2023 Hard Work Region Finals thoughts

I took in the 2023 Hard Work Regional finals.  Initially I focused on openers at Kennedy and then it was on to bracket games at Wayzata.  Here are some of the moments and players that stood out in what I saw over the weekend.

1) Northstar Titans Wynia 63 Pride Roc Gold Elite 43 (1st round 17u)

I like what Spring Lake Park wing Andrew King brings to the table.  Hits open shots, competes on the glass, willing passer.  Fun to watch.  He finished with 21 pts and 9 boards in the win.

2) MN Rise 16s 79 MN Heat Academic 16s 74 (1st round 16u)

For Rise, Rochester Century PG Ricky Wengert isn't the biggest guy out there but what he lacks there he makes up for with toughness.  Makes open shots, pushes the ball and is a general pest.  21 points in the win.  Wing Ganden Gosch 20 points in the win.  Strong wing player from Mankato East.  Another ball handler, Nolan Ginskey from Owatonna did a ton of ball handling too allowing Wengert to play off the ball.  Very calming influence to go with 14 points.  Add that group to wing Jack Gross who's playing up with their 17s and you have plenty to watch.

For Heat, De La Salle's Nathan Merrell hit 5 bombs in the 1st half.  Then Cody Stapel (HLWW) kept the shooting going in the 2nd half.  The Blake duo of Ian Schnabel and Omar Kaba was very productive inside.  Schnabel battled on the glass and Kaba gave them 4 interior buckets.  Washburn guard Cooper Carlson solid production with 12 points as well.

3) MN Fury Zurn 57 World Hoops Elite 32 (2nd round 17u)

The guard play for Fury again solid.  Max Woods solid with 11 points.  Jalen Langsy 14 points with 4 3s to break open a close game at the half.  The defense kicked in by allowing only 9 second half points.

4) MN Select Ohnstad 71 MN Fury Shepherd 46 (16u round of 16)

Fury couldn't get much of anything to fall in this one.  15 point game and Select ran away from there.  Great balance as they had 7 guys with at least 8 points.  Tons of shooters for that Select squad.

1 court over, SW MN Stars 16s gave Howard Pulley all they wanted with a 6 point 2nd half lead before Pulley rallied to win that one by 10.

5) Team FSA 2026 65 D1 MN Coker (16u round of 16)

This Team FSA squad won the NHR state tourney at 15u and played well in the 16u bracket at the Comets Shootout back in April. So no shock they made a nice run here.  Tons of guard play here and it didn't disappoint.  Tian Chatman 3 triples and 13 points playing much like his brother Taison with a smooth calm game.  Guard Jo Jo Mitchell's 14 points were a big factor as well.  Was also my 1st recollection of seeing 2027 big man Jack Thelen (Monticello) play.  He'll need strength but you can definitely see the upside and why many are excited about him.  He held his own playing up 2 levels.

For D1 MN, Maple Grove SG Keegan Harney is one of the top shooters around and showed it here with a couple of 3s and 10 poits.  Richfield's CJ Armstrong led the way with 15 points.  He was able to attack for a bunch of trips to the free throw line.  Prior Lake forward Norbu Jenpa chipped in with 13 points.

6) MN Fury Wilde 63 JSizzle Adidas Gold 42 (16u quarters)

Sizzle got off to a good start in this rematch of the Fury Shootout championship game.  George Norsman 2 quick 3s.  He generated the rest of his offense going 8-8 at the charity stripe for a team high 14 points.  Good big wing, stretch 4 type for Minnehaha next season.  Sizzle would go cold then use their athleticism advantage to pressure Fury's offense and attack the offensive glass.  Devin Pass just another shooter in the line of Shakopee guards.  He hit 3 critical 3s on his way to 11 points.  Chaska forward Tray Lenzen with a big 2nd half as Fury pulled away.  17 points for him.  Typical Fury performance.  Take a tough shot, they either run out for an easy or execute for an easy one and just frustrate you to death.

In the rest of the quarterfinals session, notable action in 17s.  Real Phenom Nick with a double digit win on Select Mantey which is impressive.  Sanford Black survived a GPA rematch with MN Rush.  Porter Ihnen with a late FT to win that game 60-59.  

In 16s quarters, Team FSA 2026 gave the GPA 16s champs ND Phenom all they wanted before bowing out in OT 64-59.  Jo Jo Mitchell with a couple big plays late in that game.  Bright future for many guys on that roster.

7) MN Select Ohnstad 68 WI Crusaders Premier 56 (16u semifinal)

Slow start for Select in this one.  Crusaders star guard Drew Daoust with the 1st 8 points for them but he was held in check after that.  Select fell behind by 8 then came back to take a 2 point half time lead.  The 2nd half was the Max Lorenson show.  The Eden Prairie guard with a monster 2nd half including 3 triples.  He added an emphatic 1 handed poster slam exclamation point.  23 points for him in 1 of the top individual performances I saw in the event.  Brogan Madsen again solid running the show and attacking.  He had 9 points.  Duke Richardson added 11.

Big wing Oskar Kangas led the Crusaders with 16 points including a pair of 3s.  Have to think that the Upper Michigan D2s are keeping a close eye on the Iron Mountain native.  Drew Dauost 3 triples and 13 points but was held in check after the quick start.

8) Sanford Black 75 Real Phenom Nick 60 (17u semifinal)

Size vs speed here.  Real Phenom hit 8 of their 13 3s in the 1st half to have a 2 point halftime lead.  Eden Prairie forward Parker Fahning with 3 of those and had a better half than the 2 D1 Sanford bigs.  Iowa State commit JT Rock looked rattled in the half.  Not sure if Fahning had foul trouble or not (thinking he did), but he didn't get the 2nd half mins and that hurt Phenom.  Add in Jeremiah Sem going off in the 2nd half and Sanford was able to pull away in this one.  Sem ends with 17 points and 5 3s.  JT Rock 12 points and 5 rebounds with a better 2nd half than 1st.

Brody Wishart (Buffalo) with 5 triples and 16 points in another quality outing.  Played well at the GPA too.  Ben Shaffer using the home gym at Wayzata for 4 triples and 16 points as well.  Parker Fahning big and can shoot it, he's a name that definitely helped himself this week.  11 points and 3 triples for him.  Looking forward to seeing him in the high school season.

9) MN Select Ohnstad 66 North Dakota Phenom 63 (16u championship)

Select won the regular season Scheels meeting in a close one between these 2.  Guard Hudsen Sheldon was outstanding for Phenom to keep them close in this one.  Select would pull away late thanks to Brogan Madsen taking over with rim attacks.  Add on another strong 1st half from Max Lorenson and it was enough.  Madsen with 20, Lorenson with 18 in the win.  Sheldon with 17 to lead ND Phenom.  Walker Braaten (#2 player in ND 2024 class) added 3 triples and 15 points.

10) MN Fury Zurn 67 Sanford Black 65 OT (17u championship)

Is it just me or does it feel like this should be the Sanford league championship game being played on the main court at the Sanford Pentagon?  The game definitely lived up to that rep.  Fury got nothing to drop early, combine that with 8 quick points from South Dakota commit Porter Ihnen and it was 16-2 Sanford to start the game.  Let the fun begin as there will be no MoKiller timeouts here.

Then it was the Max Woods show.  He went off for 29 points plus a handful of assists.  He had a chance to win it in regulation and OT.  He missed at the buzzer in regulation and then again late in OT.  But Brandon Hrncir put back the miss with 12 seconds left for the game winner.  Woods is a North Dakota State football commit so he took June off to do that (sat out the MCBA).  Didn't take him that long to readjust to the hardwood.  Jay Neubert 3 more triples to continue solid shooting in the summer for him.