2018 Tipoff Classic Notes

What a day at the 2018 Boys Tipoff Classic.  Its always the biggest day of the season and this year didn't disappoint.  Now granted there wasn't the gigantic big game appeal of past years so you didn't have the total zoo atmosphere we've seen in other years.  But don't let that fool you, there was plenty to see in the 16 games.  I took in bits and pieces of the east court and the full day on the main court.  The number of outstanding individual performances really stuck out to me.  Here's a recap of the day.


The Star Performances

• Tartan - Antwan Kimmons 45 pts
• Minnetonka - Cam Steele 43 pts (19 rbs)
• Rochester John Marshall - Matt Hurt 42 pts
• De La Salle - Jamison Battle 40 pts (11 rbs)
• St. Thomas Academy - Jack Thompson 37 pts
• Edina - Jack Middleton 34 pts
• Minnehaha - Jalen Suggs 34 pts
• Eastview - Steven Crowl 30 pts 
• St. Thomas Academy - Noah Chamberlain 27 pts
• Champlin Park - Bennett Otto 26 pts
• North Woods - Cade Goggleye 25 pts
• Prior Lake - Dawson Garcia 25 pts (15 rbs)
• Hopkins - Zeke Nnaji 25 pts (11 rbs)
• Lakeville North - Tyler Wahl 24 pts (12 rbs)
• Cretin-Derham Hall - Amari Carter 23 pts  
• Breck - David Roddy 22 pts (11 rbs)

Quick Notes from the East Court

• Brooklyn Center played without Maxsamus Wilson in their loss
• Big day for Cam Steele for Minnetonka but Mayo getting blown out by giving up 52 in the 2nd half was a surprise.
• Roosevelt was without Deszi Sims in the loss.
• Resume win for Perham over Caledonia in AA. This one was tight the whole way and would be really fun to see a rematch at state.
• Solid win for Edina over Tartan with Jack Middleton coming up large to offset a monster day from Antawn Kimmons.
• The late game between Minneapolis North and Eastview was an overtime thriller that Eastview pulled out.  Funny that the during that ending, the Minnehaha game was warming up.  The main court turned to watch the ending while the 2nd court turned to watch Minnehaha warmups.  North with no good answer for Steven Crowl in that game.

Main Court Notes
Game 1: #16AAA St. Thomas Academy 78 #3AAA Robbinsdale Cooper 77
Jack Thompson and Noah Chamberlain on fire in this one for St. Thomas Academy.  They combined for all but 4 of the Cadets 1st half points.  Cooper would trail by 16 with 9:30 remaining but make a big comeback.  The Hawks quickness should have been a major advantage but somehow they gave up a enough easy layups to fill the vaults at Fort Knox.  The dynamic Jalen duo for Cooper (Miller and Justice) held to 9 points each.  The post play of Damarri Bankhead was a nice highlight for Cooper in the 2nd half.

Game 2: #10AA Breck 57 #4AA Lake City 52
Lake City with 42 of their 52 points from the 3 point line (14 3s).  Nothing in the paint for the Tigers.  David Roddy was passive in the 1st half but took his play inside in the 2nd half where there was no answer for him.  Lake City's shooting would rally them from 12 down.  They had 1 last chance at the end but couldn't get a look at a 3 to tie.  Roddy sealed it with 2 free throws with 2.1 left.

Game 3: #1AAA De La Salle 70 #7AAAA Wayzata 49
De La Salle played without star PG Tyrell Terry who's out with an injured arm until sometime late in the season.  No problem for the Islanders though.  Jamison Battle goes absolutely nuts for 27 of his 40 points in the 1st half.  Terrific movement without the ball and a quick release.  Didn't help Wayzata that they couldn't but a shot either.  They hit only 3 triples and the 1st was until almost midway thru the 2nd half.  Wayzata would use a mid 2nd half run of 15-2 to cut a 26 point margin in half.  But Battle would slam the door with 7 straight points.

Game 4: #8AAAA Cretin-Derham Hall 81 #10AAAA Rochester John Marshall 64
Matt Hurt 42 points in this one but he doesn't have much help around him.  But I do like how they move him around in their 2-3 high offense to try to get different looks.  Curtis Jones with 7 3s for his 21 points in the game including 4 of them early as CDH jumped out to a 21-4 lead.  JM was able to hang around in the 1st half when PG Tre Holloman sat the last 13:35 with 2 fouls.  Amari Carter had 23 points.  The junior is reminding me of how Sy Chatman broke out last year.  Very similar usage and he's been very productive so far.

Game 5: #2AAAA Hopkins 78 #3AAAA Lakeville North 72
Hopkins with a 16-2 run late in the 2nd half to put this one out of reach.  Zeke Nnaji with a big 2nd half to lead the Royals.  Tyler Wahl largely cancelled him out. Tommy Jensen and Kerwin Walton each with 5 3s and 17 points to cancel each other out.  Andy Stafford with 16 points and nice offense to offset the 4 3s for Jack Rusch off the Lakeville North bench.  North tried to double Nnaji in the post but he handled that fairly well getting the ball out without turning it over.

Game 6: #6AAAA Prior Lake 70 #1AAAA East Ridge 62
Another day, another day of too much Dawson Garcia inside.  I had him for 25 and 15 just about all of them inside.  I'd still like to see his shot develop.  Robert Jones with another double double of 13 and 13.  Much better shot selection for him this week.  Kendall Brown and Courtney Brown each with 20 points to lead East Ridge.   Kendall Brown with steals early to generate his offense.  Courtney Brown struggled with his shooting at 6 of 21 on my sheet.  Ben Carlson no field goals but 10 rebounds on my sheet.  So with 2 of the big 3 struggling East Ridge was still able to stay close the entire way.

Game 7: #5AAAA Park Center 49 #4AAAA Eden Prairie 46
Offense was hard to come by in this one.  Park Center had 1 FG in the last 9:25 of the 1st half.  Eden Prairie had 1 FG in the last 7 min of the 1st half.  A 9-0 EP run during the half would push them to a 27-21 lead at the half.  The lead would still be there late.  Dain Dainja with a dunk off strong post position.  Then Park Center stops EP on a 1 minute possession and Emmanuel Tamba takes the turnover for a layup to tie the game at 44 with 3:20 left.  Big momentum swing there.  We come down to the end tied.  Park Center advances the ball and takes time with 9.6 left.  Eden Prairie comes out in a zone but blows the coverage.  That leads David Ijadimbola wide open at the top of the key for the straight away 3 with 2 seconds left for the win.  Eden Prairie threw the ball in and hit a 3 from halfcourt but it was after the buzzer.  Detavious Frierson with 10 early points including 2 3s and 16 total to lead Park Center.  Drake Dobbs 21 to lead Eden Prairie.

Game 8: #1AA Minnehaha 79 #16AAAA Champlin Park 68
Minnehaha would pull away with a 14-2 run in the 2nd half.  Once again the story was Jalen Suggs playing very well.  He finishes with 34 points and 16 of them from the charity stripe.  He drew a ton of handcheck calls With Lithgow on hand evaluating refs at courtside its no shock that the game was tightly called.  Chet Holmgren with 18 points, Prince Aligbe 17 as well for Minnehaha.  Bennett Otto was very good for Champlin Park too along with Jacob Johnson.  Johnson is a sleeper worth keeping an eye on.