Always a great day when you have the biggest day of the year. Even if I did have to pay Ryan James a 12 pack of Coke for Wisconsin losing Paul Bunyan's Axe. As always I took in the 8 games on the main court, sorry back court. Here are some sights and sounds.
Game 1: Robbinsdale Cooper 94 Andover 83
Andover coming off a quality win over Lakeville South just 12 hours earlier. Those effects showed up in the 2nd half as the Huskies just ran out of gas. Cooper wins the 2nd half by 14 to overcome being down by 3 at the break. Credit to the Cooper full court man style for helping to wear Andover down. No Bo Powell on the bench for Cooper. What a stretch for Andover's Ben Kopetzki. He put up a school record 48 in that Friday win and followed up with 40 in this one. Huskies without football star Sam Musungu as another scoring option. For Cooper, wing Michael Cooper (not to be confused with the former Lakers star) was outstanding. His rim attacks led him to 24 points. Guard Sam Massaquoi with 19 of his 30 points in the second half.
Game 2: Maple Grove 53 Cretin-Derham Hall 37
CDH with 2 freshmen and a sophomore in the rotation. That will help them in later years. As to now, this is the least talented team they've had in many many years. Plus you add in new faces for the standard early season adjustment period and the major struggle showed. Maple Grove grinds out the win as they have a couple of missing pieces.
Game 3: #2AAA De La Salle 69 #5AAAA Minnetonka 67
Tie game at half at 31. Andy Stefonowicz with a putback to put Tonka up 63-58 with 2:30 left. Nas Whitlock wasn't going to be denied. He goes triple, triple, hoop and harm and D reclaims the lead. 2 Tonka free throws tie it. Whitlock has it on the final possession. Tonka runs a 2nd defender at him. He pulls up from the right elbow, BANG, BALL GAME! Whitlock scores 18 of the last 21 DLS points in the final 7:30. He finishes with 34 in the win. Ibo El-Amin 15 of his 20 in the 1st half for Tonka.
Game 4: #9AAAA East Ridge 59 #7AAAA Osseo 52
East Ridge coming off a blowout loss to #2AAAA Lakeville North in their opener. U of Mary commit Alex Mattes 10 1st half points to lead East Ridge to a 25-21 halftime lead. They lead would grow to 10 with 3:45 left. Osseo attempted a late rally but East Ridge made 7 of 8 FTs late to close it out. 5 of the last 6 from frosh PG Cedric Tomes. He added a couple of 1st half 3s for team high 18 points on the day. The frosh is currently undersized but if he grows to be his brother's height (Sid played at Air Force), that will be dangerous. He already has deep sniper range and a great feel. UMD commit Trey Smith with 20 points to lead Osseo. He's the only rotation guy back from last year. But they have a very solid guard line up with Minneapolis South transfer De'Mari Larkins, Ty Swanson and Temson Denado.
Game 5: Hopkins 84 #10AAAA Bloomington Jefferson 76
The highlight matchup of the top frosh in the state, Jayden Moore, against the top junior in the state, Daniel Freitag, did not disappoint. It was Moore going nuts early with 16 of the 1st 20 Hopkins points. That put Hopkins up 6 midway thru the 1st half. Then Freitag came to life scoring 13 of the next 16 Jaguars points. Hopkins never really put this one away. Freitag 2 freebies countered by 2 bonus FTs from Moore. Freitag 2 and the foul to keep the Jags within 2 with 5:40 left. Jags so undersized and couldn't get critical rebounds. That allowed Hopkins a couple critical extra chances that made the margin too large. Freitag ends with 36 points and a couple of 3s in the loss. But most of his damage was done in the post as he got a favorable matchup with a smaller guard most of the day. Jayden Moore ends with 32 and that was with 7 missed free throws. Anthony Smith 2 important late hoops and 2 late FTs helped close it out. He ended with 23 points.
Game 6: #3AAA Orono 106 #4AA Minnehaha 97
Defensive stops optional in this one. Plenty of fun performances in this one. Isaiah Hagen outstanding with 30 points to lead Orono in the win. Soph Nolan Groves adds 3 triples and 26 points for the Spartans. Rolyns Aligbe was a beast inside for Minnehaha with 33 points. Fun work by Orono against the Minnehaha 1-2-2 press. Reverse the ball and throw it ahead for wing 3s. Fun full court offense and diamond spacing to start. Minnehaha rolled the dice with 9+ minutes left when Jerome Williams picked up his 4th foul. As is luck in those spots, he promptly picked up a charge and was gone with 9:02 left. Lorenzo Levy tried to pick up the slack in his absence but Orono made the plays to hold on.
Game 7: #6AAAA Eastview 81 #4AAAA Wayzata 75
The high profile juniors in this one did not disappoint. Wayzata's Jackson McAndrew 3 1st half triples. He ends with 5 of them and 21 points. Eastview's Jon Mekkonen 21 points as well. His shot continues to develop. He's an interesting tweener at the forward spot. Great minutes from forward Mario Adams allowed Eastview to take control in the 1st half. Wayzata went to an early foul strategy with 2 minutes left and it almost worked. Eastview got a little rattled and a couple of Isaiah Habte triples allowed Wayzata to get back within 1 possession with 1:08 left. But 8 of 10 FTs and a Wayzata turnover allow Eastview to close it out. Another nice game for Hayden Tibbits for Wayzata. The Trojans playing again without Myles Barnette which is a major piece out of their lineup.
Game 8: #2AAAA Lakeville North 68 #1AAA Totino-Grace 65
Nolan Winter with 3 triples and 11 points to help Lakeville North jump out to a 1st half lead. 8 point Lakeville North lead at half. Taison Chatman comes out of the game 1 min into the 2nd half. TG not phased as they rally to tie the game at 50 with 9 minutes left on Isaiah Johnson's 2nd hoop of the half. Patrick Bath with a quality night inside for TG. He finishes a pretty pick and roll and TG takes a 56-54 lead with 6:50 left. 2 Lakeville North turnovers. Those result in a layup on the 1st and an intentional foul on the 2nd. 13-4 TG run for a 63-56 lead with 4 minutes left. TG only converts 1 of the intentional foul free throws and gets nothing on the possession. Panthers rally behind a Hudson Vaith triple and then his layup puts the Panthers up 66-65 with 26 seconds left TG miss and a tough call on a blocked shot gives Lakeville North 2 final free throws Nolan Winter 16 of his 18 points in the 1st half, but very quiet in the 2nd half. Hudson Vaith came up big late and finished with 17 points. I see lots of similarity between him and Isaiah Hagen of Orono (see above). Both worth keeping a serious eye on. Jack Robison adds 11. Patrick Bath with 18 points to lead Totino-Grace. He was scoring inside and had a great blocked shot sequence on the defensive end. Isaiah Johnson adds 12.
Czar's Tip Off Classic All-Star Team
Jayden Moore - Hopkins
Nasir Whitlock - De La Salle
Isaiah Hagen - Orono
Rolyns Aligbe - Minnehaha
Patrick Bath - Totino-Grace
Czar's Tip Off Classic Breakout Team
Michael Cooper - Robbinsdale Cooper
Sam Massaquoi - Robbinsdale Cooper
Mario Adams - Eastview
Nolan Groves - Orono
Anthony Smith - Hopkins
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