Its always draining for everyone involved but always a great time at the Comets Shootout. My thoughts from the 2011 edition
15U Division
In the 15U title game, MN Heat Select had a 5 second call go against them up 1 with 20 seconds to go but made 2 free throws and got 2 stops to close it out. 45-42 was the final over MN Elite. Heat Select went on a 14-0 run only to be outscored 19-4 to end the first half. Heat Select then came from 10 down in the 2nd half for the win. Having only 7 guys to work with definitely wore on MN Elite over the compressed schedule. That Heat Select club features Jeff Jones and Quinton Garvis who lead Washburn in the Mpls City this year along with athletic guard Andre Wallace from Eden Prairie. Coach Leon Garvis said 6'5 Isaac Matthews from Coon Rapids was a beast for him all weekend.
Net Gain 14s played up and finished 1-2 in pool play. Sam Neumann is major name to remember in the 2015 class. After Alex Illikainen (14U champ), he's one of the next names to come up in that class. I also liked 6'6" lefty forward Jim Warmack from East Grand Forks and point guard Hadley Smith from Devils Lake, ND for the Dakota Pride. MN United nice white uniforms, but the black numbers on navy blue uniforms have to go as they render the numbers unreadable.
16U Division
Amazing ending in the 16U title game with Danny Sullivan (Holy Angels) nailing a 3 for Fury Gold for a 52-51 lead on WI Playmakers. But David Jesperson (brother of Virginia recruit and Wisconsin's top 2011 prospect Paul Jesperson) knocked down a 3 at the buzzer on the other end to win the title 54-52. All of that without star shooting guard Matt Thomas. 6'9" Toby Hegner from Berlin was outstanding. Jump hooks inside over the left shoulder or stepping out and knocking down 3s, love his upside. For Fury Gold, DJ Pollard played well. Adam Huessner with a pair of plays to bring Fury back just before the ending. Keep an eye on cousins Tom and Joe Aase from Austin. Tom played well in the 2nd half to keep Fury close and Joe is big but mobile and can either step out for 3 or run the floor and finish strong. He showed that with 1 big run out dunk and was fouled to prevent another occurrence of the same thing during the tourney.
Fury Gold with a great run knocking off Schoolers Blue (semifinalist) during pool play, then they beat the MN PNR 15s, Fury Blue and Select White to make the final. Great year for Fury at 16s as their White team with Zach Haas and Nick Goldberg of Sibley gave Select White all they wanted in the quarters. Nate Huot from Dawson-Boyd showed well for Comets-Lewis. Fury Black (outstanding uniforms) is Nick Carroll's 15U squad who played up in this tourney. Only fitting that they had the 1st of many meetings with PNR's top 15s who also played up. Have to give some props to Fury Black point guard Reggie Rabb representing the Old Kingdom (La Crosse Aqiunas). Looks like the Blugolds have another quality guard coming through the program. JP Macura (Lakeville North) is a guard who can fill it up in a hurry for a very balanced squad.
17U Division
Opening day at the Whitney for the 17s featured mostly blowouts. Comets-Hanson blew through their pool to easily move on. Southside held off Comets Stock in their 1 game at the Whitney to win their pool. Glory held off a game Heat-Duberry squad but fell to SD Heat in overtime as both of those teams moved on to the top bracket. Coach Duberry then made a nice run in the Silver bracket. Net Gain struggled all day. They beat SW Slam by 13 and then lost by 9 to WOTN (who didn't have a recognizable face on the roster) in the day's biggest upset at the Whitney. NGS then held off ECI Prospects by 3 to just barely make the top bracket. In other action that I didn't see, the Dakota Schoolers were impressive at Sauk Rapids to win their pool along with Matt Van Sycoc of the WI Playmakers. Team GetShook knocked off Fury Blue. That forced a 3 way for 1st in that pool with Select White and Fury Blue goes out on tiebreaker. Magic's athletic squad knocked off 43 Hoops in action at Kennedy Elementary to win their pool.
Comets Elite took out Glory, Select White over Playmakers, Net Gain over Southside, Magic over Fury Gold, Comets Stock over WOTN, 43 Hoops over Heat Elite, Schoolers over GetShook and SD Heat over Triple Threat in the round of 16 games. Comets then got a late 3 and 2 free throws from Tyler Vaughan to hold off Select White. Net Gain vs Magic had an ugly AAU run and gun first half before Net Gain pulled away in the other quarterfinal at the Whitney. Net Gain jumped all over the Comets 34-8 and shockingly rolled to a 70-43 win in 1 semifinal. 43 Hoops pulled way from the Schoolers late for a 66-58 win in the other semifinal.
Then Net Gain got a pair of nice drives and an assist from Tommy McDermott and it looked like they'd finish 43 Hoops off. But Duke Anywanu with a 3 and then a steal that became a Marcus Marshall 3. 59-58 43 Hoops with 25 seconds left in a furious comeback. NGS with the ball underneath with 5 seconds left. Ater Mangyang misses a corner 3 but Taylor Stafford puts it back at the horn and Net Gain wins the title 60-59. How improbable after the day 1 struggles. 2 title games decided at the horn and the other on the last possession. Johnny Woodard played well for NGS in the last 2 games to lead the way to the title. Ater Mangyang might be this year's Jonah Travis. Athletic undersized 4 who can make an impact.
43's Nate Kratch impressive defensively swatting shots all over the place, especially in the game vs Dakota Schoolers going against 6'9 Zach Kraning. His D1 interest is heating up and rightfully so. He has a handful of unofficial visits coming up . I liked Glory's Chad Poppen as a big pass first point guard (and for kindly putting up with my commentary on other games earlier in the day). Magic's schedule is crazy but they have a whole bunch of athletes and will be no cupcake on anybody's schedule. Tyler Flack's athleticism on display for Select White with a picture perfect drop step dunk in the post against the Comets. Skye Warwick of the Schoolers has ridiculous shooting range.
People talk about parity at the NCAA level. Maybe for MN spring teams it applies too. 43 Hoops goes 5-2, Net Gain goes 6-1 so we end up with no undefeated team in the 17s. Next up, I'm with Fury this weekend as Minnesota invades Denver with Net Gain (17s), Fury (17 and 16 Blue teams) and all 3 Minnesota Pump N Run teams.
Showing posts with label 2011 Comets Shootout. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011 Comets Shootout. Show all posts
2011 Comets Shootout 17U Preview
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2011 Comets Shootout
Its part 2 of my preview of the 2011 Comets Shootout. My thoughts on the 17U bracket are here (read about 14-16U here). Games start at 3 PM thanks to ACT testing with 1 stray game to finish up at 10 PM (Will there be more fans awake or sleeping in the gym by the time that one ends?). Top 2 from each pool advance to the championship bracket on Sunday.
Pool A (Whitney Rec Center at 3:00, 5:20, 7:40 PM)
Comets Hanson is the favorite here and they've upgraded this year with talented wing Jal Rial from Alaska, shooting guard Tyler Vaughan from Braham and center Connor Goodwin from class A runner-up BBE. Vaughan and Joe Burt will be a fun backcourt to watch. Expect a long run from this squad in bracket play. Suns and Triple Threat should battle for the 2nd spot. Jared Kadrie from LP/HT and Jett Leaf from HLWW are a pair of guards to keep an eye on for Triple Threat.
Pool B (Kennedy Elementary at 3:00, 5:20, 7:40 PM)
Heat Elite team is favored here with sharpshooters Justin Pahl, Mitchell Kuck and Kyle Von Schmidt Pauli. Emeche Wells is their top athlete. Zach Meyer and Dave Simmet return to anchor the interior. Fury Gold (2nd team) won't wow you but they're solid with Anthonie Tholey from state AAA champ Orono and Michael Brush from state qualifier Osseo amongst those on the roster. They'll battle Comets-Seevers for the 2nd spot in the pool. The 5:20 game between Comets-Seevers and Heat Elite features Dave Simmet vs Riley Mickelson in a battle of a pair of immovable objects.
Pool C (Kennedy Elementary at 4:10, 6:30, 8:50 PM)
43 Hoops leads this pool as one of the tourney favorites. Sean Scott and Marcus Marshall return. They've also added forward Nate Kratch from Watertown-Mayer and will use seniors Adam Hjelter and Roosevelt Scott. They're athletic with plenty of firepower and with coach Al Harris and his intensity, you know they'll get after it on defense too. The Heat's 2nd team and Magic Superfriends should battle it out for the 2nd spot when they open at 4:10. Heat Biwan won't wow you but they have plenty of varsity experience. Magic Superfriends has a ton of firepower at the guard slots with Darian Pittman, Demetrius Martin, Rodney Owens and Tyson Kalien.
Pool D (Sauk Rapids HS at 3:00, 5:20, 7:40 PM)
Fury Blue and Select White (top teams from both organizations) lead this pool. Select has quality inside play with Kyle Bauman, Brett Rasmussen and Trevor O'Brien. Jack Harrison, Matt Nelson and Tyler Flack are big versatile forwards. WEM's Grant Pope runs the show along with Brady Wohler. Xavier Hall is a defensive stopper. Fury has a closer in Marquealis Edwards, Michael Schreiber to matchup with the size, Sander Mohn to shoot it and Tyler Moore to run the show. Those teams play at 5:20. Team GetShook will look to jump into the mix with a win in 1 of their last 2 games over those teams. Alex Stafford, Shelby Ashford and 2011 Kevin Handy will man the interior with Jalen Albritton and Shawn Bear on the wings. Bear will have a heavy load scoring and handling for that club.
Pool E (Whitney Rec Center and Sauk Rapids HS at 3:00, 5:20, 7:40 and 10 PM)
The most wide open pool that I see. Wyatt Krogman leads the SD Heat. Glory can match that guard firepower with Anders Broman, Carey Woods, Andrew Lindquist and Chad Poppen. MN Heat Duberry is a sleeper with St. Anthony star Anthony Brama, Chanhassen's Cole Otto and Minnetonka's James Zilverberg. Select Blue rounds out a very balanced pool
Pool F (Sauk Rapids HS at 4:10, 6:30, 8:50 PM)
The Dakota Schoolers lead this pool with Casey Schilling and Michael Busack on the wings and impressive big Zach Kraning inside. He impressed at the Timberwolves Shootout against Roseville. I also liked their waterbug point guard Tanner Odegaard at the Comets camp last fall. WI Playmakers will be a very good 2nd team in the pool with 6'6" wing Matt Van Sycoc who's received Divison I interest and guard Riley Bambenek from Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau (outside of The Czar's old stomping grounds) who recently picked up a pair of NSIC offers. Van Sycoc was impressive with 25 and 10 when I saw him in my 2010-11 season opener. Those teams open against each other at 4:10.
Pool G (Whitney Rec Center at 4:10, 6:30, 8:50 PM)
Net Gain and ECI Prospects are the top 2 teams here. Net Gain looks like they've added Duluth East stars Taylor Stafford and Johnny Woodard while keeping Ater Mangyang and Riley Dearring. Nick Latzke looks like he'll join them too. Daniel Yale (ND and NDSU offers) and AJ Jacobsen lead the 2012 ECI group. 2011 PG Josh Rodenbiker is sticking around with this group as well and should get some coaches attention this weekend. He was a top player last year for them. SW Slam features Brady Boike from MACCRAY and Ryan Fransen of Renville County West on the front line. ECI vs NGS at 8:50 for the featured pool game.
Pool H (Whitney Rec Center and Sauk Rapids HS at 4:10, 6:30, and 8:50 PM)
Minnesota Southside with Joey King leads this pool. They've also added firepower with Deonte Blakemore and Latrell Love. Comets-Stock has the size to deal with that lineup though with Luke Halbakken of Pelican Rapids and Mike Spoden of Grand Rapids. Bjorn Bjorklund can shoot it and Scottie Rucks is an athletic forward who would be a reasonable matchup with King. Southside's 1 game at the Whitney vs Comets Stock at 6:30 should decide the pool.
The Brackets (Sunday 9:10 AM, 12:40, 3:00 and 5:20 PM)
As to bracket play, here's what I see possibly happening. Fury or Select top teams vs Playmakers in the round of 16 with the winner facing the Comets is interesting. Southside vs ECI in the round of 16 with the winner to play 43 Hoops. Winner of that would likely see the Comets top team in the semis. The top 2 Heat teams could meet in the round of 16 or the Heat top team would see a tough matchup with the Magic there. Winner of that to play Net Gain who I think makes the semis. Dakota Schoolers control the bottom quarter of the bracket to play Net Gain in the semis. 43 takes out the Comets and then the Schoolers to win the title. Nothing like 7-0 in 26 hours, the winner is always well deserving.
Pool A (Whitney Rec Center at 3:00, 5:20, 7:40 PM)
Comets Hanson is the favorite here and they've upgraded this year with talented wing Jal Rial from Alaska, shooting guard Tyler Vaughan from Braham and center Connor Goodwin from class A runner-up BBE. Vaughan and Joe Burt will be a fun backcourt to watch. Expect a long run from this squad in bracket play. Suns and Triple Threat should battle for the 2nd spot. Jared Kadrie from LP/HT and Jett Leaf from HLWW are a pair of guards to keep an eye on for Triple Threat.
Pool B (Kennedy Elementary at 3:00, 5:20, 7:40 PM)
Heat Elite team is favored here with sharpshooters Justin Pahl, Mitchell Kuck and Kyle Von Schmidt Pauli. Emeche Wells is their top athlete. Zach Meyer and Dave Simmet return to anchor the interior. Fury Gold (2nd team) won't wow you but they're solid with Anthonie Tholey from state AAA champ Orono and Michael Brush from state qualifier Osseo amongst those on the roster. They'll battle Comets-Seevers for the 2nd spot in the pool. The 5:20 game between Comets-Seevers and Heat Elite features Dave Simmet vs Riley Mickelson in a battle of a pair of immovable objects.
Pool C (Kennedy Elementary at 4:10, 6:30, 8:50 PM)
43 Hoops leads this pool as one of the tourney favorites. Sean Scott and Marcus Marshall return. They've also added forward Nate Kratch from Watertown-Mayer and will use seniors Adam Hjelter and Roosevelt Scott. They're athletic with plenty of firepower and with coach Al Harris and his intensity, you know they'll get after it on defense too. The Heat's 2nd team and Magic Superfriends should battle it out for the 2nd spot when they open at 4:10. Heat Biwan won't wow you but they have plenty of varsity experience. Magic Superfriends has a ton of firepower at the guard slots with Darian Pittman, Demetrius Martin, Rodney Owens and Tyson Kalien.
Pool D (Sauk Rapids HS at 3:00, 5:20, 7:40 PM)
Fury Blue and Select White (top teams from both organizations) lead this pool. Select has quality inside play with Kyle Bauman, Brett Rasmussen and Trevor O'Brien. Jack Harrison, Matt Nelson and Tyler Flack are big versatile forwards. WEM's Grant Pope runs the show along with Brady Wohler. Xavier Hall is a defensive stopper. Fury has a closer in Marquealis Edwards, Michael Schreiber to matchup with the size, Sander Mohn to shoot it and Tyler Moore to run the show. Those teams play at 5:20. Team GetShook will look to jump into the mix with a win in 1 of their last 2 games over those teams. Alex Stafford, Shelby Ashford and 2011 Kevin Handy will man the interior with Jalen Albritton and Shawn Bear on the wings. Bear will have a heavy load scoring and handling for that club.
Pool E (Whitney Rec Center and Sauk Rapids HS at 3:00, 5:20, 7:40 and 10 PM)
The most wide open pool that I see. Wyatt Krogman leads the SD Heat. Glory can match that guard firepower with Anders Broman, Carey Woods, Andrew Lindquist and Chad Poppen. MN Heat Duberry is a sleeper with St. Anthony star Anthony Brama, Chanhassen's Cole Otto and Minnetonka's James Zilverberg. Select Blue rounds out a very balanced pool
Pool F (Sauk Rapids HS at 4:10, 6:30, 8:50 PM)
The Dakota Schoolers lead this pool with Casey Schilling and Michael Busack on the wings and impressive big Zach Kraning inside. He impressed at the Timberwolves Shootout against Roseville. I also liked their waterbug point guard Tanner Odegaard at the Comets camp last fall. WI Playmakers will be a very good 2nd team in the pool with 6'6" wing Matt Van Sycoc who's received Divison I interest and guard Riley Bambenek from Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau (outside of The Czar's old stomping grounds) who recently picked up a pair of NSIC offers. Van Sycoc was impressive with 25 and 10 when I saw him in my 2010-11 season opener. Those teams open against each other at 4:10.
Pool G (Whitney Rec Center at 4:10, 6:30, 8:50 PM)
Net Gain and ECI Prospects are the top 2 teams here. Net Gain looks like they've added Duluth East stars Taylor Stafford and Johnny Woodard while keeping Ater Mangyang and Riley Dearring. Nick Latzke looks like he'll join them too. Daniel Yale (ND and NDSU offers) and AJ Jacobsen lead the 2012 ECI group. 2011 PG Josh Rodenbiker is sticking around with this group as well and should get some coaches attention this weekend. He was a top player last year for them. SW Slam features Brady Boike from MACCRAY and Ryan Fransen of Renville County West on the front line. ECI vs NGS at 8:50 for the featured pool game.
Pool H (Whitney Rec Center and Sauk Rapids HS at 4:10, 6:30, and 8:50 PM)
Minnesota Southside with Joey King leads this pool. They've also added firepower with Deonte Blakemore and Latrell Love. Comets-Stock has the size to deal with that lineup though with Luke Halbakken of Pelican Rapids and Mike Spoden of Grand Rapids. Bjorn Bjorklund can shoot it and Scottie Rucks is an athletic forward who would be a reasonable matchup with King. Southside's 1 game at the Whitney vs Comets Stock at 6:30 should decide the pool.
The Brackets (Sunday 9:10 AM, 12:40, 3:00 and 5:20 PM)
As to bracket play, here's what I see possibly happening. Fury or Select top teams vs Playmakers in the round of 16 with the winner facing the Comets is interesting. Southside vs ECI in the round of 16 with the winner to play 43 Hoops. Winner of that would likely see the Comets top team in the semis. The top 2 Heat teams could meet in the round of 16 or the Heat top team would see a tough matchup with the Magic there. Winner of that to play Net Gain who I think makes the semis. Dakota Schoolers control the bottom quarter of the bracket to play Net Gain in the semis. 43 takes out the Comets and then the Schoolers to win the title. Nothing like 7-0 in 26 hours, the winner is always well deserving.
2011 Comets Shootout Preview Part I
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2011 Comets Shootout
Its Minnesota's toughest basketball on 21 courts on Saturday, 19 on Sunday. That means its time for The Czar to once again visit the Comets Shootout. I'll give my pre-shootout thoughts in 2 parts, starting now with the 14U-16U levels and then 17U in a later post.
16U Division (30 teams)
This division is 10 pools of 3 teams each rather than the 4 team pools seen elsewhere. In Pool A, Comets Lewis is my pick and I can see their 2nd team winning pool B. Keep an eye on Nate Huot for Comets Lewis. Fury Blue has to be one of the tourney favorites out of pool C. Solid all around with Brycen Wojta at PG, Dustin Fronk to shoot it, Zach Lindquist to score from the wing, Ben Oberfeld to control the paint and Andrew Duxbury to do dirty work. Heat Reese in the same pool features Tartan's Kharie Kirkland and shooter Beau Smit. WI Playmakers are my pick in pool D, that's with the assumption they have Onalaska's star guards Matt Thomas (maybe the top 16U kid in the tourney) and Clint Rihn. In Pool E, Moorhead's lefty star Aaron Lien leads the Dakota Pride to the top spot.
In Pool F an eyecatcher at 1:50 as its the top Heat team against the Pump N Run 15s at St. John's. Its PNR's only team at the tournament. The Heat squad is led by Jack Martinek of Irondale and Harrison Lucas of Osseo on the outside. An outstanding 16U pool game is Schoolers Blue (watch Trevor Jacobsen at PG) vs Fury Gold in Pool G at 5:20 at St. John's. Its the 2nd Fury team (out of 4 in the 16U bracket), but with shooters Adam Huessner and Luke Scott, DJ Pollard to score and Danny Sullivan inside, that group will not be an easy out. Select's top team is the favorite in Pool H under the tutelage of Mitch Ohnstad and should make a big run. They're big with Carson Shanks and Jeff Probert, frosh Jon Sobaski and Grant Erickson are solid at PG. Mack Johnson can shoot from anywhere in the zip code and I haven't even mentioned Kebu Johnson or Shawn Fitzgibbons who are both talented wing players. SD Heat by default in pool I. Pool J is very wide open with Heat-Altena/SW Slam/ECI Prospects. I'll take the ECI top team.
As to bracket play, 3 possible games in the round of 16 stick out and the bottom half is loaded. First is Comets Lewis vs the loser of Schoolers Blue/Fury Gold (Jacobsen vs Huot possibility) in the top half. Comets Lewis likely wouldn't be challenged again until the WI Playmakers in the semis. Second is winner of that Schoolers Blue/Fury Gold pool game vs the loser of MN Heat Elite and MN PNR 15s. Winner would likely play Fury Blue in the quarters. Third is on the same side of that bracket with Select White vs Dakota Pride. Winner of that would likely play Heat Elite/PNR pool winner in the last quarter. I can't pick against the Comets in the top half. Select White vs Fury Blue or Schoolers Blue in the other semifinal with that winner being worn out. I'll take Comets on home turf to win it.
15U Division (20 teams)
Hard to know a whole lot about this division. In Pool A I'll take the Comets top team. In Pool B, MN Elite with Minnetonka's Andrew Grosz (8th grader), Maranatha's Josh Goldschmidt and Champlin Park's Matt Juneau (assuming they stayed together) has to be a favorite to win the whole 15U bracket. Some may remember them from their runner up finish in 15U last year at the Select tournament. Heat Select were a very good 14U team last year under coach Leon Garvis. Assuming he kept things reasonably intact, they'll battle the Dakota Schoolers 15 Blues to win the pool. I won't predict Pool D, but Net Gain's 14U team is in the pool with some talented kids. Be interesting to see how they do in early pool games at the Whitney. Pool E is 2nd teams from the Comets and Schoolers. Again, no prediction.
14U Division (16 teams)
I usually draw the line at 15U, but there are a pair of things at the 14U level that get my attention. The TC Cyclones with Kobe Critchley (Roseville), Will Culliton (Breck) and Alex Illikainen (Grand Rapids) feature 3 kids who all saw significant varsity minutes this year. Daniel Hudrlik of Crosby-Ironton might also be in that category for them. They play their 3 games at St. John's before the 17s get started and (pun intended) could blow people away in bracket play. Also in the 14s, 6th grader Tayt Vincent is playing with the Dakota Schoolers 14U White squad at St. Cloud St. If he's the same Tayt I saw play in a 7th grade metro tourney for the Sioux Falls Celtics in January, then I'd love to see him play again as I came away very impressed with my initial viewing of him.
16U Division (30 teams)
This division is 10 pools of 3 teams each rather than the 4 team pools seen elsewhere. In Pool A, Comets Lewis is my pick and I can see their 2nd team winning pool B. Keep an eye on Nate Huot for Comets Lewis. Fury Blue has to be one of the tourney favorites out of pool C. Solid all around with Brycen Wojta at PG, Dustin Fronk to shoot it, Zach Lindquist to score from the wing, Ben Oberfeld to control the paint and Andrew Duxbury to do dirty work. Heat Reese in the same pool features Tartan's Kharie Kirkland and shooter Beau Smit. WI Playmakers are my pick in pool D, that's with the assumption they have Onalaska's star guards Matt Thomas (maybe the top 16U kid in the tourney) and Clint Rihn. In Pool E, Moorhead's lefty star Aaron Lien leads the Dakota Pride to the top spot.
In Pool F an eyecatcher at 1:50 as its the top Heat team against the Pump N Run 15s at St. John's. Its PNR's only team at the tournament. The Heat squad is led by Jack Martinek of Irondale and Harrison Lucas of Osseo on the outside. An outstanding 16U pool game is Schoolers Blue (watch Trevor Jacobsen at PG) vs Fury Gold in Pool G at 5:20 at St. John's. Its the 2nd Fury team (out of 4 in the 16U bracket), but with shooters Adam Huessner and Luke Scott, DJ Pollard to score and Danny Sullivan inside, that group will not be an easy out. Select's top team is the favorite in Pool H under the tutelage of Mitch Ohnstad and should make a big run. They're big with Carson Shanks and Jeff Probert, frosh Jon Sobaski and Grant Erickson are solid at PG. Mack Johnson can shoot from anywhere in the zip code and I haven't even mentioned Kebu Johnson or Shawn Fitzgibbons who are both talented wing players. SD Heat by default in pool I. Pool J is very wide open with Heat-Altena/SW Slam/ECI Prospects. I'll take the ECI top team.
As to bracket play, 3 possible games in the round of 16 stick out and the bottom half is loaded. First is Comets Lewis vs the loser of Schoolers Blue/Fury Gold (Jacobsen vs Huot possibility) in the top half. Comets Lewis likely wouldn't be challenged again until the WI Playmakers in the semis. Second is winner of that Schoolers Blue/Fury Gold pool game vs the loser of MN Heat Elite and MN PNR 15s. Winner would likely play Fury Blue in the quarters. Third is on the same side of that bracket with Select White vs Dakota Pride. Winner of that would likely play Heat Elite/PNR pool winner in the last quarter. I can't pick against the Comets in the top half. Select White vs Fury Blue or Schoolers Blue in the other semifinal with that winner being worn out. I'll take Comets on home turf to win it.
15U Division (20 teams)
Hard to know a whole lot about this division. In Pool A I'll take the Comets top team. In Pool B, MN Elite with Minnetonka's Andrew Grosz (8th grader), Maranatha's Josh Goldschmidt and Champlin Park's Matt Juneau (assuming they stayed together) has to be a favorite to win the whole 15U bracket. Some may remember them from their runner up finish in 15U last year at the Select tournament. Heat Select were a very good 14U team last year under coach Leon Garvis. Assuming he kept things reasonably intact, they'll battle the Dakota Schoolers 15 Blues to win the pool. I won't predict Pool D, but Net Gain's 14U team is in the pool with some talented kids. Be interesting to see how they do in early pool games at the Whitney. Pool E is 2nd teams from the Comets and Schoolers. Again, no prediction.
14U Division (16 teams)
I usually draw the line at 15U, but there are a pair of things at the 14U level that get my attention. The TC Cyclones with Kobe Critchley (Roseville), Will Culliton (Breck) and Alex Illikainen (Grand Rapids) feature 3 kids who all saw significant varsity minutes this year. Daniel Hudrlik of Crosby-Ironton might also be in that category for them. They play their 3 games at St. John's before the 17s get started and (pun intended) could blow people away in bracket play. Also in the 14s, 6th grader Tayt Vincent is playing with the Dakota Schoolers 14U White squad at St. Cloud St. If he's the same Tayt I saw play in a 7th grade metro tourney for the Sioux Falls Celtics in January, then I'd love to see him play again as I came away very impressed with my initial viewing of him.
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