The Czar's annual trip to Las Vegas for the July recruiting period has completed. 5 years of Vegas now in the books. Here are some of the sights and sounds of my trip.
The Games
Probably the biggest theme for me for the trip was all of the point guard play. Here's a list of no fewer than 10 high profile PGs I saw and its not necessarily all inclusive. Lonzo Ball, Dennis Smith, Frank Jackson, Jaylen Fisher, Eric Hester, Kobi Simmons, Payton Pritchard, Jaquori McLaughlin, Trevon Duval (2017), Alex Barcello (2017), Jordan McCabe (2018). McLaughin and Pritchard had Wisconsin following them and as a Badger fan I'd be very happy if Bucky got either one. My 1st game featured Ball vs Smith. Ball is a bigger Tyus Jones type (terrific passer). His mom and pop team (literally his parents coaching his team with him and his 2 brothers playing with many of his high school teammates) played an old Loyola Marymount style with his youngest brother playing the Jeff Fryer role. The entire team had the "if it feels like leather" green light. Entertaining but not the greatest basketball and Ball's team ended up getting blown out. Friday featured a bunch of fun close games in the Fab 48 in their top division. Main player highlight there was Thon Maker in the 1st game of the day but also saw the Colorado Chaos cause major chaos with 2 late 3s before giving up a buzzer beater to Team Thad.
As to Minnesota teams, a great showing. 12 teams in the Las Vegas Classic were a combined 39-23, 11 teams in the Fab 48 were 41-20. D1s 3 teams in the Adidas Summer Championships were 14-4. That's 94-47 (or 2 out of every 3) overall. The D1 15s won their 15U bracket. WOTN Nicols made the championship of the Gold Bracket at the Fab 48 but needed to make their flight. That meant Select Altenhofen would finish 8-0 and win that title. Fury Johnson 15s lost in the 2nd bracket championship in Bigfoot. MN Warriors went 5-1 and lost by 1 in the quarters to the eventual champ of their bracket. D1 16s lost in the quarters to the eventual runner up. Big story line locally was Minnesota Fury Wilde taking out EYBL rep Meanstreets easily in the 1st round of championship bracket. They saw a double digit lead cut to 3 before pulling away. Heat Northwest, Heat Vang, Select Ohnstad, Select Altenhofen, Fury Johnson, Fury Wilde, D1 16s, D1 15s, MN Warrors, MN Lockdown 15s all won their pools. Fury Zurn had a great late night matchup against Mac Irvin Fire that they couldn't finish late otherwise that would have been a signature win and pool title as well. In the D1 16s bracket loss to Utah Prospects, Goanar Mar put on one of the best games I've seen him play as he tried to bring D1 back from double digits down but they ended up getting no closer than 2. Other local players that played well when I saw them include (in no particular order) David Lindstrand, Austin Slater, Race Thompson, Zach Theisen, Charlie Irmiger, Matthew Hurt, Steffon Mitchell. Over half of the NSIC was out in Vegas following the local kids too which is as many of those schools as I can recall seeing out there in my time.
The Grub and the Goons
Quality food at all the sites provided to the college coaches. That's also good for the pocket book. Quality chicken at Adidas. Amazing cinnamon roll flavored mini cupcakes at the Fab 48. The neighboring Irish Pub is always good for lunch on Wednesday before heading out to a week full of games. As always, plenty of Pepsi consumed too. The more I see of Vegas, the more shady it is. Plenty of scary creatures on the streets (insert your own joke about me here) which make even me pay attention. Did get a chance to saunter through The Fremont Street Experience on the way back to the airport on Saturday. Think massive full time block party. I do need to find time to do the zip line over the street sometime.
The Gambling
Always have to make time to hit the tables in Vegas. After last year's huge losses, a basketball saying came to mind. There comes a time when summer asks what you did all winter. Czar put in his fair share of off-season work to make sure that disaster didn't happen again. Night 1 wasn't anything special but I did walk away with fair gains. Night 2 it all came thru as I made a big run. Night 3 was the casino's night as they got all their losses back. I tried to weather the storm figuring the bad stretch would pass but just never got thru it. I entered Night 4 dead even and stepped up to higher stakes tables but with less decks so that changes the odds I had prepped with. After a very rough start, I made the critical decision to switch tables (something I didn't do on night 3) and got back above water for a very tidy profit. So Czar leaves victorious for the 2nd time in 3 years, always a good feeling. But especially nice knowing the preparation paid off, literally and figuratively. 2 major differences in my play this year that helped. Playing possible busts vs dealer non bust cards (e.g hit 16 vs a dealer 17) and soft hands (like double soft 15 vs a 6). For those wondering, it was not my hot play that caused the Cosmopolitan to burst into flames on Saturday. Just remember folks as we always say in honor of De La Salle coach Dave Thorson, #GrindersWinGamblersLose
Hit the road 2015
The 4th of July holiday is over and that means its time for our local grassroots teams to hit the road for most of the next 3 weeks. The 1st period is always a very Midwest feel as teams mostly stay close to home.
Here's the list for the 1st open period starting on Wednesday. Interesting that Heat Vang gets super pooled in Indy for the 2nd straight year. They also have a strange split in the schedule where they will play Wednesday night, twice on Thursday and after their 6 PM game on Thursday, will not play again until Saturday morning. The 1st 12 17U pools in Milwaukee have a Minnesota representative. Iowa has many local 2nd teams. Chicago also well represented with Minnesota teams.
Adidas Invitational (Indianapolis)
17s
MN Heat Vang (Super Pool, 5 of those pools)
MN Heat NW
MN Heat Schwarz
MN Heat Schumann
16s
MN Heat Nord
MN Magic Vatsaas
15s
MN Heat Reese
NY2LA Next Level Invitational (Milwaukee)
17s
tMBA
MN Comets Lewis
MN Comets Servaty
MN Phenom
MN Select Altenhofen
MN Select Ellis
MN Select Ohnstad
Net Gain Sports (see below)
Real Athletics - Jay
SW MN Stars
WOTN Nicols
WOTN Swedberg
16s
MN Heat Bui
MN Warriors
tMBA
MN Comets Stumpf
MN Flames
MN Phenom
MN Suns
SW MN Stars
WOTN Herber
WOTN Ewing
15s
Crossfire Swanson
MN Select
tMBA
MN Comets Schmidt
MN Comets North
SW MN Stars
Chicago Summer Jam (Fri-Sun)
17s
Howard Pulley
16s
Howard Pulley
MN Lockdown
MN PREP
15s
Howard Pulley (both)
MN Attack the Paint
MN Lockdown
Midwest Summer Slam (Ames, IA) (Fri-Sun)
17s
MN Select Moore
MN Swish
MN Fury Jordan
16s
MN Fury Jaryan
MN Comets DLR
MN Comets Kirchner
MN Select
15s
D1 Minnesota 2018 Prospects
MN Rise
MN Fury Davis
MN Fury Slick
MN Bulldogs
Also a handful of other Heat teams competing in this event as well.
Mullen's High Profile Tourney (St. Louis, Fri-Sun)
OTHERS
Here's the list for the 1st open period starting on Wednesday. Interesting that Heat Vang gets super pooled in Indy for the 2nd straight year. They also have a strange split in the schedule where they will play Wednesday night, twice on Thursday and after their 6 PM game on Thursday, will not play again until Saturday morning. The 1st 12 17U pools in Milwaukee have a Minnesota representative. Iowa has many local 2nd teams. Chicago also well represented with Minnesota teams.
Adidas Invitational (Indianapolis)
17s
MN Heat Vang (Super Pool, 5 of those pools)
MN Heat NW
MN Heat Schwarz
MN Heat Schumann
16s
MN Heat Nord
MN Magic Vatsaas
15s
MN Heat Reese
NY2LA Next Level Invitational (Milwaukee)
17s
tMBA
MN Comets Lewis
MN Comets Servaty
MN Phenom
MN Select Altenhofen
MN Select Ellis
MN Select Ohnstad
Net Gain Sports (see below)
Real Athletics - Jay
SW MN Stars
WOTN Nicols
WOTN Swedberg
16s
MN Heat Bui
MN Warriors
tMBA
MN Comets Stumpf
MN Flames
MN Phenom
MN Suns
SW MN Stars
WOTN Herber
WOTN Ewing
15s
Crossfire Swanson
MN Select
tMBA
MN Comets Schmidt
MN Comets North
SW MN Stars
Chicago Summer Jam (Fri-Sun)
17s
Howard Pulley
16s
Howard Pulley
MN Lockdown
MN PREP
15s
Howard Pulley (both)
MN Attack the Paint
MN Lockdown
Midwest Summer Slam (Ames, IA) (Fri-Sun)
17s
MN Select Moore
MN Swish
MN Fury Jordan
16s
MN Fury Jaryan
MN Comets DLR
MN Comets Kirchner
MN Select
15s
D1 Minnesota 2018 Prospects
MN Rise
MN Fury Davis
MN Fury Slick
MN Bulldogs
Also a handful of other Heat teams competing in this event as well.
Mullen's High Profile Tourney (St. Louis, Fri-Sun)
- MN Fury Johnson 15s
- MN Fury Zurn 16s
- MN Fury Wilde 17s
OTHERS
- D1 Minnesota 16s and 17s will be at the Adidas Uprising finals in Atlanta. The 17s are in the Silver bracket. Those games are Wednesday through Friday.
- D1 Minnesota top 15s will be at Double Pump Summer Tip-Off in Los Angeles.
- Reed Nikko and Ishmael El-Amin of Net Gain Sports are listed on the rosters for the Rivals/Under Armour camp in Charlotte, NC. They could be back with Net Gain in Milwaukee for weekend bracket play.
- Steffon Mitchell and Nate Reuvers will be representing Fury at the Hoop Group Elite Camp outside Philadelphia
- Crossfire has a 16U team in the Chicago Summer Challenge (different event than Chicago Summer Jam)
An Open Letter From a Referee
The following open letter was sent to me by an official. I think it encapsulates much of the perspective that is often missing in today's game. That's especially true at the grassroots level. Considering recent events, including the 1 year suspensions of dance coaches at 4 schools for their 2015 state dance tournament conduct, it is also timely. With permission, I'm publishing it here unedited.
This weekend, I was involved in a tournament where a referee was called a b***** and shoved by a coach who was upset with a call. What’s frightening is this type of behavior continues to become more common. I referee basketball because I think it’s the greatest game in the world and I am writing this letter out of my concern for the game I love.
Club Directors – Your love for the game of basketball and the kids involved is unparalleled. Your investment has paid dividends and made Minnesota a basketball hotbed over the past few years. Protect your investment. Start holding out of control parents and coaches responsible for their actions. Stop asking the referees working for you to have thicker skin and start supporting them. The parents who are thrown out of games are the same ones who complain to you about the team their kid was placed on. The coaches who are ejected are the same ones who give summer basketball a bad name. You need to start holding parents and coaches accountable for their actions. When a coach who makes malicious contact with a referee is knowingly allowed to coach in one of your events again you have failed the game, your athletes, and yourself.
Coaches – I have a special admiration for what you do; my dad coached for 30+ years at a small school in Northern Minnesota. I grew up watching my dad make countless sacrifices and invest many hours in the student athletes he coached on and off the court. I know the majority of you are the same way, you live for the kids you coach. Don’t ever forget that many of these kids live for you too. They look up to you and will emulate what you do on and off the floor. You have the ultimate responsibility of being good role model. A great man who coached me had one rule for his teams – the Golden Rule. If your biggest concern is winning the consolation bracket of the Club State Tournament, it’s time to reevaluate your approach. Start with the Golden Rule.
Parents – There’s no guarantee that your child will receive a scholarship or even want to play college basketball. Enjoy the moment! You’re lucky your child is able to participate in the greatest game in the world. Cheer for them and forget about the officiating. Many of the people working your child’s games are new to officiating. $25 per game isn’t enough to get many of the top tier referees in the state to work. New referees will make mistakes (a lot of mistakes). If you continue to berate these new referees, the pool of referees will shrink and the officiating will get worse. Also, if you think you can do a better job quit screaming and start officiating – the game needs more referees.
Referees – Put the game 1st, your partners 2nd, and yourself 3rd. I’m going to hit you with a mind dump here… Do the right thing, even if it’s the hard thing to do. You can’t referee alone and you can’t referee forever – be a good partner and do whatever you can to help others be successful. A mentor of mine used to say at referee camps “You only get to keep, what you give away.” The game and your partners always comes before money and assignments. Last thing, a veteran referee I know well, always says “You can’t be a good referee, if you’re not a good person.”
The one thing we all have in common is our love for the game. AAU Directors start supporting your referees. Coaches remember you are a role model. Parents enjoy the moment and stop worrying about the officiating (unless you are actually interested in becoming a referee). Referees put the game 1st, your partners 2nd and yourself 3rd. If we don’t all take some responsibility, we’ll lose the game we love as we know it.
An Open Letter to Club Directors, Coaches, Parents, and Referees from a Referee
This weekend, I was involved in a tournament where a referee was called a b***** and shoved by a coach who was upset with a call. What’s frightening is this type of behavior continues to become more common. I referee basketball because I think it’s the greatest game in the world and I am writing this letter out of my concern for the game I love.
Club Directors – Your love for the game of basketball and the kids involved is unparalleled. Your investment has paid dividends and made Minnesota a basketball hotbed over the past few years. Protect your investment. Start holding out of control parents and coaches responsible for their actions. Stop asking the referees working for you to have thicker skin and start supporting them. The parents who are thrown out of games are the same ones who complain to you about the team their kid was placed on. The coaches who are ejected are the same ones who give summer basketball a bad name. You need to start holding parents and coaches accountable for their actions. When a coach who makes malicious contact with a referee is knowingly allowed to coach in one of your events again you have failed the game, your athletes, and yourself.
Coaches – I have a special admiration for what you do; my dad coached for 30+ years at a small school in Northern Minnesota. I grew up watching my dad make countless sacrifices and invest many hours in the student athletes he coached on and off the court. I know the majority of you are the same way, you live for the kids you coach. Don’t ever forget that many of these kids live for you too. They look up to you and will emulate what you do on and off the floor. You have the ultimate responsibility of being good role model. A great man who coached me had one rule for his teams – the Golden Rule. If your biggest concern is winning the consolation bracket of the Club State Tournament, it’s time to reevaluate your approach. Start with the Golden Rule.
Parents – There’s no guarantee that your child will receive a scholarship or even want to play college basketball. Enjoy the moment! You’re lucky your child is able to participate in the greatest game in the world. Cheer for them and forget about the officiating. Many of the people working your child’s games are new to officiating. $25 per game isn’t enough to get many of the top tier referees in the state to work. New referees will make mistakes (a lot of mistakes). If you continue to berate these new referees, the pool of referees will shrink and the officiating will get worse. Also, if you think you can do a better job quit screaming and start officiating – the game needs more referees.
Referees – Put the game 1st, your partners 2nd, and yourself 3rd. I’m going to hit you with a mind dump here… Do the right thing, even if it’s the hard thing to do. You can’t referee alone and you can’t referee forever – be a good partner and do whatever you can to help others be successful. A mentor of mine used to say at referee camps “You only get to keep, what you give away.” The game and your partners always comes before money and assignments. Last thing, a veteran referee I know well, always says “You can’t be a good referee, if you’re not a good person.”
The one thing we all have in common is our love for the game. AAU Directors start supporting your referees. Coaches remember you are a role model. Parents enjoy the moment and stop worrying about the officiating (unless you are actually interested in becoming a referee). Referees put the game 1st, your partners 2nd and yourself 3rd. If we don’t all take some responsibility, we’ll lose the game we love as we know it.
2015 EYBL Session 4 Howard Pulley Preview
Memorial Day weekend is always a great weekend for local hoops with the EYBL circuit making its annual appearance. As always its the 4th and final event of the spring on the EYBL circuit. About 100 players that are ranked in the current 2016 or 2017 Rivals rankings are expected to be in attendance. The last session saw 3 top 100 ringers from the Adidas Uprising circuit show up too. This year the games move to the great Maple Grove Community Gyms facility. 8 sessions on Saturday and Sunday. Then the EYBL regular season completes with 4 sessions early Monday. So every team gets in 5 final games as they try to make a run to the top event in July, The Peach Jam.
Lots could be said here about all the different teams and players. I'll limit my comments mostly to Howard Pulley and their 5 opponents.
The Situation
Howard Pulley is currently 5-7 and tied with CIA Bounce for 7th in Division D. Teams that finish in the top 5 in their division automatically qualify for The Peach Jam plus 4 wildcards. 3 teams in Division A are 7-5 and tied for 5th so I'd expect the 2 that don't make the top 5 to take 2 of the 4 wildcard spots. Then there are 3 teams not in at 6-6 but only 2 spots for those teams. 2 others are 6-6 and win head-head tiebreakers for the 5th spot. So its a steep climb for Pulley to get in. The schedule doesn't do the Panthers any favors either as they'll play the top 4 teams in their division plus CIA Bounce. In order to make The Peach Jam, Howard Pulley must win at least 3 games and most likely 4 out of 5. In terms of tiebreakers, Pulley won head-head over Alabama Challenge and lost in the last game in Houston to NJ Playaz. Those are the 2 teams directly in front of them. Playaz also beat the Challenge. So if you're Pulley you're hoping for 3 way tie or likely looking at a 2 game margin.
For Howard Pulley, its been the Gary Trent show. He leads the EYBL in scoring at 23.9 PPG. That included outbursts of 43 and 33 points in the last session in Houston 2 weeks ago. The main issue for the Panthers has been finding him some help. Nobody else averages more than 5.9 PPG. That number comes from Amar Miller who gets that from his quickness that allows him to get into the lane. But being undersized in the freakishly athletic EYBL takes away many of his interior chances. Also keep an eye on the rebounding margin for Pulley as it was a problem in Houston. They'll need to keep that close.
Game 1, 12:30 PM Saturday, Court 3 vs Team Takeover (9-3 Tied 1st Division D)
The brutal schedule starts with 1 of the 3 teams tied for 1st, this one from DC. Wing VJ King is the leading scorer and rebounder at 15.3 PPG/5.7 RPG. He's ranked #11 in the country. 2017 stud DJ Harvey is ranked #13 in the country. He has Georgetown, Maryland, Louisville and Texas offers. He's 2nd in both categories at 14 PPG/5 RPG. 6'9" forward Corey Manigault (#121) is committed to Pittsburg. 6'9" Mamadi Daikite is ranked #37 and holds an offer from Virginia. Guard Aaron Thompson is ranked #69 and holds a Penn State offer. The King vs Trent mano a mano battle is definitely one to watch.
Game 2, 9:30 PM Saturday, Court 3 vs Albany City Rocks (8-4 4th Division D)
Albany City Rocks is led by the guard tandem of 6'5" Kevin Huerter (#101 ranking) and 6'3" Howard Washington (#83 ranking). Huerter has offers from Iowa, Notre Dame and Maryland just to name a few. He leads the team in scoring at 12.3 PPG and assists at 3 APG. Washington has offers from Ohio State and Boston College. He averages 9.5 PPG and 2.7 APG. On the front line, Anthony Lamb has a bunch of low D1 offers. The 6'6" forward averages 11.6 PPG and is 7th in the EYBL with 8.4 rebounds per game.
Game 3, 2:00 PM Sunday, Court 5 vs E1T1 (9-3 Tied 1st Division D)
Guard Maverick Rowan leads the team at 18.4 PPG. He's ranked #42 in the country and was once a commit to Pittsburgh. 6'9" forward Jonathan Isaac is ranked #45 and has interest from most of the SEC. Ditto that for 6'10" center Tony Bradley (#35). Bradley averages 12.6 PPG and 8.7 RPG. Isaac averages 14.9 PPG and 5.6 RPG. Guard Jordan Harris is ranked #92 and is committed to Georgia. Point Guard Lamonte Turner averages 10.8 PPG and 4.9 APG and is committed to Tennessee. He may have reclassified from 2016 to 2015 so we may not see him this weekend.
Game 4, 9:30 PM Sunday, Court 1 vs Georgia Stars (9-3 Tied 1st Division D)
Just when you thought the front line studs were too much, the Stars pull out a ridiculous front line. Forward Udoka Azubuike is ranked #13 with Kansas and Georgetown on his list of offers. 6'10" Abdulhakim Ado is ranked #25. Then you have 2017 F Wendall Carter ranked #8. He averages 10.6 with 7.5 rbs. Add in #82 Trent Forrest on the wing with a team high 13.9 PPG and Jared Harper at 13.8 for guard support. They'll attend Florida State and Auburn respectively. Too much size here for Pulley to deal with.
Game 5, 12:30 PM Monday, Court 3 vs CIA Bounce (5-7 Tied 7th Division D)
In theory, this could be a Peach Jam play in game for either team or both in the very last session of the regular season. That would be drama. The last weekend and day is always interesting because some teams may have spots locked up or have nothing to play for so you never know what you'll get. Guard Koby McEwen is ranked #102 and has offers from Baylor and Ole Miss. His 13.4 PPG is the only double figure scoring average for CIA Bounce. Fellow wing Brandon Cyrus is ranked #110 and has offers from Boston College and San Diego State. Forward Eddie Ekiyor is ranked #88. His offer list includes Oregon, Miami and Virginia Tech. He averages 9.7 PPG and 7.7 RPG. Point Guard Nelson Kaputo is committed to St. Bonaventure.
Lots could be said here about all the different teams and players. I'll limit my comments mostly to Howard Pulley and their 5 opponents.
The Situation
Howard Pulley is currently 5-7 and tied with CIA Bounce for 7th in Division D. Teams that finish in the top 5 in their division automatically qualify for The Peach Jam plus 4 wildcards. 3 teams in Division A are 7-5 and tied for 5th so I'd expect the 2 that don't make the top 5 to take 2 of the 4 wildcard spots. Then there are 3 teams not in at 6-6 but only 2 spots for those teams. 2 others are 6-6 and win head-head tiebreakers for the 5th spot. So its a steep climb for Pulley to get in. The schedule doesn't do the Panthers any favors either as they'll play the top 4 teams in their division plus CIA Bounce. In order to make The Peach Jam, Howard Pulley must win at least 3 games and most likely 4 out of 5. In terms of tiebreakers, Pulley won head-head over Alabama Challenge and lost in the last game in Houston to NJ Playaz. Those are the 2 teams directly in front of them. Playaz also beat the Challenge. So if you're Pulley you're hoping for 3 way tie or likely looking at a 2 game margin.
For Howard Pulley, its been the Gary Trent show. He leads the EYBL in scoring at 23.9 PPG. That included outbursts of 43 and 33 points in the last session in Houston 2 weeks ago. The main issue for the Panthers has been finding him some help. Nobody else averages more than 5.9 PPG. That number comes from Amar Miller who gets that from his quickness that allows him to get into the lane. But being undersized in the freakishly athletic EYBL takes away many of his interior chances. Also keep an eye on the rebounding margin for Pulley as it was a problem in Houston. They'll need to keep that close.
Game 1, 12:30 PM Saturday, Court 3 vs Team Takeover (9-3 Tied 1st Division D)
The brutal schedule starts with 1 of the 3 teams tied for 1st, this one from DC. Wing VJ King is the leading scorer and rebounder at 15.3 PPG/5.7 RPG. He's ranked #11 in the country. 2017 stud DJ Harvey is ranked #13 in the country. He has Georgetown, Maryland, Louisville and Texas offers. He's 2nd in both categories at 14 PPG/5 RPG. 6'9" forward Corey Manigault (#121) is committed to Pittsburg. 6'9" Mamadi Daikite is ranked #37 and holds an offer from Virginia. Guard Aaron Thompson is ranked #69 and holds a Penn State offer. The King vs Trent mano a mano battle is definitely one to watch.
Game 2, 9:30 PM Saturday, Court 3 vs Albany City Rocks (8-4 4th Division D)
Albany City Rocks is led by the guard tandem of 6'5" Kevin Huerter (#101 ranking) and 6'3" Howard Washington (#83 ranking). Huerter has offers from Iowa, Notre Dame and Maryland just to name a few. He leads the team in scoring at 12.3 PPG and assists at 3 APG. Washington has offers from Ohio State and Boston College. He averages 9.5 PPG and 2.7 APG. On the front line, Anthony Lamb has a bunch of low D1 offers. The 6'6" forward averages 11.6 PPG and is 7th in the EYBL with 8.4 rebounds per game.
Game 3, 2:00 PM Sunday, Court 5 vs E1T1 (9-3 Tied 1st Division D)
Guard Maverick Rowan leads the team at 18.4 PPG. He's ranked #42 in the country and was once a commit to Pittsburgh. 6'9" forward Jonathan Isaac is ranked #45 and has interest from most of the SEC. Ditto that for 6'10" center Tony Bradley (#35). Bradley averages 12.6 PPG and 8.7 RPG. Isaac averages 14.9 PPG and 5.6 RPG. Guard Jordan Harris is ranked #92 and is committed to Georgia. Point Guard Lamonte Turner averages 10.8 PPG and 4.9 APG and is committed to Tennessee. He may have reclassified from 2016 to 2015 so we may not see him this weekend.
Game 4, 9:30 PM Sunday, Court 1 vs Georgia Stars (9-3 Tied 1st Division D)
Just when you thought the front line studs were too much, the Stars pull out a ridiculous front line. Forward Udoka Azubuike is ranked #13 with Kansas and Georgetown on his list of offers. 6'10" Abdulhakim Ado is ranked #25. Then you have 2017 F Wendall Carter ranked #8. He averages 10.6 with 7.5 rbs. Add in #82 Trent Forrest on the wing with a team high 13.9 PPG and Jared Harper at 13.8 for guard support. They'll attend Florida State and Auburn respectively. Too much size here for Pulley to deal with.
Game 5, 12:30 PM Monday, Court 3 vs CIA Bounce (5-7 Tied 7th Division D)
In theory, this could be a Peach Jam play in game for either team or both in the very last session of the regular season. That would be drama. The last weekend and day is always interesting because some teams may have spots locked up or have nothing to play for so you never know what you'll get. Guard Koby McEwen is ranked #102 and has offers from Baylor and Ole Miss. His 13.4 PPG is the only double figure scoring average for CIA Bounce. Fellow wing Brandon Cyrus is ranked #110 and has offers from Boston College and San Diego State. Forward Eddie Ekiyor is ranked #88. His offer list includes Oregon, Miami and Virginia Tech. He averages 9.7 PPG and 7.7 RPG. Point Guard Nelson Kaputo is committed to St. Bonaventure.
2015 Comets Shootout Thoughts
The Comets Shootout is always one of the most entertaining events of the season. Its also hectic with the teams playing the games in a 2 day span. Especially so for the 17U kids who take the ACT Saturday morning and then play up to 5 games in 24 hours after that. Here are some of the sights and sounds from the weekend.
Saturday
The setup for the tourney was a scheduled play-in game to make the 1st game of the 16 team championship bracket on Saturday night. That meant most of the day was mismatches. In the 16U play-in games, Bomb Squad (IA) took out Heat Bui and Select Olafeso took out Fury Jaryan in a pair of upsets. Most notable game of the round of 16 was Lockdown taking on Fury Zurn. Fury looked to have the game put away but Trae Berhow and Lockdown would make a late rally before just falling short 67-62.
Then it was on to 17U play-in games and a major upset here. Select Ellis took out Real Athletics Jay 83-78. Layup drill for the Select guys and Real Athletics didn't shoot the lights out like they're capable of. In the round of 16, Select Ohnstad took out WOTN Nicols 53-42 in a battle. Select Altenhofen also with a hard fought 73-67 win over Comets Servaty. ECI Prospect knocked out Phenom. Heat NW knocked out Select Ellis and Fury Wilde took out Heat Wayzata. Heat Wayzata with Johnny Beeninga for the weekend and former Badger Jon Bryant coaching them up on the bench.
Sunday
Its all about donuts thanks to former Comets guard Christian Pekarek. And not mini-donuts either, I have a waistline to maintain. More than enough to feed me from these full size donuts. Magic and Comets would move on in the top half of the 16U bracket. In the 17U quarters, WI Heat shot the lights out and had an 11 point lead late vs Comets Lewis. But Jordan Bolton was able to get to the rim in the comeback and a late 4 point play from Bryce Irsfeld allowed the Comets to steal one 68-65. Steal one they did, I have to show some love for the Wisconsin guys playing well this weekend. They reminded me of some of the old Minnesota Warriors squads. Heat Vang would take out Select Ohnstad 61-50 behind a clutch shooting 2nd half from Ryan Jacobus.
In the bottom half of the 17U bracket, Select Altenhofen by 10 over ECI Prospects. Fury Wilde struggled with the trapping of Heat NW in the 1st half but handled it in the 2nd half. Heat NW would see their offense leave them for the 1st 9 minutes of the 2nd half. Fury Wilde would pull away for a surprisingly easy 67-43 win.
In the 16U semis, the Magic would take out the hosts Comets 61-50. Fury Zurn took out Heat Nord 61-47. Then off to the 17U semis. Comets Lewis broke open a close one in the 2nd half to defeat Heat Vang 68-46. The other semi was a Fury Wilde vs Select Altenhofen rematch from last week. That was Select's only Sanford league loss last week in a 63-60 fistfight. This one didn't disappoint either. Right down to the end in this one too and Fury holds off Select 64-58. Fury would try to run away and Select would make a comeback. Great game.
Then we get tandem championship games in 15U and 16U. 15U game was a back and forth battle between Future Stars and Comets North. Things got a little ugly with a scoring controversy in the 2nd half but that dust settled and the Future Stars would hang on for a 48-43 win after trailing by 6 at the half. In the 16U title game, Magic would control the 1st half and take a 7 point lead to halftime. Fury would come out on a 12-1 run to get the lead but never fully put the game away. Fury would break a tie in the last minute and win 57-53.
Then its the 17U championship game. This championship game may be the latest one we have on the circuit but it never seems to disappoint and this one didn't either. Fury would jump out to a quick 11-2 lead but the Comets would battle back to tie. Dalante Peyton with a 3 at the buzzer to send Fury to halftime up 36-33. The Comets would look to put the game away but Fury with a Furious (sorry, had to go there) rally in the last minute. Fury missed 3, Comets 2 free throws to go up 5. Peyton another 3, Comets layup, Sean Ryan for 3 and the lead is 1. Jordan Bolton makes 2 free throws to put the Comets back up by 3. Comets intentionally foul Peyton as they don't want to give up a 3. He makes the first, intentionally misses the 2nd and Ryan crashes in from the left slot, grabs the miss and hits a left baseline fadeaway at the buzzer to force overtime. WOW!
In the overtime, its a 1 point game late when Steffon Mitchell gets blocked and Ethan Novacinski scoops on the other end to put the Comets up 1 with 12.7 left. Fury takes a timeout, Mitchell gets double-teamed. Jubie Alade stripped as time runs out and the Comets win a thriller 79-78 in overtime.
Notable Players
Odell Wilson - Future Stars 15U (Mpls North)
Jenson Beachy - Comets North 15U (Perham)
Mitchell Plombon - Comets North 15U (Perham)
Mykal Howard - Magic Vatsaas 16U (St. Louis Park)
Brian Sitzmann - Magic Vatsaas 16U (Prior Lake)
Kade Hart - Magic Vatsaas 16U (Fairbault)
Trae Berhow - Lockdown 16U (Watertown-Mayer)
Myles Hanson - Fury Zurn 16U (Chaska)
Owen Chose - Fury Zurn 16U (Eden Prairie)
Dalante Peyton - Fury Wilde 17U (St. Paul Academy)
Austin Slater - Fury Wilde 17U (Wayzata)
Sam Sustacek - Select Ohnstad 17U (Orono)
Jordan Bolton - Comets Lewis 17U (Apple Valley)
Kobe Boraas - Comets Lewis 17U (Sauk Rapids)
Saturday
The setup for the tourney was a scheduled play-in game to make the 1st game of the 16 team championship bracket on Saturday night. That meant most of the day was mismatches. In the 16U play-in games, Bomb Squad (IA) took out Heat Bui and Select Olafeso took out Fury Jaryan in a pair of upsets. Most notable game of the round of 16 was Lockdown taking on Fury Zurn. Fury looked to have the game put away but Trae Berhow and Lockdown would make a late rally before just falling short 67-62.
Then it was on to 17U play-in games and a major upset here. Select Ellis took out Real Athletics Jay 83-78. Layup drill for the Select guys and Real Athletics didn't shoot the lights out like they're capable of. In the round of 16, Select Ohnstad took out WOTN Nicols 53-42 in a battle. Select Altenhofen also with a hard fought 73-67 win over Comets Servaty. ECI Prospect knocked out Phenom. Heat NW knocked out Select Ellis and Fury Wilde took out Heat Wayzata. Heat Wayzata with Johnny Beeninga for the weekend and former Badger Jon Bryant coaching them up on the bench.
Sunday
Its all about donuts thanks to former Comets guard Christian Pekarek. And not mini-donuts either, I have a waistline to maintain. More than enough to feed me from these full size donuts. Magic and Comets would move on in the top half of the 16U bracket. In the 17U quarters, WI Heat shot the lights out and had an 11 point lead late vs Comets Lewis. But Jordan Bolton was able to get to the rim in the comeback and a late 4 point play from Bryce Irsfeld allowed the Comets to steal one 68-65. Steal one they did, I have to show some love for the Wisconsin guys playing well this weekend. They reminded me of some of the old Minnesota Warriors squads. Heat Vang would take out Select Ohnstad 61-50 behind a clutch shooting 2nd half from Ryan Jacobus.
In the bottom half of the 17U bracket, Select Altenhofen by 10 over ECI Prospects. Fury Wilde struggled with the trapping of Heat NW in the 1st half but handled it in the 2nd half. Heat NW would see their offense leave them for the 1st 9 minutes of the 2nd half. Fury Wilde would pull away for a surprisingly easy 67-43 win.
In the 16U semis, the Magic would take out the hosts Comets 61-50. Fury Zurn took out Heat Nord 61-47. Then off to the 17U semis. Comets Lewis broke open a close one in the 2nd half to defeat Heat Vang 68-46. The other semi was a Fury Wilde vs Select Altenhofen rematch from last week. That was Select's only Sanford league loss last week in a 63-60 fistfight. This one didn't disappoint either. Right down to the end in this one too and Fury holds off Select 64-58. Fury would try to run away and Select would make a comeback. Great game.
Then we get tandem championship games in 15U and 16U. 15U game was a back and forth battle between Future Stars and Comets North. Things got a little ugly with a scoring controversy in the 2nd half but that dust settled and the Future Stars would hang on for a 48-43 win after trailing by 6 at the half. In the 16U title game, Magic would control the 1st half and take a 7 point lead to halftime. Fury would come out on a 12-1 run to get the lead but never fully put the game away. Fury would break a tie in the last minute and win 57-53.
Then its the 17U championship game. This championship game may be the latest one we have on the circuit but it never seems to disappoint and this one didn't either. Fury would jump out to a quick 11-2 lead but the Comets would battle back to tie. Dalante Peyton with a 3 at the buzzer to send Fury to halftime up 36-33. The Comets would look to put the game away but Fury with a Furious (sorry, had to go there) rally in the last minute. Fury missed 3, Comets 2 free throws to go up 5. Peyton another 3, Comets layup, Sean Ryan for 3 and the lead is 1. Jordan Bolton makes 2 free throws to put the Comets back up by 3. Comets intentionally foul Peyton as they don't want to give up a 3. He makes the first, intentionally misses the 2nd and Ryan crashes in from the left slot, grabs the miss and hits a left baseline fadeaway at the buzzer to force overtime. WOW!
In the overtime, its a 1 point game late when Steffon Mitchell gets blocked and Ethan Novacinski scoops on the other end to put the Comets up 1 with 12.7 left. Fury takes a timeout, Mitchell gets double-teamed. Jubie Alade stripped as time runs out and the Comets win a thriller 79-78 in overtime.
Notable Players
Odell Wilson - Future Stars 15U (Mpls North)
Jenson Beachy - Comets North 15U (Perham)
Mitchell Plombon - Comets North 15U (Perham)
Mykal Howard - Magic Vatsaas 16U (St. Louis Park)
Brian Sitzmann - Magic Vatsaas 16U (Prior Lake)
Kade Hart - Magic Vatsaas 16U (Fairbault)
Trae Berhow - Lockdown 16U (Watertown-Mayer)
Myles Hanson - Fury Zurn 16U (Chaska)
Owen Chose - Fury Zurn 16U (Eden Prairie)
Dalante Peyton - Fury Wilde 17U (St. Paul Academy)
Austin Slater - Fury Wilde 17U (Wayzata)
Sam Sustacek - Select Ohnstad 17U (Orono)
Jordan Bolton - Comets Lewis 17U (Apple Valley)
Kobe Boraas - Comets Lewis 17U (Sauk Rapids)
2015 Comets Shootout Predictions
Its time once again for the Comets Shootout, one of the great events of our local grassroots season. No shoe company teams showing up except for the Net Gain 15s so the field is very wide open. A shame that we don't get a chance to see D1 and Net Gain as we have in past years. Its also a much bigger field than we've had. There are 48 teams each in 17U and 16U divisions and 44 in 15U. The tourney format is an opening round game to play into the 16 team Platinum championship bracket. For the teams in the last handful of opening round games, sorry, no soup for you. Say hello to the Gold bracket. So with that in mind, many of the opening round games are mismatches so I'm going to skip ahead to my thoughts on bracket play.
15U Predictions
3 possible round of 16 games here stick out to me. Let's start with apologies to 3 of my players from last year as I can't pick them in their opener vs Comets North. My team was 0-2 vs Comets teams at the Comets last year, can't go against that here. Comets North is a very nice team but they'll get a stiff challenge from the MN Eagles. They are a group of Apple Valley kids who had great success this year. Also in the bottom half, Fury Johnson looks like they take on Comets Little who had a great season last year. Then the sleeper game and that's the Comets top group against Crossfire Swanson. The Crossfire group was largely together with the Heat last year and have some extra pieces to go with it. The Comets complete the sweep but the game looks to not be a pushover.
Comets Schmidt takes out Select Hermer in a Sanford League game in the quarters. Future Stars vs Lockdown and Fury Johnson vs Net Gain should be high quality quarterfinal games. Comets North is my pick to move thru the last quarter with North Hoops being a major sleeper here if its Minneapolis North kids. Future Stars vs Comets Schmidt in 1 semifinal and Fury Johnson vs Comets North in the other. Fury Johnson and Comets Schmidt move on to the final with Fury Johnson winning a grudge match. Love the matchup of point guards in that game.
15U Players to watch:
Matt Todd - Fury Johnson
Jarvis Thomas - Lockdown
Cam Jackson - Comets Schmidt
Odell Wilson - Future Stars (or North Hoops?)
16U Predictions
Comets again get no favors for their top team as I see them drawing Real Athletics Robinson in the round of 16. But I think the Comets are too deep and move on. ECI Prospects move on over WOTN Ewing. Heat Bui and Magic Vatsaas play a tight game with Heat barely moving on. I'll take Fury Jaryan to advance over Heat Gardner to conclude the top half. Heat Nord thru against the MN Swish. Playmakers Streege move on as well. Comets DLR gets the home court edge over WOTN Herber. Then a dynamite game at the bottom with Lockdown and Fury Zurn. Fury moves on in a stiff opening round test.
Comets Stumpf advances over ECI, Heat Bui moves on over Fury Jaryan. Fury Zurn also advances over the Comets. Heat Nord advances over the Playmakers. No Heat vs Heat final as the Comets and Fury knock them out. So again its a Comets vs Fury top team showdown for the title and again I'll take the Fury.
16U Players to watch:
Dedoch Chan, Myles Hanson, Owen Chose - Fury Zurn
Siman Sem - ECI Prospects
Trae Berhow, Mar Mar Hughes- Lockdown
Derek Thompson, Dillon Haider - Comets Stumpf
Kade Hart - Magic Vatsaas
Isaac Johnson - Real Athletics Robinson
17U Predictions
Long story short, don't leave before the late games. The best 2 games here are in the 10 PM slot Saturday night. Fury Wilde rums into Heat McKee (all Wayzata kids) and Heat Northwest has a war with Real Athletics Jay. Heat Northwest big but if they can add Xavier Johnson this week, that would be huge to go against the guard strength of Real Athletics. I'll take Real Athletics with their shooting. Also in the bottom half, I'll take ECI Prospects over WI Playmakers Boll. Select Altenhofen continues their nice run with a win over Comets Servaty. In the top half, Comets Lewis over Fury Jordan. Heat Schumann moves on over Red River Heat. Select Ohnstad def WOTN Nicols and Heat Vang knocks off the MN Swish.
Comets Lewis no problem moving on to the semis over Heat Schumann. Select Ohnstad knocks off Heat Vang in a tight one. Select Altenhofen moves on over ECI. Fury Wilde with another stiff test knocking out Real Athletics Jay. They win a rematch with Select Altenhofen in the semis. Select Ohnstad won a title last week and I'll take them to knock off the hosts in the semis. Fury Wilde completes the Fury sweep with a win over Select Ohnstad in the final.
17U Players to watch:
Steffon Mitchell, Dalante Peyton - Fury Wilde
Seth Coatta, Chris Olson, Cedric Boone - Real Athletics Jay
Isaiah Wade, Lucas Walford - Heat Northwest
Ryan Lindberg, Jack Sowada - Heat McKee
Brady Kuchinka - WOTN Nicols
Charlie Irmiger, Carter Brooks, Jack Stensgard - Select Ohnstad
Sam Baker, Nick Dufault - Select Altenhofen
Cole Dahl, Bryce Irsfeld, Ethan Novacinski - Comets Lewis
Samm Jones, Quenton Siebenahler - Heat Vang
15U Predictions
3 possible round of 16 games here stick out to me. Let's start with apologies to 3 of my players from last year as I can't pick them in their opener vs Comets North. My team was 0-2 vs Comets teams at the Comets last year, can't go against that here. Comets North is a very nice team but they'll get a stiff challenge from the MN Eagles. They are a group of Apple Valley kids who had great success this year. Also in the bottom half, Fury Johnson looks like they take on Comets Little who had a great season last year. Then the sleeper game and that's the Comets top group against Crossfire Swanson. The Crossfire group was largely together with the Heat last year and have some extra pieces to go with it. The Comets complete the sweep but the game looks to not be a pushover.
Comets Schmidt takes out Select Hermer in a Sanford League game in the quarters. Future Stars vs Lockdown and Fury Johnson vs Net Gain should be high quality quarterfinal games. Comets North is my pick to move thru the last quarter with North Hoops being a major sleeper here if its Minneapolis North kids. Future Stars vs Comets Schmidt in 1 semifinal and Fury Johnson vs Comets North in the other. Fury Johnson and Comets Schmidt move on to the final with Fury Johnson winning a grudge match. Love the matchup of point guards in that game.
15U Players to watch:
Matt Todd - Fury Johnson
Jarvis Thomas - Lockdown
Cam Jackson - Comets Schmidt
Odell Wilson - Future Stars (or North Hoops?)
16U Predictions
Comets again get no favors for their top team as I see them drawing Real Athletics Robinson in the round of 16. But I think the Comets are too deep and move on. ECI Prospects move on over WOTN Ewing. Heat Bui and Magic Vatsaas play a tight game with Heat barely moving on. I'll take Fury Jaryan to advance over Heat Gardner to conclude the top half. Heat Nord thru against the MN Swish. Playmakers Streege move on as well. Comets DLR gets the home court edge over WOTN Herber. Then a dynamite game at the bottom with Lockdown and Fury Zurn. Fury moves on in a stiff opening round test.
Comets Stumpf advances over ECI, Heat Bui moves on over Fury Jaryan. Fury Zurn also advances over the Comets. Heat Nord advances over the Playmakers. No Heat vs Heat final as the Comets and Fury knock them out. So again its a Comets vs Fury top team showdown for the title and again I'll take the Fury.
16U Players to watch:
Dedoch Chan, Myles Hanson, Owen Chose - Fury Zurn
Siman Sem - ECI Prospects
Trae Berhow, Mar Mar Hughes- Lockdown
Derek Thompson, Dillon Haider - Comets Stumpf
Kade Hart - Magic Vatsaas
Isaac Johnson - Real Athletics Robinson
17U Predictions
Long story short, don't leave before the late games. The best 2 games here are in the 10 PM slot Saturday night. Fury Wilde rums into Heat McKee (all Wayzata kids) and Heat Northwest has a war with Real Athletics Jay. Heat Northwest big but if they can add Xavier Johnson this week, that would be huge to go against the guard strength of Real Athletics. I'll take Real Athletics with their shooting. Also in the bottom half, I'll take ECI Prospects over WI Playmakers Boll. Select Altenhofen continues their nice run with a win over Comets Servaty. In the top half, Comets Lewis over Fury Jordan. Heat Schumann moves on over Red River Heat. Select Ohnstad def WOTN Nicols and Heat Vang knocks off the MN Swish.
Comets Lewis no problem moving on to the semis over Heat Schumann. Select Ohnstad knocks off Heat Vang in a tight one. Select Altenhofen moves on over ECI. Fury Wilde with another stiff test knocking out Real Athletics Jay. They win a rematch with Select Altenhofen in the semis. Select Ohnstad won a title last week and I'll take them to knock off the hosts in the semis. Fury Wilde completes the Fury sweep with a win over Select Ohnstad in the final.
17U Players to watch:
Steffon Mitchell, Dalante Peyton - Fury Wilde
Seth Coatta, Chris Olson, Cedric Boone - Real Athletics Jay
Isaiah Wade, Lucas Walford - Heat Northwest
Ryan Lindberg, Jack Sowada - Heat McKee
Brady Kuchinka - WOTN Nicols
Charlie Irmiger, Carter Brooks, Jack Stensgard - Select Ohnstad
Sam Baker, Nick Dufault - Select Altenhofen
Cole Dahl, Bryce Irsfeld, Ethan Novacinski - Comets Lewis
Samm Jones, Quenton Siebenahler - Heat Vang
Small School Delight
Labels:
2015 Sections
Prologue
To Macalester for the 4A and 4AA championships. Jammed packed house at the Leonard Center for both games. The always fun 500 ml bottle of Coke is the drink that closes out the official tally for the beverage counter (hard to track cups at state). Boo the Toddler Ref is in the house for the late game.
Number of Teams I've Seen: 159 (70 courts)
Beverage Consumption Counter: 1658.7 ounces (107 days, 144 games, 2 scrimmages added on)
Song of the Day: Fleetwood Mac - Seven Wonders
4A Championship (#3 Maranatha vs #2 Minneapolis North):
Cam Monson with a layup to start and a Jeremiah Hanson drive for 2 free throws. 4-0 MCA at 15:57 as the North offense can't get going. JaQuan Sanders-Smith off the North bench with the nice give and go via Odell Wilson in the post and another layup. Timeout North at 13:27 down 10-9. Its Sanders-Smith again, this time its a 3 point play to give North their 1st lead. He adds bonus free throws and Wilson with a jumper as the frosh continues to produce. 21-18 Polars at the 8 minute mark. Hanson heating up as he buries back to back 3s as the North offense is really ragged. He then outmuscles a Polar for a rebound and gets fouled. Then a North attempt to save a loose ball goes haywire and Hanson turns that into a 3 point play. 4 straight turnovers, outworked on that rebound and they give up an offensive rebound of a free throw. That's an ugly sequence for North. 31-26 MCA at 2:22 after that. Isaac Johnson with a tough stepback, a 3 point play and running out for 2 more. Monson with 3 of 4 free throws during that stretch. Hanson with a technical free throw after the 2nd North delay of game call and he scores the last bucket of the half. 38-35 Maranatha at the half. Hanson with 21. Isaac Johnson with 10.
Jamil Jackson had a rough first half but got off to a quick 2nd half start with a hoop and a putback as the Polars score the 1st 6 of the second half. Isaac Johnson to the left hand for 2 and Tyler Johnson for 3 to end the Polars 11-2 run. 46-40 North at 13:20. Jackson sits with his 4th foul a minute later. Monson with a free throw off a turnover, Hanson saves a miss for a Jake Meyen free throw and then Hanson scores. 49-48 North inside 10 to play. Then the chess match begins. MCA with a little momentum and in a 1-1-3 zone. North looks a bit confused but they'll go 4 corners 2-1-2 and hold it. Then a strange North timeout with 7:31. MCA stays zone and North will hold for another 50 seconds. But for some reason North decides to play at 6:40 and Sanders-Smith makes 1 of 2 free throws at 6:32. MCA takes time and they'll come out man after they miss. North misses and Hanson scores to tie it. Jackson comes back in with 5:37 left. Bad North miss and Damario Armstrong makes 2 free throws with 4:43 left for a 52-50 MCA lead. They'll go back to the zone. Tyler Johnson converts a turnover to tie it as its as 2 minute stretch of bad shots and turnovers both ways. Hanson makes bonus free throws with 2:07 left, Sanders-Smith scoops for 2 but Jake Meyen scores the other way. 56-54 MCA 1:48 left. Another bad shot and Armstrong makes an ill advised double clutch bank. 58-54 MCA 1:20 left. Jackson makes 2 free throws and Maranatha helps the Polars by jacking a crazy shot. Tyler Johnson to the rim for a monster dunk attempt over Hanson that almost went in. He makes 1 free throw to cut the MCA lead to 1. Hanson makes 1 of 2 free throws after the last MCA timeout. North misses and MCA appears to get whacked but its an overrule to a jump ball with 30.3 left and it goes to MCA. MCA travels with 20 seconds left, Jamil Jackson tips in a miss and North takes a timeout to set their defense with 9.4 left. MCA gets in the inbounds and darn near turns it over. But 1 outlet later they're on the break and its Monson under the rim. Pump once and its a layup for the game winner with 2 seconds left but it doesn't go down, oh my goodness. 59 all and we'll play overtime.
In overtime, Jackson a tip in to put North up 1. Armstrong off the bounce, Sanders-Smith with a floater. Armstrong to Monson for a layup. 64-63 MCA with 2:15 left in OT. Hanson up and under but its a walk with 1:30 left. Tyler Johnson puts back a miss and Hanson misses with 1 minute left. North bails out MCA with a quick miss. Monson makes 1 free throw and MCA gets the miss back for Hanson to score . Sanders-Smith fouled and makes 2 with 33.1 left and we're tied at 67. Maranatha takes their last timeout to setup the final possession . Its Armstrong off the bounce and he makes the floater with 14 seconds left. North out of timeouts and here they come. The push up the right wing and Jackson has an open right side look that's no good with 5 seconds left. MCA grabs the rebound and North makes no attempt to foul?!?!?!?! Maranatha wins 69-67 in OT. Jeremiah Hanson leads all scorers with 33 points, Damario Armstrong with 11 and despite struggles in regulation came up large with 2 buckets and an assist for another in the OT. JaQuan Sanders-Smith leads North with 15, Issac Johnson with 15. Jamil Jackson with 12 and Tyler Johnson with 10 points but both of them struggled as well.
4AA Championship (#1 St. Croix Lutheran vs #3 Minneapolis Roosevelt):
To show you how respected Roosevelt was in the section, SCL had 2 losses all year (DLS and St. Thomas Academy), #1 in the state poll and power polls and a better record but Roosevelt still got the top seed. Interesting defensive matchups as its Trenton Krueger who gets Elijah Hannah, Ade Lamu gets London Cobbs and Venkat Valluri gets Arione Farrar. Ade Lamu active early for SCL with a pair of steals for a bucket and 2 free throws plus a tap in. London Cobbs carrying the Roosevelt offense as he scores their 1st 9 points with 3 buckets and a triple. That 3 starts a 7-0 Roosevelt run to put them up 13-10 at the 8 minute mark. Trenton Krueger and a high low feed for free throws vs the 2-3 zone. That surrounds a Cobbs 3. 16-15 Roosevelt. Then Roosevelt coach Rob Mestas leaves the bench at the 4:30 mark and does not return. Krueger with a 3 point play. Cobbs fouled and then makes a free throw. He won't take the 2nd due to blood on the cheek. But a Roosevelt assistant fixes that by ripping off his tie and using it to get rid of the blood. Arione Farrar finds Abdullah Aden for a momentum building 3 right before the half. Roosevelt 23-18 lead going to halftime.
Lamu active again to start the 2nd half as he goes steal for 2 and steal for 2 free throws. After Cobbs puts back his own miss, its Aage Rovney for 3 and Krueger with another 3 point play. 12-2 Crusaders run puts them back on top 30-26 with 14:20 left. Cobbs will sit with his 4th foul at the 10:52 mark. Rovney hit on a 3 for 2-3 FTs and Gunnar Maki converts inside to push the lead to 6 with 9:20 left. Aden a BLOB 3, Farrar pull for 2 and then buries a 3. That's a quick Roosevelt 8-0 run for a 38-36 Teddies lead with 7:12 left. Cobbs back in with more than 6 minutes in a bit of a surprise considering how close the game is. Lamu with a sick ridiculous block going high at the rim to smack one away. Krueger with a layup and a SCL pins the backside of the zone for a Rovney 3 from the left corner with 4:10 left. 41-38 SCL back on top. Roosevelt misses, SCL takes time. They'll spread the floor but not hold against the zone. That patience pays off in a Krueger layup thanks to great ball movement with 3:20 left. 43-38 SCL after their 7-0 run. But the Crusaders can't take care of the ball (PG Valluri sitting). Farrar to Cobbs for 3 after a turnover, another turnover leads to Cobbs getting hit on a 3. He makes 2 of the 3 to tie the game at 43 with 1:29 left. Another SCL turnover with 1:05 left. Roosevelt takes another timeout to set up offense and SCL comes out 1-3-1. They get a trap at the halfcourt circle to force another Teddies timeout with 37.8 left.
Teddies shot no good, Cobbs hustles to snare the miss and Krueger bumps him with 22 seconds left. That's his 5th foul. Cobbs makes the 1st free throw but misses the 2nd. Roosevelt runs down that miss too and Farrar is fouled with 18 seconds left. Timeout SCL before the free throws. Farrar misses the front end and here come the Crusaders. Down the right side we go and the ball eventually ends up in the hands of Tommy Metcalf, the 5th guy you would think of in the Crusaders starting 5. Maybe he's not even in the game if Krueger doesn't foul out. But who cares, its an open 12 footer from just off the left lane line and its pure with 7 seconds left! Roosevelt pushes the ball back and Farrar gets called for a walk right at the 3 point line with 0.7 left. St. Croix Lutheran wins a thriller 45-44. Trenton Krueger 14, Ade Lamu and Aage Rovney 12 as the big 3 do their part for SCL. London Cobbs leads all scorers with 21 points, Arione Farrar with 11.
What an amazing night of basketball. The stands were packed and people were 2 and 3 deep on the 3 rails. Great fans, great hoops and an overall great environment. Heartbreak hotel for the Minneapolis City Conference (and my picks) as they lose all 3 of their section finals by a combined 7 points. On a more serious note, best wishes to Rob Mestas, hope he gets well soon.
To Macalester for the 4A and 4AA championships. Jammed packed house at the Leonard Center for both games. The always fun 500 ml bottle of Coke is the drink that closes out the official tally for the beverage counter (hard to track cups at state). Boo the Toddler Ref is in the house for the late game.
Number of Teams I've Seen: 159 (70 courts)
Beverage Consumption Counter: 1658.7 ounces (107 days, 144 games, 2 scrimmages added on)
- Pepsi: 844 ounces
- Coke: 208.9 ounces
- Dr. Pepper: 48 ounces
- Sprite: 200 ounces
- Sierra Mist: 12 ounces
- Barq's Root Beer: 20 ounces
- A&W Root Beer: 72 ounces
- Red Powerade: 120 ounces
- 0 Calorie Fruit Punch Powerade: 20 ounces
- Red Gatorade: 96.9 ounces
- Water: 500 ml
Song of the Day: Fleetwood Mac - Seven Wonders
4A Championship (#3 Maranatha vs #2 Minneapolis North):
Cam Monson with a layup to start and a Jeremiah Hanson drive for 2 free throws. 4-0 MCA at 15:57 as the North offense can't get going. JaQuan Sanders-Smith off the North bench with the nice give and go via Odell Wilson in the post and another layup. Timeout North at 13:27 down 10-9. Its Sanders-Smith again, this time its a 3 point play to give North their 1st lead. He adds bonus free throws and Wilson with a jumper as the frosh continues to produce. 21-18 Polars at the 8 minute mark. Hanson heating up as he buries back to back 3s as the North offense is really ragged. He then outmuscles a Polar for a rebound and gets fouled. Then a North attempt to save a loose ball goes haywire and Hanson turns that into a 3 point play. 4 straight turnovers, outworked on that rebound and they give up an offensive rebound of a free throw. That's an ugly sequence for North. 31-26 MCA at 2:22 after that. Isaac Johnson with a tough stepback, a 3 point play and running out for 2 more. Monson with 3 of 4 free throws during that stretch. Hanson with a technical free throw after the 2nd North delay of game call and he scores the last bucket of the half. 38-35 Maranatha at the half. Hanson with 21. Isaac Johnson with 10.
Jamil Jackson had a rough first half but got off to a quick 2nd half start with a hoop and a putback as the Polars score the 1st 6 of the second half. Isaac Johnson to the left hand for 2 and Tyler Johnson for 3 to end the Polars 11-2 run. 46-40 North at 13:20. Jackson sits with his 4th foul a minute later. Monson with a free throw off a turnover, Hanson saves a miss for a Jake Meyen free throw and then Hanson scores. 49-48 North inside 10 to play. Then the chess match begins. MCA with a little momentum and in a 1-1-3 zone. North looks a bit confused but they'll go 4 corners 2-1-2 and hold it. Then a strange North timeout with 7:31. MCA stays zone and North will hold for another 50 seconds. But for some reason North decides to play at 6:40 and Sanders-Smith makes 1 of 2 free throws at 6:32. MCA takes time and they'll come out man after they miss. North misses and Hanson scores to tie it. Jackson comes back in with 5:37 left. Bad North miss and Damario Armstrong makes 2 free throws with 4:43 left for a 52-50 MCA lead. They'll go back to the zone. Tyler Johnson converts a turnover to tie it as its as 2 minute stretch of bad shots and turnovers both ways. Hanson makes bonus free throws with 2:07 left, Sanders-Smith scoops for 2 but Jake Meyen scores the other way. 56-54 MCA 1:48 left. Another bad shot and Armstrong makes an ill advised double clutch bank. 58-54 MCA 1:20 left. Jackson makes 2 free throws and Maranatha helps the Polars by jacking a crazy shot. Tyler Johnson to the rim for a monster dunk attempt over Hanson that almost went in. He makes 1 free throw to cut the MCA lead to 1. Hanson makes 1 of 2 free throws after the last MCA timeout. North misses and MCA appears to get whacked but its an overrule to a jump ball with 30.3 left and it goes to MCA. MCA travels with 20 seconds left, Jamil Jackson tips in a miss and North takes a timeout to set their defense with 9.4 left. MCA gets in the inbounds and darn near turns it over. But 1 outlet later they're on the break and its Monson under the rim. Pump once and its a layup for the game winner with 2 seconds left but it doesn't go down, oh my goodness. 59 all and we'll play overtime.
In overtime, Jackson a tip in to put North up 1. Armstrong off the bounce, Sanders-Smith with a floater. Armstrong to Monson for a layup. 64-63 MCA with 2:15 left in OT. Hanson up and under but its a walk with 1:30 left. Tyler Johnson puts back a miss and Hanson misses with 1 minute left. North bails out MCA with a quick miss. Monson makes 1 free throw and MCA gets the miss back for Hanson to score . Sanders-Smith fouled and makes 2 with 33.1 left and we're tied at 67. Maranatha takes their last timeout to setup the final possession . Its Armstrong off the bounce and he makes the floater with 14 seconds left. North out of timeouts and here they come. The push up the right wing and Jackson has an open right side look that's no good with 5 seconds left. MCA grabs the rebound and North makes no attempt to foul?!?!?!?! Maranatha wins 69-67 in OT. Jeremiah Hanson leads all scorers with 33 points, Damario Armstrong with 11 and despite struggles in regulation came up large with 2 buckets and an assist for another in the OT. JaQuan Sanders-Smith leads North with 15, Issac Johnson with 15. Jamil Jackson with 12 and Tyler Johnson with 10 points but both of them struggled as well.
4AA Championship (#1 St. Croix Lutheran vs #3 Minneapolis Roosevelt):
To show you how respected Roosevelt was in the section, SCL had 2 losses all year (DLS and St. Thomas Academy), #1 in the state poll and power polls and a better record but Roosevelt still got the top seed. Interesting defensive matchups as its Trenton Krueger who gets Elijah Hannah, Ade Lamu gets London Cobbs and Venkat Valluri gets Arione Farrar. Ade Lamu active early for SCL with a pair of steals for a bucket and 2 free throws plus a tap in. London Cobbs carrying the Roosevelt offense as he scores their 1st 9 points with 3 buckets and a triple. That 3 starts a 7-0 Roosevelt run to put them up 13-10 at the 8 minute mark. Trenton Krueger and a high low feed for free throws vs the 2-3 zone. That surrounds a Cobbs 3. 16-15 Roosevelt. Then Roosevelt coach Rob Mestas leaves the bench at the 4:30 mark and does not return. Krueger with a 3 point play. Cobbs fouled and then makes a free throw. He won't take the 2nd due to blood on the cheek. But a Roosevelt assistant fixes that by ripping off his tie and using it to get rid of the blood. Arione Farrar finds Abdullah Aden for a momentum building 3 right before the half. Roosevelt 23-18 lead going to halftime.
Lamu active again to start the 2nd half as he goes steal for 2 and steal for 2 free throws. After Cobbs puts back his own miss, its Aage Rovney for 3 and Krueger with another 3 point play. 12-2 Crusaders run puts them back on top 30-26 with 14:20 left. Cobbs will sit with his 4th foul at the 10:52 mark. Rovney hit on a 3 for 2-3 FTs and Gunnar Maki converts inside to push the lead to 6 with 9:20 left. Aden a BLOB 3, Farrar pull for 2 and then buries a 3. That's a quick Roosevelt 8-0 run for a 38-36 Teddies lead with 7:12 left. Cobbs back in with more than 6 minutes in a bit of a surprise considering how close the game is. Lamu with a sick ridiculous block going high at the rim to smack one away. Krueger with a layup and a SCL pins the backside of the zone for a Rovney 3 from the left corner with 4:10 left. 41-38 SCL back on top. Roosevelt misses, SCL takes time. They'll spread the floor but not hold against the zone. That patience pays off in a Krueger layup thanks to great ball movement with 3:20 left. 43-38 SCL after their 7-0 run. But the Crusaders can't take care of the ball (PG Valluri sitting). Farrar to Cobbs for 3 after a turnover, another turnover leads to Cobbs getting hit on a 3. He makes 2 of the 3 to tie the game at 43 with 1:29 left. Another SCL turnover with 1:05 left. Roosevelt takes another timeout to set up offense and SCL comes out 1-3-1. They get a trap at the halfcourt circle to force another Teddies timeout with 37.8 left.
Teddies shot no good, Cobbs hustles to snare the miss and Krueger bumps him with 22 seconds left. That's his 5th foul. Cobbs makes the 1st free throw but misses the 2nd. Roosevelt runs down that miss too and Farrar is fouled with 18 seconds left. Timeout SCL before the free throws. Farrar misses the front end and here come the Crusaders. Down the right side we go and the ball eventually ends up in the hands of Tommy Metcalf, the 5th guy you would think of in the Crusaders starting 5. Maybe he's not even in the game if Krueger doesn't foul out. But who cares, its an open 12 footer from just off the left lane line and its pure with 7 seconds left! Roosevelt pushes the ball back and Farrar gets called for a walk right at the 3 point line with 0.7 left. St. Croix Lutheran wins a thriller 45-44. Trenton Krueger 14, Ade Lamu and Aage Rovney 12 as the big 3 do their part for SCL. London Cobbs leads all scorers with 21 points, Arione Farrar with 11.
What an amazing night of basketball. The stands were packed and people were 2 and 3 deep on the 3 rails. Great fans, great hoops and an overall great environment. Heartbreak hotel for the Minneapolis City Conference (and my picks) as they lose all 3 of their section finals by a combined 7 points. On a more serious note, best wishes to Rob Mestas, hope he gets well soon.
Revenge is best served cold
Labels:
2015 Sections
Prologue
Off to Farmington for another epic section final matchup. Its the 3AAAA final between #2 Apple Valley and #4 Cretin-Derham Hall. This is a rematch of last year's amazing final where CDH pulled the double OT upset. Early arriving crowd and we end up with a full house including the rails. Both bands on hand with outstanding work. CDH kids with a beach theme. AV students with business suits to match the team's Unfinished Business season mantra. Another quality game means we have to have a bottle of Pepsi. Tonight I don't pass on the pizza though. But this game should never happen until state. Having 2 of the 4 or 5 teams playing each other in the final 16 should be avoided and a reason why I'm a huge fan of a 64 team seeded proposal.
Number of Teams I've Seen: 159 (68 courts)
Beverage Consumption Counter: 1641.8 ounces (106 days, 142 games, 2 scrimmages added on)
Song of the Day: Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison (AV Pep Band)
Game Time:
Interesting defensive matchups at the start. Donnell Gresham on Gary Trent, Trent on Sam Neumann. I felt Apple Valley need a good start and they got it. Gary Trent a couple of jumpers to get him going. Tre Jones converts a turnover and Brock Bertram scores to sandwich a 3 and free throw from Donnell Gresham. 12-10 Apple Valley 4 minutes in. CDH gets it going with Rosga free throws and putback. Sam Neumann 2 long 3s after another Trent jumper. Jalen Ousley-Brown 2 free throws to end a 12-2 CDH run and force an Eagles timeout at 10:38. 22-14 CDH on top. Apple Valley right back with their own run. Trent for 3, Jones a layup, Cam Kirksey converts a turnover, Jordan Bolton makes a free throw. The run is 9-0 and CDH gets the MoKiller timeout after 2 Rosga free throws. Those Rosga freebies come on Bertram's 3rd foul. 24-23 CDH with exactly 6 minutes left in the half. Neumann starts to post Trent inside and scores 5 straight CDH points out of it. Chris Perry tips in a miss for a 31-27 CDH lead at 3:20. Riley Parham goes spin cycle, Trent leaks out on a turnover and makes a free throw. Jones for 2 (misses the 3 pt play chance) and 2 late free throws to end a 9-0 run. But Gresham is fouled on a 3 with 0.1 left to put a dent in the run. 36-34 Apple Valley at the break. Gary Trent 15 efficient points. Sam Neumann 11, Joe Rosga 9.
Apple Valley keeps Trent with a transition 3 off a turnover, Kirksey a free throw and Jones for 2 to force a CDH timeout 94 seconds into the half. Bertram back to back inside hoops to end the 19-3 run across the half and 10-0 to start the half. Good work by Apple Valley to go horns into high low action and keep going to it. No CDH FG during that 6 minutes. Gresham with a 3 to cut the margin to 48-39 with 13 minutes left. Bolton for 3 to push the lead to 14. Ousley-Brown scores and Rosga adds a free throw to cut it to 11 with 10 minutes left. Kirksey and Bertram both sitting with 4 fouls. Big chance for a CDH run.
Neumann for 3 with 8:17 left and the Apple Valley lead is still 10, 57-47. But CDH just can't buy a hoop in the 2nd half. Trent scores, Steve Christiansen a right baseline drive for an easy 2 to push the lead to 14. Bertram and Kirksey come back in with 6:14 and 5:40 left and there went CDH's chance. Trent buries back to back 3s to slam the door. Then just for good measure Trent makes 1 free throw, grabs his miss of the 2nd and throws it off CDH. He'll score 1 more time as Apple Valley as its a 17-0 run to slam the door. Apple Valley wins 74-50.
Post Game:
Cretin-Derham Hall finishes their season 25-4. They have a 17 game winning streak snapped. The Big 3 of Gresham/Rosga/Neumann combine to shoot 10-39. The team shoots a horrific 6-29 (20.7%) in the 2nd half including 3-18 from 3. That leads to an overall mark of 15-51 (29.4%) for the game. Yikes. Hard to win any game with a shooting number like that. Donnell Gresham finishes with 13 points and 10 rebounds (3/11 FG). Sam Neumann 5/16 FG on his way to 14 and 6. Joe Rosga 10 points on 2-12 shooting.
Apple Valley advances to state where I would give them 2 seed behind Champlin Park (if the Rebels advance vs Wayzata, otherwise the top seed). Gary Trent comes up big with 29 and 11. 10-20 FG, 4-6 from 3. Tre Jones was outstanding with 14 points and had a couple of impressive finishes against size. Brock Bertram chips in with 10 and 8 despite the first half foul trouble. The Eagles shoot 53.8% for the game . They run away in the 2nd half 38-16. Apple Valley wins the points off turnovers margin 17-5 and holds CDH to only 8 points in the paint.
Off to Farmington for another epic section final matchup. Its the 3AAAA final between #2 Apple Valley and #4 Cretin-Derham Hall. This is a rematch of last year's amazing final where CDH pulled the double OT upset. Early arriving crowd and we end up with a full house including the rails. Both bands on hand with outstanding work. CDH kids with a beach theme. AV students with business suits to match the team's Unfinished Business season mantra. Another quality game means we have to have a bottle of Pepsi. Tonight I don't pass on the pizza though. But this game should never happen until state. Having 2 of the 4 or 5 teams playing each other in the final 16 should be avoided and a reason why I'm a huge fan of a 64 team seeded proposal.
Number of Teams I've Seen: 159 (68 courts)
Beverage Consumption Counter: 1641.8 ounces (106 days, 142 games, 2 scrimmages added on)
- Pepsi: 844 ounces
- Coke: 192 ounces
- Dr. Pepper: 48 ounces
- Sprite: 200 ounces
- Sierra Mist: 12 ounces
- Barq's Root Beer: 20 ounces
- A&W Root Beer: 72 ounces
- Red Powerade: 120 ounces
- 0 Calorie Fruit Punch Powerade: 20 ounces
- Red Gatorade: 96.9 ounces
- Water: 500 ml
Song of the Day: Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison (AV Pep Band)
Game Time:
Interesting defensive matchups at the start. Donnell Gresham on Gary Trent, Trent on Sam Neumann. I felt Apple Valley need a good start and they got it. Gary Trent a couple of jumpers to get him going. Tre Jones converts a turnover and Brock Bertram scores to sandwich a 3 and free throw from Donnell Gresham. 12-10 Apple Valley 4 minutes in. CDH gets it going with Rosga free throws and putback. Sam Neumann 2 long 3s after another Trent jumper. Jalen Ousley-Brown 2 free throws to end a 12-2 CDH run and force an Eagles timeout at 10:38. 22-14 CDH on top. Apple Valley right back with their own run. Trent for 3, Jones a layup, Cam Kirksey converts a turnover, Jordan Bolton makes a free throw. The run is 9-0 and CDH gets the MoKiller timeout after 2 Rosga free throws. Those Rosga freebies come on Bertram's 3rd foul. 24-23 CDH with exactly 6 minutes left in the half. Neumann starts to post Trent inside and scores 5 straight CDH points out of it. Chris Perry tips in a miss for a 31-27 CDH lead at 3:20. Riley Parham goes spin cycle, Trent leaks out on a turnover and makes a free throw. Jones for 2 (misses the 3 pt play chance) and 2 late free throws to end a 9-0 run. But Gresham is fouled on a 3 with 0.1 left to put a dent in the run. 36-34 Apple Valley at the break. Gary Trent 15 efficient points. Sam Neumann 11, Joe Rosga 9.
Apple Valley keeps Trent with a transition 3 off a turnover, Kirksey a free throw and Jones for 2 to force a CDH timeout 94 seconds into the half. Bertram back to back inside hoops to end the 19-3 run across the half and 10-0 to start the half. Good work by Apple Valley to go horns into high low action and keep going to it. No CDH FG during that 6 minutes. Gresham with a 3 to cut the margin to 48-39 with 13 minutes left. Bolton for 3 to push the lead to 14. Ousley-Brown scores and Rosga adds a free throw to cut it to 11 with 10 minutes left. Kirksey and Bertram both sitting with 4 fouls. Big chance for a CDH run.
Neumann for 3 with 8:17 left and the Apple Valley lead is still 10, 57-47. But CDH just can't buy a hoop in the 2nd half. Trent scores, Steve Christiansen a right baseline drive for an easy 2 to push the lead to 14. Bertram and Kirksey come back in with 6:14 and 5:40 left and there went CDH's chance. Trent buries back to back 3s to slam the door. Then just for good measure Trent makes 1 free throw, grabs his miss of the 2nd and throws it off CDH. He'll score 1 more time as Apple Valley as its a 17-0 run to slam the door. Apple Valley wins 74-50.
Post Game:
Cretin-Derham Hall finishes their season 25-4. They have a 17 game winning streak snapped. The Big 3 of Gresham/Rosga/Neumann combine to shoot 10-39. The team shoots a horrific 6-29 (20.7%) in the 2nd half including 3-18 from 3. That leads to an overall mark of 15-51 (29.4%) for the game. Yikes. Hard to win any game with a shooting number like that. Donnell Gresham finishes with 13 points and 10 rebounds (3/11 FG). Sam Neumann 5/16 FG on his way to 14 and 6. Joe Rosga 10 points on 2-12 shooting.
Apple Valley advances to state where I would give them 2 seed behind Champlin Park (if the Rebels advance vs Wayzata, otherwise the top seed). Gary Trent comes up big with 29 and 11. 10-20 FG, 4-6 from 3. Tre Jones was outstanding with 14 points and had a couple of impressive finishes against size. Brock Bertram chips in with 10 and 8 despite the first half foul trouble. The Eagles shoot 53.8% for the game . They run away in the 2nd half 38-16. Apple Valley wins the points off turnovers margin 17-5 and holds CDH to only 8 points in the paint.
Royals return to State
Labels:
2015 Sections
Prologue
Its the 2015 Section 6AAAA Championship game between #5 Eden Prairie and #6 Hopkins. These teams played a classic to end the regular season. Have to expect that again. Sold out crowd at Cooper for this one. No pizza on my menu which is a bad choice by me but a game this good does require Pepsi. We get both pep bands as an added bonus. Augustana and Concordia with full or close to full staffs to see John Warren. St. Thomas and Bethel also in the building.
Number of Teams I've Seen: 159 (67 courts)
Beverage Consumption Counter: 1621.8 ounces (105 days, 141 games, 2 scrimmages added on)
Song of the Day: Lips are movin - Meghan Trainor
Game Time:
The offense is slow to start but Graham Hutson breaks the ice with a 3 just before 4 minutes in for Hopkins. Ishmael El-Amin with the pull up, a John Warren floater and Erik Davis runs the floor for a 3 point play at 10:07 to force an Eden Prairie timeout. El-Amin adds a jumper and Vinnie Shahid with a 3 point play at 8:37. 22-14 Hopkins in front. Josh Lanasa punishes Hopkins for gambling for a steal by taking it strong for a dunk. Blake Cashman cuts for 2 and Jake Ruppert adds a layup to cut the margin to 2 at 5:50. Ryan Jacobus with a layup and a 3 to put the Eagles back up 30-29. Xavier Johnson's late 3 sends Hopkins to the locker room up 32-31.
Owen Chose turnaround and a 3 and Cashman runs out for a layup. Hopkins not messing around as they take time down 38-34 with 13:45 left. John Warren scores and El-Amin converts after a bad EP shot. Hopkins pressure really pushing EP out on the floor away from the scoring zone. But EP not going away. Lanasa 2 layups and why not bury the 3 from straight away. 7-0 Lanasa run and its another Hopkins timeout. 45-40 EP with 9:46 left. Hutson with a layup and Warren tips out a rebound and it eventually becomes a Shahid 3 to tie it. Game really physical during this stretch with almost nothing being called but it was consistent.
El-Amin off ball screens for 2 hoops and its Hopkins back up 49-48 with 5:45 left. Cashman 2 free throws, Jacobus with 1 of 2 free throws. Eden Prairie grabs the miss and Lanasa turns that possession into a pretty 3 point play. Then after a Hopkins miss its 2 on 1 and Cashman gives it up for Chose for a layup with 2:57 left. Critical 8-0 run for the Eagles puts them up 56-49. Hopkins calls timeout to regroup.
Shahid with a clutch 3 off hammer action and the extra pass, teams trade misses and then another quick EP shot. That gives Hopkins the ball back and El-Amin goes up and under to take the hit. He makes 1 of 2 with 1:32 left. EP lead down to 3. EP called for a double dribble but El-Amin misses. Then Cashman drags the pivot foot for another turnover. Xavier Johnson 3 to tie goes in and out. EP rebounds and brings it back. Pat Rock has a 10 second call as the trail but the lead official waves him off and grants EP's last timeout with 40.8 left (EP bench in the frontcourt). Karma rears its head as Jacobus slips and falls as he catches the inbounds. That's a walk and Hopkins still has life. El-Amin hit with 34.1 left and he makes both ends of the bonus. Brady Rudrud runs for a layup and the lead is still 3 with 27 seconds left. Hopkins will play without a timeout and El-Amin hits the tough fadeaway for a long 2. Hopkins still trails by 1. Hopkins fouls Chose with 13.8 left and takes a timeout.
After the timeout, Chose misses the front end and here we go. Hopkins will push to the front court, they miss a 3, Warren grabs a miss, another miss. Ball loose just below the foul line as time is running out. Shahid grabs it and heaves it toward the basket and its a foul call! Shahid to the line with 1.3 left. Cold blooded daggers as both free throws are nothing but net. Xavier Johnson steals the inbounds. Hopkins wins 59-58 to advance to state.
Post Game
Eden Prairie finishes their season 24-5. Josh Lanasa 15 points to lead the Eagles. He had 11 of those in the 2nd half. Blake Cashman adds 10. Owen Chose and Ryan Jacobus 9 each. Brady Rudrud adds 8. This one will eat away at the Eagles. 3 bad shots, 3 turnovers, a missed front end and 2 offensive boards (on the last possession) all in the last 3 minutes. After some good long possessions early, Hopkins was able to ratchet up the pressure and force EP out.
Ishmael El-Amin leads Hopkins with 17 points off the bench, 11 in the 2nd half. Vinnie Shahid 8 of his 11 in the 2nd half. Both came up large down the stretch. John Warren only 6 points but I also had him for at least that many rebounds. Most cases you would say Hopkins really stole one and frankly you'd be right. But Hopkins has done this time and time again over the years. Once again they find a crazy way to win and take advantage of the Eagles mistakes.
Its the 2015 Section 6AAAA Championship game between #5 Eden Prairie and #6 Hopkins. These teams played a classic to end the regular season. Have to expect that again. Sold out crowd at Cooper for this one. No pizza on my menu which is a bad choice by me but a game this good does require Pepsi. We get both pep bands as an added bonus. Augustana and Concordia with full or close to full staffs to see John Warren. St. Thomas and Bethel also in the building.
Number of Teams I've Seen: 159 (67 courts)
Beverage Consumption Counter: 1621.8 ounces (105 days, 141 games, 2 scrimmages added on)
- Pepsi: 824 ounces
- Coke: 192 ounces
- Dr. Pepper: 48 ounces
- Sprite: 200 ounces
- Sierra Mist: 12 ounces
- Barq's Root Beer: 20 ounces
- A&W Root Beer: 72 ounces
- Red Powerade: 120 ounces
- 0 Calorie Fruit Punch Powerade: 20 ounces
- Red Gatorade: 96.9 ounces
- Water: 500 ml
Song of the Day: Lips are movin - Meghan Trainor
Game Time:
The offense is slow to start but Graham Hutson breaks the ice with a 3 just before 4 minutes in for Hopkins. Ishmael El-Amin with the pull up, a John Warren floater and Erik Davis runs the floor for a 3 point play at 10:07 to force an Eden Prairie timeout. El-Amin adds a jumper and Vinnie Shahid with a 3 point play at 8:37. 22-14 Hopkins in front. Josh Lanasa punishes Hopkins for gambling for a steal by taking it strong for a dunk. Blake Cashman cuts for 2 and Jake Ruppert adds a layup to cut the margin to 2 at 5:50. Ryan Jacobus with a layup and a 3 to put the Eagles back up 30-29. Xavier Johnson's late 3 sends Hopkins to the locker room up 32-31.
Owen Chose turnaround and a 3 and Cashman runs out for a layup. Hopkins not messing around as they take time down 38-34 with 13:45 left. John Warren scores and El-Amin converts after a bad EP shot. Hopkins pressure really pushing EP out on the floor away from the scoring zone. But EP not going away. Lanasa 2 layups and why not bury the 3 from straight away. 7-0 Lanasa run and its another Hopkins timeout. 45-40 EP with 9:46 left. Hutson with a layup and Warren tips out a rebound and it eventually becomes a Shahid 3 to tie it. Game really physical during this stretch with almost nothing being called but it was consistent.
El-Amin off ball screens for 2 hoops and its Hopkins back up 49-48 with 5:45 left. Cashman 2 free throws, Jacobus with 1 of 2 free throws. Eden Prairie grabs the miss and Lanasa turns that possession into a pretty 3 point play. Then after a Hopkins miss its 2 on 1 and Cashman gives it up for Chose for a layup with 2:57 left. Critical 8-0 run for the Eagles puts them up 56-49. Hopkins calls timeout to regroup.
Shahid with a clutch 3 off hammer action and the extra pass, teams trade misses and then another quick EP shot. That gives Hopkins the ball back and El-Amin goes up and under to take the hit. He makes 1 of 2 with 1:32 left. EP lead down to 3. EP called for a double dribble but El-Amin misses. Then Cashman drags the pivot foot for another turnover. Xavier Johnson 3 to tie goes in and out. EP rebounds and brings it back. Pat Rock has a 10 second call as the trail but the lead official waves him off and grants EP's last timeout with 40.8 left (EP bench in the frontcourt). Karma rears its head as Jacobus slips and falls as he catches the inbounds. That's a walk and Hopkins still has life. El-Amin hit with 34.1 left and he makes both ends of the bonus. Brady Rudrud runs for a layup and the lead is still 3 with 27 seconds left. Hopkins will play without a timeout and El-Amin hits the tough fadeaway for a long 2. Hopkins still trails by 1. Hopkins fouls Chose with 13.8 left and takes a timeout.
After the timeout, Chose misses the front end and here we go. Hopkins will push to the front court, they miss a 3, Warren grabs a miss, another miss. Ball loose just below the foul line as time is running out. Shahid grabs it and heaves it toward the basket and its a foul call! Shahid to the line with 1.3 left. Cold blooded daggers as both free throws are nothing but net. Xavier Johnson steals the inbounds. Hopkins wins 59-58 to advance to state.
Post Game
Eden Prairie finishes their season 24-5. Josh Lanasa 15 points to lead the Eagles. He had 11 of those in the 2nd half. Blake Cashman adds 10. Owen Chose and Ryan Jacobus 9 each. Brady Rudrud adds 8. This one will eat away at the Eagles. 3 bad shots, 3 turnovers, a missed front end and 2 offensive boards (on the last possession) all in the last 3 minutes. After some good long possessions early, Hopkins was able to ratchet up the pressure and force EP out.
Ishmael El-Amin leads Hopkins with 17 points off the bench, 11 in the 2nd half. Vinnie Shahid 8 of his 11 in the 2nd half. Both came up large down the stretch. John Warren only 6 points but I also had him for at least that many rebounds. Most cases you would say Hopkins really stole one and frankly you'd be right. But Hopkins has done this time and time again over the years. Once again they find a crazy way to win and take advantage of the Eagles mistakes.
Trojans conquer the Crimson
Labels:
2015 Sections
Prologue
Its a rematch of a late January showdown between 3 seed Wayzata and 2 seed Maple Grove. Wayzata gave away an 11 point lead in the last 5 minutes in that meeting. A surprisingly late and not as full as expected crowd. An early arrival means plenty of time to add another hot dog to the counter and a can of A&W to go with it. The Wayzata band outstanding from start to finish. We get today's song (straight link, no rick rolling here) and then after the game we get Pharrell's Happy on the way out the door.
Number of Teams I've Seen: 159 (67 courts)
Beverage Consumption Counter: 1609.8 ounces (104 days, 140 games, 2 scrimmages added on)
Song of the Day:
Game Time:
Brad Davison was very quiet in the last meeting until the last 5 minutes. No such thing today. Off the ball screen for 3, a deuce and he'll bank home a long 3. Then another bomb and a drive. Then a pass for Jack Hutchinson free throw and a steal for 2. That means he's in on the 1st 18 Maple Grove points, scoring 16 of them. Wayzata would keep up thanks to Jack Sowada. Double curl BLOB for 3, a putback, a drive and a 3. 18 all at 9:40. Then back to back 3s from soph Ryan Lindberg and a 3 from Ty Gelinske to end a 14-2 run. 27-20 Trojans at 5:30. Davison pulls off the ball screen, scores again and then buries another 3 in a 9-2 Crimson run to cut the margin to 2. He adds 4 free throws to cut the lead to 1 before Sowada drives and reverses to end the half's scoring. 36-33 Wayzata at half. Davison with 27 of the 33 and a pass that became 2 free throws.
Johnny Beeninga quiet in the 1st half but he drives for 2 and then finishes off glass over Reed Nikko. Soph Gavin Baumgartner with a 3 and Beeninga with a pair of hoops to push the lead to 9. 50-41 Wayzata with 13:13 left and Maple Grove needs a timeout after the 11-3 run. Austin Slater with a putback and Baumgartner with a great hustle play to grab an offensive board and finish all in 1 motion while taking the hit. 55-43 Wayzata after that 3 point play. Davison with 4 in a row to cut the lead to 6 and Wayzata takes time with 8:44 left. Baumgartner sandwiches a Davison hoop with a layup and 2 free throws. But out of the free throws, Davison goes over the top of the 1 time only Wayzata 2-3 zone to Nikko for a dunk. Davison then for 3, MG draws and offensive foul and Davison finds Tywhon Pickford all alone for a layup on the inbounds. Timmy Bishop drew that charge and then gets a steal and a timeout. 61-58 Wayzata lead with 5:34 left but Maple Grove has the momentum and the ball with a chance to tie. They can't convert and Slater puts back a miss with Nikko helping on a drive. Lindberg then hits another big 3 and Davison gets called for a charge at the 3:50 mark. Bishop forces another turnover for a Davison layup with 3:33 left. 68-62 Wayzata lead. But Maple Grove wouldn't score again. Slater with 2 free throws after he grabs another miss. Beeninga 2 free throws going to the rim, Slater 2 layups vs traps and Wayzata puts it away. Wayzata wins 77-62 but it was much closer than that.
Post Game
Maple Grove finishes the season 23-4. Brad Davison goes for 42 points on 14-23 shooting with a handful of rebounds and assists. Reed Nikko with 11 of the other 20 and a handful of blocked shots, mostly early in the game. No other help on this night though. Timmy Bishop came in and committed 3 quick fouls with about 10 minutes left but then his defensive energy became a factor forcing at least 3 turnovers. I would have liked to see more Mitchell Rekstad to help space the floor for Davison.
Wayzata moves on to play Champlin Park in the 5AAAA final at Rogers on Friday night. Great balance from the Trojans. Jack Sowada goes for 21 points, Austin Slater 17, Johnny Beeninga 13, Gavin Baumgartner 12 and Ryan Lindberg 9. Ty Gelinske with quality energy guarding Davison in the 1st half. I loved the tactic of forcing Davison left on everything, ball screen or not. No double teams to let his passing become a major factor, stay home fight over the screen and get back. Despite giving up 42 to him, he wasn't the same threat going left as when going right. More of a passer going left than a scorer. But he's still crafty enough to get steals and get himself to the line to create offense. Add that with 5 made 3s and you still end up with a big night.
Its a rematch of a late January showdown between 3 seed Wayzata and 2 seed Maple Grove. Wayzata gave away an 11 point lead in the last 5 minutes in that meeting. A surprisingly late and not as full as expected crowd. An early arrival means plenty of time to add another hot dog to the counter and a can of A&W to go with it. The Wayzata band outstanding from start to finish. We get today's song (straight link, no rick rolling here) and then after the game we get Pharrell's Happy on the way out the door.
Number of Teams I've Seen: 159 (67 courts)
Beverage Consumption Counter: 1609.8 ounces (104 days, 140 games, 2 scrimmages added on)
- Pepsi: 812 ounces
- Coke: 192 ounces
- Dr. Pepper: 48 ounces
- Sprite: 200 ounces
- Sierra Mist: 12 ounces
- Barq's Root Beer: 20 ounces
- A&W Root Beer: 72 ounces
- Red Powerade: 120 ounces
- 0 Calorie Fruit Punch Powerade: 20 ounces
- Red Gatorade: 96.9 ounces
- Water: 500 ml
Game Time:
Brad Davison was very quiet in the last meeting until the last 5 minutes. No such thing today. Off the ball screen for 3, a deuce and he'll bank home a long 3. Then another bomb and a drive. Then a pass for Jack Hutchinson free throw and a steal for 2. That means he's in on the 1st 18 Maple Grove points, scoring 16 of them. Wayzata would keep up thanks to Jack Sowada. Double curl BLOB for 3, a putback, a drive and a 3. 18 all at 9:40. Then back to back 3s from soph Ryan Lindberg and a 3 from Ty Gelinske to end a 14-2 run. 27-20 Trojans at 5:30. Davison pulls off the ball screen, scores again and then buries another 3 in a 9-2 Crimson run to cut the margin to 2. He adds 4 free throws to cut the lead to 1 before Sowada drives and reverses to end the half's scoring. 36-33 Wayzata at half. Davison with 27 of the 33 and a pass that became 2 free throws.
Johnny Beeninga quiet in the 1st half but he drives for 2 and then finishes off glass over Reed Nikko. Soph Gavin Baumgartner with a 3 and Beeninga with a pair of hoops to push the lead to 9. 50-41 Wayzata with 13:13 left and Maple Grove needs a timeout after the 11-3 run. Austin Slater with a putback and Baumgartner with a great hustle play to grab an offensive board and finish all in 1 motion while taking the hit. 55-43 Wayzata after that 3 point play. Davison with 4 in a row to cut the lead to 6 and Wayzata takes time with 8:44 left. Baumgartner sandwiches a Davison hoop with a layup and 2 free throws. But out of the free throws, Davison goes over the top of the 1 time only Wayzata 2-3 zone to Nikko for a dunk. Davison then for 3, MG draws and offensive foul and Davison finds Tywhon Pickford all alone for a layup on the inbounds. Timmy Bishop drew that charge and then gets a steal and a timeout. 61-58 Wayzata lead with 5:34 left but Maple Grove has the momentum and the ball with a chance to tie. They can't convert and Slater puts back a miss with Nikko helping on a drive. Lindberg then hits another big 3 and Davison gets called for a charge at the 3:50 mark. Bishop forces another turnover for a Davison layup with 3:33 left. 68-62 Wayzata lead. But Maple Grove wouldn't score again. Slater with 2 free throws after he grabs another miss. Beeninga 2 free throws going to the rim, Slater 2 layups vs traps and Wayzata puts it away. Wayzata wins 77-62 but it was much closer than that.
Post Game
Maple Grove finishes the season 23-4. Brad Davison goes for 42 points on 14-23 shooting with a handful of rebounds and assists. Reed Nikko with 11 of the other 20 and a handful of blocked shots, mostly early in the game. No other help on this night though. Timmy Bishop came in and committed 3 quick fouls with about 10 minutes left but then his defensive energy became a factor forcing at least 3 turnovers. I would have liked to see more Mitchell Rekstad to help space the floor for Davison.
Wayzata moves on to play Champlin Park in the 5AAAA final at Rogers on Friday night. Great balance from the Trojans. Jack Sowada goes for 21 points, Austin Slater 17, Johnny Beeninga 13, Gavin Baumgartner 12 and Ryan Lindberg 9. Ty Gelinske with quality energy guarding Davison in the 1st half. I loved the tactic of forcing Davison left on everything, ball screen or not. No double teams to let his passing become a major factor, stay home fight over the screen and get back. Despite giving up 42 to him, he wasn't the same threat going left as when going right. More of a passer going left than a scorer. But he's still crafty enough to get steals and get himself to the line to create offense. Add that with 5 made 3s and you still end up with a big night.
Section Blowouts and Blowups
Labels:
2015 Sections
Prologue
A busy 24 hours of hoops. I pull out the passport for a Friday trip outside The Kingdom to see Chisago Lakes 7AAA opener. They should count as a former Kingdom member though (from their North Suburban days). Then back to the metro for 3 games on Saturday. Plenty of Pepsi on this trip so the beverage counter gets an appropriate boost. Domino's and Little Caesar's pizza included, but I did skip the Walking Taco at Highland Park (lunch plans between sessions). Bad choice. We get The Rev working the late game and a special appearance from Toddler Ref.
Number of Teams I've Seen: 159 (67 courts)
Beverage Consumption Counter: 1597.8 ounces (101 days, 139 games, 2 scrimmages added on)
Game 1: 8 Hibbing at 1 Chisago Lakes (Fri 7AAA Quarterfinal)
Chisago Lakes won the regular season meeting in big fashion. PG Ethan Hickcox would sit for Chisago Lakes with 2 fouls in the 1st 1:41. Chisago Lakes would go on a 14-2 run to take control 21-7 at the 6:52 mark. Jake Lindquist with 3 triples and a 3 point play in that run. Hibbing cuts it to 9 but a 10-2 run to close the half puts the Wildcats ahead 32-15 at the break. The run extends to 23-5 as we get under 14 left. 45-18 Wildcats. They get a bit sloppy but still win easily 70-51. Jake Lindquist 19 to lead Chisago Lakes. Dylan Takkunen 21 to lead Hibbing.
Game 2: 4 St. Paul Academy vs 5 Concordia (at Highland Park, 4AA Quarterfinal)
This one was even for the 1st 6 minutes as we're tied at 10. Then Concordia's wheels fall off. Dalante Peyton dunks a turnover, Emerson Egly to the rim for 2, Peyton flares for one 3 and then buries another. 29-14 SPA at 8:38 after a 19-4 run. Concordia just trying to do too much on the offensive end. Concordia switches Isaiah Maddox on to Peyton to try to slow him down. The bleeding is stopped enough. 36-23 SPA at the break. Kent Hanson slips the flare screen he sets for Peyton for a layup and Abdul Osman puts back a miss to push the lead to 18. Maddox goes for 6 in a row via a 3, a free throw and a floater to cut the margin to 53-41 with 8:02 left. Hanson with 7 straight SPA points on 2 free throws a steal for 2 and a 3 point play. Peyton adds a transition 3 with 3:50 left to slam the door. The lead is 19 and SPA finishes it off to win 75-53. Dalante Peyton 22 points and 7 boards along with hounding Roger Moore all day. Kent Hanson 19 and 11. Abdul Osman 12 points in effective minutes. Roger Moore 20 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, Isaiah Maddox with 18 to lead Concordia. Moore had 11 turnovers on my sheet. I feel both pressed too much and the rest of roster only combined for 15 points.
Game 3: #9AAA St. Thomas Academy (3) vs #7AAA Hill-Murray (2) (at Washington 4AAA Semifinal)
Tough charge call on Marshawn Wilson at the 13:26 mark is his 2nd foul. Unlike the holiday matchup where Wilson stayed in, coach Hannigan will sit him down for a bit and then shuttle him in and out in offense/defense type situations. Senior Jimmy Quirk off the bench for 3 countered by Nate Chaffee going lefty inside and then Ryan Jacobsen shooting the passing lane and going the other way for a dunk. 18 all at 10:25. Sam Westby drives and scores then Wilson comes back in. He promptly buries a 3, grabs a defensive board and then kicks it ahead to Jack Fahey who drives and scores to end a 10-2 Pioneers run. 28-20 Hill-Murray at 8:12 as the Cadets need a timeout. Chaffee controlling the paint but a couple of late Simeon Davis 3s help keep the lead. 46-41 Hill-Murray at the break.
Kai Endahl playing like Wilson in the 2nd half as he just bullied people. But every time the Cadets would threaten the lead, the Pioneers made a play to keep it. Endahl drive and a Andrew Mayleben hoop cut lead to 1, Fahey counters for 3. Endahl free throw, Wilson coast to coast and buries the pull up 3. Jacobsen for 3, Wilson double clutches the jumper and adds another hoop. 60-52 Hill-Murray with 12:10 left. Wilson with another hoop to keep the lead at 7 with 5 minutes left. Endahl to the fade, Jacobsen coast to coast to cut the lead to 3. Jacobsen makes 2 free throws to keep the margin at 3, Wilson misses 2 free throws and Jacobsen throws a bullet to Endahl on the backside for a layup with 1:50 left. Hill-Murray misses 4 of 6 free throws but the Cadets can't convert. Finally Chaffee grabs a miss and makes 2 free throws with 20.5 left. Another Pioneers missed free throw gives the Cadets a last chance with 9.8 left. Endahl misses from the right wing at the buzzer. Hill-Murray wins 81-79. Marshawn Wilson 30 points and 12 rebounds on my sheet. 3 other Pioneers in double figures as well. Jack Fahey 14 with 3 triples, Chris Moore 14 points inside and Simeon Davis 10 points (all 1st half). Ryan Jacobsen goes out with 27 points. Nate Chaffee scored 16 of his 20 in the 1st half but didn't get many post touches in the 2nd half. Kai Endahl 11 of his 17 in the 2nd half and was a difficult matchup.
Game 4: #8AAA Simley (4) vs #2AAA Johnson (1) (at Washington 4AAA Semifinal)
The Rev working this game which gets my attention. Better yet, we get Toddler Ref making a special appearance running up and down the sideline with him. Pure comic gold. Justus Murphy with 3 early hoops being productive inside. Jalen Mobley adds a hoop for a 12-8 Govs lead. Johnson goes mass subs early bringing in 4 bench guys at once. Simley takes advantage of that to go on a 9-0 run mostly against those bench guys. Jack Stensgard for 3 in transition to start it and then a tough floater from Matt Amspoker to finish it. 17-12 Spartans at the 9:30 mark. Its all Johnson after that. Simley botches a 4 on 1 break for a Mobley layup, Andre Smith for 3, Mobley to Eric Elliot for a layup to put the Govs on top. Smith another 3, Murphy a hoop and a Mobley 3 and Elliot bucket before Mobley beats the halftime buzzer. 26-6 Govs run over the last 8:30 and 17-2 in the last 4:45. 38-23 Johnson at half. The next 5 go to Johnson as well for a 22-2 spurt (or 31-6 if you wish) and the lead is 20. Simley not quite done as Jack Stensgard hits a pair of 3s and a 3 point play from Alex Anderson cuts the lead to 51-40 with 11 minutes left. A 8-0 Govs run at that point puts the game away as the lead is back to 19. The last 4 minutes make the final even worse. Johnson wins 93-65. Junior Andre Smith 24 points with 3 triples to help keep Simley's zone honest. Jalen Mobley and Eric Elliot both add 17. Justus Murphy with 13. Jack Stensgard with 4 3s and 18 points. Alex Anderson and Sam Stensgard 12 each. The game became a track meet and that's Johnson's way to win. Simley needed this to be a slow down execution type of game and it wasn't that.
A busy 24 hours of hoops. I pull out the passport for a Friday trip outside The Kingdom to see Chisago Lakes 7AAA opener. They should count as a former Kingdom member though (from their North Suburban days). Then back to the metro for 3 games on Saturday. Plenty of Pepsi on this trip so the beverage counter gets an appropriate boost. Domino's and Little Caesar's pizza included, but I did skip the Walking Taco at Highland Park (lunch plans between sessions). Bad choice. We get The Rev working the late game and a special appearance from Toddler Ref.
Number of Teams I've Seen: 159 (67 courts)
Beverage Consumption Counter: 1597.8 ounces (101 days, 139 games, 2 scrimmages added on)
- Pepsi: 812 ounces
- Coke: 192 ounces
- Dr. Pepper: 48 ounces
- Sprite: 200 ounces
- Sierra Mist: 12 ounces
- Barq's Root Beer: 20 ounces
- A&W Root Beer: 60 ounces
- Red Powerade: 120 ounces
- 0 Calorie Fruit Punch Powerade: 20 ounces
- Red Gatorade: 96.9 ounces
- Water: 500 ml
Game 1: 8 Hibbing at 1 Chisago Lakes (Fri 7AAA Quarterfinal)
Chisago Lakes won the regular season meeting in big fashion. PG Ethan Hickcox would sit for Chisago Lakes with 2 fouls in the 1st 1:41. Chisago Lakes would go on a 14-2 run to take control 21-7 at the 6:52 mark. Jake Lindquist with 3 triples and a 3 point play in that run. Hibbing cuts it to 9 but a 10-2 run to close the half puts the Wildcats ahead 32-15 at the break. The run extends to 23-5 as we get under 14 left. 45-18 Wildcats. They get a bit sloppy but still win easily 70-51. Jake Lindquist 19 to lead Chisago Lakes. Dylan Takkunen 21 to lead Hibbing.
Game 2: 4 St. Paul Academy vs 5 Concordia (at Highland Park, 4AA Quarterfinal)
This one was even for the 1st 6 minutes as we're tied at 10. Then Concordia's wheels fall off. Dalante Peyton dunks a turnover, Emerson Egly to the rim for 2, Peyton flares for one 3 and then buries another. 29-14 SPA at 8:38 after a 19-4 run. Concordia just trying to do too much on the offensive end. Concordia switches Isaiah Maddox on to Peyton to try to slow him down. The bleeding is stopped enough. 36-23 SPA at the break. Kent Hanson slips the flare screen he sets for Peyton for a layup and Abdul Osman puts back a miss to push the lead to 18. Maddox goes for 6 in a row via a 3, a free throw and a floater to cut the margin to 53-41 with 8:02 left. Hanson with 7 straight SPA points on 2 free throws a steal for 2 and a 3 point play. Peyton adds a transition 3 with 3:50 left to slam the door. The lead is 19 and SPA finishes it off to win 75-53. Dalante Peyton 22 points and 7 boards along with hounding Roger Moore all day. Kent Hanson 19 and 11. Abdul Osman 12 points in effective minutes. Roger Moore 20 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, Isaiah Maddox with 18 to lead Concordia. Moore had 11 turnovers on my sheet. I feel both pressed too much and the rest of roster only combined for 15 points.
Game 3: #9AAA St. Thomas Academy (3) vs #7AAA Hill-Murray (2) (at Washington 4AAA Semifinal)
Tough charge call on Marshawn Wilson at the 13:26 mark is his 2nd foul. Unlike the holiday matchup where Wilson stayed in, coach Hannigan will sit him down for a bit and then shuttle him in and out in offense/defense type situations. Senior Jimmy Quirk off the bench for 3 countered by Nate Chaffee going lefty inside and then Ryan Jacobsen shooting the passing lane and going the other way for a dunk. 18 all at 10:25. Sam Westby drives and scores then Wilson comes back in. He promptly buries a 3, grabs a defensive board and then kicks it ahead to Jack Fahey who drives and scores to end a 10-2 Pioneers run. 28-20 Hill-Murray at 8:12 as the Cadets need a timeout. Chaffee controlling the paint but a couple of late Simeon Davis 3s help keep the lead. 46-41 Hill-Murray at the break.
Kai Endahl playing like Wilson in the 2nd half as he just bullied people. But every time the Cadets would threaten the lead, the Pioneers made a play to keep it. Endahl drive and a Andrew Mayleben hoop cut lead to 1, Fahey counters for 3. Endahl free throw, Wilson coast to coast and buries the pull up 3. Jacobsen for 3, Wilson double clutches the jumper and adds another hoop. 60-52 Hill-Murray with 12:10 left. Wilson with another hoop to keep the lead at 7 with 5 minutes left. Endahl to the fade, Jacobsen coast to coast to cut the lead to 3. Jacobsen makes 2 free throws to keep the margin at 3, Wilson misses 2 free throws and Jacobsen throws a bullet to Endahl on the backside for a layup with 1:50 left. Hill-Murray misses 4 of 6 free throws but the Cadets can't convert. Finally Chaffee grabs a miss and makes 2 free throws with 20.5 left. Another Pioneers missed free throw gives the Cadets a last chance with 9.8 left. Endahl misses from the right wing at the buzzer. Hill-Murray wins 81-79. Marshawn Wilson 30 points and 12 rebounds on my sheet. 3 other Pioneers in double figures as well. Jack Fahey 14 with 3 triples, Chris Moore 14 points inside and Simeon Davis 10 points (all 1st half). Ryan Jacobsen goes out with 27 points. Nate Chaffee scored 16 of his 20 in the 1st half but didn't get many post touches in the 2nd half. Kai Endahl 11 of his 17 in the 2nd half and was a difficult matchup.
Game 4: #8AAA Simley (4) vs #2AAA Johnson (1) (at Washington 4AAA Semifinal)
The Rev working this game which gets my attention. Better yet, we get Toddler Ref making a special appearance running up and down the sideline with him. Pure comic gold. Justus Murphy with 3 early hoops being productive inside. Jalen Mobley adds a hoop for a 12-8 Govs lead. Johnson goes mass subs early bringing in 4 bench guys at once. Simley takes advantage of that to go on a 9-0 run mostly against those bench guys. Jack Stensgard for 3 in transition to start it and then a tough floater from Matt Amspoker to finish it. 17-12 Spartans at the 9:30 mark. Its all Johnson after that. Simley botches a 4 on 1 break for a Mobley layup, Andre Smith for 3, Mobley to Eric Elliot for a layup to put the Govs on top. Smith another 3, Murphy a hoop and a Mobley 3 and Elliot bucket before Mobley beats the halftime buzzer. 26-6 Govs run over the last 8:30 and 17-2 in the last 4:45. 38-23 Johnson at half. The next 5 go to Johnson as well for a 22-2 spurt (or 31-6 if you wish) and the lead is 20. Simley not quite done as Jack Stensgard hits a pair of 3s and a 3 point play from Alex Anderson cuts the lead to 51-40 with 11 minutes left. A 8-0 Govs run at that point puts the game away as the lead is back to 19. The last 4 minutes make the final even worse. Johnson wins 93-65. Junior Andre Smith 24 points with 3 triples to help keep Simley's zone honest. Jalen Mobley and Eric Elliot both add 17. Justus Murphy with 13. Jack Stensgard with 4 3s and 18 points. Alex Anderson and Sam Stensgard 12 each. The game became a track meet and that's Johnson's way to win. Simley needed this to be a slow down execution type of game and it wasn't that.
Pride of the Lions is strong
Labels:
2015 Sections
Prologue
To the eastern shore of The Kingdom for the 4AA 7 vs 10 matchup between St. Paul Humboldt and St. Croix Prep. SCPA going with a beach theme for the student section. Blow up palm trees included but I didn't see a beach ball. Some overzealous admin probably would have confiscated it anyway. Coach Matt McCollister in a dapper black outfit as always. I on the hand didn't have time to properly prepare so no bow tie and dapper get up for The Czar. I walk in right at opening tip so no concessions tonight either. The Beverage Counter and I are about to have a fight. Gustavus and Hamline amongst the colleges looking on.
Number of Teams I've Seen: 157 (65 courts)
Beverage Consumption Counter: 1545.8 ounces (97 days, 132 games, 2 scrimmages added on)
Song of the Day: Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini
Game Time:
SCPA star Michael Gutierrez with a 3, an assist for 3 more and a steal for 2 to get the Lions off to a 8-2 start. He then trades 3 point plays with Humboldt star Demond Dawson then Quinn Fisher with the wild behind the back dribble to split the defense and its coast to coast for a 3 point play. 17-10 Lions at 13:03. Dawson with a pair of hoops for Humboldt. Soph Matt Kaul with a pair of 3s off the SCPA bench. Sam Richardson adds another bomb and its 28-17 SCPA at 7:52. Jared Shea sits with 2 fouls and Humboldt is faceguarding Gutierrez. That means the Lions offense struggles. Soph Guadalupe Tovalin off the Humboldt bench with all 5 of his points to ignite a 10-0 Hawks run. Terel Haughton-Lyons converts a turnover and Dawson uses a ball screen to score. Haughton-Lyons ends the half with a 3. Tie game at 34 going to the halftime break.
Shea scores the 1st 6 of the half for SCPA and we stay tied at 40. Shea's hoops start a Lions run. Gutierrez with a steal for 2 free throws, Kaul with another 3 and Shea ends it with a layup. 54-44 SCPA with 9:20 left after their 18-4 run. Dawson 5 in a row, Marion Moore a problem off the bounce for 2, Haughton-Lyons with a bomb and Moore finishes the 12-0 run with 2 free throws. 56-54 Humboldt 5:59 left. Shea drives for a layup and Moore counters off the screen and roll with the left hand for 2. Humboldt adds a free throw to go up 65-61 with 2:11 left. Gutierrez with a clutch 3 with 1:50 left and that's his 1st FG of the half. Moore on another isolation for 2 more, SCPA misses and Humboldt has it back up 3. Gutierrez picks up Dawson on defense, the off arm comes up and Gutierrez is the 1st nominee for the 2016 Oscars. His world-class flop gets the call and of course he ends up making the tying 3 on the ensuing possession. Dawson misses with 15 seconds left and Gutierrez will hold for 1 at the horn but that's no good. 67 all to OT.
In OT, Dawson opens the scoring off a ball screen. Kaul gets run off the line but takes 1 bounce to avoid the defense and buries the jumper. Moore gets a breakaway layup with 1:55 left. Dawson misses 2 critical free throws with 1:30 left. This was after Shea made 2 moves to the hoop and didn't get a call. SCPA can convert after those charity stripe misses but Humboldt walks on the other end. High ball screen and its Gutierrez with the long 3 for the lead. 72-71 SCPA with a minute left. Dawson gets to the rim but can't finish with the right hand (weak hand). Gutierrez makes 3 of 4 free throws around a Dawson turnover. St. Croix Prep wins 75-71 in overtime.
Post Game:
Humboldt finishes their season 8-17. They lose their last 12 games of the season. Demond Dawson leads the Hawks with 22 points. The 5'8" lefty would be a nice pickup for some body in the MCAC. Marion Moore adds 17 points. Terel Haughton-Lyons with 14 points. Nice work by Humboldt out of their 1-2-2 faceguarding Gutierrez. When he was in a player's area, it was a faceguard. Different concept but it was effective.
St. Croix Prep is now 14-13 with the win. Michael Gutierrez was quiet for about 30 minutes in the middle of the game. But he had 7 quick points and then 2 huge 3s to force overtime plus the one to put them over the top in OT He ends up with 26 points to lead all scorers. Jared Shea picked up his game in the middle of the Humboldt zone in the 2nd half to fill in during that Gutierrez lull. Matt Kaul 3 critical bombs off the bench on his way to 11 points. Sam Richardson with a pair of 3s and 10 points for the Lions. They will play at 2 seed St. Croix Lutheran on Saturday.
To the eastern shore of The Kingdom for the 4AA 7 vs 10 matchup between St. Paul Humboldt and St. Croix Prep. SCPA going with a beach theme for the student section. Blow up palm trees included but I didn't see a beach ball. Some overzealous admin probably would have confiscated it anyway. Coach Matt McCollister in a dapper black outfit as always. I on the hand didn't have time to properly prepare so no bow tie and dapper get up for The Czar. I walk in right at opening tip so no concessions tonight either. The Beverage Counter and I are about to have a fight. Gustavus and Hamline amongst the colleges looking on.
Number of Teams I've Seen: 157 (65 courts)
Beverage Consumption Counter: 1545.8 ounces (97 days, 132 games, 2 scrimmages added on)
- Pepsi: 760 ounces
- Coke: 192 ounces
- Dr. Pepper: 48 ounces
- Sprite: 200 ounces
- Sierra Mist: 12 ounces
- Barq's Root Beer: 20 ounces
- A&W Root Beer: 60 ounces
- Red Powerade: 120 ounces
- 0 Calorie Fruit Punch Powerade: 20 ounces
- Red Gatorade: 96.9 ounces
- Water: 500 ml
Song of the Day: Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini
Game Time:
SCPA star Michael Gutierrez with a 3, an assist for 3 more and a steal for 2 to get the Lions off to a 8-2 start. He then trades 3 point plays with Humboldt star Demond Dawson then Quinn Fisher with the wild behind the back dribble to split the defense and its coast to coast for a 3 point play. 17-10 Lions at 13:03. Dawson with a pair of hoops for Humboldt. Soph Matt Kaul with a pair of 3s off the SCPA bench. Sam Richardson adds another bomb and its 28-17 SCPA at 7:52. Jared Shea sits with 2 fouls and Humboldt is faceguarding Gutierrez. That means the Lions offense struggles. Soph Guadalupe Tovalin off the Humboldt bench with all 5 of his points to ignite a 10-0 Hawks run. Terel Haughton-Lyons converts a turnover and Dawson uses a ball screen to score. Haughton-Lyons ends the half with a 3. Tie game at 34 going to the halftime break.
Shea scores the 1st 6 of the half for SCPA and we stay tied at 40. Shea's hoops start a Lions run. Gutierrez with a steal for 2 free throws, Kaul with another 3 and Shea ends it with a layup. 54-44 SCPA with 9:20 left after their 18-4 run. Dawson 5 in a row, Marion Moore a problem off the bounce for 2, Haughton-Lyons with a bomb and Moore finishes the 12-0 run with 2 free throws. 56-54 Humboldt 5:59 left. Shea drives for a layup and Moore counters off the screen and roll with the left hand for 2. Humboldt adds a free throw to go up 65-61 with 2:11 left. Gutierrez with a clutch 3 with 1:50 left and that's his 1st FG of the half. Moore on another isolation for 2 more, SCPA misses and Humboldt has it back up 3. Gutierrez picks up Dawson on defense, the off arm comes up and Gutierrez is the 1st nominee for the 2016 Oscars. His world-class flop gets the call and of course he ends up making the tying 3 on the ensuing possession. Dawson misses with 15 seconds left and Gutierrez will hold for 1 at the horn but that's no good. 67 all to OT.
In OT, Dawson opens the scoring off a ball screen. Kaul gets run off the line but takes 1 bounce to avoid the defense and buries the jumper. Moore gets a breakaway layup with 1:55 left. Dawson misses 2 critical free throws with 1:30 left. This was after Shea made 2 moves to the hoop and didn't get a call. SCPA can convert after those charity stripe misses but Humboldt walks on the other end. High ball screen and its Gutierrez with the long 3 for the lead. 72-71 SCPA with a minute left. Dawson gets to the rim but can't finish with the right hand (weak hand). Gutierrez makes 3 of 4 free throws around a Dawson turnover. St. Croix Prep wins 75-71 in overtime.
Post Game:
Humboldt finishes their season 8-17. They lose their last 12 games of the season. Demond Dawson leads the Hawks with 22 points. The 5'8" lefty would be a nice pickup for some body in the MCAC. Marion Moore adds 17 points. Terel Haughton-Lyons with 14 points. Nice work by Humboldt out of their 1-2-2 faceguarding Gutierrez. When he was in a player's area, it was a faceguard. Different concept but it was effective.
St. Croix Prep is now 14-13 with the win. Michael Gutierrez was quiet for about 30 minutes in the middle of the game. But he had 7 quick points and then 2 huge 3s to force overtime plus the one to put them over the top in OT He ends up with 26 points to lead all scorers. Jared Shea picked up his game in the middle of the Humboldt zone in the 2nd half to fill in during that Gutierrez lull. Matt Kaul 3 critical bombs off the bench on his way to 11 points. Sam Richardson with a pair of 3s and 10 points for the Lions. They will play at 2 seed St. Croix Lutheran on Saturday.
Falcons stop the buzz
Labels:
2015 Sections
Prologue
Its the 4 vs 5 game in loaded section 6AAAA with 20-6 Armstrong visiting 18-8 Edina at the Edina Community Center. I save the stomach from the pizza but that also makes the beverage counter very sad. Fair number of Edina students in attendance despite their hockey game. Armstrong with a nice group of vocal students and a full baseline worth of cheerleaders. Surprising number of scout types in attendance too.
Number of Teams I've Seen: 157 (64 courts)
Beverage Consumption Counter: 1545.8 ounces (97 days, 132 games, 2 scrimmages added on)
Song of the Day: The Byrds - Turn Turn Turn
Game Time:
Jerome Dixon with a floater and a 3 and 3 layups from Sean Burns get Armstrong off to a 11-5 lead at the 12:45 mark. Edina fights back with a transition 3 from soph Jimmy Connell, an inbounds layup and a cherry picking layup and they're on top 14-13 after a 9-2 run. Armstrong with their own run via Evan Nolan for 3, Dixon to frosh Race Thompson for a 3 point play and a turnover becomes a Burns dunk. 24-16 Falcons at 6:30 and Will Moreton goes to the bench with his 2nd foul right before that dunk. Then a couple of Burns assists, 1 for a back door and Dixon for 3. Those counter a couple of Ben Boone jumpers Max Lynch a couple of post hoops and Edina scores the last 3 of the half. 35-29 Armstrong at the break. 22 points plus at least half of the rest of the offense created by Burns and Dixon.
Dixon and Walt McGrory trade 3s in the broken floor. Then a pretty Armstrong possession where everybody touches it as it goes backdoor, drift pass to weak side corner then 2 more to the top for a Nolan triple. Edina still hanging around though. McGrory with the jumper, then a layup off quality BLOB action, McGrory cherry picks for a layup and then vs the Falcons 3-2 zone he takes the skip pass and buries a 3. He has 10 of the first 15 in the half for Edina. Jubie Alade and Race Thompson with post hoops during that time to keep Armstrong ahead 49-44 inside of 11 to play.
Then its all Armstrong the rest of the way. Dixon to Nolan for 3, Nolan scores on a turnover, Alade on the give and go with Burns to push the lead to 14. Tre Tate for 3 and the lead is 15 inside of 6 left. Edina gets a 3 point play from Max Lynch at the 6:39 mark but that's their only field goal in the last 11:25. Boone makes 2 free throws to cut the margin to 63-50 with 4:27 left. Armstrong slams the door with 18 of the last 20. Armstrong finishes the game on a 32-8 run. Falcons win 81-52.
Post Game:
Edina finishes their season at 18-9, 2-6 in the Lake Conference (5th). Walt McGrory leads the Hornets with 18 points, 13 of those in the 2nd half and 10 of those early. But on this night, even those 18 points seemed quiet. That helped Edina get as close as 4 points. But nobody else with more than 9 points (Max Lynch). Lots of missed bunnies and some good looks that just didn't go in. Ben Boone 6 points, Will Moreton 1 3 for 3 points. They settled for some quick 3s as they started to fall behind and Armstrong made them pay with solid possessions for scores on the other end.
Armstrong improves to 21-6 and they will play at top seed Eden Prairie on Saturday. Jerome Dixon with 20 points, Sean Burns with 19. Evan Nolan with 3 3s on his way to 13 points. Race Thompson leading the bench mob with 11, 26 total for the bench. Armstrong ran a ton of offense through Burns at the elbows, usually the left one so he could take it to Lynch with his strong right hand. Quality tactical move against the shot blocker. Dixon was also able to create off the bounce without much trouble. The bench not only provided scoring but great energy all the way down to 10th guy Chance Bowen.
Its the 4 vs 5 game in loaded section 6AAAA with 20-6 Armstrong visiting 18-8 Edina at the Edina Community Center. I save the stomach from the pizza but that also makes the beverage counter very sad. Fair number of Edina students in attendance despite their hockey game. Armstrong with a nice group of vocal students and a full baseline worth of cheerleaders. Surprising number of scout types in attendance too.
Number of Teams I've Seen: 157 (64 courts)
Beverage Consumption Counter: 1545.8 ounces (97 days, 132 games, 2 scrimmages added on)
- Pepsi: 760 ounces
- Coke: 192 ounces
- Dr. Pepper: 48 ounces
- Sprite: 200 ounces
- Sierra Mist: 12 ounces
- Barq's Root Beer: 20 ounces
- A&W Root Beer: 60 ounces
- Red Powerade: 120 ounces
- 0 Calorie Fruit Punch Powerade: 20 ounces
- Red Gatorade: 96.9 ounces
- Water: 500 ml
Song of the Day: The Byrds - Turn Turn Turn
Game Time:
Jerome Dixon with a floater and a 3 and 3 layups from Sean Burns get Armstrong off to a 11-5 lead at the 12:45 mark. Edina fights back with a transition 3 from soph Jimmy Connell, an inbounds layup and a cherry picking layup and they're on top 14-13 after a 9-2 run. Armstrong with their own run via Evan Nolan for 3, Dixon to frosh Race Thompson for a 3 point play and a turnover becomes a Burns dunk. 24-16 Falcons at 6:30 and Will Moreton goes to the bench with his 2nd foul right before that dunk. Then a couple of Burns assists, 1 for a back door and Dixon for 3. Those counter a couple of Ben Boone jumpers Max Lynch a couple of post hoops and Edina scores the last 3 of the half. 35-29 Armstrong at the break. 22 points plus at least half of the rest of the offense created by Burns and Dixon.
Dixon and Walt McGrory trade 3s in the broken floor. Then a pretty Armstrong possession where everybody touches it as it goes backdoor, drift pass to weak side corner then 2 more to the top for a Nolan triple. Edina still hanging around though. McGrory with the jumper, then a layup off quality BLOB action, McGrory cherry picks for a layup and then vs the Falcons 3-2 zone he takes the skip pass and buries a 3. He has 10 of the first 15 in the half for Edina. Jubie Alade and Race Thompson with post hoops during that time to keep Armstrong ahead 49-44 inside of 11 to play.
Then its all Armstrong the rest of the way. Dixon to Nolan for 3, Nolan scores on a turnover, Alade on the give and go with Burns to push the lead to 14. Tre Tate for 3 and the lead is 15 inside of 6 left. Edina gets a 3 point play from Max Lynch at the 6:39 mark but that's their only field goal in the last 11:25. Boone makes 2 free throws to cut the margin to 63-50 with 4:27 left. Armstrong slams the door with 18 of the last 20. Armstrong finishes the game on a 32-8 run. Falcons win 81-52.
Post Game:
Edina finishes their season at 18-9, 2-6 in the Lake Conference (5th). Walt McGrory leads the Hornets with 18 points, 13 of those in the 2nd half and 10 of those early. But on this night, even those 18 points seemed quiet. That helped Edina get as close as 4 points. But nobody else with more than 9 points (Max Lynch). Lots of missed bunnies and some good looks that just didn't go in. Ben Boone 6 points, Will Moreton 1 3 for 3 points. They settled for some quick 3s as they started to fall behind and Armstrong made them pay with solid possessions for scores on the other end.
Armstrong improves to 21-6 and they will play at top seed Eden Prairie on Saturday. Jerome Dixon with 20 points, Sean Burns with 19. Evan Nolan with 3 3s on his way to 13 points. Race Thompson leading the bench mob with 11, 26 total for the bench. Armstrong ran a ton of offense through Burns at the elbows, usually the left one so he could take it to Lynch with his strong right hand. Quality tactical move against the shot blocker. Dixon was also able to create off the bounce without much trouble. The bench not only provided scoring but great energy all the way down to 10th guy Chance Bowen.
Elks survive a Thundering Herd of Bison
Labels:
2015 Sections
Prologue
No finer time of year than playoff time. Tonight's a 4 vs 5 game to open the section 8AAAA playoffs. Its a rematch of Buffalo at Elk River from November when Elk River won 40-34. Fairly spare crowd on hand but they were vocal. A super late opening to the concession stand means nothing for the beverage counter tonight. The Horror!
Number of Teams I've Seen: 157 (64 courts)
Beverage Consumption Counter: 1545.8 ounces (97 days, 132 games, 2 scrimmages added on)
Song of the Day: Right Now - Van Halen
Game Time:
Its Matt Keller hot early for Elk River. A pull up jumper and a 3. Then whacked on a 3 for 3 free throws and then another 3 out of the secondary break. Then he gets a flare screen, not there so he comes right back to the ball off of the rescreen for his 3rd triple. 15-10 Elk River 5 minutes into the game and we clearly won't have the low scoring affair of early in the year. Jonathan Senger for 2 and a 3 point play from Taylor Spier bring us to 17 all just inside of 10 minutes left in the half. Mitchell Weege, Keller and frosh Jack Burger off the bench with 3s as the Elks go on an 11-4 spurt. Jared High 2 hoops to stop that but Weege hits from deep again. Zach Dahl with a late 3 point play for Buffalo to keep it tight. 33-29 Elk River at the break. The Elks make 7 3s in the half. 17 of the 1st 25 for Elk River from Keller. High with 12 of his own for Buffalo.
Dahl grabs a miss and makes 2 free throws to tie the game at 35 2:20 into the half. Elk River makes the critical run. Weege inside out for 3, a blocked shot leads to a Keller 3 point play. Soph Wyatt Morrell for 3 and a jumper that ends a 15-4 run. 50-39 Elk River with 11:05 left. Burger inside for a 3 point play and a hoop with 8:10 left to push the lead to 12, 55-43. Burger continues his big half with 2 free throws. Senger to High on a beautiful backdoor at the 6:10 mark. But post Trent Pink counters and its still 59-47 Elk River inside of 6 to play.
Buffalo rumbles back into the game. High for 3, Elk River misses 2 front ends and Dahl scores. Burger makes 2 free throws but that's countered by a Cory Thielman putback for a 3 point play. Lead down to 6 inside of 4 minutes left. A steal for 1 Senger free throw, Elk River makes 3-6 free throws before Senger goes coast to coast with 2:31 left. 64-60 Elk River and they are hanging on for dear life. Buffalo can't convert a turnover and a Buffalo 3 gets stuck in the rim and the arrow goes to Elk River. After a dicey call, Dahl makes 2 free throws and the lead is 3 with 1:50 left. Elk River just avoids a 10 second call and turns it over anyway. Senger fouled on a BLOB curl but misses both free throws with 1:32 left. Jump ball goes to Buffalo on the miss but they turn it over for a Keller 3 point play and another dicey call on that foul. High drives and scores and Buffalo not happy with another trip to the line for Keller. He makes 2 to keep the Elk River lead at 6. Dahl goes for a 3 point play to cut the lead in half. Burger on the breakaway scores but gets hit and comes down awkwardly and doesn't return to the game. That'd be a tough injury for the promising freshman. The free throw is taken by Morrell and good and the lead is 6 again. High makes 1 free throw and the miss is grabbed by Dahl for 2 more freebies. Then Keller beating the press and a mysterious carrying call with 26 seconds left. That gives Buffalo a chance. After a timeout, they miss once and Senger takes the offensive board back to the line and his 3 is around and out at the horn. Elk River hangs on 73-70. The 2nd half (41-40 Buffalo) had more scoring than the entire 1st game.
Post Game
Jared High leads Buffalo with 24 points. Zach Dahl adds 16 and Cory Thielman chips in with 13. Strange to see the Bison go straight 5 out rather than their traditional screening system. But this group doesn't have the shooters of years past. The Bison finish the season 12-15. They had some chances down the stretch but just never got over the top.
Elk River came in losing 6 of 7 and almost gave this one away. They missed 8 free throws in a 2 minute stretch counting 2 front ends of the bonus. But Matt Keller made the last 3. The Elks made 7 of their 9 3s in the 1st half. Freshman Jack Burger with 19 points off the bench. Lets hope his late injury isn't serious. Matt Keller with 17 of his 26 in the 1st half. The Elks move on to play in 8AAAA semifinals at St. Cloud State Saturday afternoon. The likely opponent is St. Michael-Albertville who beat them by 14 at the end of January.
No finer time of year than playoff time. Tonight's a 4 vs 5 game to open the section 8AAAA playoffs. Its a rematch of Buffalo at Elk River from November when Elk River won 40-34. Fairly spare crowd on hand but they were vocal. A super late opening to the concession stand means nothing for the beverage counter tonight. The Horror!
Number of Teams I've Seen: 157 (64 courts)
Beverage Consumption Counter: 1545.8 ounces (97 days, 132 games, 2 scrimmages added on)
- Pepsi: 760 ounces
- Coke: 192 ounces
- Dr. Pepper: 48 ounces
- Sprite: 200 ounces
- Sierra Mist: 12 ounces
- Barq's Root Beer: 20 ounces
- A&W Root Beer: 60 ounces
- Red Powerade: 120 ounces
- 0 Calorie Fruit Punch Powerade: 20 ounces
- Red Gatorade: 96.9 ounces
- Water: 500 ml
Song of the Day: Right Now - Van Halen
Game Time:
Its Matt Keller hot early for Elk River. A pull up jumper and a 3. Then whacked on a 3 for 3 free throws and then another 3 out of the secondary break. Then he gets a flare screen, not there so he comes right back to the ball off of the rescreen for his 3rd triple. 15-10 Elk River 5 minutes into the game and we clearly won't have the low scoring affair of early in the year. Jonathan Senger for 2 and a 3 point play from Taylor Spier bring us to 17 all just inside of 10 minutes left in the half. Mitchell Weege, Keller and frosh Jack Burger off the bench with 3s as the Elks go on an 11-4 spurt. Jared High 2 hoops to stop that but Weege hits from deep again. Zach Dahl with a late 3 point play for Buffalo to keep it tight. 33-29 Elk River at the break. The Elks make 7 3s in the half. 17 of the 1st 25 for Elk River from Keller. High with 12 of his own for Buffalo.
Dahl grabs a miss and makes 2 free throws to tie the game at 35 2:20 into the half. Elk River makes the critical run. Weege inside out for 3, a blocked shot leads to a Keller 3 point play. Soph Wyatt Morrell for 3 and a jumper that ends a 15-4 run. 50-39 Elk River with 11:05 left. Burger inside for a 3 point play and a hoop with 8:10 left to push the lead to 12, 55-43. Burger continues his big half with 2 free throws. Senger to High on a beautiful backdoor at the 6:10 mark. But post Trent Pink counters and its still 59-47 Elk River inside of 6 to play.
Buffalo rumbles back into the game. High for 3, Elk River misses 2 front ends and Dahl scores. Burger makes 2 free throws but that's countered by a Cory Thielman putback for a 3 point play. Lead down to 6 inside of 4 minutes left. A steal for 1 Senger free throw, Elk River makes 3-6 free throws before Senger goes coast to coast with 2:31 left. 64-60 Elk River and they are hanging on for dear life. Buffalo can't convert a turnover and a Buffalo 3 gets stuck in the rim and the arrow goes to Elk River. After a dicey call, Dahl makes 2 free throws and the lead is 3 with 1:50 left. Elk River just avoids a 10 second call and turns it over anyway. Senger fouled on a BLOB curl but misses both free throws with 1:32 left. Jump ball goes to Buffalo on the miss but they turn it over for a Keller 3 point play and another dicey call on that foul. High drives and scores and Buffalo not happy with another trip to the line for Keller. He makes 2 to keep the Elk River lead at 6. Dahl goes for a 3 point play to cut the lead in half. Burger on the breakaway scores but gets hit and comes down awkwardly and doesn't return to the game. That'd be a tough injury for the promising freshman. The free throw is taken by Morrell and good and the lead is 6 again. High makes 1 free throw and the miss is grabbed by Dahl for 2 more freebies. Then Keller beating the press and a mysterious carrying call with 26 seconds left. That gives Buffalo a chance. After a timeout, they miss once and Senger takes the offensive board back to the line and his 3 is around and out at the horn. Elk River hangs on 73-70. The 2nd half (41-40 Buffalo) had more scoring than the entire 1st game.
Post Game
Jared High leads Buffalo with 24 points. Zach Dahl adds 16 and Cory Thielman chips in with 13. Strange to see the Bison go straight 5 out rather than their traditional screening system. But this group doesn't have the shooters of years past. The Bison finish the season 12-15. They had some chances down the stretch but just never got over the top.
Elk River came in losing 6 of 7 and almost gave this one away. They missed 8 free throws in a 2 minute stretch counting 2 front ends of the bonus. But Matt Keller made the last 3. The Elks made 7 of their 9 3s in the 1st half. Freshman Jack Burger with 19 points off the bench. Lets hope his late injury isn't serious. Matt Keller with 17 of his 26 in the 1st half. The Elks move on to play in 8AAAA semifinals at St. Cloud State Saturday afternoon. The likely opponent is St. Michael-Albertville who beat them by 14 at the end of January.
Eagles soar over Knights
Prologue
Its the last night of my regular season and the record number of games pace continues. Tonight I complete the sweep of the St. Paul City Conference with a trip to Washington to see the Eagles take on Harding. 20th hot dog of the season with 20 oz of Pepsi on tonight's menu. Always different to see Washington when its not setup for a Twin Cities Game or section play. Only 10 rows open on the near side tonight. But always fun to see the historical banners of the old St. Paul schools on the wall.
Number of Teams I've Seen: 156 (64 courts)
Beverage Consumption Counter: 1545.8 ounces (97 days, 132 games, 2 scrimmages added on)
Game Time:
Both teams go zone for most of the night. Mohamed Saleh with the drive and 3 for an early Washington lead. Soph Curtis Bell with a steal and dunk to push the lead to 9-4. Deon Houskin with a layup to pull Harding within 2. Shooter Essa Adam sits the last 9:08 for Harding with 2 fouls. That's an important loss vs the 3-2 zone but Harding hangs around. Houskin with a 3 point for a 1 point lead. Malik Samuel with a floater and assist to Houskin for a 19-15 Harding lead. Bell with a layup and a Courtney Walker for 3 to put Washington back on top. Washington takes a 25-24 lead to halftime.
Washington turns the tables their way right away to start the 2nd half. Saleh for 3, Walker converts a turnover, Keenan Williams with a pair of layups. Robby Sanders hoop and harm and converts a turnover. Bell takes another turnover for 2 and its getting out of hand. 17-5 Washington run in the 1st 5 minutes of the half for a 42-29 Eagles lead. Washington would show good patience and hold the ball a bit vs the 2-3 zone. Extend, feed the high post, feed it low for a layup. Harding scores the next 4 to close the gap to 9 but they never get closer. Washington pulls away and wins 64-48.
Post Game:
Harding closes the season 6-17 overall and 2-10 in the St. Paul City. They'll finish 6th thanks to 2 wins over Humboldt. Deon Houskin scores 11 of his 15 in the 1st half to lead the Knights. He had some success diving to the rim out of the high post and running the floor. Essa Adam held to 2 3s and 8 points. Malik Samuel also with 8 for the Knights. They'll finish Johnson on Wednesday in the 1st round of the 4AAA playoffs.
Washington gets 15 from Mohamed Saleh to lead 4 players in double figures. Soph Curtis Bell with 12. Robby Sanders and Keenan Williams with 11 each. Williams making himself available inside for dump offs for easy hoops. They did a nice job moving the ball against the Harding 2-3 zone. Washington evens their regular season record at 11-11. They finish 5th in the St. Paul City at 4-8. They will host Prairie Seeds Academy in the 4AA 8 vs 9 game on Thursday night.
Its the last night of my regular season and the record number of games pace continues. Tonight I complete the sweep of the St. Paul City Conference with a trip to Washington to see the Eagles take on Harding. 20th hot dog of the season with 20 oz of Pepsi on tonight's menu. Always different to see Washington when its not setup for a Twin Cities Game or section play. Only 10 rows open on the near side tonight. But always fun to see the historical banners of the old St. Paul schools on the wall.
Number of Teams I've Seen: 156 (64 courts)
Beverage Consumption Counter: 1545.8 ounces (97 days, 132 games, 2 scrimmages added on)
- Pepsi: 760 ounces
- Coke: 192 ounces
- Dr. Pepper: 48 ounces
- Sprite: 200 ounces
- Sierra Mist: 12 ounces
- Barq's Root Beer: 20 ounces
- A&W Root Beer: 60 ounces
- Red Powerade: 120 ounces
- 0 Calorie Fruit Punch Powerade: 20 ounces
- Red Gatorade: 96.9 ounces
- Water: 500 ml
Game Time:
Both teams go zone for most of the night. Mohamed Saleh with the drive and 3 for an early Washington lead. Soph Curtis Bell with a steal and dunk to push the lead to 9-4. Deon Houskin with a layup to pull Harding within 2. Shooter Essa Adam sits the last 9:08 for Harding with 2 fouls. That's an important loss vs the 3-2 zone but Harding hangs around. Houskin with a 3 point for a 1 point lead. Malik Samuel with a floater and assist to Houskin for a 19-15 Harding lead. Bell with a layup and a Courtney Walker for 3 to put Washington back on top. Washington takes a 25-24 lead to halftime.
Washington turns the tables their way right away to start the 2nd half. Saleh for 3, Walker converts a turnover, Keenan Williams with a pair of layups. Robby Sanders hoop and harm and converts a turnover. Bell takes another turnover for 2 and its getting out of hand. 17-5 Washington run in the 1st 5 minutes of the half for a 42-29 Eagles lead. Washington would show good patience and hold the ball a bit vs the 2-3 zone. Extend, feed the high post, feed it low for a layup. Harding scores the next 4 to close the gap to 9 but they never get closer. Washington pulls away and wins 64-48.
Post Game:
Harding closes the season 6-17 overall and 2-10 in the St. Paul City. They'll finish 6th thanks to 2 wins over Humboldt. Deon Houskin scores 11 of his 15 in the 1st half to lead the Knights. He had some success diving to the rim out of the high post and running the floor. Essa Adam held to 2 3s and 8 points. Malik Samuel also with 8 for the Knights. They'll finish Johnson on Wednesday in the 1st round of the 4AAA playoffs.
Washington gets 15 from Mohamed Saleh to lead 4 players in double figures. Soph Curtis Bell with 12. Robby Sanders and Keenan Williams with 11 each. Williams making himself available inside for dump offs for easy hoops. They did a nice job moving the ball against the Harding 2-3 zone. Washington evens their regular season record at 11-11. They finish 5th in the St. Paul City at 4-8. They will host Prairie Seeds Academy in the 4AA 8 vs 9 game on Thursday night.
2015 Section Predictions
Labels:
2015 Sections
Now that seeding is done and the games have been played, some of the teams are who we thought they were (thanks Denny Green) and others were not. So with all seeds in hand, let's do some predictions for the 2015 tournament. We start with the small schools and then go big. All games are at High Seed at 7 PM unless otherwise noted.
Section 4A
Pigtails: 2/24
Round of 16: 2/26
Quarterfinals: 2/28
Semifinals: 3/3
Championship: 3/6 at Macalester, 5:45 PM
In the pigtails I see 13 Nova over 20 North Lakes, 14 Bethany over 19 AFSA and 15 Christian Life over 18 Learning for Leadership in big fashion. Best game of the 4 is 16 Math and Science over 17 Calvin Christian.
Round of 16: The top 4 seeds, North, MCA, MTS and SW Christian get the 4 pigtail winners. They move on with no problem. Hope vs Legacy is the always dangerous 5 vs 12 game. Expect lots of 3s in that game. Heritage should handle CPA in the 6 vs 11 game. Cristo Rey my favorite over West Lutheran in the 8 vs 9 game. The only upset I'll pick here is 10 seed CHOF over 7 seed PACT. CHOF won the regular season meeting at PACT in early December.
Quarterfinals: North over Cristo Rey and Maranatha over CHOF in blowouts. MTS handles Heritage and SW Christian over Legacy..
Semifinals: North takes out SW Christian. Maranatha def Transitions in a very interesting game.
Finals: #2 North won the meeting with #3 Maranatha in huge fashion at North in January The neutral court will make a difference but North has too many horses and the motivation of not making state last year. I'll take the Polars to advance.
Section 4AA
Round of 16: 2/26
Quarterfinals: 2/28
Semifinals: 3/3
Championship: 3/6 at Macalester, 8:15 PM
Round of 16: The top 7 of the top 8 seeds move on in easy fashion. 1 Roosevelt over 16 St. Paul Prep, 2 St Croix Lutheran over Great River, 3 Minnehaha over 14 FAIR, 4 SPA over 13 Mounds Park Academy, 5 Concordia over 12 St. Agnes, 6 New Life over 11 Trinity. 8 Washington over 9 Prairie Seeds. The one opening round game that I think is close is 10 Humboldt at 7 St. Croix Prep. SCPA won the regular season meeting at home by 8 in mid-December. The guard matchup of Humboldt's Demond Dawson vs SCPA's Michael Gutierrez is going to be fun. Gutierrez had 40 in the 1st meeting while Dawson was held to 14 (avg 18.6 during season). Give me the Lions at home in a fairly high scoring game.
Quarterfinals: The top 3 seeds are clear favorites and I'll pick them to move on without much trouble. The 4 vs 5 game should be very tight. Concordia won the regular season meeting with SPA by 1 at Concordia but this game would be at SPA. Expect Dalante Peyton to spend some time defending Roger Moore so Concordia will have to find other offense. Kent Hanson was held to 5 but Peyton went for 22 and Abdul Osman for 15. I think Osman is the X factor here. Home court advantage is the difference in this one. SPA in a very tight game.
Semifinals. These would both be rematches of regular season meetings. St. Croix Lutheran beat Minnehaha on the road by 12 in January. I think the Crusaders do it again, this time at home. Roosevelt beat SPA by 3 at the end of November. But Roosevelt has turned it up a level since then. SPA's size will be a problem for the Teddies, but the Roosevelt trio of Cobbs, Hannah and Farrar is a bigger problem. I think Roosevelt moves on.
Finals: A projected heavyweight battle between #1 St. Croix Lutheran and #3 Roosevelt. Trenton Krueger gives the Roosevelt a problem inside. Ade Lamu is big enough and athletic enough to guard Elijah Hannah. Can they slow down Farrar and Cobbs? St. Croix Lutheran will want to grind this one to a screeching halt while Roosevelt will want an up and down game. I think Roosevelt can turn St Croix Lutheran over enough to make the difference. I'll take Minneapolis Roosevelt as my 2nd team to represent the Minneapolis City at state.
Section 5AA
Round of 16: 2/26
Quarterfinals: 2/28 at St. Michael-Albertville (6-8 PM)
Semifinals: 3/3 at St. Michael-Albertville (6-8 PM)
Championship: 3/6 at St. Cloud State (doubleheader with 6AA)
Round of 16: I'm only going to go into detail in the south half since the only metro team in the north is Spectrum and I'll take St. Cloud Cathedral to knock them out in round 1. Breck gets a bye as the top seed since International School is not playing. 2 Watertown-Mayer should have no problem with 7 Minneapolis Edison. 3 Providence had no trouble with 6 Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted at home in December. I see the same thing here. 5 Rockford will host 4 Brooklyn Center due to gym issues for the Centaurs. I think BC is a very dangerous 4 seed and I wouldn't surprised to hear that some people sandbagged in the seeding meeting to avoid them. I think they're too athletic for Rockford.
Quarterfinals: I like Providence to knock off Watertown-Mayer again. The Lions beat Watertown-Mayer by 5 at home on Friday. Brooklyn Center got Breck at Breck on a buzzer beater in their regular season meeting. I think Breck has their hands full to get through this game but ultimately I think they survive.
Semifinals: I think Breck also has a tough game with Providence in the sub-section final. I think they survive that too with too much firepower. The other half should be absolutely dynamite with Cathedral or Annandale taking on Maple Lake or Braham in a heavyweight battle.
Final: The winner from the north half will be too battle tested. I like the north winner over Breck for a trip to state.
Section 3AAA
Quarterfinals: 2/26
Semifinals: 3/3 at Coon Rapids (6 and 8 PM)
Championship: 3/6 at Coon Rapids
Quarterfinals: 1 De La Salle over 8 Como Park and 2 Fridley over 7 St. Anthony in easy fashion. I think Henry beats a scrappy Spring Lake Park group . In the 4 vs 5 game, I'm torn. I thought Columbia Heights would be better and I think their athletes bother the Eagles. Totino-Grace is coming in with a couple of good wins over Osseo and Elk River. That and home court propel them to a close win over the next door neighbor Hylanders.
Semifinals: De La Salle big over Totino-Grace. Henry beat Fridley on the road in the regular season. I'll take the 3 seed to win again.
Finals: De La Salle wins big in their attempt to win a 4th straight state title.
Section 4AAA
Quarterfinals: 2/25
Semifinals: 2/28 at St. Paul Washington (6 and 7:45 PM)
Championship: 3/5 at St. Paul Washington
Quarterfinals: Central went 3-10 outside the St. Paul City but did play Hill-Murray and Orono tough early in addition to only losing by 2 at Johnson at the end of January. But Simley shoots it too well and they're at home, I think they move on in the 4 vs 5 game. The other 3 games are blowouts. 1 Johnson over 8 Harding, 2 Hill-Murray over 7 S St. Paul and 3 St. Thomas Academy over 6 Highland Park.
Semifinals: 4 of the top 9 teams in the current state poll here. I think #2 Johnson's presssure will really bother #8 Simley. Especially with the game in Johnson's backyard and not at Simley. I like Johnson to move on. As to the #7 Hill-Murray vs #9 St. Thomas Academy 3rd meeting, ponder this. Marshawn Wilson fouled out early in the 2nd half of the 1st meeting and Hill-Murray won (neutral site). Wilson plays the whole way in the 2nd meeting and goes for 34 and 10 and they lose by 11 at St. Thomas. Both teams have won 10 of their last 12. I think Wilson gets his but St. Thomas holds the others down. They'll get plenty of offense and move on.
Finals: Washington/Arlington has not been a friendly building to the Cadets. #2 Johnson brings a totally different game that the #9 Cadets really haven't seen this year. I'll take the Govs on home turf.
Section 6AAA
Quarterfinals: 2/24
Semifinals: 2/28
Championship: 3/5 at Chanhassen
Quarterfinals: 1 Washburn blows out 8 Blake and 2 Waconia blows out 7 Richfield. 6 Mound-Westonka played 3 Holy Family tough at home in mid-December, but I think the Fire at home burn the White Hawks. 4 Benilde-St. Margaret's won by 13 at 5 Holy Angels in early December. I think BSM has too much firepower and they move on. Note that the Waconia and BSM games are doubleheaders with regular season girls games. The Waconia boys get the early game while the BSM boys get the late game at the Haben Center.
Semifinals: These are home site games. Top seed Washburn too much firepower for BSM. As to Holy Family and Waconia, these Wright County foes were 13-13 against brutal schedules. They split their 2 matchups with home court wins. The key here will be the backcourts as the front lines are the strengths. UNI recruit Justin Dahl had 2 monster games for the Fire with 27/26 at home and 26/14 on the road. The Joey Korteum vs Jack Mugford shooting matchup may be the difference. I like Waconia at home in a tough one.
Finals:Washburn took Waconia to the woodshed by 27 at Waconia in mid-January. Waconia really struggles with athletic perimeter play (see this game and the Columbia Heights game where they got down 24 early before rallying to win in the season opener). I like Washburn as the 3rd Minneapolis City team to advance to state.
Section 1AAAA
Quarterfinals: 2/25
Semifinals: 2/28 at Mayo Civic Center (6:30 and 8:15 PM)
Championship: 3/6 at Mayo Civic Center (8 PM)
Quarterfinals: 1 Rochester John Marshall handles 8 Rochester Century. 3 Lakeville North takes out 6 Owatonna. 4 Northfield holds down Dan Jech just enough to get their 3rd win over 5 Rochester Mayo. My initial reaction to 2 Hastings vs 7 Farmington was one of high interest. But Farmington has really struggled recently losing 7 in a row before beating Eagan to end the regular season. Hastings won by 14 in the regular season but that was without Zach Speikers. Hastings did have a big stumble vs Hill-Murray last week but they still won the big games to win the Metro East. So I'll take the Raiders to win here.
Semifinals: Rochester John Marshall hasn't lost since I saw their ugly game against Rice Lake a month ago. Northfield keeps the semifinal interesting but JM moves on. Hastings vs Lakeville North should be a good one as well. 9 of Lakeville North's last 10 games have been decided by 10 or less. I like Lakeville North here thanks to the tough schedule.
Final: Lakeville North will apply pressure and really try to bother the JM guards. I think JM can win this game but their year is next year. Connor Flack vs the Hurt brothers is the matchup to see. Lakeville North has more role guys and that will be the difference.
Section 2AAAA
Quarterfinals: 2/25
Semifinals: 2/28 at Apple Valley (5 and 7 PM)
Championship: 3/6 at Apple Valley
Quarterfinals: 1 Shakopee over Kennedy, 2 Chaska over 7 Burnsville. 6 Prior Lake vs 3 Bloomington Jefferson expect a slow paced struggle there. I like Prior Lake's chances there. Jefferson pulled the upset a year ago as a 7 seed to make this section a mess. I'm going down the same route this year, give me the Lakers. 4 Chanhassen has won 10 straight. Jack Sorenson and Brenon Larson-Gulsvig are dangerous for Lakeville South as the 5 seed but I'll take Chanhassen here.
Semifinals: Shakopee over Chanhassen in another grind it out game. Too much Steffon Mitchell in that one. Chaska has been too good this year to pick against them in the 1 vs 6 game.
Final: Shakopee vs Chaska would be a rematch of a 5 point Shakopee win in the Eden Prairie tournament. Expect another close matchup but Shakopee has added a piece they didn't have back then in 4 year starting PG Evan Hagen. Have to take the Sabers as they'll find a way to slow down Jake Hansen.
Section 3AAAA
Quarterfinals: 2/25
Semifinals: 2/28 at Farmington (times ??)
Championship: 3/5 at Farmington
Quarterfinals: I think the top 4 seeds move on without any trouble. 1 Apple Valley over 8 Sibley, 2 CDH over 7 Park, 3 East Ridge over 6 Eagan and 4 Eastview over 5 Rosemount are all games I don't see being close.
Semifinals: That leads to a pair of 3rd meetings between conference foes. CDH got East Ridge twice during the regular season, I just don't see East Ridge having enough to get over the top in this one. As to the Apple Valley vs Eastview matchup, that is very interesting. Eastview shot the lights out at home to pull the upset on Apple Valley a couple of weeks ago. That would hopefully keep Apple Valley from looking ahead to a rematch. Eastview hangs around before Apple Valley wins.
Final: Now one of the huge AAAA section final games. #2 Apple Valley looking for revenge after last year's classic CDH Double OT win. But #4 CDH has all their stars back and there's no Tyus Jones this year. CDH is super hot right now losing only once in over 2 months. I picked CDH at the start of the season, I can't change that pick now. Jordan Ammons and Chris Perry on Gary Trent gives CDH a defensive option to watch. Expect another high scoring classic.
Section 4AAAA
Quarterfinals: 2/25
Semifinals: 2/28 at East Ridge (5:30 PM and 7:30 PM)
Championship: 3/5 at East Ridge
Quarterfinals: 1 Roseville blows out 8 North, 2 Stillwater handles 7 Woodbury, 3 Mahtomedi on upset alert vs 6 White Bear Lake. White Bear Lake beat Mahtomedi in the season opener of neighbors. But this game is at Mahtomedi and if the Zephyrs hold down Andy Lockwood (and I think they will) I think they have too much to be upset again. Expect 4 Mounds View to show some box and 1 vs Jordan Horn and 5 Tartan. I see Mounds View throwing a bunch of role guys at Horn to try and wear him down. Tartan will have to find an answer for Ryan Kaczynski. Mounds View is at home and deeper, I'll take the Mustangs in a tight one at home. Expect some fun tactical maneuvering in that one.
Semifinals: Roseville got Mounds View twice in the regular season. Roseville too much firepower and they move on. Mahtomedi just beat Stillwater on the road. I expect a very tight game here. Mahtomedi got great output from their guards in the win and Anderson/Mckinley were held to a combined 11. I don't see that happening again. Give me the Ponies.
Final: Roseville beat Stillwater twice but by a combined 5 points. Stillwater's physical style is a bit of Kryponite to Roseville's play. Connor Gamble (who played with Kobe Critchley this summer so familiarity breeds contempt) will need to come up big. Stillwater will have to hold down Mitch Poss who's become a knockdown shooter. Stillwater has knocked Roseville out of the playoffs the last 2 years. This is the year Roseville built their program for but I'll go with the old "Its hard to beat a team 3 times" saying here. Give me Stillwater.
Section 5AAAA
Quarterfinals: 2/26
Semifinals: 3/3 at Rogers (6 PM and 8 PM)
Championship: 3/6 at Rogers
Quarterfinals:1 Champlin Park vs 8 Robbinsdale Cooper, 2 Maple Grove vs 7 Irondale, 3 Wayzata vs 6 Park Center. I expect blowouts in all 3 of those. 5 Osseo won at 4 Centennial in their regular season meeting in mid-January. Coin flip this one as Osseo has lost 3 in a row, Centennial has won 4 in a row coming in. Centennial moves on.
Semifinals: Champlin Park beat Centennial twice by 20+, I don't see any problem for the Rebels in advancing. Wayzata vs Maple Grove should be oustanding. Wayzata gave up an 11 point lead late at Maple Grove a month ago. That was until Brad Davison took over. Wayzata truckload of shooters in their 4 out look really puts Maple Grove's desired 3 out look in a quandry. Maple Grove will really need to pound that inside matchup of their 2nd big vs a Wayzata guard. I'll take Wayzata in this one.
Final: I like Champlin Park to move on in the final. JT Gibson has been too good. Theo John makes an impact inside and the rest of the base lineup is too good against the rest of the opponent's lineup. The game stays close for a while before Champlin Park pulls away.
Section 6AAAA
Quarterfinals: 2/25
Semifinals: 2/28 at Highest Seed (1 PM and 3 PM)
Championship: 3/4 at Cooper
Quarterfinals: Much like section 5, the top 3 seeds move on in blowouts and the 4 vs 5 game is very good. 1 Eden Prairie over 8 Mpls SW, 2 Hopkins over St. Louis Park and 3 Minnetonka over 6 Minneapolis South. 4 Edina vs 5 Armstrong is the top 4 vs 5 game out there. Nothing like being in a tough section where winning 20 games doesn't get you a home game. Walt McGrory/Ben Boone/Will Moreton vs Jerome Dixon/Jubie Alade/Evan Nolan is a nice perimeter duel. I see Edina not having a good matchup for Sean Burns. Armstrong's quickness is a problem so I think they get the close road win
Semifinals: 1 Eden Prairie with too many weapons for 5 Armstrong. 2 Hopkins gets revenge for last weeks' home loss to archrival 3 Minnetonka. I think Hopkins will defend better and move on.
Final: This is another classic final with #6 EP taking on #7 Hopkins. I see Hopkins also motivated for not closing out the conference title at EP on Friday. Give me Hopkins to advance in a high quality game.
Section 7AAAA
Quarterfinals: 2/26
Semifinals: 3/3 at North Branch (6 PM and 8 PM)
Championship: 3/6 at North Branch
This section has the potential to be very wide open. But I see chalk. St. Francis no problem with Coon Rapids. Blaine gets the home win over Duluth East. Andover gets their rival Anoka in round 1 and Forest Lake gets another win over Cambridge-Isanti. St. Francis will apply too much pressure to Blaine's guards and move on. Andover will take out Forest Lake. St. Francis defeated Andover by 15 in the regular season. I think the Saints get another win and move on to state.
Section 8AAAA
Quarterfinals: 2/24
Semifinals: 2/28 at St Cloud State (2 PM and 3:30 PM)
Championship: 3/5 at Neutral Site
Top 2 seeds STMA and Moorhead move on in big fashion in round 1. Rogers takes out Brainerd at home again in the 3 vs 6 game. Elk River vs Buffalo is a rematch with Elk River getting the home game thanks to the head-head 40-34 home win in the season opener. I'll take Elk River in a low scoring close game. 1st one to 45 wins. STMA too much size and they'll take out the winner in round 2. Rogers lost by 16 at Moorhead in the regular season. I think the 2 vs 3 rematch is closer but Moorhead moves on with too much Cody Dorow. STMA beat Moorhead by 11 at STMA in early December. But after winning 13 in a row, STMA has lost 2 in a row coming into the tourney. Cody Dorow scored 26 in the 1st meeting, he goes off again to carry the Spuds to state in a good game. Moorhead hasn't lost to a Minnesota opponent since their holiday tournament. 11 straight wins to close the season.
Section 4A
Pigtails: 2/24
Round of 16: 2/26
Quarterfinals: 2/28
Semifinals: 3/3
Championship: 3/6 at Macalester, 5:45 PM
In the pigtails I see 13 Nova over 20 North Lakes, 14 Bethany over 19 AFSA and 15 Christian Life over 18 Learning for Leadership in big fashion. Best game of the 4 is 16 Math and Science over 17 Calvin Christian.
Round of 16: The top 4 seeds, North, MCA, MTS and SW Christian get the 4 pigtail winners. They move on with no problem. Hope vs Legacy is the always dangerous 5 vs 12 game. Expect lots of 3s in that game. Heritage should handle CPA in the 6 vs 11 game. Cristo Rey my favorite over West Lutheran in the 8 vs 9 game. The only upset I'll pick here is 10 seed CHOF over 7 seed PACT. CHOF won the regular season meeting at PACT in early December.
Quarterfinals: North over Cristo Rey and Maranatha over CHOF in blowouts. MTS handles Heritage and SW Christian over Legacy..
Semifinals: North takes out SW Christian. Maranatha def Transitions in a very interesting game.
Finals: #2 North won the meeting with #3 Maranatha in huge fashion at North in January The neutral court will make a difference but North has too many horses and the motivation of not making state last year. I'll take the Polars to advance.
Section 4AA
Round of 16: 2/26
Quarterfinals: 2/28
Semifinals: 3/3
Championship: 3/6 at Macalester, 8:15 PM
Round of 16: The top 7 of the top 8 seeds move on in easy fashion. 1 Roosevelt over 16 St. Paul Prep, 2 St Croix Lutheran over Great River, 3 Minnehaha over 14 FAIR, 4 SPA over 13 Mounds Park Academy, 5 Concordia over 12 St. Agnes, 6 New Life over 11 Trinity. 8 Washington over 9 Prairie Seeds. The one opening round game that I think is close is 10 Humboldt at 7 St. Croix Prep. SCPA won the regular season meeting at home by 8 in mid-December. The guard matchup of Humboldt's Demond Dawson vs SCPA's Michael Gutierrez is going to be fun. Gutierrez had 40 in the 1st meeting while Dawson was held to 14 (avg 18.6 during season). Give me the Lions at home in a fairly high scoring game.
Quarterfinals: The top 3 seeds are clear favorites and I'll pick them to move on without much trouble. The 4 vs 5 game should be very tight. Concordia won the regular season meeting with SPA by 1 at Concordia but this game would be at SPA. Expect Dalante Peyton to spend some time defending Roger Moore so Concordia will have to find other offense. Kent Hanson was held to 5 but Peyton went for 22 and Abdul Osman for 15. I think Osman is the X factor here. Home court advantage is the difference in this one. SPA in a very tight game.
Semifinals. These would both be rematches of regular season meetings. St. Croix Lutheran beat Minnehaha on the road by 12 in January. I think the Crusaders do it again, this time at home. Roosevelt beat SPA by 3 at the end of November. But Roosevelt has turned it up a level since then. SPA's size will be a problem for the Teddies, but the Roosevelt trio of Cobbs, Hannah and Farrar is a bigger problem. I think Roosevelt moves on.
Finals: A projected heavyweight battle between #1 St. Croix Lutheran and #3 Roosevelt. Trenton Krueger gives the Roosevelt a problem inside. Ade Lamu is big enough and athletic enough to guard Elijah Hannah. Can they slow down Farrar and Cobbs? St. Croix Lutheran will want to grind this one to a screeching halt while Roosevelt will want an up and down game. I think Roosevelt can turn St Croix Lutheran over enough to make the difference. I'll take Minneapolis Roosevelt as my 2nd team to represent the Minneapolis City at state.
Section 5AA
Round of 16: 2/26
Quarterfinals: 2/28 at St. Michael-Albertville (6-8 PM)
Semifinals: 3/3 at St. Michael-Albertville (6-8 PM)
Championship: 3/6 at St. Cloud State (doubleheader with 6AA)
Round of 16: I'm only going to go into detail in the south half since the only metro team in the north is Spectrum and I'll take St. Cloud Cathedral to knock them out in round 1. Breck gets a bye as the top seed since International School is not playing. 2 Watertown-Mayer should have no problem with 7 Minneapolis Edison. 3 Providence had no trouble with 6 Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted at home in December. I see the same thing here. 5 Rockford will host 4 Brooklyn Center due to gym issues for the Centaurs. I think BC is a very dangerous 4 seed and I wouldn't surprised to hear that some people sandbagged in the seeding meeting to avoid them. I think they're too athletic for Rockford.
Quarterfinals: I like Providence to knock off Watertown-Mayer again. The Lions beat Watertown-Mayer by 5 at home on Friday. Brooklyn Center got Breck at Breck on a buzzer beater in their regular season meeting. I think Breck has their hands full to get through this game but ultimately I think they survive.
Semifinals: I think Breck also has a tough game with Providence in the sub-section final. I think they survive that too with too much firepower. The other half should be absolutely dynamite with Cathedral or Annandale taking on Maple Lake or Braham in a heavyweight battle.
Final: The winner from the north half will be too battle tested. I like the north winner over Breck for a trip to state.
Section 3AAA
Quarterfinals: 2/26
Semifinals: 3/3 at Coon Rapids (6 and 8 PM)
Championship: 3/6 at Coon Rapids
Quarterfinals: 1 De La Salle over 8 Como Park and 2 Fridley over 7 St. Anthony in easy fashion. I think Henry beats a scrappy Spring Lake Park group . In the 4 vs 5 game, I'm torn. I thought Columbia Heights would be better and I think their athletes bother the Eagles. Totino-Grace is coming in with a couple of good wins over Osseo and Elk River. That and home court propel them to a close win over the next door neighbor Hylanders.
Semifinals: De La Salle big over Totino-Grace. Henry beat Fridley on the road in the regular season. I'll take the 3 seed to win again.
Finals: De La Salle wins big in their attempt to win a 4th straight state title.
Section 4AAA
Quarterfinals: 2/25
Semifinals: 2/28 at St. Paul Washington (6 and 7:45 PM)
Championship: 3/5 at St. Paul Washington
Quarterfinals: Central went 3-10 outside the St. Paul City but did play Hill-Murray and Orono tough early in addition to only losing by 2 at Johnson at the end of January. But Simley shoots it too well and they're at home, I think they move on in the 4 vs 5 game. The other 3 games are blowouts. 1 Johnson over 8 Harding, 2 Hill-Murray over 7 S St. Paul and 3 St. Thomas Academy over 6 Highland Park.
Semifinals: 4 of the top 9 teams in the current state poll here. I think #2 Johnson's presssure will really bother #8 Simley. Especially with the game in Johnson's backyard and not at Simley. I like Johnson to move on. As to the #7 Hill-Murray vs #9 St. Thomas Academy 3rd meeting, ponder this. Marshawn Wilson fouled out early in the 2nd half of the 1st meeting and Hill-Murray won (neutral site). Wilson plays the whole way in the 2nd meeting and goes for 34 and 10 and they lose by 11 at St. Thomas. Both teams have won 10 of their last 12. I think Wilson gets his but St. Thomas holds the others down. They'll get plenty of offense and move on.
Finals: Washington/Arlington has not been a friendly building to the Cadets. #2 Johnson brings a totally different game that the #9 Cadets really haven't seen this year. I'll take the Govs on home turf.
Section 6AAA
Quarterfinals: 2/24
Semifinals: 2/28
Championship: 3/5 at Chanhassen
Quarterfinals: 1 Washburn blows out 8 Blake and 2 Waconia blows out 7 Richfield. 6 Mound-Westonka played 3 Holy Family tough at home in mid-December, but I think the Fire at home burn the White Hawks. 4 Benilde-St. Margaret's won by 13 at 5 Holy Angels in early December. I think BSM has too much firepower and they move on. Note that the Waconia and BSM games are doubleheaders with regular season girls games. The Waconia boys get the early game while the BSM boys get the late game at the Haben Center.
Semifinals: These are home site games. Top seed Washburn too much firepower for BSM. As to Holy Family and Waconia, these Wright County foes were 13-13 against brutal schedules. They split their 2 matchups with home court wins. The key here will be the backcourts as the front lines are the strengths. UNI recruit Justin Dahl had 2 monster games for the Fire with 27/26 at home and 26/14 on the road. The Joey Korteum vs Jack Mugford shooting matchup may be the difference. I like Waconia at home in a tough one.
Finals:Washburn took Waconia to the woodshed by 27 at Waconia in mid-January. Waconia really struggles with athletic perimeter play (see this game and the Columbia Heights game where they got down 24 early before rallying to win in the season opener). I like Washburn as the 3rd Minneapolis City team to advance to state.
Section 1AAAA
Quarterfinals: 2/25
Semifinals: 2/28 at Mayo Civic Center (6:30 and 8:15 PM)
Championship: 3/6 at Mayo Civic Center (8 PM)
Quarterfinals: 1 Rochester John Marshall handles 8 Rochester Century. 3 Lakeville North takes out 6 Owatonna. 4 Northfield holds down Dan Jech just enough to get their 3rd win over 5 Rochester Mayo. My initial reaction to 2 Hastings vs 7 Farmington was one of high interest. But Farmington has really struggled recently losing 7 in a row before beating Eagan to end the regular season. Hastings won by 14 in the regular season but that was without Zach Speikers. Hastings did have a big stumble vs Hill-Murray last week but they still won the big games to win the Metro East. So I'll take the Raiders to win here.
Semifinals: Rochester John Marshall hasn't lost since I saw their ugly game against Rice Lake a month ago. Northfield keeps the semifinal interesting but JM moves on. Hastings vs Lakeville North should be a good one as well. 9 of Lakeville North's last 10 games have been decided by 10 or less. I like Lakeville North here thanks to the tough schedule.
Final: Lakeville North will apply pressure and really try to bother the JM guards. I think JM can win this game but their year is next year. Connor Flack vs the Hurt brothers is the matchup to see. Lakeville North has more role guys and that will be the difference.
Section 2AAAA
Quarterfinals: 2/25
Semifinals: 2/28 at Apple Valley (5 and 7 PM)
Championship: 3/6 at Apple Valley
Quarterfinals: 1 Shakopee over Kennedy, 2 Chaska over 7 Burnsville. 6 Prior Lake vs 3 Bloomington Jefferson expect a slow paced struggle there. I like Prior Lake's chances there. Jefferson pulled the upset a year ago as a 7 seed to make this section a mess. I'm going down the same route this year, give me the Lakers. 4 Chanhassen has won 10 straight. Jack Sorenson and Brenon Larson-Gulsvig are dangerous for Lakeville South as the 5 seed but I'll take Chanhassen here.
Semifinals: Shakopee over Chanhassen in another grind it out game. Too much Steffon Mitchell in that one. Chaska has been too good this year to pick against them in the 1 vs 6 game.
Final: Shakopee vs Chaska would be a rematch of a 5 point Shakopee win in the Eden Prairie tournament. Expect another close matchup but Shakopee has added a piece they didn't have back then in 4 year starting PG Evan Hagen. Have to take the Sabers as they'll find a way to slow down Jake Hansen.
Section 3AAAA
Quarterfinals: 2/25
Semifinals: 2/28 at Farmington (times ??)
Championship: 3/5 at Farmington
Quarterfinals: I think the top 4 seeds move on without any trouble. 1 Apple Valley over 8 Sibley, 2 CDH over 7 Park, 3 East Ridge over 6 Eagan and 4 Eastview over 5 Rosemount are all games I don't see being close.
Semifinals: That leads to a pair of 3rd meetings between conference foes. CDH got East Ridge twice during the regular season, I just don't see East Ridge having enough to get over the top in this one. As to the Apple Valley vs Eastview matchup, that is very interesting. Eastview shot the lights out at home to pull the upset on Apple Valley a couple of weeks ago. That would hopefully keep Apple Valley from looking ahead to a rematch. Eastview hangs around before Apple Valley wins.
Final: Now one of the huge AAAA section final games. #2 Apple Valley looking for revenge after last year's classic CDH Double OT win. But #4 CDH has all their stars back and there's no Tyus Jones this year. CDH is super hot right now losing only once in over 2 months. I picked CDH at the start of the season, I can't change that pick now. Jordan Ammons and Chris Perry on Gary Trent gives CDH a defensive option to watch. Expect another high scoring classic.
Section 4AAAA
Quarterfinals: 2/25
Semifinals: 2/28 at East Ridge (5:30 PM and 7:30 PM)
Championship: 3/5 at East Ridge
Quarterfinals: 1 Roseville blows out 8 North, 2 Stillwater handles 7 Woodbury, 3 Mahtomedi on upset alert vs 6 White Bear Lake. White Bear Lake beat Mahtomedi in the season opener of neighbors. But this game is at Mahtomedi and if the Zephyrs hold down Andy Lockwood (and I think they will) I think they have too much to be upset again. Expect 4 Mounds View to show some box and 1 vs Jordan Horn and 5 Tartan. I see Mounds View throwing a bunch of role guys at Horn to try and wear him down. Tartan will have to find an answer for Ryan Kaczynski. Mounds View is at home and deeper, I'll take the Mustangs in a tight one at home. Expect some fun tactical maneuvering in that one.
Semifinals: Roseville got Mounds View twice in the regular season. Roseville too much firepower and they move on. Mahtomedi just beat Stillwater on the road. I expect a very tight game here. Mahtomedi got great output from their guards in the win and Anderson/Mckinley were held to a combined 11. I don't see that happening again. Give me the Ponies.
Final: Roseville beat Stillwater twice but by a combined 5 points. Stillwater's physical style is a bit of Kryponite to Roseville's play. Connor Gamble (who played with Kobe Critchley this summer so familiarity breeds contempt) will need to come up big. Stillwater will have to hold down Mitch Poss who's become a knockdown shooter. Stillwater has knocked Roseville out of the playoffs the last 2 years. This is the year Roseville built their program for but I'll go with the old "Its hard to beat a team 3 times" saying here. Give me Stillwater.
Section 5AAAA
Quarterfinals: 2/26
Semifinals: 3/3 at Rogers (6 PM and 8 PM)
Championship: 3/6 at Rogers
Quarterfinals:1 Champlin Park vs 8 Robbinsdale Cooper, 2 Maple Grove vs 7 Irondale, 3 Wayzata vs 6 Park Center. I expect blowouts in all 3 of those. 5 Osseo won at 4 Centennial in their regular season meeting in mid-January. Coin flip this one as Osseo has lost 3 in a row, Centennial has won 4 in a row coming in. Centennial moves on.
Semifinals: Champlin Park beat Centennial twice by 20+, I don't see any problem for the Rebels in advancing. Wayzata vs Maple Grove should be oustanding. Wayzata gave up an 11 point lead late at Maple Grove a month ago. That was until Brad Davison took over. Wayzata truckload of shooters in their 4 out look really puts Maple Grove's desired 3 out look in a quandry. Maple Grove will really need to pound that inside matchup of their 2nd big vs a Wayzata guard. I'll take Wayzata in this one.
Final: I like Champlin Park to move on in the final. JT Gibson has been too good. Theo John makes an impact inside and the rest of the base lineup is too good against the rest of the opponent's lineup. The game stays close for a while before Champlin Park pulls away.
Section 6AAAA
Quarterfinals: 2/25
Semifinals: 2/28 at Highest Seed (1 PM and 3 PM)
Championship: 3/4 at Cooper
Quarterfinals: Much like section 5, the top 3 seeds move on in blowouts and the 4 vs 5 game is very good. 1 Eden Prairie over 8 Mpls SW, 2 Hopkins over St. Louis Park and 3 Minnetonka over 6 Minneapolis South. 4 Edina vs 5 Armstrong is the top 4 vs 5 game out there. Nothing like being in a tough section where winning 20 games doesn't get you a home game. Walt McGrory/Ben Boone/Will Moreton vs Jerome Dixon/Jubie Alade/Evan Nolan is a nice perimeter duel. I see Edina not having a good matchup for Sean Burns. Armstrong's quickness is a problem so I think they get the close road win
Semifinals: 1 Eden Prairie with too many weapons for 5 Armstrong. 2 Hopkins gets revenge for last weeks' home loss to archrival 3 Minnetonka. I think Hopkins will defend better and move on.
Final: This is another classic final with #6 EP taking on #7 Hopkins. I see Hopkins also motivated for not closing out the conference title at EP on Friday. Give me Hopkins to advance in a high quality game.
Section 7AAAA
Quarterfinals: 2/26
Semifinals: 3/3 at North Branch (6 PM and 8 PM)
Championship: 3/6 at North Branch
This section has the potential to be very wide open. But I see chalk. St. Francis no problem with Coon Rapids. Blaine gets the home win over Duluth East. Andover gets their rival Anoka in round 1 and Forest Lake gets another win over Cambridge-Isanti. St. Francis will apply too much pressure to Blaine's guards and move on. Andover will take out Forest Lake. St. Francis defeated Andover by 15 in the regular season. I think the Saints get another win and move on to state.
Section 8AAAA
Quarterfinals: 2/24
Semifinals: 2/28 at St Cloud State (2 PM and 3:30 PM)
Championship: 3/5 at Neutral Site
Top 2 seeds STMA and Moorhead move on in big fashion in round 1. Rogers takes out Brainerd at home again in the 3 vs 6 game. Elk River vs Buffalo is a rematch with Elk River getting the home game thanks to the head-head 40-34 home win in the season opener. I'll take Elk River in a low scoring close game. 1st one to 45 wins. STMA too much size and they'll take out the winner in round 2. Rogers lost by 16 at Moorhead in the regular season. I think the 2 vs 3 rematch is closer but Moorhead moves on with too much Cody Dorow. STMA beat Moorhead by 11 at STMA in early December. But after winning 13 in a row, STMA has lost 2 in a row coming into the tourney. Cody Dorow scored 26 in the 1st meeting, he goes off again to carry the Spuds to state in a good game. Moorhead hasn't lost to a Minnesota opponent since their holiday tournament. 11 straight wins to close the season.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)