It was game #5 at Hamline and the best game so far. St. Michael-Albertville seemed to be in control most of the way, and yet every time you looked at the scoreboard St. Louis Park was back within 4 or 5. Oh, and for the record, the scoreboard showed 72-65 at the final buzzer, and the Hub shows a final of 72-65, but the official scorebook says 71-66 so I say 71-66.
Kenzie Kramer and Tess Johnson scored 23 each for St. Michael. Kramer hit a couple of bombs but mostly she did it with some dipsy-doodle runners in the lane, where you'd think "tough shot" until it went in the basket. Johnson scored with probably the prettiest jumper in Minnesota today, mostly in the lane from 12 to 18 feet.
Reagan Alexander and Kendall Coley each scored 21 for Park. Alexander did it around the rim, a lot of it off the offensive board. Coley did it from here, there and everywhere--a couple 3s, a couple baseline jumpers, a couple of cuts into the lane, a couple of O-boards.
Right now Hopkins is playing Apple Valley. The Royals jumped out to a 19-2 lead and now its 46-17 with 8:30 minutes to go. Hopkins D is just too much. There've already been a half dozen steals for Hopkins baskets off baseline in-bound passes, though if and when AV gets into the front-court they've run some nice offense and scored both inside and from long range. But they're going to need a bunch of stops now and that's not going to happen.
Saturday, November 30, 2019
Saturday at Hutton Arena for Some Girls Hoops
The 20th annual Pat Patterson basketball classic was held yesterday (Friday Nov. 29) and today (Saturday Nov. 30) at the Hutton Arena at Hamline University. The 1st 3 games on Saturday went something like this.
Roseville 61 Orono 42
Both teams reversed there Friday result, Roseville bouncing back from a 62-60 shocker to Waconia to defeat Orono, who beat Bloomington Kennedy yesterday. Roseville had a big size advantage against Orono and didn't particularly exploit it in the 1st half, which ended with the Raiders up 29-24. In the 2nd half, Jayda Johnston and Tamia Ugass started to click inside and Roseville pulled away. Johnston scored 22 for Roseville, Ugass 13. Haley Paulson scored 15 for Orono.
St. Paul Como 80 Bloomington Kennedy 40
Just before tipoff, JFK coach Quintin Johnson said, "We've got some babies out there," and indeed the starting lineup featured a freshman, a sophomore and a junior. Of course, Como started 5 sophomores. But the Como girls have a lot more game experience at a higher level and it showed. Forward Chloe Dmytruk was especially active around the rim and on defense, and especially in the 1st half, which ended with Como up 43-27. The 2nd half was all Como, who finished with 19 steals, 6 by Ronnie Porter, and the game finished in running time. Dmytruk finished with 20 points, 6 boards and 4 blocks.
Freshman guard Ashlee Burchette was just about the only offense for JFK as she took it to the rim enough to score 14 points.
Waconia 62 Lakeville South 50
Waconia ran away from a 51-49 lead at 3:30, closing things out with an 11-1 run. Senior guard Tess Johnson scored 9 of the final 11. Ironically she finished with just 10 for the day, but it was enough to put her over 1,000 for her career.
Rosemount 55 White Bear Lake 33
Neither team defended the 3 worth a darn in the 1st half, which ended up with Rosemount up 35-25. I don't know if the defense was better in the 2nd half but after 12-and-a-half minutes of the 2nd half Rosemount was on an 8-3 run for a 43-28 lead. The final was 55-33 as Taylor Janssen scored 18 for Rosemount.
The top players in the 1st "half" of the day (4 of 7 games).
F--Taylor Janssen, Rosemount, 6-2, senior
F--Jayda Johnston, Roseville, 6-1, senior
F--Helen Staley, Rosemount, 6-0, junior
F--Chloe Dmytruk, Como, 5-11, sophomore
PG--Kaylynn Ashbury, Como, 5-6, sophomore
2nd Team
C--Tamia Ugass, Roseville 6-3, junior
F--Haley Paulson, Orono, 5-10, junior
CG--Annie Guentzel, Lakeville South, 5-8, senior
SG--Rai'Janee Meadows, Roseville, 5-10, junior
SG--Tess Johnson, Waconia, 5-9, senior
The last 3 games are:
St. Louis Park vs. St. Michael Albertville
Apple Valley vs. Hopkins
Farmington vs. Stillwater
Roseville 61 Orono 42
Both teams reversed there Friday result, Roseville bouncing back from a 62-60 shocker to Waconia to defeat Orono, who beat Bloomington Kennedy yesterday. Roseville had a big size advantage against Orono and didn't particularly exploit it in the 1st half, which ended with the Raiders up 29-24. In the 2nd half, Jayda Johnston and Tamia Ugass started to click inside and Roseville pulled away. Johnston scored 22 for Roseville, Ugass 13. Haley Paulson scored 15 for Orono.
St. Paul Como 80 Bloomington Kennedy 40
Just before tipoff, JFK coach Quintin Johnson said, "We've got some babies out there," and indeed the starting lineup featured a freshman, a sophomore and a junior. Of course, Como started 5 sophomores. But the Como girls have a lot more game experience at a higher level and it showed. Forward Chloe Dmytruk was especially active around the rim and on defense, and especially in the 1st half, which ended with Como up 43-27. The 2nd half was all Como, who finished with 19 steals, 6 by Ronnie Porter, and the game finished in running time. Dmytruk finished with 20 points, 6 boards and 4 blocks.
Freshman guard Ashlee Burchette was just about the only offense for JFK as she took it to the rim enough to score 14 points.
Waconia 62 Lakeville South 50
Waconia ran away from a 51-49 lead at 3:30, closing things out with an 11-1 run. Senior guard Tess Johnson scored 9 of the final 11. Ironically she finished with just 10 for the day, but it was enough to put her over 1,000 for her career.
Rosemount 55 White Bear Lake 33
Neither team defended the 3 worth a darn in the 1st half, which ended up with Rosemount up 35-25. I don't know if the defense was better in the 2nd half but after 12-and-a-half minutes of the 2nd half Rosemount was on an 8-3 run for a 43-28 lead. The final was 55-33 as Taylor Janssen scored 18 for Rosemount.
The top players in the 1st "half" of the day (4 of 7 games).
F--Taylor Janssen, Rosemount, 6-2, senior
F--Jayda Johnston, Roseville, 6-1, senior
F--Helen Staley, Rosemount, 6-0, junior
F--Chloe Dmytruk, Como, 5-11, sophomore
PG--Kaylynn Ashbury, Como, 5-6, sophomore
2nd Team
C--Tamia Ugass, Roseville 6-3, junior
F--Haley Paulson, Orono, 5-10, junior
CG--Annie Guentzel, Lakeville South, 5-8, senior
SG--Rai'Janee Meadows, Roseville, 5-10, junior
SG--Tess Johnson, Waconia, 5-9, senior
The last 3 games are:
St. Louis Park vs. St. Michael Albertville
Apple Valley vs. Hopkins
Farmington vs. Stillwater
DePaul 73 MN Gopher Men 68
The Gophers got out-quicker and out-shot by DePaul at Williams Arena Saturday. It felt like a 15 point game but, in the end, the Gophers stayed within 73-68 and had a chance to tie in the closing seconds. So what happened?
Well, DePaul shot 8-of-16 3s and the Gophers made 7-of-29. From 2 point range the Gophers made 14-of-32 or 44 percent. Free throws? 19-for-30, 63 percent. The Gophers shot the ball like crap. That's what happened. It especially pains me to note that Gabe Kalscheur made 2-of-9 3s.
And, DePaul was just quicker. That manifest itself in 3 main ways. 1) DePaul was very quick to double down on Daniel Oturu. Whenever the Gophers passed the ball into Oturu, a second DePaul defender arrived there as soon as the ball did. He had nowhere to go.
2) Each team had 11 turnovers. DePaul turned them into 17 points. Almost every Gopher turnover was showtime and a home run for DePaul.
And 3) on the game's final play, the Gophers had 10.7 seconds and the ball, down 3, from the far baseline. Point guard Marcus Carr brought the ball up court with not too much of a sense of urgency, so by the time they swung the ball over to the far side to Kalscheur, he could only shoot the ball. There was no time for a pass and if he missed the shot there was no time for an O-board. The play unfolded way too slowly. But, then, returning to the subject of DePaul's quickness, they defended the 3 point line really hard and when Kalscheur got the ball, there were 2 Blue Demons on him and in fact his shot got blocked and fell ten feet short of the rim.
So the Gophers shot like crap, while DePaul shot pretty well and used its quickness to its advantage in certain situations. And did I mention that DePaul is now 8-0, and yet the Gophers lost by 5. So, on the plus side for the Gophers, there's Daniel Oturu. As I said, DePaul defended him really, really well and so he only scored 18 points to go along with 19 rebounds and 4 blocks. Without almost ever catching the ball on his spot. Oturu is becoming one of the top posts in the Big 10.
Nevertheless, if Oturu averages 18 points and 19 boards in the Big 10, for example, the Gophers are going to have to drain a lot of 3s to compete and right now they don't look like a team that can do that.
Well, DePaul shot 8-of-16 3s and the Gophers made 7-of-29. From 2 point range the Gophers made 14-of-32 or 44 percent. Free throws? 19-for-30, 63 percent. The Gophers shot the ball like crap. That's what happened. It especially pains me to note that Gabe Kalscheur made 2-of-9 3s.
And, DePaul was just quicker. That manifest itself in 3 main ways. 1) DePaul was very quick to double down on Daniel Oturu. Whenever the Gophers passed the ball into Oturu, a second DePaul defender arrived there as soon as the ball did. He had nowhere to go.
2) Each team had 11 turnovers. DePaul turned them into 17 points. Almost every Gopher turnover was showtime and a home run for DePaul.
And 3) on the game's final play, the Gophers had 10.7 seconds and the ball, down 3, from the far baseline. Point guard Marcus Carr brought the ball up court with not too much of a sense of urgency, so by the time they swung the ball over to the far side to Kalscheur, he could only shoot the ball. There was no time for a pass and if he missed the shot there was no time for an O-board. The play unfolded way too slowly. But, then, returning to the subject of DePaul's quickness, they defended the 3 point line really hard and when Kalscheur got the ball, there were 2 Blue Demons on him and in fact his shot got blocked and fell ten feet short of the rim.
So the Gophers shot like crap, while DePaul shot pretty well and used its quickness to its advantage in certain situations. And did I mention that DePaul is now 8-0, and yet the Gophers lost by 5. So, on the plus side for the Gophers, there's Daniel Oturu. As I said, DePaul defended him really, really well and so he only scored 18 points to go along with 19 rebounds and 4 blocks. Without almost ever catching the ball on his spot. Oturu is becoming one of the top posts in the Big 10.
Nevertheless, if Oturu averages 18 points and 19 boards in the Big 10, for example, the Gophers are going to have to drain a lot of 3s to compete and right now they don't look like a team that can do that.
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
2019-2020 Season Preview: Boys Class AAAA
Class AAAA looks to be pretty wide open this year though I would agree with most of the rankings I've seen--and this is, Park Center and Eden Prairie look like #1 and #2. But a number of teams will be breathing down their necks, most notably Prior Lake, Wayzata and Cretin, and can you ever really count Hopkins out? Let's take a look at the sections.
Section 1 looks like a 2-team race, though Lakeville South can probably surround juniors Riley Mahlman and Reid Patterson with a better supporting cast than Rochester Mayo can surround senior twin guards Gabe and Mason Madsen.
Section 2 also looks like a 2-team race though the gap behind Eden Prairie and Prior Lake to #3, #4 and #5 (Shakopee, Chaska and Edina) is a lot smaller. EP has everybody back but Prior Lake has the top player in Class AAAA in 6-11 Dawson Garcia.
Lakeville North moves to Section 3, where we think arch-rival Eastview will have the edge this year with 6-11 Steve Crowl.
Section 4 looks like another 2-team race, but defending champion East Ridge lost a transfer in Kendall Brown, while Cretin gained one in 6-6 senior wing J'Vonne Hadley. Advantage Cretin.
Section 5--Park Center is big and strong and athletic everywhere you look. Osseo has a super sophomore class but their time is not yet in 2020.
Geez, another 2-team race in Section 6. Wayzata edged Hopkins in 2017 and 2018 and looks to do so again. Each team is likely to start 4 sophomores and juniors. Wayzata's might be a little bit ahead, but Hopkins has the best senior in guard Kerwin Walton.
Section 7--Anoka has a great group of youngsters, if it can keep them together. Cambridge has guard Henry Abraham back for one more go. Coon Rapids and Duluth East have some talent and some depth. I like Anoka.
Section 8--Buffalo or Moorhead, your pick.
State Tournament Matchups
#1 Park Center vs. Anoka
#4 Hopkins vs. #5 Eastview
#2 Eden Prairie vs. Buffalo or Lakeville South
#3 Cretin vs. Lakeville South or Moorhead
Class AAAA All-State
Steven Crowl, Eastview, 6-11, senior, PF, 20 pp
Dan Dainja, Park Center, 6-9, senior, C
Dawson Garcia, Prior Lake, 6-11, senior, PF
Gabe Madsen, Rochester Mayo, 6-5, senior, CG
Kerwin Walton, Hopkins, 6-5, senior, PG, 17 peg
Henry Abraham, Cambridge, 6-0, senior, PG, 23 ppg
Ben Carlson, East Ridge, 6-8, senior, PF, 17 ppg
Drake Dobbs, Eden Prairie, 6-0, senior, PG
Tre Holloman, Cretin, 6-3, soph, PF, 12 ppg
Riley Mahlman, Lakeville South, 6-9, junior, C, 14 pp
Section 1 looks like a 2-team race, though Lakeville South can probably surround juniors Riley Mahlman and Reid Patterson with a better supporting cast than Rochester Mayo can surround senior twin guards Gabe and Mason Madsen.
Section 2 also looks like a 2-team race though the gap behind Eden Prairie and Prior Lake to #3, #4 and #5 (Shakopee, Chaska and Edina) is a lot smaller. EP has everybody back but Prior Lake has the top player in Class AAAA in 6-11 Dawson Garcia.
Lakeville North moves to Section 3, where we think arch-rival Eastview will have the edge this year with 6-11 Steve Crowl.
Section 4 looks like another 2-team race, but defending champion East Ridge lost a transfer in Kendall Brown, while Cretin gained one in 6-6 senior wing J'Vonne Hadley. Advantage Cretin.
Section 5--Park Center is big and strong and athletic everywhere you look. Osseo has a super sophomore class but their time is not yet in 2020.
Geez, another 2-team race in Section 6. Wayzata edged Hopkins in 2017 and 2018 and looks to do so again. Each team is likely to start 4 sophomores and juniors. Wayzata's might be a little bit ahead, but Hopkins has the best senior in guard Kerwin Walton.
Section 7--Anoka has a great group of youngsters, if it can keep them together. Cambridge has guard Henry Abraham back for one more go. Coon Rapids and Duluth East have some talent and some depth. I like Anoka.
Section 8--Buffalo or Moorhead, your pick.
State Tournament Matchups
#1 Park Center vs. Anoka
#4 Hopkins vs. #5 Eastview
#2 Eden Prairie vs. Buffalo or Lakeville South
#3 Cretin vs. Lakeville South or Moorhead
Class AAAA All-State
Steven Crowl, Eastview, 6-11, senior, PF, 20 pp
Dan Dainja, Park Center, 6-9, senior, C
Dawson Garcia, Prior Lake, 6-11, senior, PF
Gabe Madsen, Rochester Mayo, 6-5, senior, CG
Kerwin Walton, Hopkins, 6-5, senior, PG, 17 peg
Henry Abraham, Cambridge, 6-0, senior, PG, 23 ppg
Ben Carlson, East Ridge, 6-8, senior, PF, 17 ppg
Drake Dobbs, Eden Prairie, 6-0, senior, PG
Tre Holloman, Cretin, 6-3, soph, PF, 12 ppg
Riley Mahlman, Lakeville South, 6-9, junior, C, 14 pp
2019-2020 Season Preview: Boys Class AAA
OK, this one is simple. DeLaSalle or Minnehaha? Minnehaha or DeLaSalle? Minnehaha won 3 straight Class AA titles and so they did the courageous thing, the right thing, moving up to Class AAA. Courageous for themselves, seeking tougher competition. The right thing for everybody else in Class AA, who now has a chance to win a state title.
Meanwhile, those of you who are regulars to this blog don't need me to say much about DeLaSalle. Eight straight section titles, 9 of 10. 7 of 8 state titles. And moving up. doing the right thing, doing the courageous thing would be the furthest thing from their mind.
So if it's gonna be DeLaSalle or Minnehaha, Minnehaha or DeLaSalle, well, all's a person can say is, Go Hawks! But, if anybody else has a snowball's chance, it would appear to be Austin or Mankato East from the Big 9. Same conference, different sections, so both could make it to the state semis against the 2 very big dawgs.
Center--In the post, it is advantage Minnehaha all the way with 7-foot junior Chet Holmgren, Minnesota's top junior and one of the top 3 to 5 juniors in the nation. As Chet himself says, "I'm really good at being tall." Coach Lance Johnson says he's a shot-blocking machine, who can also handle it like a guard. DeLaSalle counters with 6-7 Jalen Travis and Mankato with 6-5 Jordan Merseth, while Austin really doesn't have what you'd call size. 1) Minnehaha, 2) De and Mankato, 4) Austin.
Forwards--Again, Minnehaha looks pretty awesome with 6-7 soph Prince Aligbe, one of the top 3 sophomores in the state; 6-3 senior defensive whiz Kaeden Johnson; and 6-4 sophomore Chase Carter, a transfer from Maranatha. De loses Jamison Battle and so their forwards and wings will be a work in progress, though no doubt there are some great athletes in the wings. Mankato 6-4 sophomore B.J. Omot is a riser, while Austin has 6-2 senior Moses Idris. 1) Minnehaha 2) De 3) Mankato 4) Austin.
Point Guard--Three words: Jalen Suggs, Minnehaha. One of the top seniors in the country. De loses Tyrell Terry but returns 6-footers junior Keijuan White and señior Amir Whitlock. One or both is gonna be very good. Mankato has Joich Gong and Austin has Agwa Newesh. 1) Minnehaha 2) DeLaSalle 3) Mankato 4) Austin.
Shooting Guards--Minnehaha has Terry Lockett and Donovan Smith, while De answers with Evan Boyd and Andrew Irvin. Mankato has Jax Madsen, and Austin has several athletes competing for minutes. 1) Mankato 2) Minnehaha 3) DeLaSalle 4) Austin.
Only Mankato among the 4 will get a serious challenge in the section--that from Marshall. But, it says here that Minnehaha, De, Mankato East and Austin will be the #1, 2, 3 and 4 seeds at state next March.
#5 should be Holy Angels, though they'll face a stiff test in Section 3AAA from St. Croix Lutheran.
The non-seeds should be Delano from 5AAA, Hibbing from 7AAA, and St. Cloud Tech in 8AAA. Tech goes 6-8, 6-8, 6-7, 6-4 in a section without an obvious powerhouse, so that size is the deal-maker for now.
State Tournament Matchups
#1 Minnehaha vs. Delano
#4 Austin vs. #5 Holy Angels
#2 DeLaSalle vs. Hibbing
#3 Mankato East vs. St. Cloud Tech
Class AAA All-State
P.J. Hayes, Waconia, 6-6, senior, CG, 24 ppg
Chet Holmgren, Minnehaha, 7-0, junior, C, 17 peg
Jax Madsen, Mankato East, 6-2, senior, SG, 20 ppg
Jalen Suggs, Minnehaha, 6-5, senior, PG, 24 ppg
John Sutherland, Grand Rapids, 6-6, senior, PF, 27 ppg
Prince Aligbe, Minnehaha, 6-7, soph, F, 11 peg
Mekhi Collins, Mankato West, 6-4, soph, F, 14 ppg
Emmett Johnson, Holy Angels, 5-11, soph, SG, 14 ppg
Ayden McDonald, Hibbing, 6-3, soph, PG, 16 ppg
Agwa Nywesh, Austin, 6-3, senior, PG, 16 ppg
Meanwhile, those of you who are regulars to this blog don't need me to say much about DeLaSalle. Eight straight section titles, 9 of 10. 7 of 8 state titles. And moving up. doing the right thing, doing the courageous thing would be the furthest thing from their mind.
So if it's gonna be DeLaSalle or Minnehaha, Minnehaha or DeLaSalle, well, all's a person can say is, Go Hawks! But, if anybody else has a snowball's chance, it would appear to be Austin or Mankato East from the Big 9. Same conference, different sections, so both could make it to the state semis against the 2 very big dawgs.
Center--In the post, it is advantage Minnehaha all the way with 7-foot junior Chet Holmgren, Minnesota's top junior and one of the top 3 to 5 juniors in the nation. As Chet himself says, "I'm really good at being tall." Coach Lance Johnson says he's a shot-blocking machine, who can also handle it like a guard. DeLaSalle counters with 6-7 Jalen Travis and Mankato with 6-5 Jordan Merseth, while Austin really doesn't have what you'd call size. 1) Minnehaha, 2) De and Mankato, 4) Austin.
Forwards--Again, Minnehaha looks pretty awesome with 6-7 soph Prince Aligbe, one of the top 3 sophomores in the state; 6-3 senior defensive whiz Kaeden Johnson; and 6-4 sophomore Chase Carter, a transfer from Maranatha. De loses Jamison Battle and so their forwards and wings will be a work in progress, though no doubt there are some great athletes in the wings. Mankato 6-4 sophomore B.J. Omot is a riser, while Austin has 6-2 senior Moses Idris. 1) Minnehaha 2) De 3) Mankato 4) Austin.
Point Guard--Three words: Jalen Suggs, Minnehaha. One of the top seniors in the country. De loses Tyrell Terry but returns 6-footers junior Keijuan White and señior Amir Whitlock. One or both is gonna be very good. Mankato has Joich Gong and Austin has Agwa Newesh. 1) Minnehaha 2) DeLaSalle 3) Mankato 4) Austin.
Shooting Guards--Minnehaha has Terry Lockett and Donovan Smith, while De answers with Evan Boyd and Andrew Irvin. Mankato has Jax Madsen, and Austin has several athletes competing for minutes. 1) Mankato 2) Minnehaha 3) DeLaSalle 4) Austin.
Only Mankato among the 4 will get a serious challenge in the section--that from Marshall. But, it says here that Minnehaha, De, Mankato East and Austin will be the #1, 2, 3 and 4 seeds at state next March.
#5 should be Holy Angels, though they'll face a stiff test in Section 3AAA from St. Croix Lutheran.
The non-seeds should be Delano from 5AAA, Hibbing from 7AAA, and St. Cloud Tech in 8AAA. Tech goes 6-8, 6-8, 6-7, 6-4 in a section without an obvious powerhouse, so that size is the deal-maker for now.
State Tournament Matchups
#1 Minnehaha vs. Delano
#4 Austin vs. #5 Holy Angels
#2 DeLaSalle vs. Hibbing
#3 Mankato East vs. St. Cloud Tech
Class AAA All-State
P.J. Hayes, Waconia, 6-6, senior, CG, 24 ppg
Chet Holmgren, Minnehaha, 7-0, junior, C, 17 peg
Jax Madsen, Mankato East, 6-2, senior, SG, 20 ppg
Jalen Suggs, Minnehaha, 6-5, senior, PG, 24 ppg
John Sutherland, Grand Rapids, 6-6, senior, PF, 27 ppg
Prince Aligbe, Minnehaha, 6-7, soph, F, 11 peg
Mekhi Collins, Mankato West, 6-4, soph, F, 14 ppg
Emmett Johnson, Holy Angels, 5-11, soph, SG, 14 ppg
Ayden McDonald, Hibbing, 6-3, soph, PG, 16 ppg
Agwa Nywesh, Austin, 6-3, senior, PG, 16 ppg
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
2019-2020 Season Preview: Boys Class AA
With 3-time defending state AA champion Minnehaha voluntarily moving up to Class AAA, in a show of guts we haven't seen in almost 20 years (Mpls. North 1995-2003), Class AA looks a lot different this year. Mpls. North, now in Class AA itself, hopes to have something to say about it, of course, but, still, Class AA looks a lot more like the small town tournament that it used to be. Here's a look by section.
Section 1--Caledonia and Lake City have won the last 6 Section 1AA titles, and they will almost surely be #1 and #2 again this year. The Tigers are the defending champs and will go 6-5, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 this year with 6-4 senior point guard Nathan Heise (22 ppg-7 reb-4 ast-2 stl-1 block) at the controls. Caledonia will go 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 with Noah and Eli King scoring well over 30 ppg between them. Lake City is a little deeper.
Section 2--Waseca drops down from Class AAA, where they finished 2nd to DeLaSalle last year. They return 3 starters and go 6-9, 6-5 up front. It will be a surprise if they're not playing for the state title again next March.
Section 3--Redwood Valley was the surprise winner last year and it should be pretty wide open again. On the other hand, Jackson County Central has 14 players back from last year's 18-11 group. 6-3 guard Rudy Voss is the #2 career scorer and #1 in career 3s. Morris/Chokio-Alberta, with 6-8 post Jackson Loge, could challenge.
Section 4--With Minnehaha leaving, Cristo Rey Jesuit seems poised to advance. Juniors Derek and Erick Burgess lead the way.
Section 5--Minneapolis North should advance though Blake and Rockford also look good. Blake returns 3 speedy juniors, and Rockford has 7-footer Calvin Sisk and 6-4 Luke Pepin.
Section 6--Eden Valley Watkins, Melrose, Osakis, Pine City and Sauk Centre will all compete for the title. The long and short of it are Daniel Savageau, Osakis 5-11 guard, and Jacob Jennissen, Sauk's 7-foot post. We'll take the little guy.
Section 7--Esko should make it 7 section championships in 8 years.
Section 8--Perham should repeat in 8AA.
State Tournament Matchups
#1 seed Waseca vs. Esko
#4 Perham vs. #5 Cristo Rey Jesuit
#2 Mpls. North vs. Jackson CC
#3 Lake City vs. Osakis
Class AA All-State
Nathan Heise, Lake City, 6-4, sr., PG, 22 ppg
Noah King, Caledonia, 6-2, sr., PG, 19 ppg
Jackson Loge, Morris, 6-8, jr., C, 19 ppg
Andrew Morgan, Waseca, 6-9, jr., PF
Willie Wilson, Mpls. North, 6-0, soph., G, 16 ppg
Jacob Jennissen, Sauk Centre, 7-0, sr., C, 12 ppg-10 reb
Luke Pepin, Rockford, 6-4, sr., F, 17 ppg
Daniel Savageau, Osakis, 5-11, sr., PG, 21 ppg
Trevor Spindler, Esko, 6-1, sr., CG, 19 ppg
Will Tschetter, Stewartville, 6-8, jr., F, 22 ppg
Section 1--Caledonia and Lake City have won the last 6 Section 1AA titles, and they will almost surely be #1 and #2 again this year. The Tigers are the defending champs and will go 6-5, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 this year with 6-4 senior point guard Nathan Heise (22 ppg-7 reb-4 ast-2 stl-1 block) at the controls. Caledonia will go 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 with Noah and Eli King scoring well over 30 ppg between them. Lake City is a little deeper.
Section 2--Waseca drops down from Class AAA, where they finished 2nd to DeLaSalle last year. They return 3 starters and go 6-9, 6-5 up front. It will be a surprise if they're not playing for the state title again next March.
Section 3--Redwood Valley was the surprise winner last year and it should be pretty wide open again. On the other hand, Jackson County Central has 14 players back from last year's 18-11 group. 6-3 guard Rudy Voss is the #2 career scorer and #1 in career 3s. Morris/Chokio-Alberta, with 6-8 post Jackson Loge, could challenge.
Section 4--With Minnehaha leaving, Cristo Rey Jesuit seems poised to advance. Juniors Derek and Erick Burgess lead the way.
Section 5--Minneapolis North should advance though Blake and Rockford also look good. Blake returns 3 speedy juniors, and Rockford has 7-footer Calvin Sisk and 6-4 Luke Pepin.
Section 6--Eden Valley Watkins, Melrose, Osakis, Pine City and Sauk Centre will all compete for the title. The long and short of it are Daniel Savageau, Osakis 5-11 guard, and Jacob Jennissen, Sauk's 7-foot post. We'll take the little guy.
Section 7--Esko should make it 7 section championships in 8 years.
Section 8--Perham should repeat in 8AA.
State Tournament Matchups
#1 seed Waseca vs. Esko
#4 Perham vs. #5 Cristo Rey Jesuit
#2 Mpls. North vs. Jackson CC
#3 Lake City vs. Osakis
Class AA All-State
Nathan Heise, Lake City, 6-4, sr., PG, 22 ppg
Noah King, Caledonia, 6-2, sr., PG, 19 ppg
Jackson Loge, Morris, 6-8, jr., C, 19 ppg
Andrew Morgan, Waseca, 6-9, jr., PF
Willie Wilson, Mpls. North, 6-0, soph., G, 16 ppg
Jacob Jennissen, Sauk Centre, 7-0, sr., C, 12 ppg-10 reb
Luke Pepin, Rockford, 6-4, sr., F, 17 ppg
Daniel Savageau, Osakis, 5-11, sr., PG, 21 ppg
Trevor Spindler, Esko, 6-1, sr., CG, 19 ppg
Will Tschetter, Stewartville, 6-8, jr., F, 22 ppg
Monday, November 25, 2019
2019-2020 Season Preview: Boys Class A
Section 1—It should be Hayfield vs. Rushford-Peterson for the section title. The Vikings were 24-5 last year and return 3 starters led by 6-8 senior Luke Dudycha. The 3-time state champion Trojans look for their 1st state title since the retirement of legend Tom Vix. Junior guard Luke O’Hare leads the way.
Section 2 is ridiculous. Ryan James and the Breakdown Guidebook have BOLD, Mayer Lutheran, Springfield and New Ulm Cathedral #2 through #5 in the state. I agree with BOLD as the favorite here, with Jordan Sagedahl, Gavin Vosika and Drew Sagedahl scoring 51 points among them last year. I kinda like defending section champ Springfield as their top challenger with Decker Scheffler back for his senior season.
Section 3—Minneota (24-3 last year) looks to be poised for what I believe would be their 1st state tournament trip ever.
Section 4—CHOF is favored to repeat but there’s probably a half dozen teams that think they can challenge, and can. Heritage was just 9-19 last year but could surprise.
Section 5 is pretty wide open with Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, Cromwell-Wright, Nevis and Pine River-Backus all returning a 15+ ppg scorer and more. Nevis has the best depth though not quite as much experience as the others. Still, I’ll take the Tigers.
Section 6—Henning won it all last year and returns Isaac Fisher, Parker Fraki and Blake Wallevand. Still, Parkers Prairie (24-5 last year) could challenge.
Section 7—3-time defending champ and 2-time state runnerup North Woods loses the great Cade Goggleye but returns 3 starters, but so do Deer River and Nash-Kee. Still, I’ll take North Woods.
Section 8—Ada returns 6-8 Mason Miller from last year’s state tournament entry but loses 3 starters. So Cass Lake-Bena will challenge again.
State Tournament Matchups
#1 seed BOLD vs. CHOF
#4 seed Ada vs. #5 seed Hayfield
#2 seed Henning vs. Nevis
#3 seed Minneota vs. North Woods
Class A All-State
Caleb Holien, Hope Academy, 6-5, senior, 25 ppg
Jarell Jacobs, Cass Lake-Bena, 6-2, senior, 30 ppg
Mason Miller, Ada-Borup, 6-8, senior
Micah Pocrnich, Cromwell-Wright, 6-2, senior, 19 ppg
Decker Scheffler, Springfield, 6-3, senior, 22 ppg
2nd Team
Ashton Dingmann, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, 6-4, sophomore, 17 ppg
Colt Landers, Grand Meadow, 6-4, junior, 20 ppg
Broden Lien, Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal, 6-6, junior, 17 ppg
Jordan Sagedahl, BOLD, 6-1, senior, 19 ppg
Asher Zubich, Mountain Iron-Buhl, 6-0, freshman, 23 ppg
Sunday, November 24, 2019
I hate the Breakdown Tip-Off, I love the Breakdown Tip-Off
I hate the Breakdown Tip-Off! It's the best day of basketball til March, and here it comes on practically the 1st day of the season, and the entire rest of he regular season is like a giant anticlimax. The best part of it is I get to see a whole bunch of my favorite people. But I also get to see some great basketball. Well, sure, and some not-so-great basketball. Hey, it's November.
But the other day I wrote a Breakdown Tip-Off preview and I recommended you watch Cromwell vs. Minneota. (Minneota 49 Cromwell 47.) I suggested you might want to see Minnehaha vs. Sauk Centre. (Minnehaha 89 Sauk 86 in 3 OT.) I suggested Park Center vs. St. Michael. (Park Center 72 St. Michael 69.) I recommended Farmington vs. St. Michael. (Farmington 92 St. Michael 79.) I recommended Park Center vs. Stillwater. (Park Center 75 Stillwater 69.) And so on and so forth.
Now, just to be clear. I didn't get out to the Friday night games, and I didn't stay on Saturday until the last dog was hung. But here's what I did see.
The Best Game
It wasn't the closest game but the 2 teams that displayed the closest to mid-season form were Farmington and St. Michael. There were 26 turnovers, the 2nd fewest on the day. The #3 Tigers were ahead pretty much the whole way, though I hesitate to say they were in control. St. Michael kept on pushing but in the end it was Farmington 92 St. Michael 79. Farmington has a remarkable array of weapons. 6-5 junior Sophie Hart had 22 points and, well, the official scorebook doesn't agree but a stats geek who is a college recruiting consultant sitting next to me had her down for 29 boards and 6 blocks. And, she wasn't even the MVP. That was guard Molly Mogenson with 25 points and a triple double. Paige Kindseth added 23 points. Farmington made 7-of-13 3s, 25-of-45 2s and 21-of-30 FT.
St. Michael just didn't shoot it well enough, under 40%, but freshman guard Tess Johnson scored 30 while Kendal Cox added 21. With its loss to Park Center, St. Michael is starting 0-2. I don't think that has happened in a long, long time, and now they're heading into the Lake Conference for the 1st time. 2 games vs. Hopkins. 2 games vs. Wayzata. St. Michael could lose 10 games this year and they'll still be a top 5 team.
Nail-Biter Award
Obviously, that's the Minnehaha-Sauk marathon matching up the last 2 Class AA champions. Sauk came in rated #1 in AA, 'Haha just #11, and Sauk indeed ran out to an 18-point margin early on (24-6, I think). Minnehaha got back to within 39-25 at the half and you knew it was gonna get tighter before it was done, but not that tight. In the end, RedHawks star Mia Curtis outscored Sauk star Tori Peschel 42-35 and Kate Pryor and Tanna Gallo chipped in with another 36. Julia and Michaela Dammann chipped in another 30 for Sauk, so Minnehaha won the 3-on-3 battle 78-65. Neither team looked like a state champion on the defensive end but no doubt both will be in the mix come March.
Nail-Biter II
Cromwell broke out of a 22-22 tie on 3 Shailey Hakamaki 3s to lead 31-23 at the half and the Cardinals looked to be on their way. But Minneota coach Chad Johnston "yelled at" his girls at halftime, he said, and they started guarding Shailey Hakamaki--and her cousin Taya Hakamaki, too--in the 2nd half and came back to win 49-47. The Hakamakis outscored Abby and Morgan Hennen of Minneota 37-24 but the Vikings depth was substantially better than Cromwell's. Once again, neither of them looked like a state champion but it's November and Minneota just won the state volleyball title. Somebody said, they're still playing volleyball.
Bombs Away
The bombs away award goes to Rosemount, whose starters made 16-of-28 3s, led by Larissa O'Neil with 9 of 15 for 27 points. Taylor Janssen and Alexa Ratliff made another 6 or 7 between them for 32 points. Rosemount clobbered Waconia 83-57.
Another Comeback
Maple Grove led Eden Prairie most of the way, including 33-27 at the half, but then the shots stopped falling and EP came back to win 68-65. EP sophomore guard Myra Moorjani played very sparingly most of the way, then came off the bench to score 10 points down the stretch. Guard Abby Schulte led all scorers for MG with 21 while Natalie Mazurek scored 20 for EP.
Let's Get Physical
They let Park Center and Stillwater get after it and so that's what they did. And the physical action favored Park Center who led 36-28 at the half and 48-32 midway through the 2nd. Stillwater fought back but it was too little, too late, and the Pirates won 75-69. The rebounds were 46-33 Stillwater but the Ponies had 29 turnovers and made just 4-of-22 3s. Adalia Mackenzie scored 29 after scoring 28 the previous night, while Lauren Frost added 17 to go with 18 on Friday. Alexis Pratt scored 25 for the Ponies. Mary Fultz was the most improved player I saw compared to a year ago, scoring 14. Delaney Wagner is out for the season for Stillwater with a torn ACL.
Also MIA
Along with Wagner, Alexandria's Ella Grove and Big Lake's Regan Sternquist and Simley's Ravyn Miles and Stewartville's Erin Lamb were the most notable MIAs. Grove and Sternquist will return shortly, but Grove is Alex's best player and without her Alex fell to New Prague 55-48. The Trojans' Amanda Giesen was terrific, scoring 19 points, while Emily Russo was solid. The surprises were the sister act(s) of junior Rachel Russo and 6-foot 8th grade forward Katie Vasecka (sister of senior guard Bethany). Katie was the breakout player of the day with 9 points and a lot of length and mobility.
Big Lake fell to Austin 59-37 without Sternquist. Austin felt no ill effects from playing on a 3rd straight evening.
Miles has been hurt a lot over the past year. She's expected back fairly soon but, without her, Simley wasn't going to score enough points to beat Chaska. But Simley was the single most physical team of the day. Erstwhile power forward Ysareia Chèvre did a nice job at the point, but then she wasn't posting up. Meanwhile, Chaska has a lot of weapons. Mallory Heyer and Kaylee Van Eps combined for 22 but against Simley's ultra-physical inside defense, it was freshman guard Kennedy Sanders from the outside who led the way with 17.
Stewartville's Lamb will not be coming back. She is a volleyball player and her basketball playing days are over. And, so, Albany was in control most of the way, including 40-28 at the half, but then Stewartville roared back to take a 65-61 lead with a minute-and-a-half to go. But they couldn't close it out, and Albany ended up squeezing by 68-67 as Paige Meyer made 4-of-4 FT inside of 30 seconds. Albany had 32 turnovers. Meyer, who never met a double-team she won't try to split, finished with 31 while Lily Welch scored 28 for Stew.
The Big 5
Center--Sophie Hart, Farmington, junior
Forward--Jenna Johnson, Wayzata, junior
Point Guard--Molly Mogenson, Farmington, senior
Shooting Guard--Adalia Mackenzie, Park Center, junior
Athlete--Alyssa Ustby, Rochester Lourdes, senior
Second 5
Center--Natalie Mazurek, Eden Prairie, senior
Forward--Taylor Janssen, Rosemount, senior
Point Guard--Abby Schulte, Maple Grove, senior
Shooting Guard--Mia Curtis, Minnehaha, senior
Combo Guard--Alexis Pratt, Stillwater, junior
Below AAAA
Center--Michaela Dammann, Sauk Centre, junior
Forward--Rachel Kawiecki, Holy Angels, junior
Point Guard--Paige Meyer, Albany, junior
Shooting Guard--Frankie Vascellero, Holy Angels, junior
Athlete--Tori Peschel, Sauk Centre, senior
Plus of course Ustby and Curtis from above
Underclassmen
Center--Emma Dasovich, Minnetonka, 6-1, 8th grade
Forward--Mallory Heyer, Chaska, 6-1, soph
Point Guard--Kennedy Sanders, Chaska, 5-8, frosh
Combo Guard--Mara Braun, Wayzata, 5-11, soph
Shooting Guard--Tess Johnson, St. Michael-Albertville, 5-9, frosh
Underclassmen II
Forward--Nia Holloway, Eden Prairie, 6-1, frosh
Forward--Ari Gordon, Maple Grove, soph
Forward--Katie Vasecka, New Prague, 6-0, 8th grade
Point Guard--Caroline Adamson, Rochester Lourdes, 5-9, soph
Combo Guard--Myra Moorjani, Eden Prairie, 5-7, soph
Combo Guard--Alexa Ratlaff, Rosemount, 5-9, soph
Combo Guard--Desiree Ware, Minnetonka, 5-6, soph
But the other day I wrote a Breakdown Tip-Off preview and I recommended you watch Cromwell vs. Minneota. (Minneota 49 Cromwell 47.) I suggested you might want to see Minnehaha vs. Sauk Centre. (Minnehaha 89 Sauk 86 in 3 OT.) I suggested Park Center vs. St. Michael. (Park Center 72 St. Michael 69.) I recommended Farmington vs. St. Michael. (Farmington 92 St. Michael 79.) I recommended Park Center vs. Stillwater. (Park Center 75 Stillwater 69.) And so on and so forth.
Now, just to be clear. I didn't get out to the Friday night games, and I didn't stay on Saturday until the last dog was hung. But here's what I did see.
The Best Game
It wasn't the closest game but the 2 teams that displayed the closest to mid-season form were Farmington and St. Michael. There were 26 turnovers, the 2nd fewest on the day. The #3 Tigers were ahead pretty much the whole way, though I hesitate to say they were in control. St. Michael kept on pushing but in the end it was Farmington 92 St. Michael 79. Farmington has a remarkable array of weapons. 6-5 junior Sophie Hart had 22 points and, well, the official scorebook doesn't agree but a stats geek who is a college recruiting consultant sitting next to me had her down for 29 boards and 6 blocks. And, she wasn't even the MVP. That was guard Molly Mogenson with 25 points and a triple double. Paige Kindseth added 23 points. Farmington made 7-of-13 3s, 25-of-45 2s and 21-of-30 FT.
St. Michael just didn't shoot it well enough, under 40%, but freshman guard Tess Johnson scored 30 while Kendal Cox added 21. With its loss to Park Center, St. Michael is starting 0-2. I don't think that has happened in a long, long time, and now they're heading into the Lake Conference for the 1st time. 2 games vs. Hopkins. 2 games vs. Wayzata. St. Michael could lose 10 games this year and they'll still be a top 5 team.
Nail-Biter Award
Obviously, that's the Minnehaha-Sauk marathon matching up the last 2 Class AA champions. Sauk came in rated #1 in AA, 'Haha just #11, and Sauk indeed ran out to an 18-point margin early on (24-6, I think). Minnehaha got back to within 39-25 at the half and you knew it was gonna get tighter before it was done, but not that tight. In the end, RedHawks star Mia Curtis outscored Sauk star Tori Peschel 42-35 and Kate Pryor and Tanna Gallo chipped in with another 36. Julia and Michaela Dammann chipped in another 30 for Sauk, so Minnehaha won the 3-on-3 battle 78-65. Neither team looked like a state champion on the defensive end but no doubt both will be in the mix come March.
Nail-Biter II
Cromwell broke out of a 22-22 tie on 3 Shailey Hakamaki 3s to lead 31-23 at the half and the Cardinals looked to be on their way. But Minneota coach Chad Johnston "yelled at" his girls at halftime, he said, and they started guarding Shailey Hakamaki--and her cousin Taya Hakamaki, too--in the 2nd half and came back to win 49-47. The Hakamakis outscored Abby and Morgan Hennen of Minneota 37-24 but the Vikings depth was substantially better than Cromwell's. Once again, neither of them looked like a state champion but it's November and Minneota just won the state volleyball title. Somebody said, they're still playing volleyball.
Bombs Away
The bombs away award goes to Rosemount, whose starters made 16-of-28 3s, led by Larissa O'Neil with 9 of 15 for 27 points. Taylor Janssen and Alexa Ratliff made another 6 or 7 between them for 32 points. Rosemount clobbered Waconia 83-57.
Another Comeback
Maple Grove led Eden Prairie most of the way, including 33-27 at the half, but then the shots stopped falling and EP came back to win 68-65. EP sophomore guard Myra Moorjani played very sparingly most of the way, then came off the bench to score 10 points down the stretch. Guard Abby Schulte led all scorers for MG with 21 while Natalie Mazurek scored 20 for EP.
Let's Get Physical
They let Park Center and Stillwater get after it and so that's what they did. And the physical action favored Park Center who led 36-28 at the half and 48-32 midway through the 2nd. Stillwater fought back but it was too little, too late, and the Pirates won 75-69. The rebounds were 46-33 Stillwater but the Ponies had 29 turnovers and made just 4-of-22 3s. Adalia Mackenzie scored 29 after scoring 28 the previous night, while Lauren Frost added 17 to go with 18 on Friday. Alexis Pratt scored 25 for the Ponies. Mary Fultz was the most improved player I saw compared to a year ago, scoring 14. Delaney Wagner is out for the season for Stillwater with a torn ACL.
Also MIA
Along with Wagner, Alexandria's Ella Grove and Big Lake's Regan Sternquist and Simley's Ravyn Miles and Stewartville's Erin Lamb were the most notable MIAs. Grove and Sternquist will return shortly, but Grove is Alex's best player and without her Alex fell to New Prague 55-48. The Trojans' Amanda Giesen was terrific, scoring 19 points, while Emily Russo was solid. The surprises were the sister act(s) of junior Rachel Russo and 6-foot 8th grade forward Katie Vasecka (sister of senior guard Bethany). Katie was the breakout player of the day with 9 points and a lot of length and mobility.
Big Lake fell to Austin 59-37 without Sternquist. Austin felt no ill effects from playing on a 3rd straight evening.
Miles has been hurt a lot over the past year. She's expected back fairly soon but, without her, Simley wasn't going to score enough points to beat Chaska. But Simley was the single most physical team of the day. Erstwhile power forward Ysareia Chèvre did a nice job at the point, but then she wasn't posting up. Meanwhile, Chaska has a lot of weapons. Mallory Heyer and Kaylee Van Eps combined for 22 but against Simley's ultra-physical inside defense, it was freshman guard Kennedy Sanders from the outside who led the way with 17.
Stewartville's Lamb will not be coming back. She is a volleyball player and her basketball playing days are over. And, so, Albany was in control most of the way, including 40-28 at the half, but then Stewartville roared back to take a 65-61 lead with a minute-and-a-half to go. But they couldn't close it out, and Albany ended up squeezing by 68-67 as Paige Meyer made 4-of-4 FT inside of 30 seconds. Albany had 32 turnovers. Meyer, who never met a double-team she won't try to split, finished with 31 while Lily Welch scored 28 for Stew.
The Big 5
Center--Sophie Hart, Farmington, junior
Forward--Jenna Johnson, Wayzata, junior
Point Guard--Molly Mogenson, Farmington, senior
Shooting Guard--Adalia Mackenzie, Park Center, junior
Athlete--Alyssa Ustby, Rochester Lourdes, senior
Second 5
Center--Natalie Mazurek, Eden Prairie, senior
Forward--Taylor Janssen, Rosemount, senior
Point Guard--Abby Schulte, Maple Grove, senior
Shooting Guard--Mia Curtis, Minnehaha, senior
Combo Guard--Alexis Pratt, Stillwater, junior
Below AAAA
Center--Michaela Dammann, Sauk Centre, junior
Forward--Rachel Kawiecki, Holy Angels, junior
Point Guard--Paige Meyer, Albany, junior
Shooting Guard--Frankie Vascellero, Holy Angels, junior
Athlete--Tori Peschel, Sauk Centre, senior
Plus of course Ustby and Curtis from above
Underclassmen
Center--Emma Dasovich, Minnetonka, 6-1, 8th grade
Forward--Mallory Heyer, Chaska, 6-1, soph
Point Guard--Kennedy Sanders, Chaska, 5-8, frosh
Combo Guard--Mara Braun, Wayzata, 5-11, soph
Shooting Guard--Tess Johnson, St. Michael-Albertville, 5-9, frosh
Forward--Nia Holloway, Eden Prairie, 6-1, frosh
Forward--Ari Gordon, Maple Grove, soph
Forward--Katie Vasecka, New Prague, 6-0, 8th grade
Point Guard--Caroline Adamson, Rochester Lourdes, 5-9, soph
Combo Guard--Myra Moorjani, Eden Prairie, 5-7, soph
Combo Guard--Alexa Ratlaff, Rosemount, 5-9, soph
Combo Guard--Desiree Ware, Minnetonka, 5-6, soph
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Preview: The Breakdown Girls Tip Off this Friday and Saturday
So, the girls basketball season is upon us. Actually it starts with a bunch of games Thursday night. But the really big show is of course the Breakdown Tip-Off now expanded to two "days"--OK, Friday night starting at 5 p.m. and then all day Saturday starting around 9 a.m. All games at Hopkins Lindbergh.
Everybody will have their favorite matchups. Here are some of mine. The rankings are mine though the guys at the Breakdown often seem to agree with me.
Friday night 8:30 Main Court #5 St. Michael-Albertville vs. #4 Park Center
Remember last year when Park Center scored 99 at the Breakdown. Well, I think that all of those 99 points are back. Adalia Mackenzie is the state's #1 rated 2021 and she is joined by T'Naye Griffin, Lauren Frost, Aaliyah Ragulen, Kayla Cox and more. A really explosive team. And St. Michael, led by senior Kenzie Kramer and freshman Tessa Johnson, can run with anybody. Still, a win for St. Michael will more likely be in he 60s or 70s. Another 90-pointer bodes well for the Pirates. I'll take the Pirates by 5.
Saturday afternoon 12:15 East Court #4 Cromwell vs. #2 Minneota
The Breakdown guys invited Cromwell, from Section 7A, to this year's soiree and not 9-time Section 7A defending champion Mountain Iron-Buhl. There's some bulletin board material. So Cromwell wants to show it belongs. Meanwhile, Minneota wants to show it's still a contender despite losing 3 starters from last year's state champs. In fact, the Breakdown guys have Minneota rated #1, I have 'em #2. It will probably come down to some role player but in the meantime all eyes will be on Shailey Hakamaki and Taya Hakamaki of Cromwell and Abby Hennen and Morgan Hennen of Minneota. This is a toss-up but if I gotta pick, I'll take Minneota by 2.
Saturday afternoon 1:45 East Court #1 Sauk Centre vs. #11 Minnehaha
This one matches the past 2 Class AA state champions. Minnehaha lost 4 starters from last year's state champs while Sauk has everybody back from a team that failed to make it to state last year for just the 2nd time in 10 years. So both teams come in with something to prove but, of course, doesn't everybody at this time of year. Minnehaha's Mia Curtis will probably be staring at Sauk's Tori Peschel most of the day. Sauk by 7.
Saturday afternoon 3:45 Main Court #3 Farmington vs. #5 St. Michael-Albertville
Farmington comes out with something to prove after their big flop in the Section 1AAAA final last year. From 6-5 Sophie Hart to point guard Molly Mogenson, the talent is as good as anybody's, but they need to win the big game. Farmington by 2.
Saturday afternoon 5:30 Main Court #4 Park Center vs. #7 Stillwater
Can't wait to see Stillwater without Sara Scalia. I think they'll surprise people before they're done. Lexi Karlen and Alexis Pratt are as good of a one-two punch as almost anybody's. Stillwater by 3.
Saturday night 8:30 Main Court #2 Becker vs. #1 Hopkins
Now, being honest, I'm not expecting a close game here. Hopkins is poised to rout just about anybody at this time of the year and matching them up against an AAA team? I wouldn't have recommended it. Becker got manhandled inside last year by DeLaSalle. Maya Nnaji and Sunny Agara could got wild. Still, I love Becker and I know they're going to come out and play hard and run and run and make plays. So it will be entertaining in that respect.
These are just 6 of 21 games, and the others, most of them, also promise some excitement. It's always fun to see Albany's Paige Meyer; and Chaska's great young team; and Holy Angels' Frankie Vascellero; and coaches Wendy Kohler and Molly Kasper work; among many others. My only regret is that after the Tip-Off, the rest of the season seems almost like a let-down, until March and Williams Arena.
Everybody will have their favorite matchups. Here are some of mine. The rankings are mine though the guys at the Breakdown often seem to agree with me.
Friday night 8:30 Main Court #5 St. Michael-Albertville vs. #4 Park Center
Remember last year when Park Center scored 99 at the Breakdown. Well, I think that all of those 99 points are back. Adalia Mackenzie is the state's #1 rated 2021 and she is joined by T'Naye Griffin, Lauren Frost, Aaliyah Ragulen, Kayla Cox and more. A really explosive team. And St. Michael, led by senior Kenzie Kramer and freshman Tessa Johnson, can run with anybody. Still, a win for St. Michael will more likely be in he 60s or 70s. Another 90-pointer bodes well for the Pirates. I'll take the Pirates by 5.
Saturday afternoon 12:15 East Court #4 Cromwell vs. #2 Minneota
The Breakdown guys invited Cromwell, from Section 7A, to this year's soiree and not 9-time Section 7A defending champion Mountain Iron-Buhl. There's some bulletin board material. So Cromwell wants to show it belongs. Meanwhile, Minneota wants to show it's still a contender despite losing 3 starters from last year's state champs. In fact, the Breakdown guys have Minneota rated #1, I have 'em #2. It will probably come down to some role player but in the meantime all eyes will be on Shailey Hakamaki and Taya Hakamaki of Cromwell and Abby Hennen and Morgan Hennen of Minneota. This is a toss-up but if I gotta pick, I'll take Minneota by 2.
Saturday afternoon 1:45 East Court #1 Sauk Centre vs. #11 Minnehaha
This one matches the past 2 Class AA state champions. Minnehaha lost 4 starters from last year's state champs while Sauk has everybody back from a team that failed to make it to state last year for just the 2nd time in 10 years. So both teams come in with something to prove but, of course, doesn't everybody at this time of year. Minnehaha's Mia Curtis will probably be staring at Sauk's Tori Peschel most of the day. Sauk by 7.
Saturday afternoon 3:45 Main Court #3 Farmington vs. #5 St. Michael-Albertville
Farmington comes out with something to prove after their big flop in the Section 1AAAA final last year. From 6-5 Sophie Hart to point guard Molly Mogenson, the talent is as good as anybody's, but they need to win the big game. Farmington by 2.
Saturday afternoon 5:30 Main Court #4 Park Center vs. #7 Stillwater
Can't wait to see Stillwater without Sara Scalia. I think they'll surprise people before they're done. Lexi Karlen and Alexis Pratt are as good of a one-two punch as almost anybody's. Stillwater by 3.
Saturday night 8:30 Main Court #2 Becker vs. #1 Hopkins
Now, being honest, I'm not expecting a close game here. Hopkins is poised to rout just about anybody at this time of the year and matching them up against an AAA team? I wouldn't have recommended it. Becker got manhandled inside last year by DeLaSalle. Maya Nnaji and Sunny Agara could got wild. Still, I love Becker and I know they're going to come out and play hard and run and run and make plays. So it will be entertaining in that respect.
These are just 6 of 21 games, and the others, most of them, also promise some excitement. It's always fun to see Albany's Paige Meyer; and Chaska's great young team; and Holy Angels' Frankie Vascellero; and coaches Wendy Kohler and Molly Kasper work; among many others. My only regret is that after the Tip-Off, the rest of the season seems almost like a let-down, until March and Williams Arena.
2019-2020 Season Preview: Girls Class A
I had a heck of a time settling on my #1 in Class A. Experience has shown that in Class A, success usually comes in stages. First, a team gets to the state tournament. Then, the following year, they win a state tournament game. Then, in the third year, they win it all. So our #1, our favorite to win the Class A state title would be a team that won a state tournament game last year. Well, Goodhue and Menahga won a game or two, but they’ve both moved up to Class AA. BOLD and Red Lake made it to state, but lost twice.
So that leaves Minneota, Heritage Christian, Ada-Borup and Mountain Iron-Buhl as potential #1s.
• Minneota won 3 state tournament games and the state title last year, and they’ve got 2 starters back in guards Abby and Morgan Hennen.
• Heritage took 3rd place and has 3 starters back, but lost their leader in Taylie Scott.
• Ada finished 6th and has 2 starters back.
• Mountain Iron-Buhl finished 5th but lost everybody—well, 95 percent of its scoring, anyway. Coach Jeff Buffetta said that Cromwell should be rated #1 but then said, “Do we have a chance to beat ‘em? Sure.” And then, sure enough, MIB beat ‘em in the Breakdown Summer State tournament.
The Sections
Section 1—Goodhue moves up to Class AA, leaving Blooming Prairie as the favorite, ahead of last year’s favorite and #1 seed Grand Meadow.
Section 2—BOLD is favored but Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s, with sophomore guard Madison Mathiowetz, is a threat.
Section 3—Minneota is favored with Southwest Christian, as always, on their heels.
Section 4—Heritage looks like the surest thing at this level.
Section 5—With Menahga moving up, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley is favored but there’s plenty of competition.
Section 6—Here’s the one big upset. We like a young Henning team over Ada this year.
Section 7—We like Mountain Iron-Buhl over Cromwell. Cherry is also a top 10 power.
Section 8—Red Lake should repeat.
The Fab 15
1. Heritage Christian
2. Minneota
3. Mountain Iron-Buhl
4. Cromwell
5. BOLD
6. Henning
7. Red Lake
8. Walker-Hackensack-Akeley
9. Ada-Borup
10. Cherry
11. Blooming Prairie
12. Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s
13. Southwest Minnesota Christian
14. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa
15. Sebeka
If all goes according to Hoyle, the state tournament matchups will be:
Heritage vs. Blooming Prairie
BOLD vs. Henning
Minneota vs. Red Lake
Mountain Iron-Buhl vs. Walker-Hackenack-Akeley
Top Seniors
Olivia Christianson, Lyle/Austin Pacelli
Taya Hakamaki, Cromwell
Karley Motschenbacher, Park Christian
Jazlyn Prinz, Southwest Minnesota Christian
Kirsten Robbins, Heritage Christian
Top Underclassmen
Faith Alberts, Parkers Prairie
Ellie Dague, Henning
Sage Ganyo, Mountain Iron-Buhl
Abby Hennen, Minneota
Madison Mathiowetz, Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s
2019-2020 Season preview: Girls Class AA
Thank goodness for Class A and AA where there is some suspense for the coming year. Still, there’s a pretty solid favorite in Class AA. Not as solid as Hopkins and DeLaSalle among the big schools. But Sauk Centre will be very hard to beat in 2020.
OK, last year Albany and point guard Paige Meyer shocked the Mainstreeters in the Section 6AA final. It was only the 2nd time in 10 years that Sauk had failed to get to state. And, of course, they are the 2018 state champions with that awesome 33-0 record. So, they know how to win. Last year they were 26-3 and they have nine letterwinners back, led by tough, versatile 5-10 senior PF/SF/SG/PG (that’s how she’s listed in the Breakdown Guidebook, and to be sure she can do it all). Then there’s the 6-1/5-11 pair of Michaela and Julia Dammann, who scored 12 ppg each last year. And Megan Klaphake and McKenna Westby make five returning starters. They will be very, very tough to beat.
But, that’s what maybe Proctor or Duluth Marshall might be able to do. Proctor returns their top 6 from a state tournament team led by 5-10 guard Sam Pogatchnik, a Bemidji State recruit. And Duluth Marshall has one of the state’s top one-two punches regardless of class in guard Grace Kirk and forward Gianna Kneepkens, who combined for 60 ppg between them last year.
After the big 4, it’s pretty wide open, with Lake City, Pine City, Fergus Falls, Minnehaha and Redwood Valley all darkhorses to keep your eyes on. Let’s look at it by section.
Section 1—Stewartville has been regarded as the favorite but now comes word that Erin Lamb's basketball playing days are done. So, a young, deep, powerful group from Lake City (#7) now assumes the favorite's role.
Section 2—Norwood Young America (#12) has been to 3 of the past 5 state tournaments and appears poised to return after missing a year ago. Still, this is one of the widest-open sections with 5 or 6 plausible contenders.
Section 3—This is another wide open section. Perennial power New London-Spicer (#5) is in the mix along with Eden Valley-Watkins (#6) who, like Stewartville, have had a great run these past 4-5 years without getting to state. Redwood Valley (#12) surprised everybody last year and could do so again.
Section 4—Defending state champion Minnehaha (#11) lost 4 starters but may have the nucleus of another state champion in the 8th and 9th grades.
Section 5—Nobody from Section 5AA is rated so it’s another wide-open section. We like Minneapolis North.
Section 6—Sauk Centre (#1) is of course favored, but Pine City (#8) is a threat.
Section 7—Proctor (#3) and Duluth Marshall (#4) will duke it out, but Mesabi East (#14) is also a threat.
Section 8—Three defending champions are here—Fergus Fall (#9) drops down from 8AAA. Roseau (#15) seeks to return in 8AA. Menahga moves up from 5A. But the big threat to Fergus and Roseau is Hawley (#10).
If all goes according to Hoyle, your state tournament matchups would look like this.
Sauk Centre vs. Minneapolis North
Proctor vs. Minnehaha
New London-Spicer vs. Norwood Young America
Proctor vs. Minnehaha
New London-Spicer vs. Norwood Young America
Lake City vs. Fergus Falls
The top seniors
PG—Grace Kirk, Duluth Marshall
Wing—Alyssa Ustby, Rochester Lourdes
Wing—Tori Peschel, Sauk Centre
Wing—Mia Curtis, Minnehaha
Combo Guard—Ava Hill, Mesabi East
Top underclassmen
Big—Haley Garman, Redwood Valley
Forward—Ellie Hasz, Pine City
Forward—Gianna Kneepkens, Duluth Marshall
Guard—Katie Borowicz, Roseau
Guard—Paige Meyer, Albany
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Timberwolves split a pair
3 days, 2 games, 2 overtimes, a win and a loss. That leaves the Timberwolves at 5-4 and out of the playoffs as of today in the west, while in the east 4-6 is good enough. So that's the hill the Timberwolves get to climb, and if this weekend is any indication, it is going to be a tough climb.
The Bad News
I say that because even Friday night's 125-119 win over the 2-8 Warriors was one hell of a grind. Nobody for Golden State could guard Andrew Wiggins who finished with 40 points, and yet the Wolves had to rally from a 90-82 deficit at 9:59, and it was still 108-102 at 2:12 and 110-106 at 0:29.8. That was because, similarly, the Wolves had nobody who could even begin to guard D'Angelo Russell, who finished with 52. And, meanwhile, the Warriors' Willie Cauley-Stein made it tough enough for Karl-Anthony Towns, who finished with 20 points on 7-of-17 FG, with 11 boards but no assists. And the Wolves made just 9-of-36 3s.
Against Denver on Sunday, it was a complete flip-flop, as the defense was OK, but the offense struggled. The Nuggets' massive post, Nikola Jokic, pushed KAT around pretty good, though in the end KAT outscored Jokic 25-20 and outrebounded him 16-6. But, it was a grind for KAT. But, even more than that, Denver's Gary Harris, who some of you may remember playing for Michigan, defended Wiggins like an all-star. Wiggins got to the rim at will against Golden State. Here he got there a few times over the first 3-and-a-half quarters. And, if you think 9-of-36 3s is bad, how about 6-for-45 (13 percent).
So, here the Wolves found themselves down 90-74 with 6:43 to go. For the 2 games, they were outscored 180-156 with 7 to 10 minutes to go, and they almost won twice. How did that happen?
The Good News
How did that happen? Well, the Wolves played hard. They didn't give up. They got knocked down and they got back up and made a couple of great runs. And, oh, yeah, by the way, they played both of these games without point guards Jeff Teague and Shabazz Napier.
Against Golden State, the offense just kept doing what it had been doing except it started making FT. After 3 quarters, they were 33-for-74 FG and 9-of-16 FT. Wiggins was 10-of-19. After that the Wolves were 15-of-37, but with 11-of-13 FT. Wiggins 7-of-14.
So, here the Wolves did it with offensive boards and with defense and they did it with Robert Covington. Cov finished with 17 points and 11 boards. He had 10 points, 4 boards and 3 steals in the 4th quarter and OT. He started the rally with 3 FT, then followed it with a put-back. Then, with the score 110-108 and inside 10 seconds, Covington got a steal that led to a Wiggins driving layup and OT. In OT, he got another steal at 0:13.9 and 2 FT for the final score of 125-119.
Against Denver, the Wolves closed out regulation on an utterly improbable 16-0 run. The big catalyst here was Gary Harris, who had really shut Wiggins down. But, suddenly Harris seemed to lose his cool, committing his 4th, 5th and 6th fouls in 2 minutes. With Harris out, suddenly Wiggins had some room to move. He scored twice late in the 4th and twice to open OT. Still, it took a Towns 3 at 0:42 to force OT, and it was Covington who scored at 0:26 of OT for a 98-all tie. Jokic hit a tough 18-foot fallaway jumper at 0:02 for the win.
Summing Up
So the Wolves won the game the shoulda won, though they made it harder than necessary by being unable to guard D'Angelo Russell and by shooting 9-of-36 3s; and they lost the game they probably shoulda lost, specifically because Gary Harris was the answer to Andrew Wiggins. Still, they coulda won it if they hadn't shot 6-for-45 3s. 6 is way too few and 45 is way too many.
So the offense isn't good enough, not without Teague anyway. In 2 games, KAT and Wiggins only clearly won 1 out of 4 matchups. They're settling for too many 3s. Can Teague get KAT, especially, better shots? Can Covington make a few more plays?
So, now they're 5-4. So, maybe they're a .500 team. If they do that, Ryan Saunders should be coach of he year. And, if the Wolves were in the east, they'd have a great shot at the post-season. In the west, not so much.
The Bad News
I say that because even Friday night's 125-119 win over the 2-8 Warriors was one hell of a grind. Nobody for Golden State could guard Andrew Wiggins who finished with 40 points, and yet the Wolves had to rally from a 90-82 deficit at 9:59, and it was still 108-102 at 2:12 and 110-106 at 0:29.8. That was because, similarly, the Wolves had nobody who could even begin to guard D'Angelo Russell, who finished with 52. And, meanwhile, the Warriors' Willie Cauley-Stein made it tough enough for Karl-Anthony Towns, who finished with 20 points on 7-of-17 FG, with 11 boards but no assists. And the Wolves made just 9-of-36 3s.
Against Denver on Sunday, it was a complete flip-flop, as the defense was OK, but the offense struggled. The Nuggets' massive post, Nikola Jokic, pushed KAT around pretty good, though in the end KAT outscored Jokic 25-20 and outrebounded him 16-6. But, it was a grind for KAT. But, even more than that, Denver's Gary Harris, who some of you may remember playing for Michigan, defended Wiggins like an all-star. Wiggins got to the rim at will against Golden State. Here he got there a few times over the first 3-and-a-half quarters. And, if you think 9-of-36 3s is bad, how about 6-for-45 (13 percent).
So, here the Wolves found themselves down 90-74 with 6:43 to go. For the 2 games, they were outscored 180-156 with 7 to 10 minutes to go, and they almost won twice. How did that happen?
The Good News
How did that happen? Well, the Wolves played hard. They didn't give up. They got knocked down and they got back up and made a couple of great runs. And, oh, yeah, by the way, they played both of these games without point guards Jeff Teague and Shabazz Napier.
Against Golden State, the offense just kept doing what it had been doing except it started making FT. After 3 quarters, they were 33-for-74 FG and 9-of-16 FT. Wiggins was 10-of-19. After that the Wolves were 15-of-37, but with 11-of-13 FT. Wiggins 7-of-14.
So, here the Wolves did it with offensive boards and with defense and they did it with Robert Covington. Cov finished with 17 points and 11 boards. He had 10 points, 4 boards and 3 steals in the 4th quarter and OT. He started the rally with 3 FT, then followed it with a put-back. Then, with the score 110-108 and inside 10 seconds, Covington got a steal that led to a Wiggins driving layup and OT. In OT, he got another steal at 0:13.9 and 2 FT for the final score of 125-119.
Against Denver, the Wolves closed out regulation on an utterly improbable 16-0 run. The big catalyst here was Gary Harris, who had really shut Wiggins down. But, suddenly Harris seemed to lose his cool, committing his 4th, 5th and 6th fouls in 2 minutes. With Harris out, suddenly Wiggins had some room to move. He scored twice late in the 4th and twice to open OT. Still, it took a Towns 3 at 0:42 to force OT, and it was Covington who scored at 0:26 of OT for a 98-all tie. Jokic hit a tough 18-foot fallaway jumper at 0:02 for the win.
Summing Up
So the Wolves won the game the shoulda won, though they made it harder than necessary by being unable to guard D'Angelo Russell and by shooting 9-of-36 3s; and they lost the game they probably shoulda lost, specifically because Gary Harris was the answer to Andrew Wiggins. Still, they coulda won it if they hadn't shot 6-for-45 3s. 6 is way too few and 45 is way too many.
So the offense isn't good enough, not without Teague anyway. In 2 games, KAT and Wiggins only clearly won 1 out of 4 matchups. They're settling for too many 3s. Can Teague get KAT, especially, better shots? Can Covington make a few more plays?
So, now they're 5-4. So, maybe they're a .500 team. If they do that, Ryan Saunders should be coach of he year. And, if the Wolves were in the east, they'd have a great shot at the post-season. In the west, not so much.
Saturday, November 9, 2019
2019-2020 Season Preview: Girls Class AAA
As big a favorite as Hopkins is in Class AAAA, DeLaSalle is almost as big a favorite to repeat in Class AAA. The Islanders are loaded.
Bigs--You've got 4 6-footers or near-6 footers inside, starting with 6-foot senior Nurjei Weems (16 ppg, 9 rebounds); 6-foot Nora Francois, now a junior (12 ppg); and super sophomores Savanna White and Mya Williams. Both are listed at 5-10, but I'm told White is now 6-2. She is the sister of Royce White.
Point Guard--Kiani Lockett, also just a sophomore, 5-foot-6, runs the show. The Hub shows her scoring 4 ppg last year, the Breakdown Guidebook says 10. Who knows? But, she doesn't need to score for DeLaSalle to be successful, though she can and she will.
Combo Guard--Sydney Runsewe, a 5-8 sophomore, scored somewhere between 5 and 9 ppg. She is a capable point guard but will start alongside Lockett.
Shooting Guards--Senior Alexis Cochran-Starr is a streaky 3-point shooter (6 ppg last year) while 5-10 freshman Kennedy Klick is very highly regarded. Leah Dengerud scored 6 ppg last year as a freshman, but is not listed in the Guidebook, so I'm not sure of her status.
So the Islanders have an awesome collection of talent, inside and out. They are perhaps the #2 team in all of Minnesota after Hopkins. Only Wayzata is in the running for #2 along with De. They are a heavy favorite to win Section 4AAA.
The other state tournament entries look to be:
Section 1--Red Wing (#6) or Austin (#7). 4th seed Austin shocked #1 seed Red Wing last year.
Section 2--Marshall (#8) or Waconia (#11).
Section 3--St. Paul Como Park (#3) moves over from Section 4AAA and is a heavy favorite against perennial contender Simley (#10).
Section 5--Becker, last year's runner-up to DeLaSalle (losing 56-40 in the final), is rated #2 again. The Bulldogs return almost everybody led by juniors point guard Julia Bengtson and shooting guard Courtney Nuest, and sophomore wing Adeline Kent.
Section 6--Holy Angels (#4) moves over from Section 4AAA and is the obvious favorite.
Section 7--There are no ranked teams from 7AAA. Hermantown, Princeton, Hibbing and Grand Rapids can all contend.
Section 8--Alexandria (#5) is the obvious favorite as defending section champ Fergus Falls moves down to Class AA.
If all goes according to Hoyle, DeLaSalle will get Holy Angels in the semis again, same as last year; while Becker will get St. Paul Como, whom they defeated 101-86 during the last regular season.
Class AAA All-State
Julia Bengtson, Becker, junior, point guard
Ysareia Chevre, Simley, senior, forward
Jordyn Hilgemann, Marshall, junior, forward
Frankie Vascellero, Holy Angels, junior, shooting guard
Nurjei Weems, DeLaSalle, senior, post
Second 5
Kaylynn Asberry, St. Paul Como Park, sophomore, combo guard
Ella Grove, Alexandria, senior, wing
Kiani Lockett, DeLaSalle, sophomore, point guard
Anna Olson, Monticello, senior, power forward
Patience Williams, Benilde-St. Margaret's, senior, post
Bigs--You've got 4 6-footers or near-6 footers inside, starting with 6-foot senior Nurjei Weems (16 ppg, 9 rebounds); 6-foot Nora Francois, now a junior (12 ppg); and super sophomores Savanna White and Mya Williams. Both are listed at 5-10, but I'm told White is now 6-2. She is the sister of Royce White.
Point Guard--Kiani Lockett, also just a sophomore, 5-foot-6, runs the show. The Hub shows her scoring 4 ppg last year, the Breakdown Guidebook says 10. Who knows? But, she doesn't need to score for DeLaSalle to be successful, though she can and she will.
Combo Guard--Sydney Runsewe, a 5-8 sophomore, scored somewhere between 5 and 9 ppg. She is a capable point guard but will start alongside Lockett.
Shooting Guards--Senior Alexis Cochran-Starr is a streaky 3-point shooter (6 ppg last year) while 5-10 freshman Kennedy Klick is very highly regarded. Leah Dengerud scored 6 ppg last year as a freshman, but is not listed in the Guidebook, so I'm not sure of her status.
So the Islanders have an awesome collection of talent, inside and out. They are perhaps the #2 team in all of Minnesota after Hopkins. Only Wayzata is in the running for #2 along with De. They are a heavy favorite to win Section 4AAA.
The other state tournament entries look to be:
Section 1--Red Wing (#6) or Austin (#7). 4th seed Austin shocked #1 seed Red Wing last year.
Section 2--Marshall (#8) or Waconia (#11).
Section 3--St. Paul Como Park (#3) moves over from Section 4AAA and is a heavy favorite against perennial contender Simley (#10).
Section 5--Becker, last year's runner-up to DeLaSalle (losing 56-40 in the final), is rated #2 again. The Bulldogs return almost everybody led by juniors point guard Julia Bengtson and shooting guard Courtney Nuest, and sophomore wing Adeline Kent.
Section 6--Holy Angels (#4) moves over from Section 4AAA and is the obvious favorite.
Section 7--There are no ranked teams from 7AAA. Hermantown, Princeton, Hibbing and Grand Rapids can all contend.
Section 8--Alexandria (#5) is the obvious favorite as defending section champ Fergus Falls moves down to Class AA.
If all goes according to Hoyle, DeLaSalle will get Holy Angels in the semis again, same as last year; while Becker will get St. Paul Como, whom they defeated 101-86 during the last regular season.
Class AAA All-State
Julia Bengtson, Becker, junior, point guard
Ysareia Chevre, Simley, senior, forward
Jordyn Hilgemann, Marshall, junior, forward
Frankie Vascellero, Holy Angels, junior, shooting guard
Nurjei Weems, DeLaSalle, senior, post
Second 5
Kaylynn Asberry, St. Paul Como Park, sophomore, combo guard
Ella Grove, Alexandria, senior, wing
Kiani Lockett, DeLaSalle, sophomore, point guard
Anna Olson, Monticello, senior, power forward
Patience Williams, Benilde-St. Margaret's, senior, post
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
2019-2020 Season Preview: Girls Class AAAA
Ok, so, we’ve done the NBA and the Timberwolves. We’ve done the Big 10 and the Gopher men and women. So it’s time to move on to a preview of the high school season, and since the girls start 1st, I’ll also start 1st with the girls. Today, 4A, then the other 3 classes, and then the boys.
Now, I could tell you (and I will tell you) that I wrote a lot of the Breakdown Girls Guidebook so I highly recommend it. Go buy a copy for yourself. But I guess I also have to say, then, that the picks you’re going to see here are almost all the same picks that you’ll see there. Now, the Guidebook is 240 pages, so my version here is going to be a lot more concise. (As to the boys, well, I am sure the Boys Guidebook is really good, too, but I don’t know anything about it and so my picks for the boys are going to have nothing to do with the picks you might find in the Guidebook.) So, with that as background, lets begin.
Class AAAA
OK, for starters, Hopkins is going to repeat as state champions and Paige Bueckers is going to be Ms. Basketball. The only suspense is whether the Royals will go unbeaten again. They won the title at 32-0 last year. If they do that, their 64 straight wins would be the 2nd longest winning streak in Minnesota girls history. (Fosston won 78 in a row from 1999 to 2002). And if they do that, considering they have very possibly the greatest girls player ever in Minnesota, they’ll also go down in history as Minnesota’s greatest team.
So the real battle this year is for 2nd place. Once again, the #2 rating goes to Wayzata, who has the incredible misfortune of being in Hopkins’ section. Last year Hopkins defeated Wayzata 77-60 in the Section 6AAAA final and Stillwater 74-45 in the state final. Wayzata will be led by junior forward Jenna Johnson and sophomore guard Mara Braun, who will have two and three chances to catch up to the Royals.
Unfortunately for Wayzata, along with the senior Bueckers, Hopkins is led by sophomores Amaya Battle and Maya Nnaji and freshmen Nunu Agara and Taylor Woodson. Nnaji and Battle are rated #1 and #2 in the state among the 2022s, while Agara and Woodson are rated as co-#1 among the 2023s (by Prep Girls Hoops). (Bueckers is of course #1 among the 2020s.) Hopkins could very possibly win the state title this year without Bueckers, and will very likely win the 2021 title without her. So that’s the hill Wayzata and everybody else in AAAA has to climb.
The other climbers (the next dozen) will include:
• Section 1—Farmington (#3)
• Section 2—Chaska (#9) and Eden Prairie (#12)
• Section 3—Eastview (#13), Lakeville North (#6) and Rosemount (#10)
• Section 4—Stillwater (#7)
• Section 5—Park Center (#4)
• Section 8—Maple Grove (#8) and St. Michael-Albertville (#5)
If all of that pans out, your state tournament semi-finals would find Hopkins vs. St. Michael, and Farmington vs. Park Center.
Players to watch include the top 5 seniors, meaning also your top 5 Ms. Basketball candidates.
Center—Aliza Karlen, Stillwater (going to Marquette)
Forward—Mallory Brake, Hastings (Creighton)
Point Guard—Paige Bueckers, Hopkins (Connecticut)
Combo Guard—Kenzie Kramer, St. Michael-Albertville (Lehigh)
Shooting Guard—Lauren Jensen, Lakeville North (Iowa)
Top 5 Juniors and younger:
Center—Maya Nnaji, Hopkins, sophomore
Forward—Mallory Heyer, Chaska, sophomore
Forward—Jenna Johnson, Wayzata, junior
Point Guard—Mara Braun, Wayzata, sophomore
Shooting Guard—Adalia McKenzie, Park Center, junior
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Minnesota Gopher men 85 Cleveland State 50
The new-look Gophers continued to piece together a team that can compete, if not contend, in the Big 10. A scrimmage at Iowa State, an exhibition against Southwest State and, now, an official win over Cleveland State. What does it add up to? The fact is that nobody knows. It may or may not be good news that we should begin to get some real answers this Saturday night, when the Gophers take on Oklahoma at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.
Still, it's true that so far the Gophers have done what needed to be done. Tonight they shot 54% from the field, including 45% from 3-point range and 64% on 2-pointers, to dispatch an undermanned, overmatched opponent. Gophers Marcus Carr, Gabe Kalscheur and Payton Willis got open looks from the perimeter and made just enough of them to feel good about it. 6-10 sophomore post Daniel Oturu, meanwhile, got the shots he wanted in the lane--mostly 6-8-10 foot jumpers--and made 7-of-8. He added 10 rebounds and 5 blocked shots and was the Gophers' most effective player, though he did have too many turnovers with 6.
The official MVP was Carr, however. He scored 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting, and added 7 boards and 8 assists. He was +40. Willis scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, and added 4 boards and 8 assists. He was +43. Willis had no turnovers, Carr had 2. Overall, I thought Willis was a little better, though you could just as well call them the Minnesota Twins. They play a lot alike though Carr has the ball in his hands a lot more. I assume that's by design. But, Willis shot it better tonight.
Kalscheur didn't have a great night, making 3-of-10 shots for 9 points. Alihan Demir was much improved at the 4-spot with 10 points but just 2 boards. Still, he is going to be one of the smaller 4s in the Big 10. Off the bench, nobody was great though Jarvis Omersa scored 8 points on 4-of-5 shooting with 4 boards but he, too, is going to be among the smaller 4s in the conference.
Still, overall, the Gophers did what they had to do, dominating a weak opponent, making some 3s and getting the ball to Oturu almost as much as they should. The worst of it was 17 turnovers against a non-existent defense. Still, the starting 5 might almost be a .500 unit in the Big 10, but right now the bench is not competitive at that level. Developing that bench is going to be critical.
Still, it's true that so far the Gophers have done what needed to be done. Tonight they shot 54% from the field, including 45% from 3-point range and 64% on 2-pointers, to dispatch an undermanned, overmatched opponent. Gophers Marcus Carr, Gabe Kalscheur and Payton Willis got open looks from the perimeter and made just enough of them to feel good about it. 6-10 sophomore post Daniel Oturu, meanwhile, got the shots he wanted in the lane--mostly 6-8-10 foot jumpers--and made 7-of-8. He added 10 rebounds and 5 blocked shots and was the Gophers' most effective player, though he did have too many turnovers with 6.
The official MVP was Carr, however. He scored 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting, and added 7 boards and 8 assists. He was +40. Willis scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, and added 4 boards and 8 assists. He was +43. Willis had no turnovers, Carr had 2. Overall, I thought Willis was a little better, though you could just as well call them the Minnesota Twins. They play a lot alike though Carr has the ball in his hands a lot more. I assume that's by design. But, Willis shot it better tonight.
Kalscheur didn't have a great night, making 3-of-10 shots for 9 points. Alihan Demir was much improved at the 4-spot with 10 points but just 2 boards. Still, he is going to be one of the smaller 4s in the Big 10. Off the bench, nobody was great though Jarvis Omersa scored 8 points on 4-of-5 shooting with 4 boards but he, too, is going to be among the smaller 4s in the conference.
Still, overall, the Gophers did what they had to do, dominating a weak opponent, making some 3s and getting the ball to Oturu almost as much as they should. The worst of it was 17 turnovers against a non-existent defense. Still, the starting 5 might almost be a .500 unit in the Big 10, but right now the bench is not competitive at that level. Developing that bench is going to be critical.
Monday, November 4, 2019
Milwaukee Bucks 134 Minnesota Timberwolves 106
Well, I finally got out to see my first Timberwolves game of the year and wouldn't you know the Wolves would be without their horse, er, KAT, Karl-Anthony Towns. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Bucks were not missing their horse, their stud, their probably NBA MVP, Giannis Antetekounmpo. And, so, it was no contest, none whatsoever.
The Wolves simply had nobody who could even come close to guarding Giannis. And, it's funny, I always thought of Giannis as kind of a finesse guy. Not tonight. He just overpowered everybody the Wolves put out there. I don't know if there's a shot chart out there but it seems like he scored half his 34 points on bullrushes from the top of the key down the lane, and it seemed that more often than not the Wolves strategy was to give ground and then finally make contact at the defensive arc under the rim. Well, Giannis would throw an elbow or a shoulder into the defender's chest and create a little space (or sometimes, a lot of space) and make the uncontested layup. I don't remember the officials ever taking exception to his elbows and shoulders and what-not. Welcome to the NBA.
Point guard Eric Bledsoe was also very effective for Milwaukee with 22 points and 6 assists in 23 minutes, and his style of play was similar. His off arm was pretty much always in somebody's mid-section and he too created plenty of space that way to do whatever he wanted.
But, all of that aside, Milwaukee was 28 points better than the Wolves, making 50-of-93 shots (54%) to the Wolves 37-for-103 (36%), especially with their 36-of-54 on 2-pointers (67%) to the Wolves 24-for-60 (40%) on 2s. Milwaukee was also better on 3s but that really didn't matter. The only weakness I saw from the Bucks was 20-of-30 FT compared to the Wolves 19-of-22. Giannis was 6-of-11. Good teams are going to make him shoot more FT and fewer layups.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee's inside defense was as tough as the Wolves' was porous. Early on, the Wolves got to the rim a little bit but were met there by 7-footer Brook Lopez (3 blocks), 7-footer Robin Lopez (1 block), the 6-11 Antetekounmpo and 6-7 Khris Middleton. The result was a lot of missed layups.
And, meanwhile, Wesley Matthews, who is really a terrible player with a minimum of basic skills, somehow went a team and game-leading +29.
So, OK, how about those Timberwolves? Well, did I mention they were without KAT, and they were playing a really, really good team? Yeah? So, it's hard to say very much. But, here are some things I'm comfortable saying despite the small and possibly not very extendable sample of one thrashing by a potential NBA champion:
• Jordan Bell and Noah Vonleh played 30 minutes in the post between them. (Gorgui Dieng was not physical enough to compete against the Bucks, though he scored 10 points with 6 boards and 4 assists in 17 minutes. But he was a team-worst -29.) Bell and Vonleh but up a bit more resistance on defense and combined for 17 points, 12 boards and 4 assists. Bell was -2, Vonleh +3.
• Jeff Teague was good offensively but got totally abused on defense and finished -25. Shabazz Napier was better overall, matching Teague's 10 points and finishing at +5.
• Graham, Covington and Wiggins were not good, finishing -27, -20 and -17. Wiggins at least did some scoring (25).
• Layman and Okogie were MIA this night.
• And for Jarrett Culver, MIA would have been an improvement. As it is, he was only too noticeable for his complete inability and/or unwillingness to guard anybody. There was a complete lack of effort on the defensive end.
• The Wolves best lineup was probably Bell or Vonleh with Napier, and then Wiggins, Covington and maybe me.
But, did I mention, the Wolves were without their best player and were playing a very, very good team with a group of officials who didn't mind if Milwaukee's offensive players cleared out the defense with a shoulder or an elbow before shooting...a layup.
So, as it happens, I plan on seeing the Wolves again on Friday against Golden State and Sunday against Denver. They way they've been playing, other than tonight, Golden State is now an eminently winnable game, while Denver should be very competitive. But, they'll have KAT back and if their opening 4-1 run was for real, they could still be 6-2 come Monday. I will let you know what I see after the KAT comes back.
The Wolves simply had nobody who could even come close to guarding Giannis. And, it's funny, I always thought of Giannis as kind of a finesse guy. Not tonight. He just overpowered everybody the Wolves put out there. I don't know if there's a shot chart out there but it seems like he scored half his 34 points on bullrushes from the top of the key down the lane, and it seemed that more often than not the Wolves strategy was to give ground and then finally make contact at the defensive arc under the rim. Well, Giannis would throw an elbow or a shoulder into the defender's chest and create a little space (or sometimes, a lot of space) and make the uncontested layup. I don't remember the officials ever taking exception to his elbows and shoulders and what-not. Welcome to the NBA.
Point guard Eric Bledsoe was also very effective for Milwaukee with 22 points and 6 assists in 23 minutes, and his style of play was similar. His off arm was pretty much always in somebody's mid-section and he too created plenty of space that way to do whatever he wanted.
But, all of that aside, Milwaukee was 28 points better than the Wolves, making 50-of-93 shots (54%) to the Wolves 37-for-103 (36%), especially with their 36-of-54 on 2-pointers (67%) to the Wolves 24-for-60 (40%) on 2s. Milwaukee was also better on 3s but that really didn't matter. The only weakness I saw from the Bucks was 20-of-30 FT compared to the Wolves 19-of-22. Giannis was 6-of-11. Good teams are going to make him shoot more FT and fewer layups.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee's inside defense was as tough as the Wolves' was porous. Early on, the Wolves got to the rim a little bit but were met there by 7-footer Brook Lopez (3 blocks), 7-footer Robin Lopez (1 block), the 6-11 Antetekounmpo and 6-7 Khris Middleton. The result was a lot of missed layups.
And, meanwhile, Wesley Matthews, who is really a terrible player with a minimum of basic skills, somehow went a team and game-leading +29.
So, OK, how about those Timberwolves? Well, did I mention they were without KAT, and they were playing a really, really good team? Yeah? So, it's hard to say very much. But, here are some things I'm comfortable saying despite the small and possibly not very extendable sample of one thrashing by a potential NBA champion:
• Jordan Bell and Noah Vonleh played 30 minutes in the post between them. (Gorgui Dieng was not physical enough to compete against the Bucks, though he scored 10 points with 6 boards and 4 assists in 17 minutes. But he was a team-worst -29.) Bell and Vonleh but up a bit more resistance on defense and combined for 17 points, 12 boards and 4 assists. Bell was -2, Vonleh +3.
• Jeff Teague was good offensively but got totally abused on defense and finished -25. Shabazz Napier was better overall, matching Teague's 10 points and finishing at +5.
• Graham, Covington and Wiggins were not good, finishing -27, -20 and -17. Wiggins at least did some scoring (25).
• Layman and Okogie were MIA this night.
• And for Jarrett Culver, MIA would have been an improvement. As it is, he was only too noticeable for his complete inability and/or unwillingness to guard anybody. There was a complete lack of effort on the defensive end.
• The Wolves best lineup was probably Bell or Vonleh with Napier, and then Wiggins, Covington and maybe me.
But, did I mention, the Wolves were without their best player and were playing a very, very good team with a group of officials who didn't mind if Milwaukee's offensive players cleared out the defense with a shoulder or an elbow before shooting...a layup.
So, as it happens, I plan on seeing the Wolves again on Friday against Golden State and Sunday against Denver. They way they've been playing, other than tonight, Golden State is now an eminently winnable game, while Denver should be very competitive. But, they'll have KAT back and if their opening 4-1 run was for real, they could still be 6-2 come Monday. I will let you know what I see after the KAT comes back.
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