Results and my random thoughts from the 2012 Comets Shootout.
The food was outstanding with the pulled pork at the concession stand. I had to hit that twice on Saturday. I conned my way into mini-donuts on Sunday otherwise I would have done it again. Good crew of college coaches from the NSIC, MIAC, WIAC etc on hand. The play was generally ragged and I'm shocked that the officials basically worked the entire day. The official formerly known as Al Sharpton worked enough games for a lifetime. Not sure we have enough refs for a solution but getting these guys in and out quicker would make things much better all the way around. I've seen in Denver where the refs are on for 2 and then they're gone.
A great way to end the weekend as a Fury team was playing and upon closer look, there was the one and only HAT LADY!!! All purple and the hat was outstanding as usual.
17U
Pool Winners: ECI Prospects, 43 Hoops, Select White, PNR, Heat Ogorek, NGS, Playmakers, Heat Reese
My predictions had 15 of the 16 teams in the Championship Bracket (Fury-Ouse miss). Comets/ECI and Heat Reese/Fury Davis flip spots so I get 11 of the 16 spots exactly right. 6 of the 8 quarterfinal winners right with the correct team losing in the other 2 games. I got half of the games in the quarters right. Then my bracket fell apart and got nothing else right.
Round of 16 results: ECI def Glory 64-48, 43 Hoops def GetShook 63-61, Select over Comets Hanson, PNR over Playmakers Blue, Triple Threat 59-52 over Heat Ogorek, NGS 82-78 over Fury Davis, Playmakers White 70-54 over Comets Stock and Heat Reese over SD Heat.
Quarters: ECI def 43 Hoops 77-68, PNR def Select 78-51, NGS def Triple Threat 76-53, Heat Reese def Playmakers White (no Matt Thomas) 79-71.
Semis: PNR def ECI 71-60, NGS def Heat Reese 70-65.
Championship NGS def PNR 70-66. 25 and 10 from Reid Travis of PNR. 18 points from Riley Dearring to lead Net Gain.
Phil Nolan showing up with Net Gain was a major surprise. A big center might show up, but this wasn't the name on everybody's mind, see Akolda Manyang. NGS built with a crew of Sean Scott, Ater Manyang and Nolan with their regulars. Heck, maybe we'll see Tommy McDermott with them again at some point this season. With NGS, you never know. They showed some early struggles like last year.
Heat Reese not only beat Fury Davis in pool play to win their pool but also beat the Wisconsin Playmakers top club that still had 2 D1 kids. They held a double digit lead for a large chunk of the 2nd half so no fluke. They were down double digits to NGS in the 2nd half before storming back and taking the lead. They had a good look late to tie as well before NGS held on.
43 Hoops has some pieces for Chris Carr to work with. Nick Anderson to run the show, Markus Taylor Knighten to score. It'll be interesting to see how that team evolves. Select White didn't play well but a 27 thrashing from Pump N Run was a surprise. Comets Hanson was throttled by ECI Prospects in the pool deciding game late Saturday night and then immediately went out to Select White in the round of 16. Much higher hopes here for the top Comets club. Worth noting that 7 footer Connor Voss is probably out another month at minimum. That certainly impacts what you want to do on the defensive end.
16U
In the 16s results, I don't know the Pool H finishes but other than those I know I went a perfect 14 for 14 in the title bracket. 8 for 8 in the round of 16. Both quarters in the top half right along with the semifinalist and champion from that half.
Pool Winners: Comets Lewis, Heat Vang, Select, Fury Dixon, Comets Stanfield, Fury Grosz and PNR 15s (Pool H???).
Round of 16: PNR def MN Rush, EOTO def Heat Schumann, Fury Dixon def NGS 15s, Dakota Pride win, Fury Grosz over Comets Stanfield, PNR 15s win, Select def Heat Frank, Comets Lewis def Heat Vang
Quarters: PNR def EOTO 62-59, Fury Dixon def Dakota Pride 80-65, PNR 15s def Fury Grosz 59-51, Select def Comets Elite 77-71 in 3OT.
Semis: PNR 16s def Fury Dixon 65-54, PNR 15s def Select 65-59
Championship: PNR 16s retain in house bragging rights with 69-66 win over PNR 15s.
Furious comebacks in this division. EOTO was down 16 vs PNR and made big run late. PNR 15s need a run vs Fury Grosz and then ended their game with Select on a 17-4 run to come from 9 down in the last 5 minutes. The 15s also made a run from double digits down to the 16s in the title game but just didn't have enough left to pull it off.
Fury Dixon blasted a quality Heat Frank team 71-27 in their pool opener. That Fury club has size and outstanding guard play. Very very dangerous. Liked how the South Dakota Heat 16s played in terms of moving the ball and not beating it to death with the dribble. Henry Ellenson of the PNR 15s looks so much wider and stronger than a year ago. Was more than physically capable enough in the 16U bracket let alone vs 15s. PNR 16s struggled vs TVA in the pool opener (a team they should pound) and were down 3 with 12 to play before pulling that out. EOTO (last year's Heat Select) still has a dangerous squad of athletes even without Andre Wallace. Kyle Kalivoda is a nice pickup for that group.
15U
I only saw semis and finals of the 15U bracket because almost all of pool play was up in Foley. But no surprise that the Cyclones ran through it with no problem. They won their semifinal over Magic 73-34 and throttled Heat Bui/Lesewski in the championship 81-49 (though that was an 11 point game late in the 1st half). Fury Johnson gave them their best game with a loss by just over 10.
Here were the matchups in the 15u championship bracket
MN Comets Elite v TC Running Rebels
MN Heat Calistro v Triple Threat Westberg
43 Hoops I v MN Fury Shelman
WI Playmakers v MN Heat Lesewski
South Dakota Heat v MN Magic Blue
Triple Threat High v Grassroots
MN Fury Johnson v WOTN Gold
MN Select v MN Cyclones
??, Heat Calistro, Fury Shelman, Heat Bui/Lesewski, Magic Blue, TT High, Fury Johnson and Cyclones won in the round of 16.
Heat Calistro won, Heat Bui/Lesewski beat Fury Shelman by 20+, Magic Blue def Triple Threat, Cyclones def Fury Johnson
Heat Bui/Lesewski def Heat Calistro, Cyclones def Magic Blue
Cyclones win 15U title over Heat Bui/Lesewski
Showing posts with label 2012 Comets Shootout. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2012 Comets Shootout. Show all posts
2012 Comets Shootout Preview
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2012 Comets Shootout
Back after a state tournament breather its time for the annual big time kickoff of the Minnesota season. That means its time for 2012 Comets Shootout. Here's what I'm watching.
15U
In 15U there are 30 pools divided into 10 pools of 3. 28 of the 30 pool games are in Foley with the round of 16 and quarterfinals at Sauk Rapids High School before moving to the home base at Whitney. But this division is more about who's not playing than who is. tNBA is at the Howard Pulley Jamboree. Net Gain, Pump N Run and MN Phenom are all playing up in the 16U division. That leaves the MN Cyclones as the overwhelming favorite to win their division again (14U champs last year). I'll be shocked if Alex Illikainen and company don't steamroll through to another title. Best competition comes from the top Comets squad out of pool A and the top Fury team out of pool D.
15U Picks: Comets Stumpf, Fury Johnson, Grassroots, Fury Shelman, Cyclones, 43 Hoops Vaughn, Heat Lesewski/Bui, MN Select SD Heat, WI Playmakers are my picks to win the pools. Cyclones have their half of the bracket to themselves while Comets Stumpf and Fury Shelman are on the other side. Since Fury has one of my former players, we'll take them to make the final before losing to the Cyclones.
16U
This bracket provides the most exciting pool game of the entire tournament. That's Comets Elite vs Pump N Run at 11:30 AM Saturday on the main court at Whitney. Big props to the coaches for putting that one together. The 15U teams playing up will have good chance to move on. Net Gain gets a favorable draw in pool C. MN Phenom has 2 tough ones against Fury Dixon and Heat Gardner but I wouldn't be shocked to see them move on. 12:40 PM on Whitney court 1 with Phenom vs Gardner will likely decide the other gold bracket qualifier. Pump N Run 15s got a very good draw in pool G.
The young talent is noteworthy with Evan Shephard (Phenom), Sacar Anim (NGS) and whatever PNR has. 8th grader Dalante Peyton playing up on the MN Premiere 16s. EOTO is likely the squad that was Heat Select last year (though missing Andre Wallace) hence they get my nod. Heat Frank with Geno Crandall and Lance Gardner has some talent to play with. Fury Dixon may be the 2nd team but in name only. They have size with Ngor Barnaba of Rochester John Marshall and a talented guard group of John Veil, Zach Wessels, swiss army knife Noble Fahnbulleh and TC Robinson. Fury Grosz with a balanced group and talent to boot with guys like Clay Elrod, Andrew Grosz and Charlie Koontz. Add in guys like Wheeler Baker, Derek Magnuson, Kolby Seiffert and Eric West and you have depth too. Hoping to see Jim Warmack with the Dakota Pride again. The East Grand Forks post played at both 16s and 15s last year for the Pride.
16U Pool Picks: PNR and Comets, Heat Vang and MN Rush, Select and Net Gain 15s, Fury Dixon and Heat Frank. EOTO and Comets Stanfield, Fury Grosz and Heat Schumann, PNR 15s and Dakota Pride, Playmakers and Triple Threat.
16U Bracket Picks:
Top half: PNR 16s over MN Rush, EOTO over Heat Schumann, Fury Dixon over NGS 15s, Pride over Playmakers
Bottom half: Fury Grosz over Comets Stanfield, PNR 15s over Triple Threat, Select over Heat Frank, Comets Elite over Heat Vang.
Quarters: PNR 16s over EOTO, Fury Dixon over Dakota Pride, Fury Grosz over PNR 15s (great game at 10:20 ct 3 Whitney on Sunday), Comets Elite over Select
PNR def Fury Dixon and Fury Grosz over Comets Elite in the semis. PNR 16s def Fury Grosz for 16U title.
17U
Now to Minnesota's Toughest Basketball. As always the championship game will be 7th game for the teams in just over 24 hours. All after taking the ACT and making the trip north. Like the 16U division the games are mostly split between the Whitney and Sauk Rapids Middle School.
Pool A goes to the host Comets Hanson. A very good group with Nate Huot running the show and 7 feet of Connor Voss inside. The other player to keep an eye in this pool is AJ Jacobsen of ECI.
Pool B has the mystery known as Chris Carr's 43 Hoops group. Markus Taylor-Knighten is expected to be with that group, what else he has remains to be seen. The surprise in this group should be the MN Wolves. Its a new crew that has added seniors Latrell Love and Darian Pittman. Fury Ouse (2nd team) has Sam Burt in the middle along with shooters Adam Huessner and Collin Host. Peter Kruize and Nick Goldberg are 2 more front court pieces with Nick O'Hara to run the show and Kharie Kirkland to lock people down.
Select's top team and 7-footer Carson Shanks headline pool C. Devon Pekas and Dan Wills highlight the Glory squad and where else would you find a star out of the Christian Athletic League (Peter Maring of Cambridge Christian). PEM's state tourney star Beau Nelson also on the Glory roster. Comets Seevers will have St. Cloud Cathedral's Joe Burt joining the party.
Pump N Run's top club picks up a good draw in pool D. With the quick turnaround and high number of games we'll see if not having a full slate of 10 guys hurts them later on Sunday. Looking forward to seeing Cullen Russo again after a year of prep school. I'll also bet on Darius Hill here rather than MN Chosen.
Pool E is full of teams that don't have the superstar type player but try to embody the concept of team. Heat Ogorek has a kid I'm a fan of in Brad Freeborn (face up 4). They have workable guards in Jack Martinek, Beau Smit and Robert Claypool, a defender in Drake Mjaanes and a role player in Brad Carlson. Comets Stock has some kids who had really nice seasons in Cody Sprenger, Mike Millard and Dylan Erickson. Magic Maroon is largely north metro kids. Porter Morrell was a solid guard for Elk River during the season.
Pool F has Net Gain which means you never who or what will show up. Last year they looked positively awful on Saturday night and barely made the championship bracket. Then on Sunday they ran through 4 games to win the title. Bryce Wojta runs the point. Riley Dearring and Rashad Vaughn are back on the wings. Andre Wallace was added as well. The South Dakota Heat feature guard Wyatt Krogman. He was the top player on a state title team and is the younger brother of Louie Krogman, the all time scoring leader in South Dakota.
Pool G features the top Playmakers squad that won the 16s last year. The group has the core back with skilled 4 men Toby Hegner and Turner Botz. Both are D1 talents. That also includes Gopher target and the best closer I saw all year in Matt Thomas. He didn't play in the event last year and the Playmakers still won it. Triple Threat with additions from the old Ultimate Hoops squad (merged with Fury) looks to be a sleeper. Matt Rachey, Jack Kozlowski and Wiley Ferron will all be big contributors. Ethan Freer, Alex Chandler and Brett Ahsenmacher will also contribute. Select Blue will feature Jack Harrison of Prior Lake. Austin Huss and Tyler Bates are 2 others to watch there.
Last but not least is the top Fury squad of Ben Davis. This is the rest of the old Ultimate Hoops group with some new names thrown in. Grant Shaeffer runs the point, Dustin Fronk shoots it. Bridge Tusler and Zach Lindquist are tough wing matchups. Ben Oberfield, Jordan Burich and Carter Evans give them size Danny Sullivan is a skilled 4 and DJ Pollard gives them another athlete. Plenty of pieces for a quality 17U team. Heat Reese featuring Isaiah Hanson and the Mike duo of Wales and Hudspeth from Tartan. They also have the athletic animal Deshawn Jones up front. Post Jeff Probert and guard Kyle Filzen highlight the WOTN squad in this pool.
The Picks:
Comets Elite and ECI, 43 Hoops and Fury Ouse, Select and Glory, PNR and GetShook (very wide open for 2nd spot), Heat Ogorek and Comets Stock, NGS and SD Heat, Playmakers and Triple Threat, Fury Davis and Heat Reese
Top Half: Comets Elite over Glory, 43 Hoops over Get Shook, Select over ECI, PNR over Fury Ouse
Bottom Half: Triple Threat over Heat Ogorek, Net Gain over Heat Reese, Playmakers over Comets Stock, Fury Davis over SD Heat.
Comets Elite over 43 Hoops, PNR over Select, Net Gain over Triple Threat, Playmakers over Fury Davis (best quarterfinal by a mile, 12:40 PM Whitney Court 3)
Comets Elite over PNR thanks to depth, Playmakers over Net Gain, Playmakers def Comets to win the title.
15U
In 15U there are 30 pools divided into 10 pools of 3. 28 of the 30 pool games are in Foley with the round of 16 and quarterfinals at Sauk Rapids High School before moving to the home base at Whitney. But this division is more about who's not playing than who is. tNBA is at the Howard Pulley Jamboree. Net Gain, Pump N Run and MN Phenom are all playing up in the 16U division. That leaves the MN Cyclones as the overwhelming favorite to win their division again (14U champs last year). I'll be shocked if Alex Illikainen and company don't steamroll through to another title. Best competition comes from the top Comets squad out of pool A and the top Fury team out of pool D.
15U Picks: Comets Stumpf, Fury Johnson, Grassroots, Fury Shelman, Cyclones, 43 Hoops Vaughn, Heat Lesewski/Bui, MN Select SD Heat, WI Playmakers are my picks to win the pools. Cyclones have their half of the bracket to themselves while Comets Stumpf and Fury Shelman are on the other side. Since Fury has one of my former players, we'll take them to make the final before losing to the Cyclones.
16U
This bracket provides the most exciting pool game of the entire tournament. That's Comets Elite vs Pump N Run at 11:30 AM Saturday on the main court at Whitney. Big props to the coaches for putting that one together. The 15U teams playing up will have good chance to move on. Net Gain gets a favorable draw in pool C. MN Phenom has 2 tough ones against Fury Dixon and Heat Gardner but I wouldn't be shocked to see them move on. 12:40 PM on Whitney court 1 with Phenom vs Gardner will likely decide the other gold bracket qualifier. Pump N Run 15s got a very good draw in pool G.
The young talent is noteworthy with Evan Shephard (Phenom), Sacar Anim (NGS) and whatever PNR has. 8th grader Dalante Peyton playing up on the MN Premiere 16s. EOTO is likely the squad that was Heat Select last year (though missing Andre Wallace) hence they get my nod. Heat Frank with Geno Crandall and Lance Gardner has some talent to play with. Fury Dixon may be the 2nd team but in name only. They have size with Ngor Barnaba of Rochester John Marshall and a talented guard group of John Veil, Zach Wessels, swiss army knife Noble Fahnbulleh and TC Robinson. Fury Grosz with a balanced group and talent to boot with guys like Clay Elrod, Andrew Grosz and Charlie Koontz. Add in guys like Wheeler Baker, Derek Magnuson, Kolby Seiffert and Eric West and you have depth too. Hoping to see Jim Warmack with the Dakota Pride again. The East Grand Forks post played at both 16s and 15s last year for the Pride.
16U Pool Picks: PNR and Comets, Heat Vang and MN Rush, Select and Net Gain 15s, Fury Dixon and Heat Frank. EOTO and Comets Stanfield, Fury Grosz and Heat Schumann, PNR 15s and Dakota Pride, Playmakers and Triple Threat.
16U Bracket Picks:
Top half: PNR 16s over MN Rush, EOTO over Heat Schumann, Fury Dixon over NGS 15s, Pride over Playmakers
Bottom half: Fury Grosz over Comets Stanfield, PNR 15s over Triple Threat, Select over Heat Frank, Comets Elite over Heat Vang.
Quarters: PNR 16s over EOTO, Fury Dixon over Dakota Pride, Fury Grosz over PNR 15s (great game at 10:20 ct 3 Whitney on Sunday), Comets Elite over Select
PNR def Fury Dixon and Fury Grosz over Comets Elite in the semis. PNR 16s def Fury Grosz for 16U title.
17U
Now to Minnesota's Toughest Basketball. As always the championship game will be 7th game for the teams in just over 24 hours. All after taking the ACT and making the trip north. Like the 16U division the games are mostly split between the Whitney and Sauk Rapids Middle School.
Pool A goes to the host Comets Hanson. A very good group with Nate Huot running the show and 7 feet of Connor Voss inside. The other player to keep an eye in this pool is AJ Jacobsen of ECI.
Pool B has the mystery known as Chris Carr's 43 Hoops group. Markus Taylor-Knighten is expected to be with that group, what else he has remains to be seen. The surprise in this group should be the MN Wolves. Its a new crew that has added seniors Latrell Love and Darian Pittman. Fury Ouse (2nd team) has Sam Burt in the middle along with shooters Adam Huessner and Collin Host. Peter Kruize and Nick Goldberg are 2 more front court pieces with Nick O'Hara to run the show and Kharie Kirkland to lock people down.
Select's top team and 7-footer Carson Shanks headline pool C. Devon Pekas and Dan Wills highlight the Glory squad and where else would you find a star out of the Christian Athletic League (Peter Maring of Cambridge Christian). PEM's state tourney star Beau Nelson also on the Glory roster. Comets Seevers will have St. Cloud Cathedral's Joe Burt joining the party.
Pump N Run's top club picks up a good draw in pool D. With the quick turnaround and high number of games we'll see if not having a full slate of 10 guys hurts them later on Sunday. Looking forward to seeing Cullen Russo again after a year of prep school. I'll also bet on Darius Hill here rather than MN Chosen.
Pool E is full of teams that don't have the superstar type player but try to embody the concept of team. Heat Ogorek has a kid I'm a fan of in Brad Freeborn (face up 4). They have workable guards in Jack Martinek, Beau Smit and Robert Claypool, a defender in Drake Mjaanes and a role player in Brad Carlson. Comets Stock has some kids who had really nice seasons in Cody Sprenger, Mike Millard and Dylan Erickson. Magic Maroon is largely north metro kids. Porter Morrell was a solid guard for Elk River during the season.
Pool F has Net Gain which means you never who or what will show up. Last year they looked positively awful on Saturday night and barely made the championship bracket. Then on Sunday they ran through 4 games to win the title. Bryce Wojta runs the point. Riley Dearring and Rashad Vaughn are back on the wings. Andre Wallace was added as well. The South Dakota Heat feature guard Wyatt Krogman. He was the top player on a state title team and is the younger brother of Louie Krogman, the all time scoring leader in South Dakota.
Pool G features the top Playmakers squad that won the 16s last year. The group has the core back with skilled 4 men Toby Hegner and Turner Botz. Both are D1 talents. That also includes Gopher target and the best closer I saw all year in Matt Thomas. He didn't play in the event last year and the Playmakers still won it. Triple Threat with additions from the old Ultimate Hoops squad (merged with Fury) looks to be a sleeper. Matt Rachey, Jack Kozlowski and Wiley Ferron will all be big contributors. Ethan Freer, Alex Chandler and Brett Ahsenmacher will also contribute. Select Blue will feature Jack Harrison of Prior Lake. Austin Huss and Tyler Bates are 2 others to watch there.
Last but not least is the top Fury squad of Ben Davis. This is the rest of the old Ultimate Hoops group with some new names thrown in. Grant Shaeffer runs the point, Dustin Fronk shoots it. Bridge Tusler and Zach Lindquist are tough wing matchups. Ben Oberfield, Jordan Burich and Carter Evans give them size Danny Sullivan is a skilled 4 and DJ Pollard gives them another athlete. Plenty of pieces for a quality 17U team. Heat Reese featuring Isaiah Hanson and the Mike duo of Wales and Hudspeth from Tartan. They also have the athletic animal Deshawn Jones up front. Post Jeff Probert and guard Kyle Filzen highlight the WOTN squad in this pool.
The Picks:
Comets Elite and ECI, 43 Hoops and Fury Ouse, Select and Glory, PNR and GetShook (very wide open for 2nd spot), Heat Ogorek and Comets Stock, NGS and SD Heat, Playmakers and Triple Threat, Fury Davis and Heat Reese
Top Half: Comets Elite over Glory, 43 Hoops over Get Shook, Select over ECI, PNR over Fury Ouse
Bottom Half: Triple Threat over Heat Ogorek, Net Gain over Heat Reese, Playmakers over Comets Stock, Fury Davis over SD Heat.
Comets Elite over 43 Hoops, PNR over Select, Net Gain over Triple Threat, Playmakers over Fury Davis (best quarterfinal by a mile, 12:40 PM Whitney Court 3)
Comets Elite over PNR thanks to depth, Playmakers over Net Gain, Playmakers def Comets to win the title.
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