Hopkins Tonka thoughts

Prologue
To Hopkins I go for the annual rivalry game with Minnetonka.  This obviously isn't the same Minnetonka team of years gone by.   But I wanted to see what they were like under a new coach.  We have the Hopkins band and inexplicably 3 members of the Mr Basketball committee.  If they're still evaluating all 25 finalists, the committee isn't getting the job done.  Its stuff like this that puts Ray Cowles as a finalist instead of Nate Wolters.

Game Time
Cole Stefan for 3 to put Tonka up 5-4 early.  Joe Coleman with a nice give and go from DJ Peterson and then his 2nd dunk of the night from a turnover.  He has all 8 Hopkins points.  Another Tonka turnover gives Coleman his 3rd dunk of the night.  Chad Howard with a 3 for the Skippers to cut the Hopkins lead to 18-12 inside of 10 minutes.  Then Hopkins starts to roll.  The inbound to Coleman on the right block, passer goes by and Coleman spins for a 2 handed dunk.  Nice concept using him there when they've historically used their biggest big in that spot.  They can also throw it up to him for a dunk if he's face guarded.  Simple read and react set, but its been very very effective for years for the Royals.  Coleman with another bunny.  Cam Selmer for 3.  DJ Peterson with a layup and a jumper after a big Zach Stahl block.  He follows it with a pair of free throws.   Its a 15-2 Hopkins run in just under 3 minutes to push the lead to 33-14 at the 6:35 mark.  Tor Anderson with 3 straight triples for Tonka but those are countered by 3 Jeremiah Tolbert bombs and another strike from Selmer.  Coleman runs out for a dunk and the lead is 24.  Anderson beats the halftime buzzer to cut the Hopkins lead to 49-28 at the half.

Coleman shows off range in the second half with a pair of triples.  Zach Stahl on the post at its a 62-37 game at the 14 minute mark.  Leonard Glass with a lob dunk off a turnover and a Nick Latzke 3 cut the lead to 18.  But Hopkins pushes the lead right back to 26 with a Riley Dearring layup, Marvin Singleton on the block and layups from Stahl and Selmer.  70-44 with 9:45 left.  Tonka does have 1 run in their system along with some sloppy play from Hopkins.  Latzke for 3 followed by an area code 3 from Stefan.  Dearring with a 3 point play to keep the lead at 24 with 8:43 left.  Leonard Glass with 4 straight, Stefan with another long NBA 3 and then he goes screen/roll with Glass for 2 more.  74-59 Hopkins and there's still 6:35 left.  The Skippers miss a couple of chances and Hopkins pounces to put this away comfortably 96-69.

For Minnetonka, Nick Latzke leads the way with 15 of his 19 points in the second half.  8-13 overall with 6-8 and 3 triples in that second half.  Tor Anderson with 11 of his 17 late in the first half to keep the game somewhat respectable.  Cole Stefan 5-12 for 13 points with 3 triples.  Leonard Glass 12 points to also reach double figures.  Interesting that the Skippers ran quite a bit of what looked like 4 out 1 in motion and got away from some of the dribble drive stuff they've been known for.  The Skippers fall to 11-13 and have lost 8 out of 12.  That's the 6th worse record in the second but the 2nd best power ranking.  I think they have to be behind North and Armstrong.  Now, if they get Minneapolis South and Alonzo Traylor in the 4/5 game at home and Armstrong gets St. Louis Park in the 3/6 game, now you've got a pair of very interesting games.  Traylor is a bad matchup for Tonka and St. Louis Park knocked off Armstrong this season.  But Armstrong is playing well now.  On the other hand, if Tonka gets Armstrong and South plays St. Louis Park, those games could be ugly.  Armstrong has Tonka's number and Traylor would be a major factor against the Orioles.

For Hopkins, Joe Coleman 18 of his 24 points in the first half on nothing outside of 2 inches before knocking down a pair of 3s in the second half.  Zach Stahl active around the basket and knocked down a pair of 3s for 16 points .  Quiet night for Marvin Singleton with only 9 points and 5 rebounds.  Not many opportunities to look for him on the block.  DJ Peterson with the best game I've seen him play this year.  13 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and quality defense on Stefan.  Hopkins won't get the chance to avenge the loss to Johnson but somehow I think they'd like to see North again in section play.  The Polars took out the Royals 66-63 the night before the TWolves Shootout.

2010 Mr Basketball Final 25 named

The final 25 for the 2010 Minnesota Mr Basketball award have been announced.  Here they are followed by my commentary.

Peter Crawford 6-5 Benilde-SM
Chad Calcaterra 6-10 Cloquet
Jake Thomas 6-3 Columbia Heights
Calvin Godfrey 6-8 Cooper
Seantrel Henderson 6-8 Cretin-Derham Hall
Dyami Starks 6-2 Duluth East
Vinard Birch 5-10 Eastview
Brett Ervin 6-5 Eden Prairie
Trevor Gruis 6-8 Ellsworth
Zach Riedeman 6-5 Forest Lake
Mike Rostampour 6-7 Henry Sibley
Jordan Jackson 6-2 Henry Sibley
Yuriy Malashenko 6-5 Jordan
Shaun Condon 6-2 MACCRAY
Taylor Hanson 6-6 Minnehaha Academy
Cole Stefan 6-3 Minnetonka
Aaron Anderson 6-2 Osseo
Kevin Noreen 6-10 Minnesota Transitions
Jordan Hughes 5-10 Mpls. Patrick Henry
Alonzo Traylor 6-7 Mpls. South
Ben Bucholz 6-7 Perham
Marshall Bjorklund 6-6 Sibley East
Scott Nystrom 6-2 St. Cloud Tech
Taylor Filipek 6-6 Willmar
Alec Brown 6-11 Winona

Biggest surprise to me in the list was the omission of Alex Hanks of St. Cloud Tech.

My final 5 right now are Kevin Noreen, Alec Brown, Calvin Godfrey, Marshall Bjorklund and Jacob Thomas.  I pick those 5 based on skill, impact on the game and their teams and team performance.  The 1st 4 are from teams that have been in the top 5 in the top 2 classes and have dominated.  The 5th spot was much tougher but Thomas gets the nod with 27 PPG (which includes an 8 point game in a holiday blowout so he could be averaging 28-29 a game) and the big games against Hopkins (38), BSM (47) and Staples-Motley (33).  MACCRAY's Shaun Condon makes a great case with 24.5 per game for the top ranked team in Class A.  Or if you're going small school do you take Ellsworth's Trevor Gruis and his 18.6 and 11.9 boards. I already have Bjorklund here from the MN River, but 21 and almost 16 a night from Yuriy Malashenko is hard to ignore. 

2010 TWolves Shootout Thoughts

Here are my thoughts from the 2010 TWolves Shootout

Game 1: Orono vs #6AAA Grand Rapids
Tight game at the half before a 12-2 second half Orono run puts them up by 6 with 8 minutes left.  Grand Rapids right back with a 10-0 run to regain the lead.  6'8 post Kevin Rabbers with 6 points in the run, Eric Stark with the other 4 and an assist in the run.  5 point Grand Rapids lead with 1:30 to go in regulation but they can't hold it.  Jordan Smith goes glass and the foul with 54.7 left and Grand Rapids can't snag the rebound.  That's gets putback to cut the lead to 2.  Then 2 missed free throws.  Jeremy Borg (19 and 12 in a big game for him) slips a screen for an easy layup to tie the game and force OT.  Orono gets the 1st 9 of OT and they win 74-65 easily.  Jordan Smith 25 points on 9-21 shooting on my sheet to lead Orono.  For Grand Rapids, Eric Stark 18 points but 6-21 shooting.  Michael Johnson 15 points but was quiet in the 2nd half.  Nice upset win for Orono and its not out of the question that we could see these teams again at state with Orono leading the power rankings in section 5 and Grand Rapids being the favorite in section 7.


Game 2: #4AA Staples-Motley vs #2A Minnesota Transitions
Staples-Motley tries to slow the pace with a 1-3-1 but their bigs still get in foul trouble vs Kevin Noreen despite double and triple teaming.  Jon Bristow with 3 fouls in 7 minutes.  Rodney Owens with a great start for MTS.  He gets a layup and then a steal for 2 more to push MTS to a 6 point lead.  Staples hangs around but Owens with another steal for a dunk and then he finds a cutting Kevin Noreen for a layup.  23-15 MTS with 7:18 left to force a Staples-Motley timeout.  Out of the timeout, MTS holds the ball vs the 1-3-1.  Staples has to go man and this one is over.  Staples-Motley gets 1 field goal in the last 9 minutes.  33-18 MTS at the half.  2nd half, MTS picks apart the man D.  Staples-Motley goes the 1st 7 minutes without a field goal in the 2nd half.  So 1 field goal in 16 minutes across halftime, ouch.  58-36 easy win for MTS in a game that I thought would be very close since both teams had tight losses to Columbia Heights.  Kevin Noreen with 24 points and 9 rebounds on my sheet (officially listed at 12).  Jordan Riewer in and out of the lineup all day as there were issues with blood on his uniform.  Only 3 points for him.

Game 3: #7AA Plainview-Elgin-Millville vs #1AA Crosby-Ironton
A possible state semifinal preview between these 2 teams.  PEM was previously ranked #1, now CI on top.  Interesting 2-3 matchup zone from Crosby-Ironton.  PEM playing 1-3-1 most of the way though they surprisingly went man late.  CI with no size and Cole Olstad was just a beast for PEM.  CI had no answer for him and the Rangers couldn't get any offense besides Mark Hoge.  Very close all the way to the end.  Crosby with many chances late to tie that didn't convert.  PEM hits late free throws for a hard fought 51-41 win.  Mark Hoge 17 for CI.  Cole Olstad 23 for PEM.

Game 4: Henry Sibley vs North Lawndale College Prep (IL)
Paul Bunch, big body inside for NLCP.  But he sat a lot in the 1st half.  When he was in, he was a factor blocking shots.  2nd half story was Jermaine Winfield of NLCP.  He dominated inside on his way to 18 points, most inside in the 2nd half.  50 all with 5 minutes left when Winfield scores inside for the lead.  Sibley then turns it over for 2 free throws.  Rostampour misses a front end and Bunch follows up a miss with a dunk.  That's a 6 point cushion but NLCP pulls the ball out too early and Sibley almost makes them pay.  But 2 Winfield putbacks and a steal finally puts the one out of reacy.  62-54 North Lawndale wins.  Paul Bunch 11 points 7 boards and 7 blocks.  Jake Kreuser with a nice day of 15 pts and 14 boards with 3 blocks.  Mike Rostampour with another interior struggle against good inside talent.  He struggled against Christian Faith Academy's athletes over the holidays and was only 3-14 inside yesterday, but he did have 14 boards.

Game 5: Linn-Mar, IA vs Minnetonka
Fun game here.  Marcus Paige with a floater for a 6 point LM lead early.   Then sharpshooters Matt Bohannon and Cole Stefan trade deep 3s.  Paige wraps the ball around and goes for a layup to get a nice oooh from the crowd.  21-13 Linn-Mar inside of 9 minutes.  But Stefan with a pair of bombs in a 14-5 Tonka run over the last 3:15 of the half.  36-31 Skippers at the half.  2 Tonka turnovers equal layups and then Paige with a 3 for a 55-46 Linn-Mar lead with 11:40 to go.  Stefan and Chad Howard with back to back 3s to cut the lead to 3 with 10:45 left.  Paige for 3 again.  Bohannon with a 3 and its 64-55 Linn-Mar with 8:30 left.   Tor Anderson 2 freebies, Nick Latzke with a block for a Leonard Glass layup and a Stefan layup.  64-61 Linn-Mar with 7:33 to go.  Another Stefan bomb keeps Tonka close 70-66 with 5:40 to go.  Paige with an assist and Bohannon with a foul line jumper.  Stefan inside 2 countered by a Paige pullup.  Stefan from New York City for 3 countered by a Paige drive.  Linn-Mar doesn't let Tonka get back and then make free throws for a 88-71 win.  Cole Stefan with 8 triples from every metro suburb, 16-24 shooting as he goes completely nuts for 40 points.  Linn-Mar is more than Paige (20 pts and 6 assists, 16 and 4 of those in 2nd half).  Matt Bohannon is a nice mid to low-major shooting guard (younger brother of UW's Jason Bohannon).  He finished with 26 points and 4 triples of his own.  Interesting that Minnetonka took Tor Anderson off of Paige in the 2nd half and moved him over to defend Bohannon in the 2nd half.

Game 6: #1AAAA Hopkins vs #8AAAA Champlin Park
This one to me had blowout written all over it with Hopkins losing at North on Friday.  But as I was doing podcast for the 1st half of this one I see Brandon Davis knock down back to back triples from Jasper Duberry to force 1 Hopkins timeout down 11.  Then its 33-19 Champlin Park with 2:57 left in the first half.  Duberry for 3 at the first half buzzer and Champlin Park is up 10.  DJ Peterson with 3 quick fouls and sits for a large part of the half.  Hopkins went deep into the bench with a couple of guys (Selmer, Martin) who normally aren't in the rotation.

2nd half Hopkins awakens with pressure defense and ice cold Champlin Park shooting.  A 26-4 Hopkins run over the 1st 9:10 of the second half puts the Royals up 54-42 with 9:50 left.  Joe Coleman with a 3 and 2 old-fashioned 3 point plays on not smart fouls during the run.  The lead stays at 10-12 points and it looks like Hopkins will just cruise.  But its not quite over.  Duberry a pair of freebies at 3:16, Coleman misses 2 freebies, Brandon Davis 2 freebies, DJ Peterson misses a front end, Josh Pella with a tip.  A tieup goes to Champlin Park and Pella tips in a miss and gets fouled for a 3 point play.  All of a sudden its 70-67 Hopkins with 1:09 left.  But Siyani Chambers makes 4 big free throws to put this one away.  74-69 Hopkins wins.  Joe Coleman with 24 points and a pair of 3s during the game.  Nice to see him shoot the ball better.  Marvin Singleton 20 points as there wasn't a good answer for him inside.  Jasper Duberry leads Champlin Park with 17 points.  Jordan Reibling with 11 points off the Rebels bench as he was 1 of 5 Rebels in double figures.

DiLoreto and Stefan Updates

Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News featured Anthony DiLoreto (former Hopkins center) and Cole Stefan in a recent look at Las Vegas action. (Read it here). Stefan for the 2nd straight year was hot in Vegas. Very different than the struggles I saw from him in Denver back in April. Scout.com's Dave Telep views Stefan and Jacob Thomas as mid-major guys.

Speaking of rankings, what's with the huge number of votes for "Other" on the poll for best 2010 prospect? Throw some comments on this post to chime in with who you think is the best of the MN class of 2010. Do we have an outstate riot for not listing guys like Marshall Bjorklund, Taylor Filipek or Dyami Starks? How about other guys from the metro like DJ Peterson or Mike Rostampour.

As to DiLoreto, the article references a scholarship offer from St. Louis despite court proceedings that are scheduled for next week. What I find interesting though is that all the writers I've seen refer to DiLoreto as a lefty and I seem to recall he was a righty. I can understand the potential confustion though since all he shot in high-school were lefty jump hooks. Or maybe I'm just crazy. Take your pick.

Top guards in 2010 battle at Columbia Heights

Game 2 of this Saturday takes me to Columbia Heights for their battle with Minnetonka. 2010 star guards Cole Stefan and Jacob Thomas on display in this one. The MN Glory on hand to watch along with, that's right, Rene Pulley.

Stefan starts the day with a 3 (surprise, surprise). 2 Thomas FTs make it 8-6 Tonka at 13:25. The Skippers counter with 8 of the next 9 thanks to a pair of triples from Nick Latzke. 16-7 Tonka at 10:50. Thomas nails a triple and Stefan counters with a deep 3 of his own. 19-10 Tonka. Akuro Imbu with 4 of the next 5, 19-15 Skippers at 6:50. Stefan then with a drive for 2, he finds Taylor Nelson for 2 more and then nails another triple for 7 in a row over 95 seconds. 26-15 Tonka at 5:15. 8 in a row from Columbia Heights to close the gap to 3 at 2:20. 32-28 Minnetonka at half. Thomas and Stefan cancel each other out with 13 each. I had Thomas 3-9 and Stefan 5-10 from the floor.

Taylor Nelson with a putback and a layup from Stefan push the lead to 8 quickly in the 2nd half. Latzke later gets a layin and then a nails triple on a pass from Stefan for a 49-37 Skippers lead at 12:35. Latzke gets fouled and makes a circus layup at 9:18 for a 55-43 Tonka lead. Minnetonka in their Amoeba defense and not rebounding well out of it and not finding Thomas. He nails a triple at 7:30 to cut it to 58-50. Kyle Risinger with 2 FTs at 5:53 to push the lead back to 13, 66-53. Imbu with a steal for 2 followed by Thomas 3 FTs make it 67-58 with 4:39 left. Risinger fouls out at 3:21. Kendrick Mills with a putback at 2:50 to cut it to 69-62. Tonka goes stall and promptly turns the ball over (drives coaches nuts). Harold Rainey with the layin that cuts it to 5 at 2:20. They force the held ball and have the arrow but Imbu throws it away at 1:32. After 1 Stefan FT, D'Karlos Craig gets called for an illegal screen at 1:21. Stefan turns it over (playing point with Risinger gone) but Thomas misses a 3. He turns it over again which Mills converts into a 3 with 23.4 left. 70-67 Minnetonka. Taylor Nelson makes 1 of 2 FTs. Heights turns it over for a Leonard Glass dunk to end it . 73-67 Minnetonka wins.

For Columbia Heights, they fall to 5-6 and had some chances late. Jacob Thomas finishes with 30 points via 11-13 FTs and 5 triples. But I had him for 7-25 shooting (and that doesn't count 6 misses on shooting fouls) for him. No makes in the last 6:30 though and only the 1 set of 3 FTs that he took after being fouled on a 3. Very aggressive getting to the basket in the 1st half. In fairness some of those misses were late looking for 3s to get back in it. Kendrick Mills gave them very nice minutes off the bench with 11 and 10 on my sheet. Harold Rainey and Akuro Imbu had their trouble running the point and getting Heights into sets.

For Minnetonka, they improve to 8-5. They host a couple of Lake Conference teams this week, Rosemount and Lakeville North. Cole Stefan with 20 and I had 7-17 from the floor. He also took major turns playing the point guard role. But his 5 assists were mainly out of their dribble drive offense. Nick Latzke with 18 and Taylor Nelson with 18 and 10. Their bench gives them very little forcing coach Hedstrom to play his starters despite any foul trouble they may be in. Latzke is quickly developing into one of the best shooters in the metro. He's a guy you just can't leave.

Hopkins blows out Minnetonka

Ray Cowles

Ah, the thrill, the pagentry, the game that is Hopkins vs Minnetonka. My first time seeing these 2 teams in their rivalry. Disappointing student section from Minnetonka as very few of their kids showed up. The Hopkins students out in force of course and a nice crowd of adults in the stands. Armstrong and Sibley looking on along with Northern Illinois. Rodney Williams and Cooper's longtime assistant also on hand for this one.

Early we have free throws for a 7-1 Hopkins lead. Nick Latzke with a triple for the 1st Tonka FG of the night at 15:10. Lockett with a 3 at 14:35 and its 12-5 Hopkins in a furious pace. Latzke again with a 3 at 11:10 to cut the Hopkins lead to 22-18. After Royce White misses 2 free throws, Cole Stefan with a triple at 9:41 and Minnetonka is within 26-21. Blake Nelson with a 3 point play for Tonka at 8:10, 31-24 Hopkins. Then the roof caves in for Tonka. Royce White nails a triple, Cowles with a 3, Lockett from deep again, Broghammer with a dunk off a Tonka turnover, Cowles with another 3, Lockett again for 3 and Cowles beats the halftime horn with a triple. 60-30 Hopkins at the break. Tonka with 2 field goals in the last 7 minutes of the half as Hopkins ends it with a 34-9 run. 9 triples for Hopkins. Lockett with 5 of them for 15 points, Cowles with 3 more for 17 points and 6 rebounds. Marvin Singleton with 9 and 5 off the bench. Royce with 5 points but 0-6 FTs. Nick Latzke with 3 triples for 11 points. Cole Stefan with 5 on 2-10 shooting.

Royce comes out on fire in the 2nd half. A bucket to start the half, an assist to Lockett, 2 more then an assist to Broghammer that Royce probably should have scored himself. He gets a triple and then concludes his night with a dunk in a 2-1 that I was surprised he didn't give up (being he was looking for assists per the Star Trib article from last week). The top 10 sit the last 8:45 as Hopkins uses a 12-0 run over 2 minutes to put us over the top of the mercy rule. Hopkins wins 106-62.

For Minnetonka, Cole Stefan with 15 on 5-16 shooting by my sheet (3-9 on 3s). He tried to force some shots with Lockett guarding him, but nothing would have mattered on this night. Nick Latzke looks to be a better shooter than his brother Andrew who had a very nice career for the Skippers. 5 more triples for 21 points tonight. The Skippers fall to 6-4 and 0-1 in the Classic Lake. They go on the road for 3 with trips to Kennedy, Apple Valley and Columbia Heights in the next 9 days before getting 6 of 7 at home (exception is the Jan 24th trip to Cooper). Tor Anderson lit up the JV game with 5 triples and 21 points on 7-21 FGs. Joe Coleman played the 1st half of the JV game and had a handful (4-5) dunks slashing thru the Tonka D.

For Hopkins, Ray Cowles with his 17 and 6 in the 1st half. Royce White finishes with 15 but 1-8 from the foul line. He had 2 or 3 silly turnovers trying to get assists. Trent Lockett with 17. Marvin Singleton with a nice night off the bench inside. Hopkins made everything and hit the boards hard. 13 total 3s for the Royals. If they shoot it that well, forget about it. They easily could have put up 125-140 in this one as they had 94 before the mercy rule could even go into effect. They didn't hit 100 until 4:45 left. Joe Coleman played the 1st half of the JV game and had a handful (4-5) dunks slashing thru the Tonka D. Hopkins 9-0 going into the monster game at Sibley.

Mike Broghammer had some comments on the team and news on a trip to Notre Dame if you missed that scroll earlier today. Read that here.

Raymond Cowles picture courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net

Steve Froemming from Steven's Sports Report also attended the game. Read his article here.

Minnetonka vs Johnson thoughts

Ah the game of the night (and the end of a long day) is upon us as #1AAA Johnson takes #5AAAA Minnetonka. Minnetonka squeaking by in their 4 wins by an average of 5 points. Johnson playing in a brutal bracket after a brutal schedule in Sioux City and Milwaukee over the last week where they went 1-2.

Michael Talley off to a quick start in this one as he gets 3 And 1 opportunities in the 1st 8 minutes. Kyle Risinger with a couple of early buckets in this one as points are coming easy. Demitri Conwell puts back a rebound and Lamar Anderson gets a dunk and Johnson is out to a 24-13 at the midway point of the 1st half. Nick Latzke knocks down a three and Cole Stefan gets a layin then a steal +1 . Talley again to the rack and its 28-21 Johnson at 7:45. Latzke with 6 more in an 11-0 Minnetonka run and the Skippers lead 32-28 at 4:40. Conwell gets a drive for 2 to break a 4 minute drought for Johnson. 40-38 Johnson in a fun 1st half. Stefan with 16 in the 1st half, but only 1 triple. Michael Talley with 12 for Johnson.

The teams struggle back and forth to start the half. Estan Tyler then makes a 3 and Talley gets a steal that results in a Dion Suggs layin. 51-45 Johnson 3 minutes into the 2nd half. Stefan with 5 in a row to keep the Skippers close. Johnson's Lamar Anderson with a monster throwdown sprinting down the lane on an inbound to tie it at 58 with 12 minutes left. Suggs with another layin and we're tied at 60 with 11 minutes left. The next 3:15 sees a 10-2 Johnson run with Conwell getting 4 of the points. 70-62 Governors with 7:45 left. This was the same time in the 1st half where we saw a Tonka run and it happens again. Nelson with 2 straight hoops and Latzke then with 2 straight triples and Nelson concludes the run with 2 free throws. The 12-0 Skippers run gives them a 74-70 lead with 3:30 left. Talley adds another And 1 opportunity to his tally to cut the lead to 1. Talley then finds Anderson for a jumper and Johnson leads 75-74 with 3 minutes left. Latzke with a circus make but he misses the free throw a 2:46. Stefan gambles for a steal and Suggs makes him pay by knocking down the open shot. Risinger puts back a miss for a 78-77 Tonka lead. Conwell 2 and the foul. The FT is good and Johnson back on top 80-78 with 1:42 left. Suggs baseline for a layup at 1:20 and its 82-78 Governors. Stefan immediately makes 2 FTs and its 82-80 with 1:15 left. Johnson uses 2 time outs to avoid turnovers. After all of this, Max Rosenbloom misses the front end with 37.3 to play. Stefan hangs and banks with 17 seconds left. Johnson goes without a timeout. Suggs can't create anything which forces Estan Tyler to throw up a 30 footer at the horn. No good and we go to OT tied at 82.

In the OT, Tyler starts the scoring with a free throw. Conwell with a tough hoop on the right block with 1:50 left makes it 85-82 Johnson. Conwell with 2 FTs at 1:28 and its 87-82. Risinger with a turnover after Taylor Nelson lost it on the previous possession. Conwell makes a bad play by charging at 1:04 going to the rim and Tonka has it back. But Tonka turns it over again. Suggs makes 2 FTs, Conwell makes 2 and that seals it. Johnson wins 93-88 in overtime.

For Minnetonka, they fall to 4-2. Cole Stefan with 32 in the loss with 3 triples. Nick Latzke huge with 22 points and 5 triples in addition to the circus make he had. Minnetonka will face Mounds View on Monday afternoon in the 2:45 game. With Minnetonka being a team that likes to play dribble drive motion, that's a very bad matchup for Mounds View. I was surprised that Tonka wasn't a deeper team as they only played 7 guys.

Johnson with another big overtime win (see also the Washburn double OT win). Michael Talley with 19, Demetri Conwell with 21. Johnson now has a very interesting matchup against Eden Prairie in the late game on Monday night. Johnson pounded the glass and that was a major factor in getting the win. They run a ton of people at you so you have to beat their pressure D. If they aren't making shots and not turning you over, their best offense is often the offensive glass.

Gonzaga blog update on Dower and Stefan

The Kennel Report had a chance to catch up with Net Gain coach Marquis Watts for an update on Sam Dower and Cole Stefan. A couple noteworthy items from the interview. Coach Watts thinks Sam should average 25 and 12 and Stefan's visit to Gonzaga for the Idaho game got cancelled. In addition they have a nice update on the schools looking at Stefan.

Read the entire interview here.

Scout.com interviews Cole Stefan

Chris Monter of Scout.com interviewed Cole Stefan of Minnetonka today. He lists a handful of mid-major offers. After seeing him play last season and this summer, not to mention his expanded role this year, I expect him to get bigger offers as time goes on due to his shooting. Sam Dower's recruitment helped him as the teams looking at Dower were able to see him too.

NY2LA Sports comments on local players

NY2LA Sports released comments on a few players this week. Their article includes comments on Rodney Williams, Billy Giddings (Blaine), Cole Stefan and Nick Latzke (Minnetonka) along with a couple of Wisconsin players that I saw last season and one of the sons of the best player ever. The entire article can be read here.

It also mentions the 2008 Full Court Fall Showcase camp that will be held at Minnetonka on Oct 11 and 12th. This is put on by Net Gain Sports. More info can be found on the Net Gain Sports website.

The article mentions Tyler Brown and Brett Meinecke from Wisconsin. Brown plays in the shadow of 2010 star Evan Anderson (committed to Wisconsin, ranked #37 Rivals.com, #17 Scout.com, #24 ESPN), but he's the best scorer on his Eau Claire North team. Can play inside and has the ability to step all the way out to the 3 point line and make shots. Nice pickup for Central Michigan. I'll get another chance to see him play December 2nd for their big game at the Swamp vs La Crosse Logan and one of Wisconsin's top 2011 prospects, Trevor Jorgenson (offered by UW-Milwaukee). Its a matchup of some of the best big guys in Wisconsin.

Meinecke is also in the shadow of another star Kameron Cerroni (26.5 PPG last year as a sophomore, committed to UWGB). He's part of a young and small Sussex Hamilton squad that is building to be very dangerous in 2009-2010. He's a small guard but can shoot it. A nice compliment. He struggled with injuries this summer. They play De La Salle in the Border Battle in Owatonna on Saturday January 24th, 2009 in a compelling matchup.

Giddings has sufficient physical tools. Playing without the ball and his defense are areas he continues to work on. But he can definitely score.

Latzke is a lot like his older brother Andrew who played for the Skippers this last year. Another sweet shooting lefty who will be a big contributor down the road.

And what more needs to be said about Cole Stefan. His stock continues to rise and with a full year to shine now that all of the Tonka seniors are gone, expect him to have a monster year.

Interview on Sam Dower's Signing and Cole Stefan's Future

Gonzaga student blog The Kennel Report did an interview yesterday with Net Gain Sports coach Marquise Watts regarding the signing of Osseo standout Sam Dower and the future for up and coming Minnetonka junior Cole Stefan. Nice job by TKR as this provides some nice insight on both players. It was interesting to see that Stefan may be a better baseball player as Ryan James of Minnesota Preps just wrote an article that Stefan may be the top junior basketball player in the state. Should be interesting to see how he performs in front of at least 5 schools at an open gym tonight. With Wazoo hard after him and watching Tony Bennett play at UWGB when I was young, I'd be happy to see another Minnesota player end up in the Pacific Northwest. Stefan could really light it up in that system.

Read the entire TKR interview here.

Saturday action at the Twin Cities Summer Classic

Saturday games at the Twin Cities Summer Classic, as almost all of the 17U action is at Wayzata, that's where I was watching games. Many college coaches in attendance. A list of just a few D1 schools in attendance includes Iowa, Wisconsin, Southern Illinois, Columbia, Princeton, Northern Iowa. Not to mention all the local schools. I missed session 1 tending to other business in the kingdom but I did arrive in time to see the end of session 2.

Session 2: 43 Hoops Chatman def MN Mustangs 74-43. Will Deberg playing with this 43 Hoops squad. Team Missouri def Elite Sports 60-57 in a tight game in the same pool.

Session 3: This session is all about the 16U pool of death. Kevin Noreen joined the Magic Black squad for their game with the MN Xplosion. As the Xplosion struggle on the glass, Noreen makes his first appearance at 12:25 with Josh Pella guarding him in a entertaining matchup. The Magic get out to a 14-8 lead after Deron Murphy finds Noreen for a layup with 10 minutes left in the half. The rest of the half is back and forth and a Magic 3 at the horn makes it 37-36 Magic Black at the half. A 9-2 run out of halftime topped off by a Steve Bailey 3 gives the Xplosion a 45-39 lead with 14 minutes left. With the score 52-50 and about 10 minutes left, Noreen makes 1 of 2 FTs and then gets 2 straight layups on postups to give the Magic a 57-50 lead with 7 minutes to play and they won't look back. Magic-Black wins 75-63. Kevin Noreen with 14 points and Deron Murphy with 10 points for the Magic. Jack Ghizoni with 17 points to lead the Xplosion.

In the other pool of death game, the Mpls Redhawks rolled to a 57-38 win over the Upstate Elite. 43 Hoops Harris def MSB 53-46 in other 16U action.

Sessions 4 and 5: In session 4, the Madison Spartans def 43 Hoops Amundson 65-55 in 15U action. The MN Heat Black squad def Hoops Masters 59-48 in 16U Action. In session 5, Net Gain Sports blew out All Iowa Elite 95-50. Sam Dower had it going early inside and then knocked down a couple 3s in a row in the 2nd half. Cole Stefan was on fire from the outside and Andy Burns did a terrific job orchestrating the whole thing. Trent Lockett slashed to the basket at will in the 2nd half. Net Gain Scoring: Dower with 21, Lockett with 17 and Stefan with 26. Dan VanKalsbeek with 10 and a nice showing for All Iowa Elite.

In other 17U action in this session, 43 Hoops Chatman holds off a game Team Missouri squad 62-51 with 2 nice dunks late by Chris Halvorsen. This game was much closer than that the whole way. 94 Ft of Game survived 2 changes by the MN Comets Stars to win during regulation. They win 78-72 in OT.

Session 6: The 16U Pool of Death continues with the Mpls Redhawks taking on Magic Black. Back and forth 1st half gets us to 48-40 Redhawks with 7:29 to go. Out of a Magic timeout, they try to apply more pressure and it just blows up horribly. That, combined with ice cold shooting and precision ball movement vs the pressure, allows the Redhawks to go on a 15-2 run over the next 5 minutes to put the game well out of reach. Redhawks win 67-45. John Rowland (Osseo) was the beneficiary of many of the passes to end up with 17 points. Parker Hines (Minnehaha) with 12 points.

Sessions 7 and 10: These sessions allowed me the chance to take a look at the MN Heat Elite 15U squad. The Preiner twins were available, but Alex Richter was out. His return is expected for bracket play. In the 1st game they played the East Metro Elite. That squad is a Vern Simmons (Johnson coach) led squad and they play just like the Johnson varsity. Scrambling, trapping, aggressive defense. The Heat led 23-10 in the 1st half of the game before East Metro went 1-3-1. That cut the deficit to 32-26 Heat at the half. East Metro opened the 2nd half man to man just like the 1st half, but once again with about 8 minutes left in the half, they applied pressure and it bothered the Heat. East Metro finally took the lead 42-40 off a steal with 6:05 to play and they never trailed again. The Heat missed a layup that would have tied it late. East Metro seals it with 2 late FTs to win 59-55. In the 2nd game that I saw them play, they blew out MN Team Elite 77-51 after starting the game on a 19-3 run. Drew Preiner impressive in the 1st game at the point guard spot (12 pts), Luke Preiner with the impressive 2nd game with 11 pts and a nice well rounded game. John Christensen turned the 2nd half of the 2nd game into his own personal layup drill to finish with at least 25 points by my count.

Also during these 2 sessions, the MN Xplosion def Upstate Elite 77-68 in 16U action. In 15U action, 43 Hoops Amundson def KC Keys 68-61.

Session 8: The Illinois Wolves come in with their prime talent to take on the MN Comets. This was a mismatch from the start. 14-3 early, 39-17 at halftime and the Wolves roll to a 74-47 win. Nate Wolters lit it up for the Comets with 27 points but no one else could find a way to put the ball in the basket. Joseph Bertrand (Illinois recruit) with 11 points with numerous nifty moves off the dribble to get to the basket. Diamond Taylor (Wisconsin recruit) with only 4 points. He didn't look as explosive as Bertrand, but I can see where he'd be a nice fit in Bo Ryan's system. He was sporting the high socks look and got the initial defensive assignment on Wolters.

Session 9: 43 Hoops Harris blows out Hoops Masters 81-32 in 16U action and it could have been far worse as the score was 66-19 with over 9 minutes left. Clay Horne very active around the basket but had difficulty converting. Max Rosenbloom was his usual active self and Tim Lubke knocked down 3 triples in the game.

MN Heat Black 16U def MSB 69-64 in the other 16U game going on.

Session 11: Finally the end to a long day. Taylor Filipek gives us the hat trick of name players switching teams. He joins the MN Comets Elite 16U squad for their game with Big Game Sports. With 7:40 left in the 1st half, the Comets led 30-13. They also led 47-32 at halftime. But BGS didn't go away. They go on a 16-3 spurt to start the 2nd half and its only 50-48 Comets with 12:15 to play. With 9 minutes left its 57-50 Comets and they open it up late to win 88-70. Eric Tengwall 14-14 from the FT line. Alex Hanks with 16 points and Taylor Filipek with 14 points for the Comets.