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.

43 Hoops Twin Cities Summer Classic Preview

7/11/08 Games scheduled for Hopkins HS have now been moved to Wayzata HS.

(Czar's Note 7/10/08, I've been notified that I've got the 2 MN Comets teams reversed. The Comets Stars are in Pool A and the Comets Elite are in Pool B. My thanks for the info and apologies go out to the Comets. Preview Updated at 12:23 PM

Corrected Comets Stars Roster and fixes to schedule, 10 PM)

Here's my preview of the Inaugural Twin Cities Summer Classic hosted by 43 Hoops. I'll be out watching the games and writing afterwards. You can also get reports from Stevens Sports Report.

17U

Pool A: MN Comets Stars, All Iowa Elite, Net Gain Sports, 94 Feet of Game
Pool B: Illinois Wolves, Triple Threat, MN Comets Elite, Wisconsin Playmakers
Pool C: 43 Hoops Chatman, Team Missouri, Elite Sports Select, MN Mustangs
Pool D: Mac Irvin Fire, Big Game Sports, MSB Roadrunners, 43 Hoops Hemmingson

Schedule (click here for a link to the full schedule)
1st pool games: 8:00 and 9:15 Saturday except Pool B (4:45 PM). All at Hopkins High
2nd pool games: 1:00, 2:15 and 3:30 PM Saturday at Hopkins except Pool B (8:30 PM at 43 Hoops).
3rd pool games: Sunday 8 AM (Pool C), 9:15 AM (Pool D), 10:30 AM (Pool A) at Hopkins. 11:45 AM (Pool B) at 43 Hoops.

Round of 16 Playoffs: Sunday afternoon at 43 Hoops and Hopkins
Final 8: Monday 10:30 and 11:45 AM at 43 Hoops
Semifinals: Monday 6 PM at 43 Hoops
Championship: Tuesday 1 PM at King of Grace in Golden Valley

The Czar's Thoughts

Pool A: Net Gain Sports has a load of perimeter talent with Trent Lockett (Hopkins), Cole Stefan (Minnetonka) and Tor Anderson (Prior Lake). It looks like they also add Chanse Creekmur from Marshalltown, IA. He's a 6'6" wing player in the class of 2010 that mid-majors like Northern Iowa and Creighton are already after. Sam Dower leads them inside. He's had a good summer and may develop into a high-major D1 player this season. I see 94 Ft of Game as the next best squad in this bracket. Steve Baker has had a big summer for them and Freddie Burton is another solid guard for this athletic squad. All Iowa Elite knocked out TNL Express in a tournament this past weekend. The MN Comets Stars is the lesser of the 2 Comets teams here. This bracket is tough enough that they may not win a game in pool play.

Pool B: The Illinois Wolves should be the class of this pool with 2 top 100 players in Diamond Taylor (Wisconsin, #86 Rivals) and Joseph Bertrand (Illinois, #81 Rivals). For the MN Comets Elite, Nate Wolters has had a terrific summer and they've got plenty of other athletes and good players to compete with anybody in this tournament. Their game with the Wolves (4:45 Saturday at Hopkins) will be really fun to watch. The Wisconsin Playmakers (read another preview here) come in with high scoring guard Jack Taylor of Black River Falls and wing Allen Swiggum. Mike Hanson of La Crosse Aquinas is also on this squad. He's being looked at by Columbia, Drake, Winona St and WIAC schools. Taylor has interest from Drake and Winona State.

Pool C: The top 43 Hoops squad resides here. Mike Bruesewitz, Chris Halvorsen and Marc Sonnen lead this squad and give them good inside out balance. Dylan Rodriguez and Damarius Cruz are 2 others who also are worth watching. Team Missouri was here for the Sabes Invitational in May and struggled, but they do have guard Jamie Donnelly. Elite Sports Select brings in a group of players from Northeast Iowa. The MN Mustangs played well in the Star of the North games a couple weeks ago. Their squad is one of Hiawatha Valley Conference all-stars. Overall, I see this as the weakest bracket.

Pool D: The Mac Irvin Fire come in with a very good and young team. 2010 stud Crandall Head (brother of current NBA player Luther Head) is #11 in the Rivals rankings and #12 in the Scout rankings. They also have a real star in the making from the 2011 class, Mike Shaw. They got knocked out of the Milwaukee event this week by the All Iowa Attack 17s. Big Game Sports had a very nice run in Indianapolis this week and could be a real sleeper in this pool. MSB brings their dangerous size to the pool with Mike Muscala (Roseville) and David Berthene (Lakeville N). The Big Game Sports vs MSB matchup (Sunday 9:15 AM at Hopkins) intrigues me and should determine 2nd place in the pool. 43 Hoops Hemmingson is the lesser of the 2 43 Hoops teams in the 17U portion. Travon McKee (Arlington) can really score and Jayvin Reynolds (Osseo) is a big man who will have an important role this coming season.

Pool Winner Predictions: Net Gain Sports, Illinois Wolves, 43 Hoops Chatman and Mac Irvin Fire

In 16U, many of the top Minnesota teams are present. They include the Mpls Redhawks, MN Magic Phillips, MN Comets Elite, MN Xplosion in addition to the 2 43 Hoops teams. The MN Heat Black, Big Game Sports and 94 Ft of Game squads are also represented here. Also watch Silas Mills Jr of the Terry Porter Elite. For those of us who remember the dynasty that was Milwaukee Washington in the 80s, you'll know him as the son of Silas Mills who played in the NBA.

Games to watch:
Saturday

• 8:00 AM 94 Ft of Game vs Net Gain Sports, Hopkins Court 3
• 9:15 AM Mac Irvin Fire vs Big Game Sports, Hopkins Court 3
• 10:30 AM MN Magic Phillips vs MN Xplosion (16U), Hopkins Court 3
• 11:45 AM MN Heat Black vs 43 Hoops Carr 43 Hoops Court 2 OR 43 Hoops Amundson vs Madison Spartans Hopkins Court 3(both games 15U)
• 1:00 PM All Iowa Elite vs Net Gain Sports, Hopkins Court 3
  
• 2:15 PM Mac Irvin Fire vs MSB Roadrunners, Hopkins Court 2 OR Mpls Redhawks vs MN Magic Phillips (16U), Hopkins Court 4
• 3:30 PM Elite Sports Select vs MN Mustangs, Hopkins Court 4 (only 17U game going on)
• 4:45 PM Illinois Wolves vs MN Comets Elite, Hopkins Court 2
  
• 6:00 PM MSB Roadrunners vs MN Heat Black (16U), Hopkins Court 3
• 7:15 PM MN Heat Elite vs Illinois Wolves (15U), Hopkins Court 2
• 8:30 PM Illinois Wolves vs Triple Threat 43 Hoops Court 1 OR MN Comets Elite vs WI Playmakers 43 Hoops Court 2

Sunday

• 8:00 AM 43 Hoops Chatman vs Elite Sports Select, Hopkins Court 2
  
• 9:15 AM Big Game Sports vs MSB Roadrunners, Hopkins Court 3
  
• 10:30 AM All Iowa Elite vs 94 Ft of Game, Hopkins Court 3
  
• 11:45 AM Illinois Wolves vs WI Playmakers , 43 Hoops Court 1
  
• 1:00 PM 43 Hoops Harris vs MN Heat Black (16U) Hopkins Court 4
• Tournament play begins with round of 16 play (pool winners vs last place pool finishers)
  

Monday (all games at 43 Hoops)

• 10:30 and 11:45 AM 17U Quarterfinals
• 1:00 and 2:15 PM 16U Quarterfinals
• 3:30 and 4:45 PM 15U Quarterfinals
• 6 PM 17U Semifinals
• 7:15 16U Semifinals
• 8:30 15U Semifinals

Tuesday (all games at King of Grace church in Golden Valley)

• 9:15 AM 14U Championship
• 10:30 AM 15U Championship
• 11:45 AM 16U Championship
• 1:00 PM 17U Championship

July 7th results from Indianapolis and Milwaukee

At the Hoosier Shootout in Indianapolis, here's how MN teams did on day 2.

* Magic Elite def Peoria Irish 68-31
* MSB def Spiece Gym Rats 70-46
* ECI-MN lost to PC Players Black 86-69
* 94 Ft of Game def Club Indiana Bulldogs 65-58
* 43 Hoops (2nd roster) won their 3rd game by forfeit.
* MN Select-DeKok def Team Ontario 75-74
* Big Game Sports lost to Nebraska Bison Red 93-54
* MN Glory lost to Pioneer Technologies 96-90
* MN Select-Kruger def Charlotte Court 53-49
* MN Mustangs lost to NLP-DS 73-51
* MN Fury lost 69-67 to the Michigan Roadrunners.

Bracket play

• ECI West Black def MN Glory 75-73
• MN Select Kruger def Nashville Celtics Green 55-44 and then lost 74-68 to the Iowa Barnstormers.
• Magic Elite def MSB 50-47 and NLP-AM 80-72.
• Big Game Sports def Windy City Spartans 66-65.

At the NY2LA event in Milwaukee

• Grassroots lost to Meanstreets 72-57 and SYF Players 77-67.
• Howard Pulley lost to REACH 72-62 and then defeated Next Level Elite 62-61. Its worth noting that this is their 2nd team. The top guys are camping this week. Royce White and Rodney Williams are at the Lebron James camp. A handful of other players are in Kansas at a camp.
  
• Net Gain lost 59-54 to the Illinois Stars and def the Playground Elite 74-70.
  

Results for Minnesota teams from the opening day of the July recruiting season

At the Hoosier Shootout in Indianapolis, here's how MN teams did on day 1. All scores here are 17U teams only.

• Magic Elite lost to TN Thunder 63-61 and def WI Swing 59-37
• MSB def Texas D1 Ambassadors 73-46 and the St Louis Raptors 81-59 (Czar's Note 7/10/08, corrected Raptors result to reflect MSB win and not a loss as previously noted)
  
• ECI-MN lost to Spiece Select 65-32 and Kessel Heat Black 62-52
• 94 Ft of Game lost to Toronto Mission 1 60-59 and NLP-AM 97-90
• 43 Hoops (2nd roster) lost to Ducks 77-54 and Illinois Elite 65-62.
• MN Select-DeKok lost to TN Travelers 72-43 and Indiana Select 84-68.
• Big Game Sports def Old Gold Dream Team 82-75 and lost to Parallel 45 65-55.
• MN Glory def Camp Darryl Royal 76-48 and Springfield Magic 88-56.
• MN Select-Kruger def Creek Basketball 93-63 and Camp Darryl White 57-46
• MN Mustangs lost to Midwest Elite 68-48 and UPs Finest 78-57
• MN Fury lost to Team CBIZ 71-69 and Speice Rising Stars 86-69
  

At the NY2LA event in Milwaukee, Grassroots, Howard Pulley and Net Gain are all 0-1. All Iowa Attack 17U def Net Gain 60-55. Howard Pulley lost to All Iowa Attack 16U 79-59. Grassroots appears to have forfeited their game.

The 43 Hoops top 17U team played 2 games in Cincinnati in the Adidas It Takes 5ive Classic.

Congrats to the TNL Express for their performance this weekend in Kearney, NE. They went 3-0 in pool play before bowing out in the 2nd round of bracket play. Jasper Duberry averaged 19.4 PPG for the weekend. Scott Theisen had 41 pts with 11 3s in a game. He averaged 18 PPG for the tournament. Both players made the all-tournament team along with Wisconsin stars Kameron Cerroni, Evan Anderson and Chim Kadima of the champion Wisconsin Playground Warriors. Josh Pella of the MN Xplosion joined the Express for the weekend.

Scout.com releases updated 2009 Top 100 for July 2008

Scout.com has made another tweak to their 2009 top 100 (101 actually) before the July recruiting period (read it here). Here are players that caught my attention.

Minnesota
Royce White (#32, up from #38)
Rodney Williams Jr (#57, down from #45)
Trent Lockett (#89, previously unranked)

Wisconsin
Jamil Wilson (#16, no change)
Jeronne Maymon (#66, down from #58)
Johnny Lacy (#96, down from #62)

Others who appeared locally
DeMarcus Cousins (#6, up from #7)
DJ Richardson (#46, up from #60)
Darius Smith (#90)
Michael Dixon (#94, down from #66)

Rivals releases updates to 2009 rankings

Rivals.com has made another tweak to their 2009 top 150 before the July recruiting period (read it here). Here are players that caught my attention.

Minnesota
Royce White (#18, no change)
Rodney Williams Jr (#28, no change)
Trent Lockett (#53, big jump from #98)
Mike Bruesewitz (#125, up from #144)
Sam Dower (#130, up from #130)

Wisconsin
Jeronne Maymon (#42, moves up from #60)
Jamil Wilson (#60, drops from #58)
Johnny Lacy (#97, up from #99)

Others who appeared locally or will be playing at the Twin Cities Summer Classic
DJ Richardson (#74)
Darius Smith (#80)
Joseph Bertrand (#81)
Diamond Taylor (#86)
Michael Dixon (#100)
Nik Garcia (#109)
Jack Cooley (#147)

Star of the North Results

Here are results from this weekend's Star of the North event in St. Paul.

In Pool A, Tartan and Plainview-Elgin-Millville went 2-0. A 43 Hoops squad and Spring Lake Park went 0-2. In Pool B, MN Xplosion went 2-0, Farmington was 1-1. In Pool C, Centennial was 2-0. In Pool D, the MN Mustangs were 1-1.

The MN Mustangs knocked out Tartan 63-61 before losing to the Xplosion 75-70 in the 1st semifinal. Centennial defeated Farmington 69-60 in the quarters and Plainview-Elgin-Millville 67-65 in the other semifinal. MN Mustangs won 3rd place 68-64 over PEM. In the championship game, Centennial won a close one over the Xplosion 83-78. Jordan Reibling with a big tourney for the Xplosion as he had 93 pts in 5 games. Jack Ghizoni also with a productive tournament for the Xplosion. Nice tourney win for Centennial as this was their full varsity squad. That program has struggled recently and the NW Suburban has been down. Does this mean an uptick for them. Only time will tell. Certainly Jr guard Tony Gerding is a player to build around and they do return most of last year's roster.

The Xplosion and Mustangs will both be in the Twin Cities Summer Classic in 2 weeks. It'll be interesting to see how both teams do with the tough competition that will be there.

MN Results from the Dakota Showcase

Lots of teams at the Dakota Showcase that ended yesterday. Here's how they did.

Pool Play
MN Magic Robertson 3-0
MN Fury 1-2
94 Ft of Game 2-1
MN Magic Elite 3-0
SW MN Stars 1-2
MN Comets 2-1
MSB 3-0
ECI MN 1-2
MN Select-Kruger 2-1 (lost to 3-0 Dakota Schoolers)
MN Heat 0-3
MN Magic Elite Stars 3-0 (beat 2-1 WI Blizzard)
MN Glory II 0-3
MN Glory I 3-0
MN Select DeKok 0-3

Bracket play
Magic Robertson won 1st place defeating Magic Elite in the Semis and then defeating the Dakota Schoolers for the title.

MSB lost to the Dakota Schoolers in the quarters
Magic Elite Stars def MN Glory before losing to the Schoolers in the other semifinal.

94 Ft of Game lost to the 9th place finisher Iowa Barnstomers in the 1st round of bracket play.

MN Fury won 17th place.

Steven Baker (Como Park) of 94 Ft of Game had a tournament high 34 pts in a game on Friday and let the tourney in PPG with 22.5 along with Matt Zager (Shakopee) of the MN Glory. Nate Wolters (St. Cloud Tech) with 2nd highest game of the tourney with 31 on Saturday. He finished 3rd with 22 PPG.

Mike Felt (Redwood Valley) lit it up with 20 3s in 6 games for the Dakota Schoolers.

Players named to the all-tournament team.

Nate Wolters (St. Cloud Tech), Christian Shepley and Emmanuel Addo (Northfield), Matt Zager, Will DeBerg (Edina), Jake Lippert (Farmington), Greg Meyer (Minnehaha), Josh Hibbison (Monticello), Mike Felt (Redwood Valley)

East Metro Showcase Pairings Announced

From Wishoops.net, the East Metro Showcase pairings have been announced. On the bad side these games are the same day as the Border Battle. On the good side, both events are entirely MN vs WI games which is appealing. I'm a believer that the East Metro Showcase is just as good an event as the Border Battle and that's a tribute to what Vern Simmons (Johnson coach) has done with it. If you don't want to make the trip to Owatonna, the East Metro Showcase is definitely a worthy local alternative. Here are this year's pairings. All games are at Johnson Friday January 23, 2009 and Saturday January 24th, 2009

Friday:
Milwaukee NW vs Johnson, 4 PM
Milwaukee Marshall vs Arlington 6 PM
Milwaukee Vincent vs Hopkins 8 PM

Saturday
Barron, WI vs Richfield, 10 AM
Milwaukee NW vs Central, Noon
Milwaukee Marshall vs Washburn, 2 PM
La Crosse Aquinas vs Hopkins, 4 PM
Milwaukee Vincent vs Eastview, 6 PM
Milwaukee Lutheran vs Wayzata, 8 PM

Vincent brings in the #1 WI 2011 player Larry Bradley. (Czar's Note 11/10/08: Bradley has since transferred but Michael Weems is one of many talented players for Vincent). Chim Kadima is the #4 2010 WI player for Milwaukee Lutheran. He's just returning from a bad knee injury. Jimmy Whitehead is the #12 2009 WI player for Aquinas. Its no secret I'm a La Crosse guy and Aquinas has 2 great wins in this event over the last 2 years (Woodbury 2007, Eastview 2008 in OT), but I'm absolutely shocked they're playing Hopkins. Credit to Coach Schneider for taking this game and playing a tough schedule as usual, but this isn't 2007 or 2008 where they're playing just another highly ranked 4A MN team like the last 2 years. Finally we see Hopkins vs Vincent in a battle of the very best basketball traditions in both states. It'll be interesting to see Vincent now that legendary coach Tom Diener has left the program. Milwaukee NW is a pretty new school but they have a terrific basketball program. Don't overlook their 2 games vs Johnson and Central.

Rivals releases 1st 2010 Top 100

Rivals released their 1st top 100 for the 2010 class today (read it here). No Minnesota players included but some players that did appear locally or I saw are on the list.

#5: Josh Selby who played for DeMatha against Hopkins in the TWolves Shootout last season
#6: Harrison Barnes who played here in the Sabes Invitational with the All Iowa Attack (here's what I saw then) in May and may be back in the Twin Cities Summer Classic in a couple of weeks (I see conflicting schedules on that right now)
#10: Joe Jackson who had 29 for Memphis White Station in their blowout of Cass Lake-Bena in the TWolves Shootout (here's what I saw then)
#11: Crandall Head who may be here in the Twin Cities Summer Classic in a couple of weeks playing for the Mac Irvin Fire. That's also true of #32 Jereme Richmond (Joy of the Game Rising Stars) and #29 Vander Blue (assuming he comes with the Madison Spartans). Blue was also here and impressive in the Sabes Invitational with the Madison Spartans 16U team, but he usually plays with the 17s.
#35 Anthony Johnson was here with the Illinois Warriors at the Sabes Invitational playing with the 16U team.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the other Wisconsin players in the list. I saw both of these kids play last December.
#21 Evan Anderson of Eau Claire North
#95 Flavien Davis. of Wisconsin Lutheran

Scout has only the top 15 ranked right now. They got Richmond #7, Anderson #10, Barnes #11 and Head #12

ESPN has Richmond #9, Jackson #10, Davis #22, Selby #23, Head #25, Johnson #55 in their super 60 for 2010.

Tubby's camps

Another event that I didn't mention for this weekend is Tubby Smith's team camp. BSM, Tonka, Hopkins amongst others will be represented so this will be a big showcase of MN talent. Many of these same kids were at his camp last weekend and shined. Just a few names of note that shined, Royce White (2009), Chad Calcaterra(2010) and Kyle Noreen (2011).

End of June events

Lots going on as we end June and start another college recruiting cycle. Lots of local teams at the Dakota Showcase Thursday-Saturday.

In Pool A, there's Magic-Robertson and MN Fury along with the Iowa Barnstormers and Iowa recruit Brennan Cougill. In Pool B, 94 Ft of Game along with ECI West Black with one of the top players in North Dakota, Cameron Malzer. He was a star for the ECI team that played in the Sabes Invite in May. In Pool C, MN Magic Elite look like they have a less difficult pool. SD Heat and SW MN Stars also in that pool. In Pool D, MN Comets in another less difficult pool. Look for Nate Wolters to have a big weekend there. Also worth watching is Jarrell Crayton (Bellevue E, NE) of the Alegent Crusaders.

In Pool E, we've got MSB and ECI MN. Fun matchup of bigs there with David Berthene and Mike Muscala of MSB vs Jordan Aaberg (NDSU signee) and Kurt Mickelson. In Pool F, Cody Larson leads the Dakota Schoolers up against a couple of MN teams. The MN Heat Elite and MN Select-Kruger squads are in this pool. Look for Maurice Hernandez to have another big weekend for the Select. In Pool G, the MN Magic Elite Stars are there vs the Wisconsin Blizzard. Tyler Brown (teammate of top 10 national soph Evan Anderson at Eau Claire North and one of the top Seniors to be in Wisconsin) leads the Blizzard. I believe they won the WI AAU tournament earlier this spring (preview here). I think the MN Glory 16s are in this pool as well. Finally in Pool H we have the MN Glory and MN Select DeKok teams.

The Czar's complete unqualified pool winner predictions: Magic-Robertson, 94 Ft of Game, MN Magic Elite, MN Comets, MSB, MN Select-Kruger, WI Blizzard and MN Glory.

Star of the North games are going on in St. Paul with the MN Xplosion, 43 Hoops, Tartan and Spring Lake Park in that event. Friday games are at the MLK Rec Center in St. Paul. Saturday games (pool and quarterfinals) are at Arlington and Sunday semis and finals are at Humboldt.

MN Fury 15s and 16s and Grassroots are in the State Farm Summer Hoops Classic tournament at N St. Paul this weekend.

Saturday quarterfinal action at the State AAU tourney

How appropriate that we start year 2 of the blog with Quarterfinal action in all divisions at the state AAU tournament.

Session 1 15U Quarterfinals (top 2 seeds):

• #2 MN Heat vs #7 SW MN Heat. When 1 jersey says Heat and the other says Minnesota Heat, you have to look twice to make sure you know which team is which. The MN Heat very shorthanded this weekend as the Preiner twins and Ryan Burns are at the UNI camp with their Tartan club and Riley West (Lakeville S varsity player, 5 PPG) is out due to injury. But they still have Alex Richter (also Lakeville S varsity, averaged 6.2 PPG this season), so the cupboard isn't bare. The MN Heat open it up in the 2nd half after a 32-23 halftime lead and roll 79-49. Richter with low minutes in the 2nd and 4th quarters, but he still finished with 27 pts and 8 rebounds by my stat sheet. Very aggressive and was a man amongst children in this game. Easily could have had over 30. Not yet a shooter, but very good in the post vs his peers. Definitely a player I'll be watching over the next 3 seasons.
• 43 Hoops Carr was only up 12-7 after 1 quarter on the Central MN Flyers, but they run away with the rest of the game for a 90-46 victory. Unselfish team (maybe to a fault) and I liked their 1-2-2 press.

Session 2, 17U Opening Round :

• #6 MN Comets vs #11 MN Magic Stars. No Ethan Wragge, Jack Gavin, Josh Pedretti or Mitch Bires for the Magic. Close 1st half as the Comets led 12-11 after 1 quarter, but the Magic came back to lead 30-27 at half. Nate Wolters (St. Cloud Tech) with 11 in the 3rd quarter to push the Comets to a 47-40 lead after 3. Billy Giddings (Blaine) gets the 1st bucket of the 4th for the Magic, but the Comets go on a 11-0 run after that to put the game away. 66-48 Comets win. Wolters with 20. Tim Bergstrasser (St. Cloud Apollo) with 14 pts and 7 rbs for the Comets. Billy Giddings with 14 and 7 for the Magic. Chris Orgas (Lakeville North) with 12 and 5 for the Magic
• #7 MSB blows out #10 MN Comets Stars
• #8 MN Select-DeKok beats #9 MN Comets North
  
• #3 MN Magic Black blows out #14 Rochester Shock in a 16U opening round game.
• Before the 3rd official session, I saw some of MN Southside's come back from 30 down to win in the 17U D2 bracket. MN Southside is the Eastview squad with Drew Johnson and Carlos Emory. Emory played with this squad instead of Magic-Robertson. Vinard Birch who is also on this squad stayed with 43 Hoops.

Session 3, 16U Quarterfinals (upper bracket):

• #4 MN Comets Elite vs #5 MN Xplosion. These teams split 2 games earlier in the summer so this should be quite interesting. Fun up and down game, but no pressing from the Xplosion to my surprise. Xplosion gets out to a 15-4 lead after 1 quarter. The Comets close to 18-16 but Xplosion gets 8 of the last 9 to lead 26-17 at the break. 35-28 Xplosion halfway thru quarter #3 when the Comets go on a 11-0 run thanks to 9 straight points from Luke Januschka (St. Cloud Cathedral). 39-37 Comets at the end of the 3rd quarter. Jack Ghizoni (Burnsville) hits 2 FTs for Xplosion with 3 minutes left to make it 46-45 Comets. The teams trade a couple of buckets in the next 2 minutes. With 42 seconds left, Cody Meyer makes the 1st FT but misses the 2nd and gets his own rebound. The Comets get 2 layups after this and they go on to win 55-49. Jack Ghizoni with 14 for Xplosion. Luke Januschka with 14 for the Comets.
  
• #1 MN Magic Elite had a close 1st quarter with #8 MN Fury North in the other 16U Quarterfinal that was going on. 49-36 Magic at half, 70-47 Magic after 3 and they win 90-56. Josh Hanson didn't play last night for the Fury but was back today.
  

Session 4, 16U Quarterfinals (lower bracket):

• #2 MN Fury South vs #7 43 Hoops-Harris. 10-8 Hoops after 1 quarter. Vinard Birch guarding Dajon Newell (Lakeville N) is really fun to watch. 6 straight front ends of the 1 and 1 missed in the 2nd quarter, including 4 by 43 Hoops. 23-13 Hoops at the half. The Fury just can't get over the hump as they pull to 25-20 but fall back to 36-28 down at the end of the 3rd quarter. Darry Jones (St. Agnes) heats up in the 4th, but Birch playing well leading the offense for 43 Hoops in the 4th and they pull the upset 58-44. Jones with 12 and Newell with 11 for the Fury. Nick Quicksell (Woodbury) with 15, Birch with 13 for 43 Hoops.
• #3 MN Magic Black vs #6 Mpls Redhawks. 37-30 Redhawks after 3 quarters (that included a late Magic run). 43-36 Redhawks late, but the Magic close within 43-41 with 50 seconds left. The Redhawks hit their FTs down the stretch and they hang on to pull the upset 49-41.

Session 5, 17U Quarterfinals:

• #4 MN Select-Kruger (coached by Sibley asst coach) vs #5 Magic Superfriends. 18-13 Magic after 1 quarter which was over by the time the previous MN Fury vs 43 Hoops game ended because they started 10 minutes early. Strange. Select gets the last 6 points of the half to only be down 34-28 at the break thanks to a buzzer beating 3 by Alex Miller (Tall... Tall Kid Tall... Tall Kid Tall...). Where are the BSM students when you need them? The Select use an 8-0 run to tie the game late in the 3rd but the Magic push back ahead 46-41 after 3 thanks to a Taylor Sparkman (Minnehaha) bucket and an Isaiah Thomas (Fridley) 3. Select opens the 4th quarter on an 8-0 run before the Magic finally hit a 3 for their 1st points of the quarter with 1:29 left to play (49 all). Maurice Hernandez (Sibley) with a bucket at 1:10 to push the Select back in front 51-49. Cody Hofmann (Park) makes 3 of 4 FTs before a late Thomas 3 makes the final score 54-52 Select.
• #2 MN Glory vs #7 MSB. 33 all at halftime before the Glory get out to a 50-40 lead in the 3rd quarter. MSB gets last 11 of the quarter and the 1st 4 of the 4th quarter to lead 55-50 with 6 minutes left. 57 all with 2:24 to play and Mike Muscala (Roseville) gets a bucket and then puts back an offensive rebound after a Glory turnover to start a 10-0 run. Muscala also with a couple of thunderous dunks in this game. 1 near the end of the 3rd during the 11-0 run and 1 with the score tied at 55. MSB pulls the upset 69-59.
• #3 MN Fury vs #6 MN Comets Elite. Close game early but the Fury get out to a 10 pt lead and hold it for most of the 2nd half. They win surprisingly easy (to this observer anyway) 56-45.
• #1 Magic-Robertson vs #8 MN Select DeKok. I had to do a serious double take as Rodney Williams was playing for the Magic in this one. I know he has ties within the Magic, but still I thought he'd be with Pulley at the UNI camp this weekend. They lead 15-10 after 1 quarter, 36-24 at the break, 55-32 after 3 and roll 75-52.

Sunday Action looks like this

9:30 15U Semifinals.

• #1 43 Hoops Carr vs #12 43 Hoops Amundson in 1 semifinal. The Amundson squad with 2 upsets in morning play but remember that they gave the Magic Elite 15s all they wanted a couple of weeks ago.
• #2 MN Heat Elite vs #3 MN Magic Elite. Big game here and the one I'll be focusing on at this time. The Heat Elite won big the last time these 2 played. But the Heat had their full roster and Jason Perkins got injured for the Magic during that game so this semifinal will be much different. I'm really looking forward to seeing what game plan coach Miller has for the Heat's Alex Richter. He certainly has a couple of big bodies (Perkins and Mike Yahnke) that he can use. I'm also interested to see Richter against this higher level of competition.

10:50 16U and 17U semifinals

• My game will be the #1 MN Magic Elite 16s vs #4 MN Comets Elite 16s. The Comets beat the Magic head-head at the Magic invite in April. The athleticism of the Comets seemed to bother the Magic then. But this isn't the same Magic squad either. Derek Brown has arrived from South Dakota, not to mention the additions of Jasper Duberry (Champlin Park) and Jay Sewer (Richfield) from high flying TNL Express roster. Should be very interesting.
• The other 16U semi the bracketbuster game. #6 Mpls Redhawks vs #7 43 Hoops Harris. 43 Hoops has been very good defensively, but the Redhawks keep getting it done. Should be a very interesting game.
• 17U Semifinal #1 is Magic-Robertson vs MN Select Kruger. Robertson just too much here.
  
• 17U Semifinal #2 is MSB vs MN Fury. Fury are solid and MSB is coming off the upset so this one should be interesting. I wonder how the Fury deal with MSB's big guys. But how does MSB matchup with Erik Olson of the Fury?

12:10 15U championship game
1:30 17U 3rd place game and maybe I'll sneak a peak at the 14U D1 title game.
2:50 17U championship

Friday action at the State AAU Tourney

Only 16U action in the top 3 brackets tonight. Biggest humor moment of the night was a woman fully decked out as if it was the Kentucky Derby, terrific hat included. All she needed was a mint julep. Don't get me wrong, she looked like a million bucks if she was at the derby (or even the Belmont later today). But I had to stop myself from busting out laughing at how out of place the outfit was in this basketball environment. Combine that with 4 8 minute quarters in these games and there was a strangeness to the evening.

Game 1 of the night was the 16U 8 vs 9 game with the MN Fury North taking on Wear Out the Net. No Drew Swanson (Lake City) for WOTN as he's out due to injury. Josh Pratt (St. Anthony) and Stephen Asp (Edina) showed that they are the top 2 players for this roster. This game was about runs and Jess Briggity (Blaine). The Fury got a 10-0 run in the 1st quarter to get out to an 8 pt lead. WOTN got back in it with 8 straight of their own, before countering a 12-2 with a 14-2 run to end the half up 28-26. WOTN cold in the 3rd but its 42-38 Fury going to the 4th. Logan Hussung (Farmington) gets a nice post up bucket with 2 minutes left to pull WOTN within 52-51, but Briggity's last 2 of the night and 2 Jack Wallick (Apple Valley) seal a 60-56 Fury North win.

Briggity with 14 in the 1st half, 7 in the 3rd quarter and 10 in the 4th to finish with 31 pts. He got into the lane at will and hit floaters all night. Wallick with 15 pts and 8 rebounds. Michael Lindberg (West Lutheran) pitched in with 9 pts and 5 rbs. Isaac Peterson (Cannon Falls) led WOTN with 16 pts (4 triples). Also noteworthy that this game was anything goes from an officials standpoint. Not bad, but interesting considering that the next 2 games were very tightly called. Interesting contrast.

Speaking of tightly called, I got to see a large chunk of the ending of the MN Suns 14U (Siyani Chambers-Hopkins, Darian Pittman-MCA) game that they won 60-40. Game ran way late because there was a whistle every 2.4 milliseconds.

MN Xplosion vs MSB in the always dicey 5 vs 12 matchup. More of the same tight officiating in the 2nd session as we had 9 FTs attempted before the 1st made FG. Xplosion trying to press but getting nothing and making nothing. An 8-0 MSB run gives them a 15-7 lead after the 1st quarter. In the 2nd quarter the full court man press starts to have some results but its not until the Xplosion get 4 late 3s that they take a 33-31 at halftime. MSB not going away though as they start the 2nd half on a 10-2 run to take a 41-35 lead. But they get sloppy later in the quarter as they give up an offensive rebound on a FT which leads to a triple and Andrew Kuledge gets a steal and a layup to tie it at 48. A late MSB 3 makes it 51-50 Roadrunners after 3 quarters. The Xplosion get a 8-0 run over the 1st 2:49 of the 4th to lead 58-51 and it looks over. Especially when they go 2-3 zone and the Roadrunners are getting no movement and hoisting up hurried 3s. But David Stanley (Roseville) hits a 3 for MSB after a scramble and its 59-58 Xplosion with 2:15 to go and the Xplosion turn it over. MSB gets nothing out of it and with 1:18 left the Xplosion have the ball and call time. They call a great iso off the inbound for Josh Pella which he converts for a 61-58 Xplosion lead with 1:10 to play. The teams trade 2 FTs each and with 15.9 to go MSB has the ball down 3 in the frontcourt. They run America's Play for Stanley but they don't execute and Stanley has nothing. Cory Stiles throws up a prayer at the horn that is no good and the Xplosion survive 63-60. The Xplosion are deep, they hustle and have tons of people who can knock down 3s. Dangerous team. Jordan Reibling led them with 12 pts. David Stanley with 22 and a nice game to lead MSB. Cory Stiles (Eastview) with 8 pts and 12 rebounds in a very productive outing. He's athletic and showed an ability to handle the ball a bit in addition to his rebounding.

Late game (and I do mean late) was 43 Hoops Harris vs MN Select. Aaron Ziman vs Vinard Birch was the highlight here. Birch is one of the best on ball defenders in the metro and is extremely disruptive on opposing point guards. Defense in this game far ahead of the offense. 7-6 Select after 1 quarter. 18-15 43 Hoops at halftime (and that was with 3 quick Select pts late in the half) before I called it a night.

MN Fury South won their game in a blowout (55-20 near the end of the 3rd quarter when the Xplosion game was at half) in the 4th 16U game of the night.

Games I'll be watching at the State AAU tourney

If you missed the previews of the 15U, 16U and 17U divisions for the state AAU tourney, you can read them with the following links.

• 17U Preview
• 16U Preview
• 15U Preview

Here are the primary games that I intend to watch at the tournament as of right now (subject to change at any time). I'll also be checking around on other games during the day. If you see me with my clipboard and 3 ring binder, feel free to say hello.

Friday

• 6:30 PM, MN Fury North vs Wear Out The Net (16U 8 vs 9)
• 7:50 PM, MN Xplosion vs MSB Roadrunners (16U 5 vs 12)
• 9:10 PM, 43 Hoops Harris vs MN Select (16U 7 vs 10)

Saturday

• 9:00 AM, MN Magic Black vs 43 Hoops Amundson (15U 5 vs 12)
• 11:40 AM, MN Comets Elite vs MN Glory (16U 4 vs 13)
• 1:00 PM, MN Comets Elite vs MN Magic Stars (17U 6 vs 11)
• 2:20 PM, 16U 6th place bracket game (MN Select vs MN Magic Blue if seeds hold true)
• 3:40 PM, 16U 4 vs 5 Quarterfinal (MN Comets Elite vs MN Xplosion if seeds hold true)
• 5:00 PM, 16U 2 vs 7 Quarterfinal (MN Fury South vs 43 Hoops Harris if seeds hold true)
• 6:20 PM, MN Select Kruger vs MN Magic Superfriends (17U Quarterfinal)
  
• Possible bonus games to end the day
• 7:40 PM, 16U 5th place bracket semifinal (MN Xplosion vs MN Fury North if seeds hold true)
• 9:00 PM, 17U 5th place bracket semifinal (MN Comets Elite vs MSB Roadrunners if seeds hold true)

Sunday

• 9:30 AM, 15U Semifinal (MN Heat Elite vs MN Magic Elite projected)
• 10:50 AM, 16U Semifinal (MN Magic Elite vs MN Comets projected)
• 12:10 PM, 15U Championship
• 1:30 PM, 17U 3rd place game
• 2:50 PM, 17U Championship
  

MN AAU Boys District Championship Preview 17U

This is the 3rd in a series of 3 previews of the MN AAU Boys District Championship at Bloomington Jefferson this weekend. We'll do the 17U top division here.

Click here to read the 15U preview.
Click here to read the 16U preview.

Seeds:

• 1-4: MN Magic Robertson, MN Glory, MN Fury, MN Select Kruger
  
• 5-8: MN Magic Superfriends, MN Comets Elite, MSB, MN Select DeKok
  
• 9-11: MN Comets North, MN Comets Stars, MN Magic Stars
  

Schedule: (click here for a bracket)

• Opening round: Saturday 1:00 PM Courts 1-3
  
• Quarterfinals: Saturday 6:20 PM Courts 1-4
  
• Semifinals: Sunday 10:50 AM Courts 3 and 4
  
• Championship: Sunday 2:50 PM Court 3
  
• 3rd Place: Sunday 1:30 PM Court 3
  
• 5th Place: Sunday 12:10 PM Court 3
  

Deep bracket here as well. MSB dangerous at #7 with their inside play, MN Comets Elite at #6 are very dangerous with Nate Wolters leading the way. If Magic Stars show up with everybody, they're much better than the #11 seed but they haven't shown it on the court yet. Plenty of fun games and players to watch.

Players to Watch:

• Trent Davis (St. Bernard's), Shaun Jensen (Spring Lake Park), Carlos Emory (Eastview), Caleb Palkert (SW Christian), Averey Duncan (St. Bernard's), Emmanuel Addo (Northfield) - Magic Robertson
• Matt Zager (Shakopee), Josh Figini (Chisago Lakes), Charlie Baker (Eagan) - MN Glory
• Erik Olsen (Buffalo), Noah Sheppard (Washburn), Josh Hibbison (Monticello) - MN Fury
• Maurice Hernandez (Sibley), Justin Harding (Mounds View), Bo Shiffler (Woodbury), Dan Carroll (Mounds View) and Tall Kid Tall (Alex Miller BSM) - MN Select Kruger
• Greg Meyer, David Burnham and Taylor Sparkman (Minnehaha), Chris Breuer (SCL), Isaiah Thomas (Fridley), Renard Robinson (Richfield) - Magic Superfriends
  
• Nate Wolters (St. Cloud Tech), Andre Garth (St. Cloud Apollo), Eric Shulstad (Pelican Rapids) - Comets Elite
  
• Mike Muscala (Roseville), David Berthene (Lakeville N), Josh Zitzmann (Farmington), Bonzi Wells (Sahr Ngekia AHA)- MSB Roadrunners
  
• Justin Segal (BSM), Chris Neumann (LP/HT) - MN Select DeKok
• Jonah Dahlman (Braham), Jared Sutherland and Matt Sjostrand (Grand Rapids)-Comets North
  
• Braden Johnson (Cambridge-Isanti), Grant Spark (Spectrum)-Comets Stars
  
• Ethan Wragge (Eden Prairie), Billy Giddings (Blaine), Jack Gavin (Elk River), Will Deberg (Edina) - Magic Stars
  

Predictions:

• Opening Round: MN Select DeKok over Comets North (8 vs 9), MSB over Comets Stars (7 vs 10), Comets Elite over Magic Stars (6 over 11) in a game that is much better than the seeding indicates.
  
• Quarterfinals: Magic Robertson over Select DeKok (1 vs 8), Magic Superfriends "upset" MN Select Kruger in a terrific 4 vs 5 game, MN Glory over MSB (2 vs 7), MN Comets Elite upset MN Fury (3 vs 6)
  
• Semifinals: Magic Robertson over Magic Superfriends (1 vs 5), Glory over Comets Elite in a terrific 2 vs 6 game.
  
• Title game: Magic Robertson def MN Glory
  
• 3rd place: Comets Elite over Magic Superfriends
  

MN AAU Boys District Championship Preview 16U

This is the 2nd in a series of 3 previews of the MN AAU Boys District Championship at Bloomington Jefferson this weekend. We'll do the 16U division here.

Click here to read the 15U preview.
Click here to read the 17U preview.

Seeds:

• 1-4: MN Magic Elite (now includes TNL Express), MN Fury South, MN Magic Black, MN Comets Elite
  
• 5-8: MN Xplosion, Mpls Redhawks, 43 Hoops Harris, MN Fury North
  
• 9-12: Wear Out the Net, MN Select, MN Comets Select, MSB
  
• 13-15: MN Glory, Rochester Shock, MN Magic Blue
  

Schedule: (click here for a bracket)

• Opening round, 4 games Friday night (6:30, 2 at 7:50 and 1 at 9:10) and 3 on Saturday (11:40 AM and 2 at 1:00 PM)
  
• Quarterfinals, Saturday 3:40 and 5:00 PM courts 1 and 2
  
• Semifinals, Sunday 10:50 AM courts 1 and 2
• Championship, Sunday 2:50 PM Court 1
• 3rd Place, Sunday 2:50 PM Court 2
  
• 5th Place, Sunday 1:30 PM Court 1
  

This 16U bracket is very deep with the top 7 teams all very solid. I love the Comets as a #4 seed and would really like to see them take on Magic Elite in the semis. Fury South vs Magic Black is another very good projected semifinal. 43 Hoops Harris with nice perimeter players as the #7 seed could be dangerous. MN Xplosion doesn't have a name that sticks out like other teams but they've been solid all spring and can play with anybody in this bracket.

Players to Watch:

• Chad Calcaterra (Cloquet) - Magic Elite
  
• Marshall Bjorklund (Sibley East) - Magic Elite
  
• Darry Jones (St. Agnes) - MN Fury South
• Santano Rosario (SPA) - MN Fury South
  
• Walter Franklin (DLS) - Magic Black
• Deron Murphy (Kennedy) - Magic Black
• Alex Hanks (St. Cloud Tech) - MN Comets Elite
• Craig Brown (Park) - 43 Hoops Harris
• Nick Quicksell (Woodbury) - 43 Hoops Harris
• Josh Hanson (MCA) - MN Fury North
• Michael Lindberg (West Lutheran) - MN Fury North
• Drew Swanson (Lake City) - Wear Out the Net
  

Predictions:

• Opening Round: MN Fury N over Wear Out the Net (8 vs 9), Comets Elite over Glory (4 vs 13), Xplosion over MSB (5 vs 12), Fury S over Magic Blue (2 vs 15), 43 Hoops over MN Select (7 vs 10), Magic Black over Rochester Shock (3 vs 14), Mpls Redhawks over Comets Select (6 vs 11). No surprises.
  
• Quarterfinals: Magic Elite over MN Fury N (1 vs 8), Comets Elite over MN Xplosion (4 vs 5) , Fury S squeaks by 43 Hoops Harris (2 vs 7), Magic Black over Mpls Redhawks (3 vs 6)
  
• Semifinals: Magic Elite over MN Comets Elite (1 vs 4) thanks to the TNL guards. Fury South over Magic Black in a tough game (2 vs 3).
  
• Title game: Magic Elite over Fury South to avenge another loss
  
• 3rd place: Comets Elite over Magic Black
  

MN AAU Boys District Championship Preview 15U

This is the 1st in a series of 3 previews of the MN AAU Boys District Championship at Bloomington Jefferson this weekend. We begin with the 15U division.

Click here to read the 16U preview.
Click here to read the 17U preview.

Seeds:

• 1-4: 43 Hoops Carr, MN Heat Elite, MN Magic Elite, MN Fury
• 5-8: MN Magic Black, MN Glory, SW MN Heat, MN Comets
• 9-14: Central Flyers, MN Select, Team Minnesota, 43 Hoops Amundson, MN Magic Blue, Old Skool MIN
  

Schedule: (click here for a bracket)

• Opening round, Saturday 9:00 AM courts 1-6
• Quarterfinals, Saturday 11:40 AM and 1:00 PM courts 6 and 7
  
• Semifinals, Sunday 9:30 AM courts 1 and 2
• Championship, Sunday 12:10 PM Court 1
• 3rd Place, Sunday 12:10 PM Court 3
• 5th Place, Sunday 2:50 PM Court 5
  

Chris Carr's loaded 43 Hoops 15U squad makes a local appearance. Too bad that their top 16 and 17 squads aren't also playing here, but that's another issue for another time. Absolutely loaded with Jameson Parsons of Eagan, Freddie Young of BC, Estan Tyler of Johnson, Jordan Smith of Orono and Jake White of Mayer Lutheran just to name a few. MN Heat Elite with the Preiner twins from Tartan get the #2 seed in a slight surprise. MN Magic Elite are dangerous at #3 as they proved by winning the Festival of Champions last weekend in Ames, IA. But the Magic Elites won't have an easy go of it. The quarterfinal matchup with the winner of the 6 vs 11 game (MN Glory vs Team Minnesota) is very dangerous regardless of who they play. Unfortunately we won't get to see the MN Wrath squad, they're playing up in a 16U MYAS pool in Delano. They'd be a very dangerous mid-level seed here.

Players to Watch:

• Jordan Smith (Orono) - 43 Hoops Carr
  
• Jake White (Mayer Lutheran) - 43 Hoops Carr
  
• Drew and Luke Preiner (Tartan)- MN Heat Elite
  
• Kyle Noreen (MTS) - Magic Elite
• Jonah Travis (DLS) - Magic Elite
• Will Iverson (Elk River) - MN Fury
  

Predictions:

• Opening Round: MN Comets over Central Flyers in the 8 vs 9 game, MN Fury over Old Skool (4 vs 13), Magic Black over 43 Hoops Amundson in a close 5 vs 12 battle (gotta love those 5 vs 12 games), MN Select over SW MN Heat in the 7 vs 10 game. Magic Elite over Magic Blue in the 3 vs 14 game, Team MN over MN Glory in the upset in the 6 vs 11 game.
• Quarters: 43 Hoops over MN Comets, Magic Black over MN Fury, MN Heat over MN Select, Magic Elite over Team Minnesota
  
• Semifinals: 43 Hoops over Magic Black, Magic Elite over MN Heat
• Title game: 43 Hoops over Magic Elite
• 3rd place: MN Heat over Magic Black

Great ESPN feature on S Carolina HS AAAA title game

(Czar's note 6/2/08, I found the ESPN link and updated the text to include it)

Forgive me for being a sentimental type of guy, but ESPN had a great feature tonight on Sportscenter on the South Carolina AAAA boys basketball championship game. This article from The Post and Courier of Charleston, SC recaps it but doesn't do the entire story justice. If you get a chance, I highly recommend going out on ESPN.com and viewing the piece (click here). A great story of triumph and tragedy with (of course) a cinderella ending.

Corrected Memorial Day results + this weekend

I incorrectly reported last weekend's Memorial Day results, here are the correct results. My apologies to the teams.

1st Place: MN Fury South
2nd Place: MN Xplosion
3rd Place: MN Fury North
4th Place: TNL Express
Wear out the Net was playing for 5th place.

Xplosion defeated TNL in 1 semifinal, Fury South beat Fury North in the other semifinal.

This weekend has a bunch of local teams at the All Iowa Attack team event.

• 15U teams participating: MN Magic Elite, East Metro Elite, Howard Pulley (both), 43 Hoops and MN Wrath
• 16U teams participating: Howard Pulley Black, 94 Ft of Game, MN Crush, MSB, MN Heat Elite, Tartan, MN Magic Phillips, MN Xplosion
• 17U teams participating: 94 Ft of Game, Howard Pulley Black, MN Magic (Culp, Brown and 16 Elites) and a there may be a couple more.
  

MYAS spring championship games this weekend (notables, I may be missing a couple)

• TNL 15U is at BSM with 94 Ft of Game in the 15U division.
• Mpls Gamblers (Jordan Hughes?), Mpls Redhawks and Wear out the Net also at BSM in the 16U division.
• 17U at Lakeville S with a couple of 43 Hoops teams, MN Select-Kruger, MN Heat Elite and a MN Comets team.
  

Results of AAU poll questions and Memorial Day tourneys

Thanks to all who voted in the 2 poll questions that I posted this week. 60% said that it would help Tubby's recruiting if the big local AAU events were moved to the U of M. Personally, I miss the days when the 17U portion of the Sabes Invite was at Williams Arena and the Sports Pavilion. This question came up because this appears to have been a worthwhile factor for Arizona last year with Brandon Jennings (top PG in 2008 class) and with 2009 stud Renardo Sidney both showing that it had influence on them after they appeared at the Cactus Classic AAU event at the U of Arizona. Nothing like a "coincidental" unofficial visit.

Lots of discussion recently about grades and missing school time prompted the 2nd poll question. In terms of yes/no votes, there was an even split (26 yes/25 no) with what I like as an answer chosen by 11 people, depends on the athlete. I'm of the opinion that if a student has demonstrated they can do the student-athlete thing and keep up on the academics, let them do it. If not, then academics have to be the priority. Is missing a day of class ideal, no, but if it can be managed then I can accept it.

As to Memorial Day results, there were a few local teams at the Menomonie, WI event. Here's how they did.

14U/15U section, MN Magic Blue 4-0 pool, 2nd place bracket.

15U/16U section, MN Fury 3-0 pool, East Metro 2-2 pool (Fury def East Metro 77-65). MN Fury 2nd place

16U Gold section. Pool A: TNL Express 3-0, Wear Out the Net 1-2, MN Fury-North 2-1 (Fury N def Wear Out the Net 63-61, TNL over Fury North 86-55, TNL over Wear Out the Net 81-67)
Pool B: MN Fury South 3-0, MN Xplosion 2-1 (Fury def Xplosion 56-30).
Fury South over Fury North 89-65 for 5th place. Wear Out the Net was playing for 3rd.
The battle of Champlin for 1st between TNL Express and the MN Xplosion.

In the 17U section, the MN Fury squad finished 2nd.

In Nashville at the big Nike event, Howard Pulley 17s and 16s each went 2-2 , 15U went 0-3 + a forfeit win. No word on Net Gain at the Bob Gobbins Tournament of Champions in Chapel Hill.

Realignment in the Lake Conference

John Millea reporting today on the StarTrib preps blog that the new Chanhassen High School opening in fall 2009 will join the Lake Conference. No shock there as it makes for 12 teams which will make scheduling far easier. Here's how a realignment into 2 divisions (which seems almost certain) might look.

East: Apple Valley, Eastview, Lakeville N and S, Eagan, Rosemount
West: Chaska, Chanhassen, Eden Prairie, Jefferson, Kennedy, Burnsville

The East is a nice division with 3 natural rivalries. The west is tougher to create as Burnsville is out of place, but they made more sense to move west than any of the 6 teams in the east. Jefferson/Kennedy stay together along with the 3 western schools.

This is a mess for football, but for basketball it would mean 16 conference games. That would be 10 games in division for home and home vs each division foe and single games vs the other division. Those would be split 3 home and 3 away. No byes necessary and it gives the teams 4 more non-conference games to play. That doesn't seem like much, but remember now that if these teams play a 3 game holiday tournament, they only have 3 other games to play. Put that with the byes in the schedule and right now these teams are playing conference games right away in December.

Millea also mentions the Classic Lake dissolving which has been a subject for a while. These teams have tried for a while to get back in the Lake without success. The Lake will have 12 teams and be happy so don't be surprised if the MSHSL has to get involved in the end. Last August I wrote a realignment plan for all the metro schools. It doesn't include East Ridge or Chanhassen but they could be slotted in my plan. Read the AAAA plan here. How I'd do AAA, AA and A is here.

Memorial Day AAU action

Should be a fun Memorial Day weekend for many of the local teams. Howard Pulley has elite squads in Nashville for the big Nike event and Net Gain Sports is at the big Bob Gibbons event in Chapel Hill. Locally, Menomonie, WI is a good place to be. The 15U division has a MN Magic team (Elites?) and I believe a very good Randolph, WI 15U team is playing in the same pool. The MN Fury 15s appear to be playing in the next division up.

The 16U Gold division showcases plenty of local talent. In 1 pool you've got the TNL Express (Jasper Duberry, Elijah Sabah, Jauson Sewer, Kyle Zimmerman etc), MN Fury-North (Josh Hanson, Jay Higgins, Michael Lindberg etc) and Wear Out the Net (Drew Swanson of Lake City highlights that squad). In the other pool, you've got the MN Fury-South (Darry Jones, Santano Rosario etc) and MN Xplosion (Josh Pella etc). If the TNL Express and MN Fury-South hook up that could be a real war and a preview of the AAU championships in 2 weeks.

The MN Fury 17s are also in action with Erik Olson, Noah Sheppard and Josh Hibbison in a 5 team bracket.

MN players in new Scout.com 2009 rankings

The new Scout.com rankings for 2009 have been released. (Read them here). Rivals just updated their rankings recently too, you can read what I wrote about that here. You can also read ESPN's rankings here.

Minnesota players
Royce White #38 (#71 ESPN)
Rodney Williams Jr #45 (#66 ESPN)

Wisconsin players
Jamil Wilson #16 (#13 ESPN)
Jeronne Maymon #58
Johnny Lacy #62

Others who played in the metro this season (HS or AAU)
DeMarcus Cousins #7 (#5 ESPN)
DJ Richardson #60 (#93 ESPN)
Michael Dixon #66 (#49 ESPN)
Naji Hibbert #99 (#47 ESPN)

MN Magic 15U May 18th, 2008 games

Today takes the Czar to North (St. Paul) High for MYAS action with the MN Magic 15U Elite squad. No Kyle Noreen or Brandon Siefert for the Magic and Jason Perkins DNP in the 2nd game due to injury so a depleted Magic roster. Mike Yahnke (Delano) played well with double figures in both games. Delano looks in good shape the next 2 years with him and Darius Clare (Magic 16U Elites) on the roster. Jonah Travis with his usual solid performances. But it was Ethan Petrill who put the Magic over the top with a big 2nd half vs 43 Hoops (their 15U B squad I think) and a big 1st half vs a Stillwater based team in the 2nd game. He had 6 triples and a total of 32 points in the 2 games I saw. Magic win 45-39 vs 43 Hoops and 54-47 in the 2nd game.

MN Wrath 15U action

I had the chance to take a couple of MN Wrath 15U games today at BSM. It was my 1st opportunity to see one of the top freshmen in the state in Shelby Moats of Waconia. A nice roster of kids from the SW metro as the entire roster is Eden Prairie, Chaska and Waconia. Moats didn't disappoint in the 2 games. In the 1st game vs BSM coach John Moore's EOTO squad, he finished with 14 pts and 8 rebs. This included the 2 icing free throws with 20 seconds to go in a 45-43 win. In the 2nd game vs a St. Paul Raiders 8th grade team, he scored the 1st 5 points of the game on the way to a 48-13 win. 10 pts and 8 rebs for him in that game. STP with only 1 basket in the 2nd half of that game. Moats reminds me of Raef LaFrentz as he's a lefty who has the ability to step out and knock down shots. Obviously he's not LaFrentz yet, but if he grows to 6'9 with his range and soft touch, he'll be a nice player for somebody at the next level. I also liked his agility as demonstrated by jumping a pass to the wing and taking it the other way. The future also looks bright for Eden Prairie as Jack Klukas and Blake Wragge are both good players. Blake isn't the lights out shooter that Ethan is right now, but you can see the similarity in their games. Evan Koehler of Chaska also productive for the Wrath. I also need to mention Isiah Zierdan of BSM. Nice point guard with good vision. It wouldn't surprise me to see him take the PG reins at BSM as a junior.

Facebook pages for local players

It has come to my attention that Facebook pages for local players were created by someone other than the players themselves and linked to this site. Those pages gave the impression that I created them for purposes of promotion this site. I did not create, support, request or have any involvement with those pages. I do not use Facebook or any other social networking site. If I did, you would already see the links on the site. The only way I actively promote this site is on the Minnesota Preps boys basketball forum. I have their consent to do that, but even then I don't always use it because of the ethical questions. Other than that, the only promotion I do is when I talk to fans at games. So if you see any other instances of issues like this, please bring them to my attention. Those pages were a violation of the Facebook Terms of Use and have been removed. I fully support the removal of those pages. I also offer my apologies to the players affected by this.

MN and WI stars move up in new Rivals 150

Rivals.com released their new top 150 today. I wrote previously that Royce White dropped out of the Scout.com top 100, but not the case with Rivals. Royce White moves up to #18, Rodney Williams to #28, Trent Lockett stays at #98, Sam Dower moves in at #139, Mike Bruesewitz in at #144. Some Wisconsin names of note. Jeronne Maymon continues to move up with a big spring as he comes in at #60 only 2 spots behind Jamil Wilson. Johnny Lacy is the other Wisconsin player in the list at #99. Players from last weekend Sabes Invititational are included as follows. DJ Richardson who played for the champion Illinois Warriors last weekend came in at #57 and teammate Darius Smith is #62. Michael Dixon of KC Pump N Run is #75.

The only Scout.com ranked player in MN is Rodney Williams Jr at #87. Wilson (#9), Maymon(#72) and Lacy (#91) are the Wisconsin ranked players. Richardson and Smith are unranked. Dixon came in at #47.

Sabes Invitational Sunday Action 2008

Sunday at the Sabes Invitational gives us a full 6 game slate of 17U and 16U final 8 action.

Session 1 (16U Quarterfinals): HP 16 White came back from 5 down with with 43.8 seconds to play to tie the game on a Martin Wind triple with 10 seconds left. After giving 2 fouls to kill time, KC Pump N Run 16s got a turnaround buzzer beating 3 from in front of their bench to win it 55-52. Aaron Anderson with 17 points and was a thief on defense. The Mpls Redhawks had the final possession in regulation vs the powerful Illinois Warriors, but couldn't convert. The Warriors got a tipin with 1 second left in overtime to win 74-72. In repeats of pool action, HP Black 16s beat KC Pump N Run 15s and ECI Elite beat Madison Spartans.

Session 2 (17U Quarterfinals): Jesse Pritchard of All Iowa Attack 17U went off for 24 pts in the 1st half (6 3s) vs KC Pump N Run 17s and Michael Dixon with only 6 for KC. That allowed the Attack to take a 40-34 halftime lead. But Pritchard was cold in the 2nd half (Dixon guarding him mostly) and Dixon got 18 of his own in the 2nd half. With a 3 pt lead with 2 minutes to go, KC hits their FTs and wins 69-60. The Howard Pulley White 17s got down big early to the Illinois Warriors (43-22 at half) and never got close as the Warriors won 84-55. In the biggest upset of the entire tournament, the HP 17 Black squad got beat 65-62 by a Chicago Demons team that they blew out by 30+ yesterday. HP had the ball down 1 with 8 seconds left to go full court, but full court pressure from the Demons forced a turnover for the final layup to seal the upset. The Grassroots squad won the other quarterfinal over the RBS All-Stars.

Session 3 (16U Semis): A nice setup on courts 2 and 4 in the Jefferson Activity Center. Great way to follow both games. HP 16 Black once again blew out ECI Elites 77-48 after a 45-28 halftime lead. For as much as their 17U combo team struggled, the ECI 16s were a very solid team despite their results vs HP. The KC Pump N Run squad took on the Illinois Warriors in a very good game in the other semi. KC was up 6 with 12 minutes left, but this game was back and forth the whole way. The Warriors took a 55-54 lead on a deep 3 with 3:20 to play. Rodney Givens put KC up 56-55 with a steal and deuce with 1:44 to play. After a Warriors airball, KC blows a layup with 55 seconds to play. The Warriors miss again with 30 seconds to go, but KC turns the ball over with 16 seconds left. The Warriors have a shot to win it at the horn (after KC gave 3 fouls to kill time like HP did to them in their earlier game of the day), but its no good and KC moves on 56-55.

Session 4 (17U Semis): Semi #1 was Grassroots (Jordair Jett, John Bright et al) vs the upset minded Chicago Demons. After the Demons took a 24-23 lead with 7:10 left in the 1st half, a 16-0 run put the game away for Grassroots. They led 45-34 at half and poured in on in the 2nd half to win 99-70. KC Pump N Run vs Illinois Warriors in the other semi. KC down 7 early but they use a 9-0 run over 2 minutes to get the lead and they hold it for a 40-39 halftime lead. Down 48-46 with 10:45 to go, the Warriors go on a 15-2 run over 2 and a half minutes with hot 3 pt shooting vs the KC 2-3 zone to open up a 60-51 lead with 8:14 to play. KC gets the next 4 points but they don't get any closer. Illinois Warriors win 74-64.

Session 5 (16U Championship): KC Pump N Run vs the HP Black 16 team that they beat in the semis last weekend in the Jayhawk Invite. Trevor Releford with 8 of the 1st 10 KC pts and they lead 10-5 after 3 minutes. He goes quiet momentarily but gets back to back 3s and KC leads 27-23 with 5:30 to play in the half. HP goes on a 16-3 run before KC gets the last 4 of the half to make it 39-34 HP at the break. Releford continues his hot streak as he gets the 1st 8 KC pts of the 2nd half. 5 of those points are part of a 8-0 KC run that gives them a 49-42 lead at 12:52 and HP gets no closer. KC Pump N Run defeats Howard Pulley Black 16U 76-61 for the 2008 Sabes Invitational 16U Championship. Trevor Releford with 26 points and was terrific. All of this playing with some sort in injury from the quarterfinal game. He was not 100% for the 2nd half of that game or the last 2 games of the day. Great performance. Steve Tecker moved over from the 16 White squad for this game and the semifinal and was a valuable addition. Marvin Singleton with 14 pts and 7 rebounds. DJ Peterson with 16 pts and 5 assists. I was surprised that coach Jared Nuness didn't move DJ onto Releford during the game to try and slow Releford down with Peterson's long arms and size advantage.

Session 6 (17U Championship): Grassroots vs Illinois Warriors. Seeing a local team in the game is no surprise, but Grassroots is not the one people thought. Dion Suggs hit a 3 to give them a 7-6 lead 2 and a half minutes in, but hot shooting was the story. The Warriors hit everything they attempted so it seemed and ran out to a 58-38 lead at halftime. 2nd half was no contest, Illinois Warriors defeat Grassroots 107-72 for the 2008 Sabes Invitational 17U Championship.

Sabes Invitational Saturday action

Session 1: Illinois Warriors vs HP White 17 DJ Richardson, very smooth and reminded me a lot of Jrue Holiday. AJ Barker leading the Panthers with 12 pts. This was a 5 pt game with 11 minutes to go before a Warriors run put it away. 74-59 was the final score. HP tried to play 1-2-2 zone to slow the Warriors down, but had trouble rebounding out of it.

All Iowa Attack Red held on to beat Team Missouri 51-47 as Jesse Pritchard hit 2 late FTs to seal it. The Dakota Schoolers gave KC Pump N Run everything they could handle as the Schoolers led 56-52 with 2:23 to play but a pair of triples tied the game at 58 with 1:20 go. After Schoolers steal for a basket with 30 seconds to go, Michael Dixon comes back with a triple to win it 61-60. The Schoolers had 2 final chances to win that they couldn’t convert in the last 10 seconds.

Session 2: Howard Pulley 17 Black rolls over ECI Elite 78-50. Kurt Mickelson (Ashby)for ECI is absolutely huge and a force to be reckoned with inside. Rodney Williams Jr with a highlight posterizing dunk to end the 1st half of that game. HP Black continuing to struggle from the foul line and it brings back a thought I had during the regular season and that's hack-a-shaq on Seantrell Henderson. HP Black 15s fell to Playground Elite.

Session 3: HP 16 Black vs KC Pump N Run 15s. Brett Comer with a big game for KC and he looks amazingly like Adam Morrison and even wears #3. He finished with 16 pts. DJ Peterson with 15, Marcus Alipate with 14 for HP Black 16s. This was a 6 pt game with 12 minutes left before HP pulled away to win 70-51.

Session 4: Harrison Barnes on display for the All Iowa Attack 16s vs ECI. He had a big 1st half and a couple of important hoops late to finish with 26 pts, 11 rebs, 4 stls and 4 blks. ECI kept hanging around as this game was close all the way, but ultimately they were outmanned. Zach McCabe with 16 and 7 for the Attack as well.

Session 5: Royce White huge again vs the Chicago Demons. Carrington Tankson with 5 triples in the 1st half and was on fire. A 21-3 HP run to finish the 1st half makes it 40-17 at the break and the Panthers don’t look back.

Session 6: A Danny Manning siting was a pleasant surprise. I took in a couple of games of 16U action. The best game that almost nobody saw was the Playground Elite vs the Illinois Warriors, best 2 16 teams I’ve seen here. 65-55 final and back and forth the entire way. HP Black 16s blew out the Madison Spartans in the other game I was paying attention to.

During the morning and day sessions, I also saw some of STP Grassroots with Jordair Jett, John Bright, Chamar Wilson et al. Scary team to defend off the dribble. Tough to deal with their ability to break you down and get to the basket. Saw a little of the MSB win over the Dakota Schoolers. That surprised me. Tyler Bredow doing a nice job at the point for the Roadrunners.

Session 7: In round of 16 playoff action, the KC Pump N Run knocked out Team Missouri 75-65 behind 18 points from star Michael Dixon. KC played with only 7 guys, including the other major stars out. The wear and tear showed as KC led by 19 in the 2nd half before seeing the lead dwindle. RBS All Stars knocked out the All Iowa Attack 16U squad 68-60 so Harrison Barnes is out. A 2 pt game with 1:14 to go before RBS made foul shots down the stretch. All Iowa Attack 17U held on over MSB 57-55 behind a late 3 from Jesse Pritchard. Josh Zitzman with a chance to win it at the end that was no good. And finally, the Dakota Schoolers saw a 5 point lead vanish to DJ Richardson and the Illinois Warriors in the final minute. Richardson with a 4 pt play with 1:05 to go, 1 of 2 FTs after a Schoolers turnover tied it at 72. After 1 Schooler FT and a Warriors layup with 20 seconds left, the Schoolers turned it over again for a Richardson layup for the final 76-73 Warriors margin in a major scare for a tournament favorite against a team that was last in pool D.

Session 8: HP White 17 squad vs MN Comets. Nate Wolters for the Comets big again with 18 pts. This was a 5 point game with 7:35 to play before a HP 10-0 run put it away. 72-59 HP White 17s win. Moses Sundufu with 5 triples on the way to 19 pts. Marques Johnson productive off the bench with 12 pts. Jordan Hughes vs Wolters was a really fun matchup to watch in this game and both guys held their own. Though Hughes had success running side pick and roll with Johnson. HP 16 Black were up 30-4 in their game on the way to a 69-26 win.

Session 9: HP 16 White vs Playground Elite 16s. HP struggling on the glass in the 1st half but having lots of success with high/low action for easy post buckets. 29-28 HP at the break. A Martin Wind triple starts a 10-0 Pulley run that makes it 55-46 Pulley with 6 minutes to play. 9 big Dyami Starks pts (2 triples and a 3 pt play) in the next 3 minutes keep HP ahead and they pull the upset 73-65.

Tournament brackets for Sunday.

17U

HP 17 Black vs Chicago Demons (a team they blew out today)
Grassroots (Jordair Jett etc) vs RBS All-Stars
Illinois Warriors vs HP 17 White
KC Pump N Run vs All Iowa Attack 17U

Fun brackets as there are really fun semis. HP 17 Black vs Grassroots in local rivalry and the Illinois Warriors vs KC Pump N Run game is really high level.

16U
HP 16 Black vs KC Pump N Run 15s
Madison Spartans vs ECI Elite
KC Pump N Run 16s vs HP 16 White
Illinois Warriors vs Mpls Redhawks

3 rematchs as HP 16 Black took out the KC 15s but the KC 16s beat the HP 16 White team in pool play. ECI Elite beat Madison Spartans in pool play as well. I'll take Madison Spartans in revenge, but stay with HP 16 Black and KC 16s along with Illinois Warriors to move on.

Sabes Invitational Friday Action

An interesting Friday night at the Sabes Invitational. No programs at the event so we'll see how good my research turns out to be.

Game 1 of the night was the MN Comets Elite vs Dakota Schoolers. Out of the gate, Nate Wolters (St. Cloud Tech) vs Mike Felt (Redwood Valley). Felt and the Schoolers struggling vs the Comets pressure man. Wolters getting his hands on everything. Schoolers take their 1st lead 22-21 with 6:30 to go in the 1st half, but the Comets stretch it out to 41-30 at the half. Wolters with 17 pts, 4 stls and at least a half dozen other deflections. Felt with just 3 FTs (3-3 FTs when fouled on a 3) in the 1st half. Cody Larson of the Schoolers with 11 in the 1st half.

Felt starts out the 2nd half hot with back to back 3s and its a 11-0 Schoolers run over the 1st 3:40 of the 2nd half to tie it at 41 . Wolters with nothing in the half so far but with 8 minutes to go in the half he gets 2 buckets, kicks to Alex Hanks for 3 and then scores 2 more to be a part of 9 straight Comets points. The Schoolers are matching him and after that 2 minute Wolters spurt, its 54-50 Comets. 2 Larson FTs and a stl to a 3 from Chad White tie it at 58 with 2:47 to play. Larson continuing to play well in the 2nd half as he gets a 3 pt play with 1:46 left to make it 63-60 Schoolers. Wolters misses a triple, but Larson inexplicably takes and misses a triple with 1 minute left. This leads to Wolters knocking down a clutch 3 to tie at 63 with 47 seconds left. Both teams miss chances late and we go to overtime.

In the 1st overtime, the Comets lead by 1 with 40 seconds left and have the ball. But the Schoolers get a steal and recover a Larson miss. Tony Fiegen makes 1 of 2 FTs with 6.7 left and we go to double overtime tied at 69. Trevor Gruis (Ellsworth) gets a deuce to tie it at 73 with 1:30 left in the2nd OT. Larson misses a chance to tie the game with 35 seconds left and Wolters knocks down 2 FTs with 31.2 left to ice it. Final Score 78-73 MN Comets win in 2 OT. Nate Wolters with 30 pts for the winners and was a force on the defensive end vs Mike Felt. Felt with a quiet 11 for the Schoolers. Cody Larson with 22, including 3 triples for the Schoolers.

Game 2 was the HP White 16U squad vs All Iowa Attack. Pulley led 42-31 at the break but did not do a good job getting out to shooters as the Attack were staying the game with triples and outworking Pulley. Pulley finally stretches it out late as it was 65-54 with 4:30 to go, but Evan McMillan (SPA) puts the icing on the cake with a big throwdown late and Pulley wins 75-57.

Game 3 was suppossed to be the showcase of the evening with the All Iowa Attack 16U squad taking on the HP Black 17U squad. Come to find out, no Harrison Barnes, no AJ Derby and 2 other players missing from a limited roster so there were low expectations. But Jake Sullivan had his squad ready to play and the Attack were hot from 3. 14-13 Attack with 8:49 left in the 1st half when the Pulley stars finally come in (White, Williams Jr, Tankson, M. Williams). But the 3s rain down all half. Michael Weber with a couple of 3s to make it 24-17 Attack with 6:20 left in the half. HP trying some 3/4 quarter 1-2-2 pressure, but the Attack are taking care of the ball and they lead 39-30 at the break. Riley Stuve with 8 pts and 6 rebs. Zach McCabe with just 3 pts. Trevor Hook with 10 pts. Royce White 5 pts and 5 rbs for HP. Mike Broghammer with a nice half of 8 pts and 4 rebs.

To the 2nd half, a couple of Rodney Williams dunks make it 42-34 Attack. Then a White triple, a pretty ball fake and layin by Marcus Williams and a stl and dunk by White start a 27-7 Pulley run to make it 61-49 Pulley with 7 minutes to play. Stuve hits a 3 to make it a 9 pt game with 3 and half to play but the big run has the 2nd half never in doubt. Pulley wins 86-71 over an undermanned and very game All Iowa Attack 16U squad. Royce White with 14 and 10, Seantrel Henderson was a manchild inside with 12 pts and the rest of HP squad very balanced. Zach McCabe with 13 and Riley Stuve with 19 and 8 for the Attack.

The Attack are definitely a team I'll be checking out again tomorrow to see if they have their full roster. Harrison Barnes definitely sounds like a player I don't want to miss. Also looking forward to seeing the KC Pump N Run 16 and 17 squads with Michael Dixon and company.

Team Coverage of the 2008 Sabes Invitational

I'm proud to announce that I'll be teaming up with the Twin Cities Hoops Insider for coverage of this weekend's 8th annual Sabes Invitational Tournament. You can check out Steven's Sports Report as he'll be blogging live from the games at Bloomington Jefferson so check that out often for updates. I'll be doing in-depth reports here after each day and an update on pool play before the playoff games on Saturday night.

MN AAU Seeding Tournament Preview

Brackets for the Minnesota AAU Seeding tournament this weekend at Champlin Park have been released.

15U
MN Comets vs Magic-Crawford, winner to play MN Magic Elite
Team Minnesota vs Magic-Wolfe
MN Glory vs Old Skool, winner to play 43 Hoops (I'm assuming this is their top 15U team)
MN Fury vs Central Flyers

43 Hoops vs Magic Elite is my projected final and should be a really fun showcase of young kids. Give me 43 Hoops to win it. 15U Final is at 12:40 on Sunday. (Czar's Note 5/8/08, this does not appear to be the top 43 Hoops team so I amend my prediction to MN Glory)

16U
4 pools, but noticeably absent are the TNL Express

Pool A: MN Magic Elite, MN Fury North, MN Panthers, MN Magic-Blake
Pool B: MN Fury South, MN Select, MSB Roadrunners, Elk River Heat
Pool C: Mpls Redhawks, MN Comets Elite, Rochester Shock, MN Comets 2
Pool D: Magic-Phillips, MN Xplosion, MN Glory, Wear Out the Net

(Czar's Note 5/7/08, I got the 17U Comets Elite and 16U Comets Elite confused, I've updated the paragraph below to reflect this)

I'll take Magic Elite, MN Fury South, Comets Elite and Magic Phillips to win the pools. I'd like to see a rematch of MN Fury South vs Magic Elite. Remember that Fury South beat Magic Elite in the Magic Invite Quarters 2 weeks ago. 16U Final is at 12:40 on Sunday. I'd also like to see Magic Elite get another shot at the Comets Elite as I think those are the 2 best teams.

17U
4 pools

Pool A: MN Glory, Magic-Robertson, WC Assault (19U), BC Blazers (19U)
Pool B: MN Fury, Old Skool, MN Comets Metro
Pool C: MN Select-Kruger, Magic Westside, MN Comets Stars
Pool D: Magic Superfriends, MN Comets North, MN Select-DeKok

Its a shame Glory and Robertson got put together as these are far and away the best 2 teams I'm aware of. MN Fury and the 2 MN Select squads win the other pools. But it should come down to a pool rematch between MN Glory and Magic-Robertson for the title. Lots of talk about the Sabes Invite this weekend, but Glory/Robertson is top notch local talent going at it. 1st matchup is 9:30 PM Friday, championship game is 11:30 AM on Sunday.

2008 Sabes Invitational Preview

Here's my preview of the 2008 8th annual Sabes Invitational. As updates are made and more information comes out I'll come back and make updates so check back before the event for the final preview. Here's the Scout.com Preview by Chris Monter.

17U

Pool A

• Howard Pulley Black
• Chicago Demons
• ECI Elite
• All Iowa Attack Black (NOTE: This looks like it will be the All Iowa Attack 16U squad with stud 6'6 Harrison Barnes and 6'5 D1 football and hoops prospects Zack McCabe and AJ Derby).
  

HP Black was 5-1 last weekend before bowing out in the Jayhawk Invitational semis to nemesis KC Pump N Run. Should be interesting to see the All Iowa Attack 16s in this bracket.

Predictions:
HP Black 3-0, Chicago Demons 2-1, All Iowa Attack Black 1-2, ECI Elite 0-3.

Players I'm Watching:

• Royce White, Rodney Williams Jr - Howard Pulley Black
  
• 6'5 Chris Eversely 16.7 PPG HS Season and 5'11 Christian Byrd (formerly of Chicago powerhouse Whitney Young) - Chicago Demons
  
• 6'8 Jordan Aaberg (Rothsay) and 6'9 Kurt Mickelson (Ashby) - ECI Elite
  

Pool B

• Madison Spartans
  
• KC Cowboys
  
• STP Grassroots
  
• RBS All Stars

No super high profile teams here, but the Madison Spartans bring in a nice team led by 2010 Wisconsin signee Vander Blue. STP Grassroots with Jordair Jett will be worth watching as well.

Predictions:
Madison Spartans 3-0, STP Grassroots 2-1, RBS All Stars 1-2, KC Cowboys 0-3

Players I'm Watching:

• Vander Blue (2010 Wisconsin commit), JoJo Pregnont - Madison Spartans
  
• Alex English - KC Cowboys
  
• Jordair Jett - STP Grassroots
• TBD - RBS All Stars
  

Pool C

• Illinois Warriors
• All Iowa Attack Red
• Howard Pulley White
• Team Missouri

The Illinois Warriors are loaded starting with star DJ Richardson (#53 Rivals.com) and Darius Smith who's been offered by Bradley and Baylor. He's known for his defense and had a big King James tournament 2 weeks ago. HP White went 0-2 in pool play last weekend at the Jayhawk Invitational (and a win by forfeit) before winning their consolation game. The HP White and All Iowa Attack Red teams are ironically placed together as the other teams from these programs are also playing together in pool A. This appears to be the top All Iowa Attack team led by Reece Uhlenhopp who's been offered by Drake and Creighton. Jesse Pritchard has been offered by South Dakota. But I expect the Illinois Warriors to roll in this pool.

Predictions:
Illinois Warriors 3-0, All Iowa Attack Red 2-1, HP White 1-2, Team Missouri 0-3.

Game to watch: All Iowa Attack Red vs Illinois Warriors 1:15 Saturday Court 5

Players I'm Watching:

• 6'3 DJ Richardson, Darius Smith - Illinois Warriors
• Kyle Kreklow, Jordan Hughes - Howard Pulley White
• 6'5 Eric May (Dubuque Wahlert), 6'5 Jesse Pritchard (Ames) and 6'7 Reece Uhlenhopp - All Iowa Attack

Pool D

• KC Pump N Run
  
• MN Comets Elite
  
• Dakota Schoolers
  
• MSB Roadrunners
  

KC Pump N Run comes in with their tourney win last weekend (4 straight in the Jayhawk invite) and 3 players worth watching from a loaded roster. The remainder of the pool is balanced with MN flavor with 2 teams having outstate MN players and MSB with metro kids. KC Pump N Run rolls in this pool, but all 4 teams are watchable.

Predictions:
KC Pump N Run 3-0, MN Comets Elite 2-1, Dakota Schoolers 1-2, MSB Roadrunners 0-3.

Game to watch: 6:30 PM Friday Dakota Schoolers vs MN Comets Elite

Players I'm Watching:

• KC Pump N Run
  
• 6'0 Michael Dixon (#87 Rivals.com, #47 Scout.com offers from Baylor, Iowa, K State, Missouri and Purdue with Marquette and Louisville just offering)
  
• 6'5 Jeff Reid (#85 Scout.com). Top player in Kansas.
  
• 6'5 Justin Clark. Averaged 25.6 PPG and 5 Rebs last HS season to lead Kansas City Area (and all of Missouri according to MaxPreps) in scoring.
  
• Dakota Schoolers
  
• 6'8 Cody Larson of Sioux Falls Roosevelt. Has been a target of MN and Colorado amongst others. Only a sophomore.
  
• 6'2 Mike Felt of Redwood Valley. Led all of MN in scoring last season with 30.3 PPG.
• 6'7 Trevor Gruis of Ellsworth, also a sophomore. Should be a much bigger factor at Ellsworth next year with the graduation of Cody Schilling.
• 6'6 Chad White and 6'7 Tony Fiegen of Madison, SD. Both have committed to South Dakota State.
• MN Comets Elite
• 6'4 Nate Wolters of St. Cloud Tech.
• 6'4 Andre Garth of St. Cloud Apollo
• MSB Roadrunners
• 6'8 David Berthene (top 30 JR in MN) of Lakeville North
• 6'8 Mike Muscala of Roseville. Averaged 17 and 9 last season.
• 6'2 Bonzi Wells (AKA Sahr Nkegia)
• 6'3 Josh Zitzman 18 pts , 6 rebs and 4 ast per game for Farmington last season.
• 6'5 Jake Lippert 17 pts and 8 rebs for Farmington last season.

16U
Pool A: HP Black, Madison Spartans, KC Pump N Run 15s, ECI Elite

KC Pump N Run finished 2nd to All Iowa Attack at the Jayhawk Invite last weekend. I look for them to come out of this pool. HP Black 2nd, ECI 4th. Watch Jacob Thomas of HP Black and . HP Black also features DJ Peterson of Hopkins and a couple of high profile MN freshmen, Marvin Singleton of Hopkins and Marcus Alipate of Bloomington Jefferson.

Pool B: Chicago Demons, Playground Elite 15U, All Iowa Attack Black, Howard Pulley White 15.

Not to much to say about this bracket. HP White 15s feature Zach Romashko (Blaine) and Ariel Deloney (North). This appears to be the 2nd All Iowa Attack 15U team.

Pool C: KC Pump N Run, All Iowa Attack Red, Howard Pulley White, Mpls Redhawks

For KC Pump N Run watch Trevor Releford. He's the younger brother of Travis Releford who's going to Kansas. Travis played here last year and lit up Cody Schilling in a Friday night game in this event. This appears to be the All Iowa Attack 15U team that won the Jayhawk Invitiational last weekend. They have some nice young kids in Grant Lange, Alex Savage and Reggie White. For HP White, Steve Tecker averaged 17 and 9 in 4 wins last weekend. He's the #16 Soph in WI according to Wishoops.net. This squad also includes Jalen Jaspers and Bryce Hawkins of DLS.

Pool D: Illinois Warriors, Playground Elite, STP Grassroots, Howard Pulley Black 15. The Illinois Warriors feature 6'3 guard Anthony Johnson who has offers from Iowa, Purdue, Illinois and Notre Dame. They also have 6'5 forward Dwayne Evans. HP Black 15s have Malik El-Amin of North, Joe Coleman of Hopkins, Nick Latzke of Minnetonka and Myles Barnes of BSM.

Note that the Playground Elite squads are not the loaded Wisconsin teams previously thought to be attending. Those teams are playing in the Wisconsin AAU tourney this weekend from what that schedule says.

Sabes Invitational schedules posted

Pools and schedules for this weekend's Sabes Invitational have been posted on the Howard Pulley Site. I'll be previewing this later today or tomorrow. Should be fun. 15U and 16U are combined. 16 teams in 17U and the combined 15/16U bracket. Pool play and round of 16 play Friday and Saturday. Elite 8 games on Sunday in both divisions with the brackets alternating on Sunday.

Results from the Jayhawk Invite

The Jayhawk Invitational gives us a preview of some high profile teams here for the Sabes Invititational next weekend.

15U
KC Pump N' Run lost to All-Iowa Attack Red. 2 local Teams (MN Magic Elite and Howard Pulley Black) made the final 8 before bowing out.

16U
Both Howard Pulley teams made the semis and lost. We got the same final in 16U as 15U. KC Pump N' Run def All Iowa Attack.

17U
Howard Pulley Black was in the semis. They lost to KC Pump N' Run. In the final KC Pump N'Run defeated High Intensity

KC Pump N'Run now with 4 straight Jayhawk Invitational titles

Commits this week

Besides the Cory Johnson and Cameron Rundles commits, Marc Sonnen has committed to Northern Iowa. This continues the long line of Tartan players committing to UNI. Also, Evan Anderson one of the top 2010 players in the nation from Eau Claire North committed to Wisconsin with weekend joining Vander Blue (Madison Memorial). Big pickup for Bucky and probably wasn't hurt by Tom Crean leaving Marquette for Indiana. Anderson will be here this coming weekend with the WI Playground Warriors for the Sabes Invitational. Links to their website, rosters and schedule can be found on my AAU page. There's a preview of his AAU team in this post.

Other news and notes. Kevin Noreen (2010 MTS) received his 1st pair of offers after a big performance in Denver last month. Sam Dower (2009 Osseo) is getting high major interest after previously receiving mid-major offers (including Rick Majerus of St. Louis who was here watching him during section play in Rogers)

MN Pool Results from the Jayhawk Invite

17U

• Howard Pulley Black 3-0 in pool, 2-0 in playoffs playing KC Pump N Run in Semis
  
• MSB Roadrunners 0-3
• SW MN Stars 0-3
• Net Gain Sports 3-0 (1-1 in playoff)
  
• MN Fury 2-1, lost 1st playoff game
  
• MN Select-Kruger 1-2
  
• MN Magic Culp 2-2, lost 1st playoff game
  
• 94 Ft of Game 0-4, lost 1st playoff game (Czar's Note 5/5/08, the Jayhawk Invite Website at the time of writing the results showed 0-4, but they obviously wouldn't have made the championship bracket that way. I've received word they were 3-1 in pool play before their 1st round loss)
  
• Howard Pulley White 0-2 (won a game by forfeit)
• MN Magic Brown 2-1, lost 1st playoff game
  
• MN Select-DeKok 0-3
• MN Magic Robertson 3-0 (1-1, lost to Howard Pulley Black in playoffs)
  

16U

• MN Magic Elite 2-1, 1-1 in playoffs lost to Howard Pulley White
  
• 94 Ft of Game 0-2 and forfeit
• Howard Pulley Black 2-1, 1-0 in playoffs playing KC Pump N Run in semis
  
• Howard Pulley White 3-0, 2-0 in playoffs playing All Iowa Attack in semis
  
• MN Fury South 2-1 (only loss to Howard Pulley White), lost 1st round playoffs
  
• MN Fury North 0-3
• MN Xplosion 0-3
  
• MN Comets Elite 1-2 (beat MN Xplosion)
• MN Select 1-2

15U

• MN Suns 1-2
• Howard Pulley Blue 3-0 lost 1st playoff game
• 43 Hoops 2-1 lost 1st playoff game
  
• MN Fury 0-3
• Team Minnesota 1-2
  
• MN Magic Elite 2-1, 1-1 in playoffs lost to KC Pump N Run
  
• Howard Pulley White 1-2
  
• 94 Ft of Game 0-3

Friday scores at the Jayhawk Invite

Minnesota teams go 7-2 in 17U action on Friday night at the Jayhawk invititional and 1 of those loses was a head-head battle.

• Howard Pulley Black def Indiana Elite One 72-67. Very good win for Pulley as the Indiana Elite One team is loaded (Mason Plumlee going to Duke and Stephen Van Treese to name a couple). Rodney Williams with 24 and 6. Carrington Tankson and Royce White with 14 for a short-handed HP squad (no Marcus Williams, Dylan Hale or Seantrel Henderson).
  
• Net Gain Sports def Arizona Premier Black 73-69. Without Trent Lockett too, good win.
• MN Fury def KC Magic 70-47
• Magic-Culp def KC Cowboys 76-66
• Howard Pulley White with a forfeit win
• Magic-Brown def MN Select-DeKok 73-43
• Magic-Robertson def Wedman Pumas 71-63
• MSB lost to Wichita Flight 51-41
• MN Select-Krueger def Remmy Basketball 71-51

In 16U Action, MN Teams went 3-5 on Friday night.

• Magic Elite lost to KC Pump N Run 76-56
• Howard Pulley White def MN Fury South 63-52. Steve Tecker (#16 WI Soph from Maple Northwestern) with a big game of 25 and 10.
  
• MN Fury North lost to Mo-Kan Elite 81-54
• 94 Ft of Game lost to KC Pump N Run 89-81
• Howard Pulley Black def Show Me Spurs 73-44. Jacob Thomas with 21, DJ Peterson with 19 and 9. Marvin Singleton 10 and 11.
  
• MN Xplosion lost 78-63 to KC Keys
• MN Comets Elite lost to New Mexico Force 60-51
• MN Select def Arizona Premier 69-60

In 15U Action, MN Teams went 2-4 on Friday night.

• Team Minnesota lost to Midwest Mission 71-25
  
• MN Magic lost to STL Primetime 52-50
• MN Suns def KC Chaos 81-77
• Howard Pulley Black def Missouri Titans 90-75
• Howard Pulley White lost to KC Cowboys 59-46
• 94 Ft of Game lost 75-62 to All Iowa Attack
  

Jayhawk Invite Notes and local 15U Weekend action

Scout.com did a nice preview of the Jayhawk Invitational (click here to read it). Some Minnesota games of note this weekend including the MN vs MN matchups.

17U

• Howard Pulley Black (top HP team) vs Indiana Elite One 7:15 PM Friday at Allen Fieldhouse.
• MN Magic Elite Stars (Magic-Brown?) vs MN Select-DeKok 7:15 Friday
  
• Howard Pulley Black vs MSB Roadrunners 2:15 PM Saturday
• Net Gain Sports vs MN Fury 9:15 AM Saturday
• Howard Pulley White vs Iowa Barnstormers 11:45 AM Saturday
  
• MN Magic (Magic-Culp?) vs 94 Ft of Game 3:30 PM Saturday

16U

• Howard Pulley White vs MN Fury South 7:15 PM Friday
• All Iowa Attack vs MN Fury North 8:00 AM Saturday
  
• MN Magic Elite vs 94 Ft of Game, 9:15 AM Saturday
• MN Xplosion vs MN Comets Elite 4:45 PM Saturday

15U

• 43 Hoops vs MN Fury 9:45 PM Friday
• Howard Pulley White vs 94 Ft of Game 9:15 AM Saturday
• Team Minnesota vs MN Magic 11:45 AM Saturday

Also there is 15U action at Hopkins this weekend with some of the other local teams. The MN Glory, Magic-Crawford and Magic-Wolfe teams all play this weekend starting at 3 PM Saturday. Click here for the full schedule.

Cameron Rundles and Cory Johnson select new schools

From the Howard Pulley Website, former DLS star Cameron Rundles has just committed to join former Braham star Noah Dahlman at Wofford. This is after much talk that he would end up with HS teammate Jamar Diggs at Wayne State.

Rundles is one of the absolute toughest HS players I've ever seen. My most enduring image of him is after getting busted open and dislocating a shoulder in a section final vs Henry, he's doing a TV interview with his head all wrapped up and a line of blood all the way down the side of his face to his chin. Was totally clutch too. I remember him hitting a buzzer beater to send a game at North to overtime and then hitting a buzzer beater in the OT to win it which almost caused a riot. Not to mention bring them back from 20 down at halftime vs Bryce Webster to win in regulation in a regular season classic (best game I saw that season) before DLS blew STA out in the tournament on their way to a championship.

Former Duluth East star Cory Johnson has decided to transfer to Valparaiso after leaving Iowa State. He joins fomer Tartan star Urule Igbavboa.

Both will have to sit out next season before resuming their college careers in the 2009-10 season.