2018 Southside Showcase Notes

The 3rd annual Southside Showcase moved to Roseville and expanded to 2 courts for this edition.  Overall a fun day with some notable talent and fun games to take up the day. The box scores are often quite different than what I had on my sheet so I'll quote the official one.

Game 1: #6AAA Robbinsdale Cooper 72 St. Paul Central 69
After a tight 1st half, Cooper would take control of this one early in the 2nd. Cam Vaughn's offense comes alive and Daveonte Davis sits at 15:30 with his 4th foul thanks to Don Cheadle missing a flop by Vaughn in the post.  That's all part of a 17-0 Hawks run.  Only 1 Central FG in 6 minutes and they find themselves down 62-44 with 11:25 left after a Jalen Miller hoop.  But the tables turn quickly as Central counters with a 19-1 run.  Davis is on the bench for almost all of it but he comes back in with 4:30 left and promptly hits a 3 to tie the game at 63 late.  Bo Powell Jr with a late 3 point play for the lead for Cooper.  Luke McElroy has a 3 go around and out at the buzzer.  Dion Ford and Daveonte Davis carry the Central offense with 19 points each.  Ford was very active and when he gets to his left hand he's tough to deal with.  Cam Vaughn with 20, Jalen Miller with 18 to lead Cooper.  Once again liked the interior work of Damarri Bankhead for Cooper.

Game 2: #4AAAA Hopkins 77 Madison La Follette 63
The story here is simply too much Zeke Nnaji.  He goes for 35 and double digit rebounds.  Whenever Hopkins made a point of finding him in the post it was buckets.  La Follette with no size to deal with him.  Between Nnaji and Dane Zimmer, it was all Hopkins on the defensive glass.  But the Lancers guard play was solid and Hopkins was really sloppy turning the ball over.  Ben Probst with 4 3s and 20 points to lead La Follette.  Donneil Gray sat out 7 minutes of the 1st half after a nasty spill but he still finished with 17 points.  Troy Reeves added 3 triples and 17 points of his own.  Gritty performance from La Follette as they easily could have gotten blown out.  Andy Stafford and Kerwin Walton each chip in with 13 points for Hopkins.

Game 3: #5 D1 Madison East 59 Blaine 45
East improves to 9-0 with the win.  A 15-0 1st half run took care of things.  Blaine was pressured into a ton of turnovers and that was the difference.  Liked what I saw from junior Anthony Washington and once he adds a jump shot, he's got real upside.  He finished with 20 points.  Patrick Perrault with 15 points to lead Blaine.  Blaine played without top forward Jason Kaul.

Game 4: Spring Lake Park 66 #15AAAA Eastview 63
Spring Lake Park jumped out to a 16-3 lead thanks to 3 easy buckets off of turnovers.  Steven Crowl had 1st half foul trouble but in the 2nd half he led the comeback.  Eastview with an 18-4 run across the half to get right back in the game.  But it was Ryan Thissen would kept Eastview afloat as he's become the go to perimeter guy for the Lightning.  After a late missed front end, Eastview would get 1 last chance.  They draw up a great SLOB and get a wide open layup but miss it.  Steven Crowl and Ryan Thissen with 16 points each for Eastview.  Spring Lake Park gets 4 in double figures.  Gabe Myren and Blake Remme with 14 each to lead the Panthers.

Game 5: Burnsville 69 Benilde-St. Margaret's 59
Burnsville would have a 10 point 1st half lead but that was cut to 6 at the half.  The lead would grow to 11 but BSM would rally to tie at 43with just over 11 minutes left.  Burnsville would counter that immediately with a 12-0 run of their own and BSM would never be closer than 6 after that.  Hayden Johnson leads Burnsville with 17 points.  Julian Hutchinson adds 12.  Soph Derric Standifer with good minutes off the BSM bench at the point guard spot.  He leads the Red Knights with 15 points.  Dylan Drees with 14 and 2 other Red Knights also in double figures.

Game 6: #20AAA Columbia Heights 76 Minneapolis Patrick Henry 66
Columbia Heights would use a 14-3 run to end the 1st half and open a 15 point halftime margin.  Glentrell Carter would try to lead the Patriots back as they would cut the lead to 6 midway thru the 2nd half.  Carter would keep it going as the margin was cut the 3 with just over 4 minutes left.  Heights closes the door with 3 of 4 FTs from frosh Muja Burton and 5 critical points from Jarvis Wright.  A table snafu allows a Henry player to play almost 2 minutes with 5 fouls before he has to leave when he commits foul number 6.  Jarvis Wright 22, Muja Burton 15, Jordan Jones 14 for Columbia Heights.  Mark Cambell 14, Glentrell Carter 12 to lead Henry.