Basically it was a night for surprises. The bigger the game, the bigger the surprise.
1. Eden Prairie 79 Prior Lake 58
I've already written up the Eden Prairie win over Prior Lake. The Eagles came in #1, the Lakers #4, so it wasn't an upset per se. But 21 points? That's a big surprise. But, what makes it the best game of the day was Eden Prairie's execution. There was nothin' fancy, just plain vanilla basketball--making plays, making passes, solid D, nobody was trying to do stuff they can't do.
Austin Andrews got to the rim at will in the 1st half and finished with 22 points and 10 boards. Drake Dobbs was solid and fundamental with 17 points, 4 boards and 4 assists with just 1 turnover. Dawson Garcia struggled for the Lakers. Like I said, EP played some nice D. And, yet, Garcia finished with 26 points, 6 boards and 3 blocks. His 1st shot of the day was a step back 3. Swish. The dude is 6-11. I don't know that this was the best-played game of the day, but Eden Prairie played the best-played, best-executed half-of-a-game (one team) of the day.
2. East Ridge 62 Park Center 57
OK, didn't expect this. East Ridge was in attack mode on both sides of the ball, and made Park Center work really hard for everything it got. And, then again, it didn't hurt that Ben Carlson busted loose for 40 points. He's been up and down, and maybe a little more down than up, when I've seen him. Not today. He shot the 3, he challenged Dain Dainja at the rim and scored. He did it all and played with a confidence that lifted his teammates as well. It was the top individual performance of the day and that's saying something, because there were a bunch of other really great performances.
3. DeLaSalle 67 Mankato East 63
Mankato East didn't pull off the upset like East Ridge and Cretin, but almost. They led most of the way and they were right there. They ran off to a 21-10 lead early, but the Islanders got back within 32-29 at halftime. DeLaSalle went ahead 37-35 in the 2nd, but East came back to lead 46-42 at about 9 minutes. DeLaSalle went on a 19-5 run to lead 61-51 as Amir Whitlock scored 9 points in a little over 3 minutes. Still East came back to within 65-63 at 0:47, but De was able to hold on. Whitlock finished with 16 points and 5 boards, and Cade Haskins 14-5 and 3 assists. For Mankato, Jax Madsen scored 23 and Jordan Merseth 17 and 6.
4. Cretin 75 Minnehaha 66
I'm sure a lot of people would call this the game of the day. I'm almost tempted to rank it lower than this. It wasn't a really well played game. It surely wasn't well-officiated. It lacked flow. There was maybe more talent on the floor here than for any other game, though Eden Prairie and Prior Lake would give 'em a run. There were more spectacularly athletic plays, and more bonehead plays. Too much stylin,' too much fancy-pants and not enough fundamental basketball, not enough teamwork. And, some of the kids were workin' the referees like it was the NBA. Don't need that.
Jalen Suggs was the MVP for most observers with 30 points. But the hosts picked Curtis Jones as their MVP with 19 points for Cretin. Then there's Tre Holloman who as solid with 17 points, 8 assists and a good defensive effort. J'Vonne Hadley is still getting comfortable with his new teammates, but he was solid with 16 points, 4 blocked shots and 3 assists.
5. Shakopee 85 Hopkins 82
All of the best athletes played for Hopkins. Most of the best basketball players played for Shakopee. I mean, they don't look like much until the clock starts, and then they play hard and fast and they seem to know where they should be and what they should do, and then they do it. In fact, the 2 least athletic looking Sabres are the small senior guards Will Cordes and Caleb Druvenga. All they did was score 44 points between them, while holding the uber-athletic Hopkins guard Kerwin Walton, 3-4 inches taller than either of them, to 23 points himself. After Eden Prairie, they executed their game plan as well as anybody today.
6. Lake City 65 Minneapolis North 54
This never really felt like an 11 point game. In fact, you could have a heck-of-a-game of 2 on 2 with Nathan Heise and Reid Gerstner for Lake City, and Davon Townley and Willie Willson for North. Townley is a 6-7 sophomore, a stud who, oh, yeah, by the way, shoots the 3. Wilson was a pest on defense, and runs the show on offense. But the big news here was Heise with 39 points and 14 boards. He's a 6-4 point guard, strong, fundamentally solid, headed to Northern Iowa where I think he could have an immediate impact. After Ben Carlson, the player of the day.
7. St. Cloud Apollo 99 Cambridge-Isanti 82
Cambridge led by maybe 20? Then Apollo went on a 43-4 run.
8. Eastview 98 Wayzata 82
Jaylen James and Steven Crowl combined for 52 points for Eastview. Wayazata was missing a couple of starters including 6-6 sophomore forward Cam Heide. They've also got 6-8 sophomore forward Carter Bjerke so the future remains bright in Wayzata despite the loss. For Eastview the future is now.
9. Lakeville South 70 Buffalo 58
Buffalo had 3 blue chippers coming back. One took early graduation, one was hurt, and Matthew Willert shot the lights out. But Reid Patterson, Lakeville South junior guard was even better with 28 points. Riley Mahlman is rounding into basketball mode after a tough start the other night (0 points, 5 fouls).
10. Lakeville North 50 Totino-Grace 56
One of the few grinders on the day. North led most of the way but never got more than about 8 points of separation.
11. Caledonia 81 Maranatha 64
Maranatha led at the half 34-29 as Cal shot 12-of-41 (29 percent). Eli and Noah King combined for 46 points for Caledonia, who is going to be without Sam Privet for at least a month.
12. Minnetonka 89 Mahtomedi 73
The Zephyrs of course lost J'Vonne Hadley to transfer this year, so Minnetonka had too much firepower. Cam Steele scored 38.
13. Champlin Park 63 Waseca 41
It was nip and tuck right up to 31-30, but Champlin went on a 17-0 run and Francis Nwaokorie went 17-11-3 and much outplayed Waseca's Andrew Morgan (8-10).
14. BOLD 78 Minneota 53
I don't know anybody who saw this coming. Drew Sagedahl scored 30 while Gavin Vosika was 21-8-5. Logan Sussner was 27-11 for Minneota.
15. Spring Lake Park 66 North St. Paul 51
16. Perham 64 Mound 43
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