Section 4AA and 5AA Boys Coming Into Focus, Maybe, as Rockford Hammers Concordia 84-50

With Minnehaha moving up to Class AAA, the conventional wisdom was that the quality teams in the metro regions of Class AA were reduced from 2 (Minnehaha and Mpls. North) to one (that, of course, would be North).

Well, in Section 4AA, favored Cristo Rey Jesuit may still be the favorite despite a loss to AAA Holy Angels, though a 78-63 blowout by Blake at Holy Angels kinda shakes up the perspective there a little bit. But, Blake is in 5AA. But the really big eye-opener was 4AA St. Croix Prep's 70-58 shellacking of Mpls. North, though it must be noted that Willie Wilson did not play in that game. Wilson has since scored 42 points as North clobbered a pair of Minneapolis City Conference opponents. 

Still, in 4AA, St. Croix Prep joins Cristo Rey among the faves. I'm still in wait-and-see mode with Humboldt, despite its 5-0 record, and ditto Concordia after its 84-50 shellacking at the hands of Rockford tonight. 

In 5AA, Mpls. North remains the favorite, despite QRF having the Polars at #17, Holy Family #7 and Rockford #11. QRF doesn't much care who did or didn't play in any particular game. Blake #22, Watertown-Mayer #32, Maranatha #38 and Litchfield #42 all have just one loss. But, Rockford seemed to say tonight that they're now the #1 threat to the Polars with their easy win over Concordia. They've also beaten Providence 56-42, while Holy Family lost to Maranatha 50-44, and Maranatha also beat Providence by the score of 56-42. So, there's a bunch of teams capable of claiming the #2 spot in the section, but Rockford's claim is as good as any.

And, that's not just the numbers talking. That's the Rockets talking or, rather, playing ball tonight at Concordia. So let's talk about the game.

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Rockford Rockets 84 Concordia Beacons 50

Concordia sure looked athletic enough, but once the clock started running, Rockford proved itself to be a more experienced team and just more of a team in every sense of the word. They're not the most athletic, at least not physically. They're not going to win a lot of track & field meets. But they play together, they play hard, they play smart and, oh, yeah, did I mention, they're huge. As in 7-feet and 6-6, and 6-6 off the bench.

Up front, early on, it was 6-6 senior Carter Kulavik who did the damage--7 points with 3 offensive boards. In the 2nd half, 7-0 senior Calvin Sisk got it going with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including a dunk, and 3 rebounds. 

But, if you're seeing "7-feet" and you're thinking, oh, Rockford overpowers people inside, well, they hold their own and more. But, the truth is that the Rockets win with their guards and they win with defense. They are a well-coached, well-drilled, smart, experienced team that minimizes its mistakes. They play mostly zone, and tonight it was a 1-2-2. It may not be the answer every night, but for the Beacons, yeah, Rockford's zone was the pretty much game, set and match. Concordia senior guard Essay Hagos came into the game scoring 30 ppg. He likes to get out running and attack the rim. Rockford just said, hey, no way. They slowed Hagos to a walk, forced him into the half court, and then forced him to shoot the 3. Eventually he made 3 3s, but 2 of them came after things had been decided. Rockford said, hey, beat me with the 3, and  Concordia couldn't do that. Hagos finished with 23, but it was a quiet 23. And 6-of-19 3s was hardly the worst of it. With Rockford's size in the lane, in fact, the Beacons only made 7-of-35 2s. Ouch. So, that's a great defense. I mean, Concordia only lost to 5-0, Class AAAA Mounds View 70-59.

But, if you're adding up Rockford's inside scoring (Kulavik 7 + Sisk 11) and subtracting that from 84, you're beginning to understand the Rockford Rockets. Guards Ryan Boysen, Luke Pepin and Todd Traen scored 43 points between them. Pepin, who is 6-3, scored 13 in the 1st half on 5-of-9 shooting, including 1-of-3 3s, but also 4-of-6 2s mostly inside of 10 feet. In the 2nd half Rockford unleashed its 3 point game as 5-10 Boysen and 6-0 Traen made 5-of-9 and the bench made 3-of-4. The bottom line for the Rockets is this. Their 3 starting guards--Boysen, Traen and Luke Pepin--are a very well-oiled machine. At least, they were tonight. They move the ball very effectively, and when one of them gets open, they find each other. Every now and again they got a little bit stagnant when they stopped moving without the ball. But, oh, yeah, they're 7-0, 6-6, 6-6 up front.

The game's big moment came at 15:28 of the 2nd half. Rockford was in control 35-20 at the half. Hagos hit a 3, then after Sisk's big dunk, Gary Legvold hit a pair of throws to get the Beacons within 37-25 as a result of Traen's 3rd foul. Surely, Traen would have to come out. But, no, Rockford coach Michael Tauber showed his faith in his senior guard and Traen stayed in. He promptly got a steal and a 3. 40-25. (He did't get #4 for another 7-8 minutes and, oh, yeah, he stayed in then, too.) Then Boysen hit a pair of 3s from the left corner in transition after a pair of defensive rebounds. Luke Pepin assisted on both of Boysen's 3s. On the 2nd one he got the blocked shot that led to the rebound that led to the assist that led to the 3-pointer. 46-25. A minute-thirty after Concordia seemed to be building a little bit of momentum, it was game over. 

Concordia has Hagos, who is an athletic, playmaking guard. They have 6-4 senior forward Gary Legvold, who is tough and active inside. And, they have freshman guard A.J. Greene, who is not afraid to shoot it. They score 50 ppg among them, though tonight the total was just 41. And, against Rockford's D, Hagos and Greene shot 6-of-36 between them. And, they not only couldn't defend 7-0 and 6-6 inside, they couldn't defend Rockford's 3-point shooting either.

Now, in fairness to Concordia and in fairness to the truth, the Beacons were missing 6-5 senior forward Aaron Terhaar, who scored 21 against Mounds View but has not played since. As to the nature of his injury and prospects for his return, I have no idea. But I have a pretty good idea that they're a different team with another big, strong kid in the lane. So their long-term prospects are going to be very much determined by Terhaar's return.

So, what we saw tonight was a very probably a Section 5AA final 4 team vs. a Section 4AA final 4 team. What this means is that this season, 5AA looks a heck of a lot tougher than 4AA. Right now I'll say that Rockford would be a very solid contender to win a Section 4AA title if they were in Section 4AA. Instead, Mpls. North will remain a steep hill for the Rockets to climb in 5AA, but after tonight I wouldn't say it can't happen.