:20 left Shako down 2 and we have very interesting strategy at this point. Shakopee has only 3 teams fouls so they elect to give the fouls and start putting Burnsville on the line. I've seen teams run out of time because they waited too long to be in the bonus so this isn't crazy. On the 7th foul, the Sabers actually had a chance for a good trap. Jeff Plummer makes 1 of the 2 FTs 60-57 with 54.5 left. For the record it took 20-25 seconds off the clock to give the 4 fouls. You'd be surprised how long it takes when you need to foul. Knopke with a clutch make of 2 FTs on the 1 and 1 and its 62-58 with 34 seconds left. Perkins out of the game and out of a time out Shako runs a post up for Joel Hergott. Strange to me because Perkins was extremely effective inside tonight. I thought they would have run that for him. Scramble ensues and a tieup takes to the possession arrow which goes to Shakopee with 13.5 left. Timeout Burnsville. Knopke gives Shakopee life by fouling Korthour on a 3 with 8.4 left. Korthour makes the first but misses the last 2. Ghizoni misses the front end of the bonus with 7.3 and Shakopee rebounds. But they throw it away coming up court and they don't get a chance at a 3 to tie it. Knopke makes 2 FTs with 2.3 to ice it. 64-59 Burnsville wins.

For Shakopee, Matt Korthour finishes with 25 but those last 2 free throws were big misses. Jason Perkins with 9 and I thought Shakopee's best offense in their 4 out was when they went thru him in the post. Good passer and was looking for people cutting before looking for his move. That kick out and repost in the 1st half demonstrates a high basketball IQ. Matt Zager should be back Tuesday as a very tough schedule continues for the Sabers. They're at Mounds View on Tuesday. They play Blaine and one of the Lakeville schools in the Lakeville tournament and then January opens with games against Henry, Waconia, Armstrong and Edina. Yikes! Give the Sabers credit for their effort tonight as without Zager they were shorthanded.

For Burnsville, they're already 4-0 with home wins over good Lakeville North and Shakopee teams and a nice road win at Apple Valley. Devon Knopke with 17 points to lead the Blaze but the Shakopee zone did a nice job of keeping him out of the lane and creating for others. He was 7-7 from the line but 4 of those were late when Shakopee was playing the catchup game. Patrick Rogers with 3 more triples for 11 points. The Blaze really never got comfortable vs the zone and never got into their running game. Despite the loss of Tarell Clark, the Blaze still look like a force to be reckoned with in the Lake and section 3AAA. The Blaze have a couple of interesting games coming up as they host Lakeville South on Friday and then travel to Owatonna on Dec 22.

X and O of the Day
A very critical element to a press break, you MUST look to score. Otherwise, why would I not continue to press as the points against the press are the 1 thing that will make me get out of it. That's not me talking, that comes from Hubie Brown. Shakopee with a nice job of hitting middle and then passing the ball ahead out of the middle to get layups against the pressure during the first half.

Devon Knopke photo courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net

Steven Froemming from Steven's Sports Report was also at the game. Click here to read his account of the game.

Red Lake at MN Transitions thoughts

Kyle Noreen

Game 2 of this opening Saturday continues the modified gym theme of the day as I travel to the brand new gym at Minnesota Transitions for their game with Red Lake. The Wolves had a rude opening to the new gym as Minnehaha beat them last night by 15. No Taylor Sparkman in that game for the Redhawks as he's out with injury. Despite all that, MTS coach Sherman was still kind enough to let Minnehaha's coach Johnson in the building for the game. Short bleachers on 1 side and the place just echos. With their vocal fans, I expect this to turn into a huge home court advantage.

Points points points points points. 13-6 MTS in the 1st 2 and a half and newcomer Jerrell Washington already has 8 points. This game is a layup drill both ways. Red Lake is turning the ball over for tons of MTS layups and when they do get it past halfcourt Red Lake gets layups of their own. Kyle Noreen makes his 1st triple of the game, the Wolves get another triple, Washington with a tough layin and a dunk. 29-10 MTS and we're not yet 6 minutes into the game. Each Noreen gets a steal for a layup to push it to 47-18 at the 8:15 mark. 60-25 at 4:30. 80-35 at the half. That 80 point half is the 4th highest all-time according to the MN Records site You can always find that link in the MN Basketball Resources section on the left along with many other MN basketball links, just scroll down. 2 of the top 3 halves were last year and MTS set the record vs ECHO last year with 103. Red Lake wasn't happy with the officiating and I can't necessarily blame them, but their inability to deal with the MTS press really did them in.

Halftime brought us a performance by the always entertaining MTS Drum Line and Step Team. Very fun to watch and absolutely deafening in that gym. They get started in pregame in the bleachers on 1 end. Coach Johnson of Minnehaha said it well when he said "It keeps you from overcoaching". You can scream into the person next to you's ear and barely be heard.

Kevin Noreen with 25 and Kyle Noreen with 4 triples for 16 in the 1st half. Jerrell Washington with 27 in the half. 6'4 and he's athletic, can shoot and pass. Expect him to put up bigger numbers than Virgil Baker last year. I questioned if the Wolves would be able to find a 3rd scorer this season. No longer as Washington is the real deal. The bench plays most of the 2nd half. MTS wins 126-94. Kyle Noreen finishes with 21 and Jerrell Washington finishes with 31 in very limited 2nd half minutes. Kevin Noreen finishes with 40. You can track his progress toward the state scoring record in the Career Scoring Records section on the left, scroll down if you don't immediately see it. Robert Pemberton with 39 for Red Lake (most in the 2nd half). The Wolves make the return trip to Red Lake February 21st.

Kyle Noreen photo courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net.

Becker at Central thoughts

Ah Saturday, the best (and busiest) day of the week as I can tour the kingdom for multiple games. Since I saw Dylan Hale last night, I figured it would be only right to see his old school today. Therefore I begin this 1st full Saturday at St. Paul Central for their game against Becker. Central redid their gym this summer with a new floor and new black bleachers. Very nice. This was actually the 1st boys game with the new setup. LeDarian Horton sits out the 1st half for Central. One of Becker's better players Andrew Neuman (10.8 PPG last season) didn't play.

The beginning is ugly as we have multiple turnovers each way. 4 all before Taylor Smaller gets hot. A triple at 12 and then another at 11:20 and a 3rd, this one in transition at 8:37 to finish a 14-3 Central run over 3 and half minutes. Central getting on the offensive boards with Jordan Larson. Becker running "The World's Worst Offense" the Flex. Central having some success with some surprise traps in the full court. Becker settles down and counters with a 12-4 run of their own to cut it to 3 with 3 minutes left in the half. Larson with 2 buckets and another Smaller 3 give Central the last 8 of the half. 30-19 Minutemen at the half. Smaller with 12 on 4 triples. Larson 8. Michael Lindsey with 5.

LeDarian Horton starts the 2nd half for Central. Very active with a bucket and 2 fouls in the 90 seconds of the half. Nathanial Kado with back to back triples, Smaller with a layin, a jumper and a steal for a layin. You get the drift. He makes 2 more triples for a 64-33 lead with 9 minutes left. Central runs away in the 2nd half for a 87-49 win.

Becker was 5-22 last year and their prospects look bleak again this year. Junior Michael Lindsey at 6'5 is a respectable point guard and junior Brady Hannon is an OK post. 6'4 soph Dusty Wander is a nice post on the JV squad but beyond that there isn't much.

For Central, Taylor Smaller with 7 triples for 29 points. Caution flammable. Jordan Larson with 14 and he's a big body inside. With Michael Adams and Smaller the Minutemen have a quick backcourt with Horton and Larson up front to crash the glass and score inside. They have as good a chance as anyone to finish 2nd in the St. Paul City. Obviously Hale is a big loss as he'd be the clear goto guy with this squad if he would have stayed.

The Basketblogger talks Washburn vs Hopkins

I was with the Basketblogger last night for the Washburn vs Hopkins game. Here's an alternate perspective on what happened at the game from his perspective.

An all-star cast was in attendance at tonight's matchup between the #1 AAAA Hopkins Royals and the #1 AAA Washburn Millers. Former Hopkins center Anthony DiLoreto joined the coaching staff on the Hopkins bench. Usual suspects Rene Pulley and John Millea of the Star Tribune preps were present. Hoops stars such as Sam Dower, Jordair Jett, former Royal Aaron Anderson, and Megan Nipe also spent their Friday watching the clash of the titans. It was apparent that Holy Angels, Osseo, St. Bernard's, Centennial, Richfield, Wayzata, Roosevelt, and DeLaSalle all had representatives. A Hopkins boys basketball game ranks somewhere up there with the Minnesota State Fair and a Twins World Series. An official who resembles Al Sharpton and is known for phantom calls led the zebras.

For the Basketblogger, it was my first time attending a game guarded by a metal detector and a warning sign against pot smoking. It was also my first live event this season. In my 15 years of watching high school hoops, I first witnessed someone botch the national anthem. Maurice Cheeks wasn't there to rescue her, but the instrumental version was available as a backup. Every school ought to have one on hand for situations like these. The P.A. system also malfunctioned after Dylan Hale's introduction, which stifled the crowd's adrenaline. The only pre-game festivity that did not disappoint was the all-beef hot dog.

Even without DiLoreto, Hopkins held the height advantage and won the tipoff. As the Czar predicted, the Royals ran their characteristic backdoor pass to Trent Lockett on the opening possession. The Millers saw this, broke up the pass, but failed to capitalize on the opportunity on its end. They still drew first blood en route to a 6-2 lead. Hopkins' first basket was a Royce White dunk. Dylan Hale, former Central Minuteman and Texas State-bound , responded with a thunderous jam of his own. The crowd was electrified on both ends. Mike Broghammer (Formula 44) stuffed one in to give Hopkins its first lead. Washburn immediately responded with a trifecta to retake the lead, but it was the last lead they enjoyed. Gopher football recruit and Miller center Ra'Shede Hageman dunked the last ball of the half, but racked up his third foul at the 6:18 mark. Tubby Smith and Tim Brewster should have also been in the building for their future Gophers. At the break, the score was 48-39 in favor of Hopkins.

The Millers closed the first half with an 11-5 run and opened the second half with an 8-0 run. It was a 3-point game at one point and Royce White missed four straight free throws in that stretch. Hopkins stretched the lead to 17, but Washburn again closed the gap to single digits with the help of Trent Lockett's first technical foul (for hanging on the rim after the fifth dunk of the game). Hopkins still held on. Washburn coach Reggie Perkins conceded close to the one minute mark, but the drama kept unfolding. Ra'Shede Hageman CAUGHT a Trent Lockett layup as Lockett hit the deck with no call. On the next possession, Al Sharpton T'd up Lockett for who knows what, and he was ejected by virtue of his second technical and fifth personal foul. David Stead and the MSHSL will take action by suspending Lockett for the next matchup against Bernard's, and I don't expect him to catch the same break as the Williams Wall did. The Royals could probably rest two starters next game and still win by double figures against the Bulldogs. The technical foul free throws and subsequent possession kept the final score close at 91-82 Hopkins. Washburn had MANY looks from beyond the arc but only hit six threes. Despite not having the size against the Royals, they crashed the offensive boards and disrupted the passing lanes. But the foul trouble, turnovers and too many missed dunks and three-point shots cost them the game.

Raymond Cowels III (RC-III), though scoring late in the first half, led all scorers with 22 points. Royce White followed with 21. Trent Lockett had 14 points and three blocks. Broghammer had a solid post game with 11 points and two blocks. DJ Peterson was the fifth Royal to score in double figures with a ten point performance off the bench. Cedric Martin of the Millers got to the line a lot, making eight free throws and leading the Millers with 18 points. Ra'Shede Hageman scored 16 with two blocks and Dylan Hale added 15.

Hopkins will next face Class AA St. Bernard's and Jordair Jett while Washburn meets St. Paul Johnson.

The Czar's thoughts on the game can be found here.

For more thoughts from the Basketblogger, you can read his hoops blog here.

Hopkins at Washburn thoughts

Trent Lockett

A fun full house tonight at Washburn. Not as many people for the sophomore (or JV if you wish but this was battle of mostly sophs) game as you might have thought. They missed a heck of a sophomore game and the Washburn crowd especially got into it like it was David vs Goliath. A sign of the night had Washburn taking a bad shot that resulted in a Hopkins 3 and then knocking down a prayer for 2 at the halftime buzzer to take a 32-29 lead. The Washburn JVs extended it to 37-29 before Hopkins went on an 18-0 run for a 10 point lead but Washburn came all the way back to win a really entertaining sophomore game 64-57. Of note, Siyani Chambers started but only played the 1st half so he could be available for varsity.

Why should you care? You can name a star in every grade for the Royals. Seniors, there are bunch (Royce obviously). DJ Peterson as a junior. Marvin Singleton as a sophomore and Siyani Chambers as a freshman. Add Riley Carpenter to that list in 8th grade. 6'4", long and athletic, good looking shot. Remember the name, in the Hopkins system, he should become a really good player that you'll hear about again.

Some points that I noted during the game.

• Strange to see 2 techs on Trent Lockett. After the 1st about midway thru the 2nd half, he sat and I thought he'd stay out but he came back in with about 2 minutes left and picked up the 2nd one with 16 seconds left in the game.
• The play that finished with the 1st technical was terrific. Lockett taps a pass away, chases it down jumps in the air going out of bounds and finds Marcus Williams. Williams gets right back to Lockett who finished with a dunk. Don't know if Lockett called for hanging on the rim or saying something but T seemed questionable.
  
• Interesting that Hopkins only played 7 guys. You could tell Coach Novak thought this was a big game as soph Joe Coleman and frosh Chambers didn't see any meaningful minutes (1 minute for Coleman to end the 1st half with Peterson in foul trouble). Chambers 1 minute at the end of the game after outcome was clear. DJ Peterson got the backup point guard duties for the brief rest that Williams got in the 1st half.
  
• I'd be interested to see what Washburn shot from behind the arc as they were ice cold. If Noah Sheppard would have been hot, it could have gotten interesting. But Washburn settled for too many 3s. With talent of their guards, I would have liked to see them attack the basket far more than they did.
  
• Bad 1st half rebounding for Hopkins as Washburn really outhustled them for way too many offensive rebounds.
• Interesting that with Royce and Broghammer in the game, they play lots of 3 out-2 in offense. Otherwise they're playing 4 out-1 in on offense.
• Last year Hopkins early in the year tried to trap at half court after free throws then they got away from it as they didn't do it well. Once again this year they're trying some of that.
• Neat sequence late in the game. Washburn with a small lineup in the game (No Hageman). Noah Sheppard fronting Mike Broghammer. Royce White with a great job flashing to the high post and going over the top to Broghammer. But Sheppard blocked the shot attempt.
• Fun to see some of the possessions with Royce guarding Cedric Martin. Interesting choice there by Hopkins.
  
• At least 4 or 5 missed dunks by Hageman and Royce in this game. Won't see that much.
• Love the Washburn uniforms. Black with blue numbers and text and then the trim is alternating orange and blue. Sharp look.

X and O of the Day
Nice simple box set on the Baseline inbounds from Hopkins. Both ball side players cross-screen and then the low screener back-screens for the high screener looking for a backside layup. Nice variation of the screen the screener for a backside inbounds layup concept.

Trent Lockett picture courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net

New Life at St. Agnes Thoughts

Shhhhhhhh! Be very very quiet. No, Elmer Fudd is not in the building. I'm watching St. Agnes shoot a free throw. You can hear a pin drop in this little band box known as Bandas Hall. I was going to do the Park Center vs Edison game but I saw Edison in fall league and they were bad and I'll see Park Center later in the season so a late minute change of plans. I wanted to see New Life before I see them again vs Maranatha later in the season. So that leads me to this matchup of Subsection 4A East foes. Northwestern (college that is) in the building watching.

Forward Robbie Anderstrom with the 1st 7 NLA points of the night for a quick start. 7-6 NLA at 14:54. St. Agnes with a long offensive possession that results in no points and NLA converts with a James Housworth layup. NLA gets another bucket to conclude an 8-0 run over 4 minutes. 15-6 NLA. Leevon Perry into the game for the 1st time for the Aggies and he immediately scores. 17-10 NLA with 10:10 left in the 1st half. Anderstrom with a jumper to cap a 9-2 NLA run and the lead is 28-15 with 4:25 left in the half. The Aggies go to a 1-2-2 defense to slow NLA down. About 5 straight possessions of Dalton Sturdevant going solo in a 1-4 low set gives him 4 points. Perry with a jumper and Dakari Davison with a steal for 2 at 20 seconds left, Anderstrom with a putback with 5 seconds left. Philip Butler beats the 1st half buzzer for St. Agnes and NLA's lead is only 35-30 at the break. Anderstrom with a monster 1st half doing it all on both ends. 18 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks and a steal. St. Agnes with 8 players scoring in the half.

Perry into the game 2 minutes into the 2nd half with the Aggies down 9. He immediately scores over Anderstrom. Ryan Furlong with a steal for a layup at 15:15 and he's got the 1st 6 NLA points of the half. Aggies go back to their 1-2-2 zone. Anderstrom at a weak spot in the zone, the foul line, finds Sam Penwell for back to back layups. Anderstrom with 2 of his own off an inbounds play and the lead is 47-32 with 13 minutes left. Perry with another jumper but Penwell counters with another layup. Anderstrom with a jumper at 10:45 to expand the lead to 17, 54-37. Ryan Furlong with a triple at 7:30 to make it 60-39. 25-9 run over 10:30 to start the 2nd half. Davison with a layin at 5:45 to finally get St. Agnes another person in the 2nd half scoring column. Perry had all 9 Aggies points in the half until that moment. That ends the evening's drama. NLA wins 70-49.

For St. Agnes, Perry with 13 points to lead the way. There's some quickness here, but overall I think they'll struggle. With 4 of the starters being seniors, next year could be really long. Davison is only a frosh and starting and they do have a wide bodied freshman Joe Humphrey getting minutes. Those 2 should make up a big part of the Aggies future.

For NLA, Anderstrom did everything tonight. At 6'6, he played out in their Dribble Drive Motion while 5'11 Sam Penwell was playing the inside position in the offense. 1st possession of the game, Anderstom took the ball to the hoop against a slower defender and got a 3 point play. Nice move by coach Linton to take advantage of the versatility. He even moved over to guard Perry in the 2nd half after he got hot and took a charge. Ryan Furlong with a big 2nd half at the point. Not the quickest guy but he took care of the ball and made plays. Nice job by NLA as a whole of taking care of the ball in what can be a very turnover prone offense if not done well. You can see how well coached they are in it.

X and O of the Day
An interesting set from St. Agnes is our X and O segment today. 2 guards, a post at the foul line and 2 guys on the blocks. Ball side block breaks out to the wing to get the entry. Ball side guard screens the post defender for the post to curl down to the ball side block. The back side guard screens for the back side block in what becomes a de facto double down to the top of the key. St. Agnes used this to look for Joe Costanzo inside.

The Czar goes down to South

The Czar went down to South, he was looking for a player who could seal the deal.
South was way behind, their defense ready to go for steals.
I saw this player on the dribble and dropping like it was hot.
Czar jumped up from his seat and said 'Tayler let me tell you what'
I bet you didn't know but I'm a point guard too
And if you're fair but just don't care, I'll make a fool of you.
I'll bet my crown of gold against your school's logo, cause MG is better than you.
She said, "That's right I'm Tayler and we'll win
so I'll take your bet cause I'm one of the best that's ever been"

That of course is a parody of the famous Charlie Daniels tune "Devil went down to Georgia" which was played tonight at South for their girls matchup against Maple Grove. Needless to say that account (except for lines 1,2 and 5) are complete fiction and are intended for humor only. No boys game tonight but if you've been watching closely you'll see I've been tracking Tayler Hill's progress to the state's all time scoring record so I decided to check in on that.

10-9 Maple Grove with about 11 minutes left in the 1st half. They stretch the lead to 24-13 at the 5:15 mark. Hill heats up to bring the Tigers back. 9 of her 11 first half points in a 15-2 South run. Maple Grove gets the last bucket of the half and we're tied at 28 at the break. Hill 11 points on 4-11 shooting. Ellen Edison hot from outside and Hannah Reichel getting it done inside for 9 points each for Maple Grove.

Sadiqah Jihad with 2 FTs with 15 minutes left gives South a 36-32 lead. Maple Grove then explodes. Jennifer Field with a 3, Edison with a J and the Crimson have the lead back. Then Edison with a triple, Field with 2 FTs, Edison again with a jumper, Field 2 more and Julie Kruse puts back an offensive rebound to conclude an 18-1 Maple Grove run. Coach Ahmil Jihad going Phil Jackson on us and not using a timeout during the run. 50-37 Crimson with 9:30 to play. Tyisha Smith with 1 of her many steals and a feed to Hill for a layin that finally breaks the run with 8 minutes left. 7:30 for South without a field goal as they couldn't make anything but a layup. Makensie Becker with her 2 points on the night at 6:45 makes it 52-41 Crimson. Hill then with a 3 pt play at 5:39 and 2 FTs at 5:18 to cut the lead to 6. Stephanie Davision with a triple to push the lead back to 9 and South takes time with 4 minutes left. 55-46 Maple Grove.

The Crimson then can't get a call and turn it over on 6 of 7 possessions with the other being a block. Hill with a layin and then an assist to Mallory Cramer makes it 55-52 Maple Grove with 2:15 left and you wonder if the Crimson will hang on.After 1 of 2 FTs by Maple Grove, Jihad misses a 3 but the Crimson turn it over. Hill responds with 2 more free throws with 42 seconds left and the Crimson lead is only 56-54. Field with a clutch 1 and 1 after South called a timeout with 27 seconds left to push it back to 4. Hill goes right back down for a layup with only 7 seconds coming off the clock. Davison fouled and makes the 1st but misses the 2nd with 15 seconds left. Edison gets the offensive rebound though. South finally tracks down Field and fouls her with 9 seconds left. Now its the double bonus, but Field misses both free throws. South rebounds and elects not to use their final timeout. Hill comes down puts up about a 25-27 foot triple at the horn and its no good. Maple Grove with the major upset 59-56.

Maple Grove came in 0-2 with double digit losses to very good Hopkins and Wayzata teams. South was coming off a win against a ranked Lakeville North squad in the Breakdown classic on Saturday in Becker. South couldn't make an outside shot to save their soul. Hill finishes with 28 points (17 in the 2nd half) on 10-22 shooting, most of those layins. Tyisha Smith with 8 as South once again couldn't find a 2nd scorer. Ellen Edison with a great game and leads Maple Grove with 16 points. Jennifer Field with 13 for Maple Grove.

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.

Lakeville South upsets Owatonna

Over the (Minnesota) River and thru the snow to Lakeville South we go. Cats vs Dogs tonight as the Cougars take on the #9 Owatonna Huskies. A few coaches braved the elements tonight along with Steve Froemming from Stevens Sports Report (my thanks to him for the trip). Use the link at the bottom of this scroll to read his account of the game.

Owatonna forward Kyle Melcher starts the game with a nice spin from the left elbow for a drive and dunk. Alex Richter with a nice head fake for a layup and another layup from Blake Shay give Lakeville South a 6-4 lead at 14:40. Owatonna takes a 14-10 lead but then Lakeville South goes to a 1-2-2 zone with Richter on top. Shay with a pretty up and under + 1 starts a 12-0 Cougars run over 4+ minutes. 22-14 Cougars at 4:50. Melcher finally breaks a Owatonna field goal drought of almost 7 minutes with a bucket at 2:20 to cut the lead to 24-20. Shay with back to back buckets before Owatonna gets the last 4 of the 1st half. 28-24 Cougars at the break. Blake Shay with 9 pts and 3 rebs for Lakeville South. Kyle Melcher with 10 points and 9 rebounds at the break on my unofficial scoresheet.

Owatonna shows a 1-2-2 3 quarter court press to start the half but doesn't get anything from it. A Sam Peters triple and then a Melcher layin at 15:23 gives Owatonna the lead back at 29-28. That's a 9-0 run over 4 minutes across halftime. Peters hits another 3 and Owatonna leads 34-32 at 14:15. Alex Richter then gets it in gear for the Cougars. 1-4 FTs after questionable calls on Owatonna's bigs (Taylor Steinbauer and Melcher), then a layup off a nice pass from Riley West. 35-34 Lakeville South at 11:45. Vaughn Thada and Melcher with 2 free throw and a Steinbauer putback surround a Shay bucket. 41-37 Owatonna at 7:30. Richter scores, Melcher to Peters for a layup, Richter puts back a miss for 2 more. Steinbauer turns an ankle on the putback and leaves for a while. Spencer Busho with a top of the key 3 and Owatonna leads 46-41 at 5:15. Richter with 2 free throws, Shay feeds JD Mehlhorn for a bucket and then a beautiful lob to the posted Richter for 2 more. That gives Lakeville South the lead back 47-46 with 2:40 left in the 2nd half. A Thada free throw ties it at 47 at 2:14. On the next Owatonna possession, they try to run a nice set post up play against the South 1-2-2 but throw the pass away. Shay gets a very good post look on the next possession but can't convert with 1 minute left.

Owatonna appears to be playing for 1 shot so the Cougars extend their 1-2-2. Melcher is left wide open at the foul line and he kicks out to Busho who knocks down a 3 with 25 seconds left. 50-47 Owatonna. The Cougars come out of a time out and run a flare screen for Calvin Otting who gets fouled on the 3 point attempt with 11.1 left. He makes the 1st 2 but misses the 3rd. Steinbauer gets fouled on the rebound but he misses the 1st free throw. Timeout South, their last timeout. Steinbauer makes the 2nd and here comes South. West pushes the ball up the right wing and passes to Richter at the foul line extended. He spins into the lane and makes the tough shot to tie it at 51 with 2 seconds left. We go to overtime.

In the OT, West with a steal which he converts with a tough runner for the 1st points of the OT. 53-51 South with 3 to play. Melcher a sweet pass out of the right block to a cutting Thada on the backside for a layup. 53 all at 2:15. West with a drive for a nice layin at 1:15 and the Cougars lead again 55-53. Melcher counters with 2 FTs at 1:04 to tie it at 55. South holds the ball and takes time at 18.3. They inbound from the right wing to West out of a set that looks like a Shay post up on the right block. West takes the ball to the left and finds Shay open on the left wing off a double screen. He buries the 3 with 4.9 to play. Owatonna takes 2 timeouts only to have Richter steal the inbounds. He makes the 1st of 2 free throws to seal a wild 59-55 Lakeville South upset over Owatonna.

For Owatonna, Melcher was absolutely outstanding. 17 points and I had him for 18 rebounds, not to mention the assists. The lefty did it all. Sam Peters with 11 including clutch 2nd half triples. He was one of the guys used at the top of the offense for shooting in the 2nd half when Thada was moved to a wing. Nice adjustment by the Huskies. This is a very nice club. Don't be surprised to see them back in March. They've got size, shooters, can defend and they have a legit goto guy in Melcher.

For Lakeville South, sophomore Alex Richter with 18 (16 in a great 2nd half by my count) and 7 rebounds on my sheet. Shay with 13 and 6 rebs, not to mention the 2 clutch assists late. Sophomore Riley West with 10, but he forced half a dozen bad shots by my count. He made a couple of tough ones and you have to admire the aggressive streak, but he'll learn to harness that with more experience.

Click here to read Steve's perspective.

08-09 Week 1 Review

So Week 1 is in the books for the 08-09 Season. Here's what caught my eye.

Thursday:

• Player of the Week: Chris Palmer of Bethlehem Academy. 37 and 19 in the 4 point win at SW Christian. They played without Jordan Clark in that game too.

Friday:

• Zach Towle with 47 at home for Concordia in a tough 1 point loss to Mahtomedi.
• Dyami Starks continues to fill it up. 28 points in a 2 point loss to Eastview.
• Charlie Baker 30 and Jameson Parsons 16 in Eagan's win over Park. They go to Eden Prairie on Tuesday.
  
• St. Anthony's juniors Derek Jahner with 26 and Josh Pratt with 20 playing well in the 4 point loss to Irondale. Rayveen Banks with 16 for Irondale in the win.
• Rob Daul with 22 in Hill-Murray's win over Holy Angels. Nice win for Hill-Murray.
• Jordan Hughes with 36 in Henry's win at Totino-Grace. The Patriots host Hopkins on Tuesday.
  
• CHOF on the road gets 29 from post Nate Fiscus and holds Jordan Smith to 3, but Orono still wins 66-62.
• Deron Murphy 23 points, but Prior Lake gets 20 from Ben Snyder to beat Kennedy by 7.
• Dajon Newell with 20 as Lakeville North puts up 92 on Woodbury. North's frontline with Bemidji St recruit David Berthene gets the attention, but Newell had a big summer for the MN Fury South 16U team.
  
• Edison back to back losses as they lose to DC Everest after a loss to Blake on Thursday.
  

Saturday:

• Josh Figini with 46 for Chisago Lakes in their 9 pt OT win at Princeton.
• 54 all was the halftime score of the Como Park at Forest Lake game. Final was 99-85 Forest Lake. I never expected a Forest Lake game with that many points. 6 in double figures for the Rangers (Zack Riedeman with 20). Jordan Jackson and Reggie Ray with 25. Joe Conley with 10. Ray and Conley are guys I pointed out from last year's Twin Cities JV Game.
• Nice win for North (St. Paul that is) over Roseville. Josh Bennett with 19, Charlie Choinere with 18. Mike Muscala with 19 in the loss for Roseville.
• No Jay Sewer in the box score for Richfield in their win over Rochester Century. Philip Freeman with 24 in the win.
  

Did you miss any of the games I covered during week 1? The entire list is below.

12/2: Eau Claire North at La Crosse Logan
12/3: Milwaukee Washington at Madison LaFollette
12/4: Eden Prairie at Cretin-Derham Hall
12/5: Sibley at Apple Valley
12/6: Blake at Trinity

My schedule for week 2 can be found on the right side in "The Czar's Schedule" section. My preview of week 2 will be posted on Minnesota Preps tomorrow. I'll have the link to that in the "Czar's MN Preps Article" section on the top right. Remember to check out the 08-09 Season section on the left for schedules, current polls, my season previews and much more. "The Czar's Season Totals" page in that section is up to date with all of the teams and buildings I see and a few quirky tidbits from my season. Looking for info on some of the top local players? Scroll down and on the left side you'll find my 08-09 Featured Players section which has links to my scrolls on those top players.

Blake at Trinity Thoughts

Day 9 and game 14 of The Czar's Season takes me to the Ergotron Athletic Center at Trinity (at River Ridge) for a matchup of section 4AA foes as the Tri-Hawks take on the Blake Bears. Of if you prefer, the MN Select (Select coaches Sean Kruger and Brent DeKok are on the Bears staff) vs the law firm of Buri, Buri and Buri (Trinity coaches Nick Buri and assistants John and Joe Buri). A very good Trinity crowd on hand. Not terribly big but very supportive of their team. Always nice to see the class of the MCAA fans. These teams were a combined 11-41 last year and bounced by big margins in the 1st round of last year's 4AA tournament. Blake comes in 1-0 and this was Trinity's opener.

Trinity playing a 1-2-2 matchup zone, something we don't see much (Lakeville North's 1-2-2 matchup comes to mind). Blake showing man-man with a diamond press and also some full court man pressure. Trinity uses 4 free throws for an early 4-2 lead. Blake then goes on a 13-0 run over 3 minutes and they lead 13-4 at the 14 minute mark. Blake goes to the bench and uses a 1-3-1 zone with them. A nice changeup that Minnehaha would also use last season. Trinity uses an 8-0 to get the score back to 13-12 Blake at 10:50. The runs continue as Blake gets the next 10 points, 5 from David Nash, for a 23-14 lead at 7:18. Blake gives up a couple of layins by not getting back on defense and Mark Olander of Trinity gets 2 free throws via an offensive rebound. 26-21 Blake at 5:15. Nash with 6 in a row for Blake for a 9 point lead at 2:36 (34-25). Luke Gross with 2 free throws at 1:10 and then a 3 to end the 1st half for Trinity. Blake leads 36-30 at the half. Tony Kuplic 6 points for Trinity. David Nash with 13 for Blake but he's only 5-11 from the line.

Olander with a nice give and go on an inbounds play early in the 2nd half and Trinity is within 4. Nash with a bucket and then a 3 and Tim Zellmer buries a 3 as Blake goes on a 14-2 run over 4:15 for a 54-38 lead at the 12 minute mark. Nash with a couple of buckets at 4:30 to push the lead over 20. Blake goes on to win 74-52.

Mark Olander with 10 points to lead Trinity. 12 turnovers vs the Blake full court pressure really hurt them. The Tri-Hawks started 3 sophomores and a freshman with Olander. 6'4 Aaron Gregg was one of those sophomores. He looks like he can turn into a nice MCAA player for them. Long, can handle a little bit, they used him in the middle of the press break where he was effective. It will be interesting to see if this young group can bring the proud Trinity program back to the elite in the MCAA.

For Blake, David Nash with 24 points. A very nice start to the season for the Bears with 2 section wins. Blake was 5-22 last season and 3 of those wins were by 2 points. Only 4 of their 22 losses were by less than 15 points. The Edison win was big as the Tommies played the Bears in the 1st and last games of Blake's 07-08 season and won both by 27 and 24 at Edison. Blake beat Edison Thursday 64-55 at Blake. Granted these are 2 bad opponents but a win is still a win. All of this despite only 5 practices this season. At the JV level, keep an eye on 6'2 athletic lefty 8th grader Kebu Johnson.

X and O of the Day
Nice little baseline inbounds set from Blake. Bigs at the elbows, shooter on the backside block. Ball side block steps out to the corner for the inbounds pass. The 2 bigs screen down for the shooter at the top of the key. If your inbounder is also a shooter, you can curl that 1st shooter and then have the inbounder run off those 2 screens.

Steven Froemming from Stevens Sports Report also joined me at the game. You can check out his account of the game on his site.

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

Aldrich in the lottery?

ESPN's Chad Ford is taking a look at players for the 2009 NBA draft. In an article yesterday, he talks about Cole Aldrich (Jefferson 2007) having a shot at being an NBA lottery pick this summer if he continues his current streak of improvement at Kansas. Ford considers him a 1st round pick now. Impressive how far he's come from when he 1st started at Kansas.

08-09 Opening Night Thoughts

Ethan Wragge

Opening night of the 08-09 MN Boys Basketball season takes me to Cretin-Derham Hall for their matchup against football rival Eden Prairie. Plenty of stars in attendance tonight. Coaches from Como Park, Eastview, Stillwater and St. Thomas Academy in the house. Al Harris from 43 Hoops in to watch some of his summer players and my 1st Rene Pulley sighting of the season (for humor value, I'll track this in The Czar's Season Totals).

Both teams man-to-man on D. Brett Ervin vs Seantrel Henderson and Clay Horne vs Ethan Wragge. Nice matchups there. Brett Ervin with a nice turnaround over Henderson, Jack Klukas (nice summer with the MN Wrath and Waconia star Shelby Moats) off the bench to knock down a 3 and then 3 straight layups give Eden Prairie a 19-5 lead with 11:30 left in the half. But Eden Prairie goes cold and with Henderson on the bench, CDH gets 10 in a row capped by a Horne triple to cut the lead to 19-15 at 6:10. The other 7 points of the run from hot shooting Gus Gehlen. Wragge then picks up his 2nd foul at 5:35 and Henderson runs thru a screen to get his 2nd at 4:13 and both go to the bench. Marc Miller finally breaks a drought of 7:30 for EP. Henderson's replacement Peter White (JV star last year) gets 2 late post buckets. Brett Ervin gets a postup bucket to end the 1st half. EP leads 29-23 at the break and it should be far more. Ethan Wragge 0-7 FGs including a great block inside by Horne on one shot midway thru the half, 0 pts and 2 rebounds. Tim Miller with 9 points, Brett Ervin with 6 at the break. Henderson 0 pts, 4 rebounds and the team was -11 with him on the court, +5 without him. Only 10 points from Gehlen kept CDH in the half.

Wragge finally gets a make to start the 2nd half. 1 of his first 10 shooting tonight. Henderson with his first bucket at 15:30 and its 33-29 EP. CDH then falls apart. Wragge a steal for 2 and then a triple. Marc Miller with a triple. Tim Miller with a layup and Zach Nelson with a triple. 18-5 EP run over 5 minutes makes 51-34 EP at 10:30. That run was the ballgame. Wragge with another hoop and then another EP three. Klukas with a triple of his own and a putback to push the lead to 63-40 with 5:45 left. Henderson sat the last 9+ minutes. He only played about 6 minutes of the 2nd half and he wasn't in foul trouble. EP wins 73-59.

For EP, great balance. 19 points from Tim Miller. Ethan Wragge with 11 on 4-14 shooting and 6 rebounds. Marc Miller also with 11 points. Brett Ervin and Jack Klukas with 8 points. No standout athletes, but they out hustled CDH to all the loose balls in the 1st half (especially for offensive rebounds). They don't make mistakes and if you leave somebody, they knock down shots as they had 8 triples tonight. Very sound in their man defense too.

For CDH, Gehlen goes bagel in the 2nd half to finish with 10. Clay Horne with 11 points. Remember the name Raijon Kelly for the Raiders. The 6'2 soph PG had 18 points tonight (most during garbage time to be honest) but he reminds me of Rajon Rondo. Long arms and athetlic at the point and he's a decent shooter at that. The 2010 class of Elliot Owusu, Henderson, Horne and Gehlen (and Jake Frey) deserves the attention it gets, but Kelly is a real keeper too.

X and O of the Day
The X and O segment today looks at a quick post up set by Eden Prairie. 3 out, 2 in set with Ervin and Wragge on the blocks. Enter the ball to the wing on Wragge's side. He'll look to post, if he doesn't get it he'll set the UCLA screen and pop out. On the pass back to Wragge, Ervin ducks in on the weak side block looking for the ball. Nice little set. You have to respect that UCLA back screen. You'd like to sag to defend that and Ervin's post duck-in, but Wragge's ability to knock down that shot puts the defense in a tough spot as all the guards are out beyond the arc.

Ethan Wragge photo courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net

Washington at LaFollette thoughts

The Czar continues his adventure in the Old Kingdom as he joins the Crown Prince for a battle of Wisconsin top 10 teams. Milwaukee Washington bringing their talented squad to Madison LaFollette. We've got our 1st band of the year as the LaFollette pep band does a nice job. Too bad that there wasn't a better crowd. Tons of coaches and scouts in attendance (UW and Winona State were in the house).

Washington has the #2 soph in Wisconsin, Queyvn Winters, but he doesn't start. That's the level of talent we're looking at. LaFolllete star point guard DJ Fuller with 7 points in the 1st 4 minutes and LaFollette is out to a quick 10-4 lead. Washington turns up the D and gets 8 points in the next minute for an 11-10 Washington lead. LaFollette's Brett Klinkner knocks down a 3 at the 1st quarter buzzer and LaFollette leads 17-16 after 1 quarter of play. Fuller with 2 fouls.

Washington star Antone Byrd (#7 Sr in WI) steps it up in the 2nd quarter. He knocks down a deep 3 with 3:30 left in the quarter to cut a 6 point LaFollette lead in half. Fuller picks up his 3rd foul on a charge moments later and goes to the bench. Byrd with an offensive rebound for 2 free throws and then he finds freshman Tony Mayfield for a triple to tie it at 34. Winters gets a post bucket late in the half but LaFollette's Chris Redman gets another late 3 for LaFollette and they go to the break ahead 40-38. Washington only 3-10 at the line. Redman with 11 points in the half after a cold start for LaFollette. Fuller quiet the last 12 minutes of the half as he has 8 points at the break. Byrd with 10 points. Terry Taylor with 11 nice points for Washington.

Winters starts the 2nd half and he gets the 1st 3 Washington points of the half. LaFollette goes on a quick 8-0 run over a 1 minute stretch (5 Fuller points) and they lead 50-44 with 3:15 left in the 3rd. Both bigs for LaFollette have 4 fouls so they go small. Klinkner with triple triples for LaFollette and the lead balloons to 11 (14-1 LaFollette run). Byrd goes coast to coast to end the 3rd and the lead is 61-54 LaFollette after 3.

Byrd shows up huge in the 4th. A drive for 2 and a nice pullup for 2 more but the lead is still 7. Fuller makes a nice pullup of his own and its 69-58 LaFollette with 6 minutes left. Washington then goes off. 2 offensive rebounds for 4 points, Byrd with a steal for 2, a block leads to a Terry Taylor 3. Fuller with a bad miss followed by a Byrd spin for 2. 2 missed FTs for LaFollette and Winters gets 2 on the block with 3 minutes left to give Washington the lead 71-69. Byrd with 2 FTs, Winters again inside and Jonathan Macklin is blocking everything in sight on the other end. LaFollette has a 3 go in and out with 90 seconds left that would have cut it to 3. Washington makes their FTs late and they win 84-73. In the last 6 minutes, Washington outscored LaFollette 26-4 (including 25-1 run).

Antone Byrd was a stud for Washington. 29 points and he dominated the 4th quarter as the ball was in his hands the entire way. Very smooth lefty and he didn't make bad mistakes. Soph Queyvn Winters showed nice athleticism, an ability to handle and score some inside. A tweener right now, but a very nice prospect. 10 points for him. Terry Taylor with a terrific game at the point as well. I had him for 23 points on the night. As stated before, Jonathan Macklin was a man inside. He reacted to shots inside and out and got on the glass. Dominant 2nd half.

Chris Redman was cold early for LaFollette, but he got it together after the 1st quarter and finished with 20 points. DJ Fuller hot early, but didn't do much after that. 16 points for him and I wanted to see him do more in the 4th. Surprising that they didn't go back to the small lineup in the 4th quarter after its success in the 3rd. LaFollette played with out their best big Deonte Thompson and that hurt them tonight. They are fun to watch with their Dribble Drive Motion offense. Its a good fit for Fuller as it will really give him opportunities to create for himself and others.

Eau Claire North at La Crosse Logan thoughts

The Czar begins the 2008-2009 boys season with a trip to the Old Kingdom. We come to you tonight from the Emperor's Palace as the Emperor and I visited Paradise City (nice GNR music tonight), NOT! Actually, its the world's worst basketball facility as Eau Claire North visits The Swamp (La Crosse Logan). Longtime North coach Pat Hammond sporting the left arm sling tonight. This was Logan's only regular season loss last season when they made the trip to the Doghouse. Logan lost 4 starters while North returns their entire front line, is ranked in the top 10 and is a favorite to win their section. While it was known that top bigs would be on display (Evan Anderson and Tyler Brown of North, Trevor Jorgenson of Logan), my sources and the Emperor in pre-game warmups called out North's 6'6 F Andy Kleist. Would they be right? To the game we go.

No Tyler Brown in the starting lineup as he's still recovering from a bum knee, but he does play the last 4 minutes of the quarter. John Callen gets the 1st 4 points of the game for Logan to get them off to a quick start in the 1st minute. North uses their 1-3-1 zone with Kleist on top to run off the next 13 points over 4 and a half minutes. Kyle Schmidtknecht (I'm only typing that once) gets fouled throwing up a half-court prayer at the horn and makes 2 of the 3 free throws to pull Logan within 15-11 after 1 quarter of play.

Kyle S then heats up with back to back triples (one from Jorgenson) in the 1st 1:40 of the 2nd quarter. That ends a 13-4 Logan run over 4 minutes and gives the Rangers a 17-15 lead. Tyler Brown out with his 2nd foul at 5:28 of the quarter. With Matt Eggen gone to the bench for Logan with a couple of fouls (he had the assignment guarding Anderson), Jorgenson takes over guarding Anderson. Anderson promptly turns and gets a layin over Jorgenson for a 19-18 North lead at 4:40. Kyle S knocks down his 3rd 3 of the quarter and then gets a stl for 2 free throws and Logan is back on top 23-19 with 4:20 left in the quarter. Kleist then gets the last 8 points of the half in the last 3 minutes thanks to a couple of easy buckets. North leads 27-23 at the break. Kleist and Kyle S with 13 points each in hot 1st halves. Jorgenson is 1-6 shooting for 2 points. Anderson with 5 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Evan Anderson comes out more aggressive in the 2nd half and gets 4 of the 1st 7 North points. That gives North 15 straight points in 5 minutes. Jorgenson gets a tapin but Kleist gets a putback of his own to conclude a 22-2 North run over 7:15. 41-25 North with 3:45 left in the 3rd quarter. Logan doesn't threaten again. Kleist sits out most of the 4th quarter with 4 fouls. Anderson gets his 1 highlight of the night in the 4th quarter with a nice baseline spin + 1 from the left block against Jorgenson. Jorgenson makes a 3 right after that to cut the lead to 12, but North wins easily 57-45.

Andy Kleist with 20 points to lead all scorers for North, great game. A nice player on the offensive end and on top of the 1-3-1. Evan Anderson with 9 points (3-6 FG), 6 rebounds and 4 blocks. While they tried to get him post looks, he got very few low touches. While he was a major presence on the defensive end, his offense showed a couple of post moves that looked like they were in slow motion. Tyler Brown with quiet numbers of 6 points (3-5 FG), 4 rebs, 2 blk in about 16 minutes of action but North was a much better team with him on the floor. His ability to step out and make shots out to the arc really stretches a defense and he's a smart player. All reasons why he was the Big Rivers player of the year last year. Central Michigan will be very happy with him.

For Logan, Kyle S with 19 points on 5 triples. His hot shooting early in the 2nd quarter made the game very interesting for a while. Trevor Jorgenson finished with 8 points (3-11), 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. Logan didn't play well against the 1-3-1 and Jorgenson was often stationed at the high post and got very little time on the block. Anderson game him a fit during one sequence on the block getting a block and then a challenge on another shot that Jorgenson didn't convert. His energy level just wasn't there tonight, a very lethargic performance. Logan tried to apply full-court man pressure vs the North guards but couldn't generate any offense out of it.

X and O of the Day
In today's X and O segment, we look at Eau Claire North's 1-3-1 halfcourt trap. They do an interesting thing with their 1-3-1 trap. In their initial alignment with the ball out at halfcourt, their baseline runner plays the middle spot and the big (Anderson in this case) is back protecting the basket. They stay in this until the ball gets passed below one of the wings. The runner goes out and gets that pass (like the baseline runner normally would in the 1-3-1) and now he's the bottom guy running the baseline and the big guy assumes the standard middle position of the 1-3-1 defending the lane. You get the big guy back protecting the basket and usually your quickest player in the middle looking for steals and it naturally flows into the regular 1-3-1 rotations.

The 2008 Preseason is thankfully over

My final girls game leading up to the start of the MN boys season takes me to Henry to see them take on North Branch. North Branch gets a late layup to win the 2nd half 16-14, woo who. None of it matters as the first half saw Henry go without a field goal until 1:10 left in the half for a halftime score of 40-3 North Branch. Needless to say we had 9 full minutes of mercy rule tonight. Props to the Henry PA guy for announcing that the clock would be running. North Branch wins 56-17.

So 7 out of 9 girls games were bad and 1 of the other 2 would have qualified if North hadn't made a 14-2 run to steal their game vs Andover. So enough of that. We begin the real season with boys games the next 2 days in the Old Kingdom. I'll join The Emperor for the 1st of many games with him this season for a battle of top Wisconsin bigs as Evan Anderson (#1 WI JR, top 40 nationally going to Wisconsin) leads his Eau Claire North squad into the Swamp to take on Trevor Jorgenson (#3 WI Soph, offered by UW-Milwaukee) and La Crosse Logan. Then a special game on Wednesday with the Crown Prince as a loaded Milwaukee Washington squad travels to Madison LaFollette for a battle of top 10 teams.

Then I hustle back here for Eden Prairie at Cretin-Derham Hall on Thursday night, Apple Valley hosting Sibley on Friday and I can't get Wisconsin out of my system as DC Everest (Wausau, WI) finishes their night/day adventure in the cities at Simley on Saturday afternoon. Should be a very interesting week. If you haven't read my MN Preps column yet, take a look (see the link in the upper right). This week's column is a closer look at 7 of the top games of the week. I think you'll enjoy it.

2008 Pat Paterson Championship Day

Championship day at the Pat Paterson tournament at Hamline featured a couple of premier girls matchups thanks to yesterday's results.

Game 1: Rosemount vs Highland Park
Fouls the story in this one as the 1st half had 11 fouls for HP to 1 for Rosemount at 1 point. This allows Rosemount to get out to a 29-19 halftime lead. HP doesn't threaten in the 2nd half. Laurie Tyson is too much inside with 21 points. The Irish roll to a 60-42 win.

Game 2: Centennial vs Central
Now to the 1st of 2 big games of the day. Nice Centennial crowd on hand for this one. The Cougar guards doing a nice job of not turning the ball over vs the Central pressure. Fouls a factor here as Megan Waytashek and Megan Nipe both pick up 3 in the 1st half for a not deep Cougar squad. But Central can't take advantage as they get only 1 FG in an 8 minute stretch that overlapped the bench time for the Megans. Bridget Schuneman was a force inside with 14 points (despite 4-11 FT) to push Centennial to a 37-26 halftime lead. Iowa recruit Theairra Taylor only 3-14 shooting for 10 points.

In the 2nd half, Centennial went to a 1-3 with Schuneman in the middle of the triangle and the 5th player guarding Taylor man-man. Centennial uses this to maintain a 46-36 lead with 12 minutes left. Sam Robinson-Ricks back at the 11 minute mark with 4 fouls and she immediately sparks a run. She gets a putback for a 3 point play followed by a steal for another 3 point play. Kiana Johnson then makes a three and Central is only down 49-47 with 9:30 to play. That concludes an 11-3 Central run over 2:15. Megan Nipe breaks the run with a bucket and then Schuneman takes over. She gets a post 2, kicks the ball out for a 3 and then scores again on the block for a 7-0 Centennial run over 1:24 and Central doesn't threaten again. 60-49 Centennial with 4:09 to play and they go on to an impressive 68-56 win. Central did a poor job on offense in the 2nd half of settling for outside shots instead of penetrating the big gaps in the Centennial 1-3. Schuneman finishes with 23 points. Theairra Taylor with 19 but she only shot 6-24 from the field. We will see this theme again later.

Alonia Chess of HP, Laurie Tyson of Rosemount, Theairra Taylor and Jen'Von'Ta Hill of Central, Megan Nipe and Bridget Schuneman (MVP) made the all-tournament team for the east bracket.

Game 3: Andover vs North
North struggled early in this one as Andover got out to a 19-6 lead at the 10 minute mark after an 11-0 run. North fights back to be down 33-29 at the break. After a back and forth 2nd half, Andover gets out to a 67-60 lead with 2 minutes left after a 4 minute North drought with no field goals. Briana Edwards makes a 3 to cut the deficit to 4. Angelic Moore with a runner to cut to 2 with 90 seconds left. 8th grader Allina Starr gets a stl for a 3 point play and North now leads 68-67 with 1:15 left. Tyseanna Johnson gets a layin with 31.2 left to push the lead to 5 after an Andover turnover and miss. North outscores Andover 14-2 in the last 2 minutes to steal one 74-69. Briana Edwards was all everything in this game for North. 19 in the 2nd half, 32 for the game to keep North in it until the final run. Elle Abeler with 16 for Andover.

Game 4: Hopkins vs South
In what might be a state championship preview, South took on Hopkins. No Tyisha Smith again for South. This game was a major disappointment. Tayler Hill finally scores at 9:30 to get South on the board after Hopkins got the 1st 18 points of the game. 38-11 Hopkins at the half. Hill with 9 of the 11 points on 3-18 shooting. Hill then goes alone for a 15-3 South run over the 1st 5:20 of the half to cut the lead to 15 but the outcome was never in doubt. Hill gets the 1st 17 South points of the 2nd half. Only 8 points for South besides the 29 from Hill. Hopkins in a 55-37 blowout that wasn't as close as the final score looked. 10-34 shooting for Tayler Hill and 20-25 of those shots could be called bad shots. A nice moment for Hill as they awarded her the game ball for scoring 3000 career points, but they awarded it at 2998 according to my math. Oh well.

All tournament team for the west bracket. Briana Edwards of North, Elle Abeler of Andover, Tayler Hill and Jenny Houle of South (I would have taken Allina Star of North instead of Houle), Binghamton recruit Kara Elofson and soph Brianna Williams (MVP) of Hopkins.

X and O of the Day
This one is easy. We have to look at Centennial's 1-3 zone vs Theairra Taylor. Small guard on top, 2 wings and a post player in the middle of the 3. The middle post player guards the lane. The wings have everything below the foul lines on their side and the point has everything above the foul line from sideline to sideline. Centennial didn't really do much to deny Taylor the ball either. Hubie Brown would tell you to have that star use the back of the zone as screeners to get open on the baseline. You can also use this defense against a post player by having a guard play a big man on man and always front since there's always a big post patrolling the lane.

The 08-09 Saga Begins

Shopping? Who cares. Prep Bowl? I don't need no stinking Prep Bowl (though congrats to go out to Caledonia and Houston for their state titles from my old stomping grounds). We've got real live regular season basketball and the Czar is fired up (in more ways than one which we'll get to momentarily) and ready to go. Therefore it's only fitting that we begin the big 08-09 adventure at The Birthplace of Intercollegiate Basketball, Hamline's historic Joe Hutton Arena, for the 9th annual Pat Paterson Memorial Thanksgiving Tip-Off Tournament. If you believe the Pioneer Press Metro top 10, we have the top 4 teams in the metro playing in all 4 games. Here we go.

Game 1: Centennial vs Highland Park
George Washington signee Megan Nipe doesn't start but comes off the bench rather quickly. After a quick 17-4 Centennial lead HP cuts the lead to 25-13 with 8:21 left in the 1st half. Centennial then runs HP out of the building to a 53-23 halftime lead. We get our 1st look at the mercy rule in the 2nd half as Centennial rolls 79-38. Megan Nipe and Megan Waytashek with 20 points each. Interesting concept with the mercy rule. If you're at the line with the clock running and game ends, you get your free throws with everybody off the line. Centennial will need to defend better in the halfcourt but they do understand how to run. Nice job passing the ball ahead (as opposed to dribbling) to get easy baskets.

Game 2: Rosemount vs Central
Nice job by Rosemount to survive a bunch of 1st half turnovers vs the Central pressure to be within 36-32 at the break. Central struggled vs the Rosemount 2-3 zone but a nice adjustment by coach Taylor to put Theirra Taylor at the top of their zone offense to get more touches in the 2nd half vs being a baseline runner in the 1st half. The 2nd half is a rout as Central wins 78-49. Taylor with 26 points. Rosemount with no answer for her. Keep an eye on Central frosh Jen'Von'Ta Hill. 16 points in the game, a quick guard who should develop nicely.

Game 3: South vs Andover
South gets the 1st 18 points and Andover goes the 1st 9:15 without a field goal. Taylor Hill with 20 points at the break. She goes on to have 39 points in a 69-25 rout. The bigger story here is the mercy rule. I'll leave that until the end. Tons of scouts in attendance for this game and the Central game.

Game 4: Hopkins vs North
Mpls North started 2 8th graders and played another. Hopkins is relentless with their defense and the waves of players they bring at you. After seeing these 4 teams, give me Hopkins. They took control of the game with a 16-2 run in the 1st half. They never really blew the game open but the outcome wasn't in doubt either. The Royals go on to a 78-59 win. Rodney Williams and Freddie Burton of Cooper make a 2nd half appearance. Marcus Williams and Marvin Singleton in the front row watching their Hopkins schoolmates.

X and O of the Day
A new segment in my game articles. In this segment we'll describe and talk about an X and O element from the game. In today's segment we look at "X" from Hopkins. Start with a Box Set. Bottom guard pops out to the wing for the entry pass. Weak side high post dives through the lane and then out to the ball side corner. The backside post then sets a back screen for the ball side high post looking for the lob on the cleared out backside for an easy 2. Nice variation of the play where the point guard enters the ball and then goes and gets the handoff for the lob off the high post.

Why the Mercy Rule doesn't Work
As I mentioned I'm fired up. I made my distain for the mercy rule clear back in April. Here's some hard data to back that up. In the Centennial game, they emptied their bench with 5 minutes left and running time (clock ran all 9 minutes that it could run). Thanks to 2 fouls and the substitutions that went with them, 90 seconds of playing time was lost on those 2 items alone. 30%+ of the playing time for the end of the bench was lost. I was an end of the bench guy and loved my seat, but if we were up 20 with 4 minutes left, that was a rare chance for me to get some PT. These kids have worked too hard and see too little PT to have their time taken away. After all, kids join the team to play games, not practice (especially on Thanksgiving day, that's right AI, we're talking about PRACTICE!, not the game, PRACTICE!)

Then again, you could be Ahmil Jihad (South head coach) who left Tayler Hill in with 4 bench players all the way to the final buzzer. Let's just say I wasn't the only fan "unhappy" with that. I don't know if I'm more appalled by that or the fact that the officials and scorer's table didn't implement the mercy rule. With 3:25 to go, South made 2 FTs to push the lead to 61-25 (36 pts which should trigger the mercy rule). Running time NEVER happened and its inexcusable, especially when it was used in the 1st game of the day. Here's the exact text from the MSHSL site.

"When the point differential reaches 35 points or more, with less than nine minutes to play, the clock will go to running time. The clock will only be stopped for time-outs (team or official). Regular timing rules will be used if the point differential drops back to less than 30 points. Running time would resume if the differential goes back to 35 points. This rule must be enforced in all varsity games – the rule is not optional."

Today was a picture perfect example of why the mercy rule is a total farce, it doesn't prevent coaches from showing terrible sportsmanship by not pulling starters soon enough or not at all which is the exact problem. In fairness, Coach Jihad isn't the only one who's guilty. Far too many instances like this have happened in the 5 years I've followed metro basketball. I would suggest that the coaches association take this up with their members because its gotten out of hand and the solution lies with the coaches setting the example for their kids.

Welcome to Season 2

Welcome to the 2nd season here at Twin Cities Boys Hoops. Back bigger (insert your own joke here) and better than ever as the August redesign of the site allows me to bring you far more information. The Czar kicks off a busy season with the Hamline girls tournament this weekend and the annual pilgrimage trip to the Old Kingdom early next week to start my boys season before diving head first into the Minnesota boys season on December 4th.

I'll be previewing each week for my weekly Minnesota Preps article. Links to my most recent article and all the articles I've written for Preps can also be found in the upper right in the Czar's MN Preps Articles section. Take a look too at my All-Breakout Teams.

You can use the links in the 2008-2009 Season section on the left to follow the season. Use the Schedules & Results link to find direct links to schedules and scores for all the metro teams that I follow. The Section & Conference Standings link gives 1 click access to standings for the 11 sections and conferences that I follow. The Current Polls link follows 2 local polls, the state poll and 3 regional/national polls. I'll be updating that page every week as new polls are released (usually they're all out by Wednesday).

The 08-09 Featured Players section gives you 1 click access to all the scrolls I've written about some of the top players in the metro. The Career Scoring Records section will be updated game by game to follow the progress of Kevin Noreen and Tayler Hill as they attempt to break the all-time state career scoring records.

If you scroll further down the page, you'll find the MN Basketball Resources section with links to conference website, the MSHSL, section assignments and state records. You'll also be able to search and find links for many of the sites and other blogs that I follow.

Speaking of following, if you read the blog regularly, become a follower. Scroll down and on the right side you can join the The Czar's Followers. Also, in the Blog Information section you can add the blog to a reader for those of you who understand RSS. This is a great way to follow many blogs at once. I personally use Google Reader to easily follow a bunch of blogs without having to go check them 1 by 1 for updates. Just as simple, get my scrolls via email by using the last link in the Blog Information section. I don't give your email address away so you don't have to worry about spam.

All of that plus the same game coverage you've come to expect with a couple of added twists. The Czar's Season Totals link in the 08-09 season section is the fun tracker I use to count all of the different games, locations, teams, food and beverage and anything else of note that I see during the season (e.g. Thrown shoes, kids climbing backboards, Kevin McHale sightings etc). At a minimum I update that every Sunday, but I will be trying to update that more often this season. You can always find out what games I'll be watching by checking out my schedule on the right side. Look for plenty of Hopkins games here as a team like that doesn't come along very often.

If you enjoy the site, spread the word and feel free to say hello if you ever see me at a game. With 17 D1 recruits in the 2009 class, this should be a terrific season.