2009 MN Comets Shootout Championship Day

On the road again to St. Cloud for the bracket games of the 2009 MN Comets Shootout.

16U Semis and Championship
1st seminfinal, Comets Elite vs Heat Elite. 27-21 Comets at the half when I join the party. That after bumping the lead to 8, the Heat come back and cut the lead to 2. Comets go on a 12-3 run. 45-34 Comets with 7:44 to play. The Heat have another run in them as they cut the lead to 49-45 with 4:40 to play. After a missed layup, the Comets start to turn the ball over. Riley West with a steal for 2 and another turnover give Drew Preiner a drive and hoop to tie the game at 49 with 3:40 to play. That's a 15-4 run over 4 minutes. Jayme Moten (New London-Spicer and great hair) buries a long 3 with a minute left for a 57-54 Comets lead. After a missed 3 by the Heat, they don't foul and manage to get a turnover with 25 seconds left. Rob Daul gets a good look at the tying 3 from the right corner but its in and out with 9 seconds left. With 2 fouls to give, there may not be enough time left. But the Comets overthrow the wide receiver on an open touchdown pass and the Heat will get the ball back under their rim. Drew Preiner's 3 is short and the Comets move on 57-54.

In the 2nd semifinal, Terry Porter Elite defeated 43 Hoops (2nd team as the top team played up) 38-34.

In the final, Terry Porter Elite was up 40-30 with 10 minutes left. Down 48-40, the Comets come back with 3 straight bombs in a 14-0 run. That gives the Comets a 54-48 lead with 2 minutes left and they hang on 63-59 for the 16U Championship.

Impressive Comets roster. Brian Reeves (Willmar) and Simon Krych (Holdingford) were a star pair on the front line during the tournament. Rob Daul averaged 15.8 PPG during the season for Hill-Murray. It looks like he'll be the guy replacing Alex Richter's production and style in the Heat lineup as he was impressive during the 2nd half of the Heat/Comets semi. Big body to deal with inside and has an ability to step away and be productive. Add in the Preiner twins from Tartan and this team will not be an easy out.

17U Quarterfinals (6-8 predictions)
Q1: Comets Elite-Hanson over 43 Hoops Hemmingson 72-40. I took in the 1st half of this one. This Comets team plays 2 waves of guys. The 2nd wave of Mike Johnson, Erik Tengwall, Alex Hanks, Taylor Filipek, and Zach Noreen is amazing for them. And that's no slight to the solid performances of Shaun Condon and Scott Willenbring. Noreen was an especially tough matchup for Dominique Dawson with his ability to step out and nail 3s. Dawson had trouble scoring over defenders inside. He's a 1-man band for the 43 Hoops 2nd team.

Q2: Pump N Run 17s vs TNL. Back and forth in the 1st half but TNLs pace. 17 All with 6:43 left in the half, then 23-21 TNL before they stretch it to 35-24 on a Jasper Duberry 3. 35-28 TNL at the half. An 8-0 run early in the 2nd half by PNR cuts the lead to 38-36. 47-41 TNL with 9 minutes left before the shots don't fall and that's not good for TNL with Spencer Cummings out of the game. PNR goes on a 22-3 run with some of that against TNL traps after PNR got the lead and spread the court with about 5 minutes left. 65-56 PNR wins. The number of easy bunnies that PNR missed inside was unbelievable in this one. Kevin Noreen had 3 of them on the 1st 3 possessions of the game (and this wasn't the only game where he had trouble finishing). TNL played zone most of the way and kept PNR at bay with it as they didn't get much inside.

Q3: Heat Elite vs Fury Elite. 4 point game with about 6 minute left before Dajon New'll starts a run with a steal and 2. Fury wins 63-54.

Q4: 43 Hoops Harris steamrolls Terry Porter Elite 72-32 after a 40-18 halftime lead.

17U Semifinals (4-4 predictions)
Semi #1: Free food on the line for me as Fury Elite takes on 43 Hoops Harris. A MN Preps reader said I'd get a free meal if Fury makes the final so I'll take in this game instead of the other semifinal. Talk about quickness with Dajon Newell vs Vinard Birch at the point spot. My stomach is cheering as Fury is out to a 14-3 lead at the 9 minute mark. But Birch leads 43 Hoops back with 6 points in a 12-3 run over the next 3 minutes. Josh Pella finishes a 18-6 run for a 21-20 43 Hoops lead with 3 minutes left in the half. But Fury finishes the half on a 10-3 run for a 30-24 halftime lead.

Fury adds on the 1st 7 of the 2nd half with 2 Newell steals for 2 easy buckets. 37-24 with 12:51 left. 17-3 in the 6 minutes across halftime. 41-28 Fury with 9:40 left after back to back jumpers (Jack Wittenborg of Jefferson I think). Back comes 43 Hoops with 2 bombs from Jordan Reetz (2nd from NBA range), Clay Horne goes strong takes the contact and scores for a 3 point play with 7:27 left to cut it to 4. Birch takes a turnover the other way for 2 and adds 2 FTs with 5:48 left to tie the game at 43. 15-2 run over 4 minutes for 43 Hoops. 2 Fury triples sandwich a 43 Hoops triple. Horne dunks with 2:34 left and to cut the Fury lead to 50-49. Pella with 2 freebies at 1:58 for a 52-51 43 Hoops lead. Yuriy Maleshenko misses a 3 with 1:50 left. After spreading the floor, Max Rosenbloom puts back a miss with 54 seconds left for a 3 point lead. Up 3 and defending, Birch leaves his guy for a steal and dives on the floor and gets the timeout with 18 seconds left. Reetz with 2 FTs and 43 Hoops wins 57-52. Bolshevik! There goes my free food.

Semi #2: Bitter and hungry I take in the end of Comets Elite-Hanson vs Pump N Run. Game flow to this point as follows. Comets had a 7 point lead with 3:44 to go in the 1st half. Dyami Starks of PNR (Duluth East) nailed a triple at the 1st half horn to conclude a 15-4 run and PNR was up 34-30 at the break. That lead was 10 with 12:41 left and 4 with 8:17 left. Comets took the lead 53-52 with 6 minutes left. 59-57 Comets with 2:55 left and the 2nd unit mentioned above is in as I turn and watch full time.

Alex Hanks (St. Cloud Tech) with a strong move and he finishes the 3 point play. 62-59 Comets with 2:20 left. After a PNR turnover, Michael Johnson (Grand Rapids) with an ill-advised drive that Starks converts with a floater. Eric Tengwall misses a front end with 1:27 left. Kevin Noreen has a 3 go in and out but Carlos Emmory puts it back with 1:07 left. 63-62 PNR. Hanks forces and misses with 40 seconds left. Starks with 2 FTs with 31 seconds left. Hanks with 2 FTs with 9 seconds left 65-54 PNR. I'm saying foul Emmory at this point. He gets it but the defender gets caught on the wrong side and Emmory is off to the races. It takes a jersey grab to stop him and that's an intentional foul with 7 seconds left. He misses both and I'm thinking that he should come out. But not only does he stay in, he gets the inbounds pass and I'm screaming to foul him which happens. He steps up and buries both like Larry Bird, no doubt about them. 67-64 PNR wins.

17U Championship - 43 Hoops 17U Harris vs Pump N Run 17U
PNR goes 2-3 zone, interesting. One of the tourney highlights with Kevin Noreen throwing it up from half court and Emmory flies in from Fargo like Superman and throws it down. 13-11 PNR at 8:40. Clay Horne with a layup at 7:30 for a 16-15 43 Hoops lead. But they can't find the range as they get only 1 FG in the next 7:25. Steve Tecker with a back, Mike Rostampour with a steal for 2 FTs and a Dyami Starks jumper give PNR a 29-20 lead before Tim Lubke buries a 3 to beat the halftime buzzer. 29-23 at the half PNR leads.

Emmory with 6 quick points early in the 2nd half to push the lead to 35-25. Tony Gerding with a pair of triples in a 8-2 43 Hoops run. Timeout PNR at 10:47 with a 37-33 lead. Gerding with 2 freebies and Jordan Reetz calls home to Fall Creek, WI to cut the lead to 1. PNR man-man down the stretch which is interesting. Out of a timeout, Mike Rostampour gets Tim Lubke on him inside and converts the mismatch with 6:10 to play. 43-39 PNR. Leonard Glass with a putback and Lubke with a triple with 4:43 left and 43 Hoops leads 45-44. 2 missed bunnies by PNR during that quick run. PNR not to be denied. Rostampour with 2 FTs, Kevin Noreen gets the 2nd pass out of a drive and buries a wide open 3. Clutch. Starks for 2 and Emmory with 1 of his too many to count dunks during the tourney to finish a 9-0 over 2:12. 53-45 PNR with 2:31 to play. PNR wins the title 54-45. I had Carlos Emmory with 20 points on my sheet. Tim Lubke hot in this one but his 3 or 4 triples weren't enough in this one.

Quick Final Thoughts

• Carlos Emmory would be my tourney MVP as he was amazing all tournament long. Keep in mind that this was after not playing this entire high school season. He was a man amongst boys going around, through and mostly over everybody.
  
• Dyami Starks had a nice weekend for the 17s PNR also.
  
• Clay Horne looks like a totally different player than during the winter season. He will really blow up this summer if his play this weekend continues.
• Speaking of 43 Hoops Harris, I totally underestimated them. I had questions about their offense which I think came true in the championship game. However, their defense is something I didn't count on. Summer ball gets a rep as run and gun don't guard anybody. More than anybody else you'll see, they prove that wrong as they really really get after it defensively. With Vinard Birch at the point of that pressure and a bunch of interchangable athletic wing pieces they can sustain it too.
  
• I'm told Trey Scott lit up the Comets Elite-Seevers squad in pool play. From nowhere to Fall League week MVP to 20 PPG for a state qualifying Spring Lake Park team. A very nice story.
• Terry Porter teams both very athletic and more than I expected. If Garrett Wenzelburger is who I think it was, he played well in the 16U final.
• I correctly picked 6 of 8 pool winners, the final 4 and the winner. The 1 major wrong pick costs me free food. Drat!
  
• Overall a very fun event. Too bad Net Gain didn't make it.
  

2009 MN Comets Shootout Pool Play Thoughts

I spent the 1st half of the day in the Auxillary Gym at Sartell HS for 15U Play and the back half of the day watching the 11 teams (IA teams pulled out due to the weather) at Sauk Rapids-Rice HS. Here's what caught my eye.

15U (4 games, 6 teams)

43 Hoops I is totally loaded with Cutler Finneman (Concordia) and Josh Turnquist (Rogers) up front with a host of guards like Marcus Marshall (Hopkins), Tommy McDermott (Minnetonka). They also have Maple Grove behemoth Will Johnson. I mentioned during the game that their execution of the dribble drive motion for 17-24 FTs during the 1st half of their game vs Tri City would have Vance Wahberg smiling.

MN Heat Elite's Trent Pollard (BSM) was terrific in the game vs 43 Hoops I. Unfortunately he also committed a reach in foul with 1 second left. Marcus Marshall made both and 43 Hoops stole a 57-56 win after being down 5 with 2 minutes left. Eric Gebeke DNP due to illness for the Heat.

MN Heat Select's team as a whole was impressive in moving the ball. Hastings with Quintain Weaver at Center (think of Tyler Perry of Mounds View as both are good passers) and Darius Wilkerson at forward may have more in the pipeline. Disruptive because of his length. Christian Koehn (Totino-Grace) did a nice job running the point.

Shaquille Stringer (Armstrong) was the top player for the Tri-City Bulldogs. He has the ability to be a very good player. Overall an athletic squad that can pull an upset with hot shooting.

The Minnesota Select featured Blake 8th grader Kebu Johnson. I like the lefty's composure. Derek Schofield (Cotton) is huge with some skills (no surprise). Mohamed Osman gives them a long and lanky shot blocking option. They have 3 tiny guards on the roster.

17U (tight squeeze against the walls at SRHS)
Session 1: No Joe Terfehr for ECI MN so their game vs MN PNR was ugly. Carlos Emmory was dunking all over the place including a monster windmill in this one. A couple of interesting PNR lineups during the 2nd half experimentation. Kevin Noreen at PG with Darius Clare, Mike Rostampour, Alec Brown and Jake Kreuser. Then they came with Aaron Anderson, Dyami Starks, Tazz Crockett, Emmory at the 4 and Brown. All 3 games are blowouts as Grassroots (sans Jett) blows out 94 Ft and Heat Elite blowout ECI East

Session 2: With the Iowa Mavs out, only 2 games in the even numbered sessions. Both 43 Hoops teams take 12/13 point leads to the break and roll in the 2nd half to easy wins over Hoops Training and TC Elite.

Session 3: Heat Elite hold off Triple Threat 59-50, 94 Ft over ECI MN 56-43. PNR gets out to a quick 18-5 lead vs Grassroots. 40-30 at half. It opens up to 57-38 with 8:30 to play. PNR wins 66-50 and it wasn't that close. A physical and chippy game. Grassroots with an interesting roster of Averey Duncan, Joe Bright and Brian Sandifer of St. Bernard's (I think Mike Weah too). Joe Bright, Kenquane Brown and Quincy Bethea of Cooper along with Kevin Thompson and Jordan Hughes (Henry) and a mystery player that no one seems to know.

Session 4: TC Elite vs PNR 16s. 8-0 PNRs after 6 minutes. But TC Elite goes on a 27-7 run over the next 11:30. PNR closes to 27-21 at the break. They pull to 33-29 in the 2nd half before a 9-0 run pushes the lead back to 13 with 9:17 to play. Alex Kreuser gets his defender pinched inside and Alex Richter and Jason Perkins score inside for 7 quick PNR points. Back to 6. Mike Yahnke puts back a miss with 4:20 left to cut the lead to 46-44. Down 49-46 with 1:20 left, Ethan Petrill misses a triple. A jumpball goes to PNR and Jonah Travis puts back a miss with 30 seconds left. After a TC Elite turnover, Shelby Moats makes 1 of 2 FTs with 16.6 left to tie the game at 49. David Gschneider of misses a front end with 12 seconds left and PNR takes time with 11.1 left. Jonah Travis gets a good look at a right elbow jumper but that's no good. TC Elite comes out of the pack and they may have a layup at the horn, but they called timeout. The clock expired as it wasn't clear how much time should be left. The officials put 3 seconds up. TC Elite inbounds from around half court and Josh Pratt curls around a high double and buries a left wing 3 to win it 52-49.

Session 5: Grassroots kept ECI MN close with a 84-79 win. PNR took it to 94 Ft with a 68-29 win. That game was something like 30-5. Ugly. 94 Ft with Andre Ingram (MTS) and Jordan Jackson (Como Park)

Session 6: Hoops Training looked they would hold on over Comets Blue. 43 Hoops Harris leads by 10 or 12 at half on the PNR 16s and then the run and jump pressure takes over and we end up with a 30 some point blowout by the 43 Hoops Harris squad.

2009 MN Comets Shootout Preview

Here's my thoughts on this weekend's Comets Shootout. Let's be honest. There's not much to watch in the 16s since the Pump N Run and top 43 Hoops 16s are playing up. I assume the top 43 Hoops 15U team will be good and they play a good Heat 15U Elite team at Sartell High in the Auxillary gym bright and early at 9:10 AM. A shame they're in the same pool but the top 2 finishers in each of the 4 pools move on to the championship bracket so they could have a rematch in the 15U title game. I'm surprised that the Pump N Run 15s aren't playing in this one.

The Comets Elites 16s and the MN Select 16s are the 2 16U teams I'd watch during day session (8-3). Unfortunately the MN Heat 16 Elites play during the night session as I think they're the other favorite in the 16s. Yes they lost stud Alex Richter to Pump N Run, but the Preiner twins and Riley West still give them a very good core group from one of last year's top 15U teams.

On to the good stuff and the only stuff anyone will pay much attention to (besides me of course, it's who I am, its what I do). The 17s start at 3 PM and play on 8 courts in 3 buildings for 6 straight sessions thanks to ACT exam day. A dream and a nightmare all in 1. Let's look at the best games of each session and then I'll make my pool and bracket picks.

3 PM Session
A couple of games that interest me here. Grassroots vs 94 Ft should be a very up and down game. While I don't claim to know what 94 Ft of Game has for a roster, I won't be surprised if Jordan Jackson puts up big numbers for them this summer. A couple of Grassroots questions. Will Jordair Jett play for Grassroots since he's also in the All-Star series Friday night and Saturday afternoon? If so, how much? And a little birdie tells me there may be something else worth noting with Grassroots so that perks my attention. The other point of interest is Breckenridge forward Joe Terfehr vs the huge front line of the Pump N Run 17s. Both of those games are at Sauk Rapids-Rice high.

4:10 PM Session
Weak session here, but I'll take the game on court 1 at the Whitney Rec Center. Fury Elite vs Magic Black. With Danny Geiger, Dajon Newell and Charlie Kern outside and LeDarian Horton, Yuriy Maleshenko and Justin Casey up front, this is a team I wouldn't want to play against. This Magic Black squad was a good team last year with guys like Jeff Fallat from Burnsville so I'll be interested to see what they have this season.

5:20 PM Session
There will be no more humorous contrast of size and style this summer than the matchup of the Pump N Run 17s vs Grassroots (Sauk Rapids-Rice High). Pump N Run huge and slow, Grassroots small and lightning fast.

6:30 PM Session
I'm going to stick with the Magic Black theme and go back to the WRC for their game against the Mpls Redhawks. The Redhawks added SPA's tough Evan McMillan and Burnsville shooter Jack Ghizoni. Remember they made the state 16U final last summer. Don't sleep on them this summer.

7:40 PM Session
We meet the fairness doctrine as the 3rd location (Sauk Rapids Middle School) gets this featured game. That's TNL and their high-octane offense but with a post presence now. That's White Bear Lake's Spencer Cummings who comes over from Howard Pulley. They get Chris Carr's 43 Hoops top 16U team. Keep an extra scoreboard handy in that one. I don't see TNL putting up much defensive resistance and I don't see the younger 43 Hoops guys being able to stop TNL. This game should decide Pool C.

8:50 PM Session
A couple of nice matchups in this session. At Sauk Rapids High, The top 43 Hoops team of Al Harris takes on the Pump N Run 16s. I think that's the game of the day and will decide Pool H. Over at the WRC, the Redhawks take on the Fury Elite in a game that will decide Pool E.

POOL PICKS
Pool A: Comets Elite-Hanson
Pool B: MN Glory out of the weakest pool.
Pool C: TNL but 43 Hoops Carr wouldn't surprise me here.
Pool D: Pump N Run 17s but I won't be surprised if Grassroots comes out of here.
Pool E: Fury Elite out of the most balanced pool
Pool F: Heat Elite because of all the Stillwater kids playing together but Select I is a wildcard since their roster is unknown.
Pool G: Comets Elite-Seevers. The Terry Porter rosters don't have any of the studs they had last year. No ranked kids on the 16s or 17s. Read the Wishoops.net previews here, 16s preview, 17s preview.
Pool H: 43 Hoops-Harris but I won't be surprised if the PNR 16s get the win.

BRACKET PREDICTIONS
Quarterfinals: Comets Elite-Hanson over Glory, PNR 17s over TNL in another game of size vs speed, Fury Elite over Heat Elite, 43 Hoops Harris over Comets Elite-Seevers.
Semifinals: PNR 17s over Comets Elite-Hanson (great game), Fury Elite over 43 Hoops-Harris
Championship: PNR 17s over Fury Elite

Don't sleep on the Gold bracket which is going on at the same time. The Semis there could look like this. 43 Hoops Carr vs Grassroots and MN Select vs PNR 16s. That's not bad. While the quarters and semis for that bracket are going on at another building, the Gold final, 17U Championship and the 15U Championship are all at the Whitney Rec Center at 3 PM on Sunday. The 16U Championship and the 3rd place championship of 17U are at 1:50 PM.

(Czar's Note 4/3/09, this Carr/Grassroots game would actually have to happen in the quarters, who ever wins should move to the final, I also overlooked the Redhawks vs Select possibility in the other half)