2019 Big 12 Classic Review

The 2nd annual Big 12 Classic was held at Champlin Park.  9 ranked teams participated in the 6 games.  Here are some of the highlights.

Game 1: Edina 61 Osseo 49
Scoring was difficult for both sides for a large portion of the 1st half.  Edina not helped by star center Jacob Hutson having 2 early fouls.  But the Edina bench broke the ice with 10 points from Chandler Reeck and 2 late bombs from Marcus Crawford.  That would push the Hornets to an 8 point halftime lead.  Edina withstands late pressure to win.  Jacob Hutson and soph PG Sammy Presthus 14 points each to lead Edina.  Josh Ola-Joseph showed off his freakish athleticism for Osseo with 12 of his game high 17 points in the 2nd half.  Tariq Henry added 12.  The Osseo future is very bright as they used 7 sophomores in the rotation.  They'll struggle to score in the halfcourt but I can see them adding in more of their run and jump pressure to generate offense.

Game 2: #2AAA De La Salle 65 #1AA Waseca 49
This rematch of last year's class AAA title game looked somewhat similar to that game.  De La Salle's defense kept Waseca out of their offense.  Andrew Morgan with 24 to lead Waseca with a couple of 3s included.  Kyreese Willingham added 11.  For De La Salle, big story of the day was Cade Haskins with 6 3s and 26 points to lead the way.  A couple of those shots just rising up over smaller defenders.  Jalen Travis cleaned up the glass inside and added 17 points of his own in the battle with Morgan.  Waseca with 7 juniors and a sophomore for their rotation.

Game 3: #2AAAA Park Center 85 #6AAAA Hopkins 70
This one was a surprise in that it was basically all Park Center.  They jumped out to 12-2 lead that grew to 44-23 at the break.  Kerwin Walton battled thru what appeared to be a bum ankle to try to keep Hopkins close.  But Hopkins really couldn't find any other offense besides him (no Cornell Richardson in the lineup).  Dain Dainja huge day with 28 points and 21 points to lead Park Center.  Hopkins went with a small lineup and that didn't succeed against the bigger Pirates.  Josh Brown adds 4 triples and 18 points for Park Center.  Kerwin Walton 5 triples and 32 points to lead Hopkins.  Lanky wing Xavier White is a new name in the junior class to know.  He knocked down 4 triples for 12 points for Hopkins.

Game 4: #4AAAA Prior Lake 76 #5AAAA East Ridge 60
The individual matchup of Wisconsin commit Ben Carlson vs Marquette commit Dawson Garcia didn't disappoint.  Garcia got the better of the 1st half matchup as Prior Lake opened up a 12 point halftime lead.  Carlson would return the favor early in the 2nd half.  That plus a spurt from soph Kendall Blue would allow East Ridge to cut the lead to 1 with 10 minutes left.  Soph Malcolm Jones with big shots off the Prior Lake bench.  He hit a big jumper to break the momentum and then a triple to push the lead back to 2 possessions.  Garcia with a slow 2nd half start but would score 11 points in the last 6:30 thanks to a putback and a couple post buckets plus a couple of late dunks vs the press to extend the final margin.  Dawson Garcia finishes with 30 points and 10 boards on my sheet for Prior Lake.  Forward Malcolm Jones was a big extra option with 17 points off the bench.  Tyree Ihenacho with a quiet 12 points.  Ben Carlson with 19 points and 12 rebounds.  Really good game from soph Kendall Blue as well with 19 points.

Game 5: #3AAAA Eden Prairie 56 #1AAAA Cretin-Derham Hall 47
The pace in this one was all Eden Prairie. J'Vonne Hadley with early foul trouble saw him sit for the majority of the half and go scoreless.  CDH held Drake Dobbs scoreless in the 1st half.  Hadley would go for 4 FTs and a triple to start the 2nd half.  That was part of a 12-4 CDH run that would give them a 33-26 lead with 12 minutes left.  Dobbs with 7 straight points for EP to bring them back to even.  Hadley with a 3 point play for a 43-40 CDH lead with 6:58 left.  Eden Prairie closes it out from there with a 16-4 run to end the game.  Dobbs with a deep 3 off an offensive board to take the lead for good with 4:40 left. 8 free throws close it out.  Austin Andrews with 19 points to lead Eden Prairie.  Drake Dobbs with all 17 of his points in the 2nd half.  Tre Holloman with 17 points to lead CDH.  J'Vonne Hadley with all 10 of his points in the 2nd half.  Cretin-Derham Hall going with a John Beilein style 2-3 high shuffle offense that generated nothing.  It slows the pace and doesn't fit their personnel at all.  Very surprised they don't do more to let their stars make plays.  Insert Kevin Garnett burning Craig Sager suit here.

Game 6: #8AAAA Eastview 82 Champlin Park 50
Eastview got out to a 17-6 lead and it was a blowout the entire way.  52-23 at half, 81-35 at running time and only a 15-1 run vs the 3rd string keeps it under 35. Champlin Park didn't empty the bench at all which was incredibly strange.  Steven Crowl and Ryan Thissen outstanding for Eastview.  Crowl with 28 points and 7 rebounds on my sheet.  Thissen adds 25.  I continue to love his game.  Nothing like seeing a flare screen for 3 for Crowl and he knocked down 2 of those.  Fun set with Crowl getting ball at the elbow and then flaring after a DHO.  Francis Nwaokorie was the only bright spot for Champlin Park with 16 points.  Eastview quickly decided that they had to double team him in the post even with Crowl guarding him.  His strength was too much.  When Crowl sat, the big Champlin Park front line did beat up Eastview on the glass.