2020 Game of the Year

Call me old fashioned. It came down to 2 games.

• One represented a venerable old rivalry between two 100-year rivals with pretty much everything that they live for at stake.

• The other representing the kind of game that only the 21st century could produce, where the excitement was manufactured by hyperventilating TV announcers and social media influencers, and winning and losing was a side dish. The main dish was the show, the hype, the TV announcers and the TV ratings and the NBA-like atmosphere.

Call me old fashioned. I'll take the Tommies and the Johnnies with the MIAC title and an NCAA tournament bid on the line as my game of the year.

Minnehaha 78 Sierra Canyon, CA 58

The other contender is of course the January 4 matchup of Minnehaha Academy and Sierra Canyon, CA, in the Target Center with a live audience of 16,000 and a national television audience also tuned in. Minnehaha was of course touted, by Minnehaha personnel, it must be said, as the greatest high school basketball team in Minnesota history. They proved to be something less, losing to Cretin 75-66 and Hopkins 92-85 to start 3-2. They finished 22-1, losing only to undefeated Eden Prairie at home 78-64 the rest of the way. Gotta love the headline on swnewsmedia.com after that one. "'Best ever' effort silences 'best ever' talk.'" Well, unfortunately, it didn't totally silence the best ever talk except of course among people who knew whereof they spoke.

Still, my hat is off to 'Haha for moving up from Class AA to Class AAA after 3 straight state titles. DeLaSalle, whom they probably would have played for the AAA title in a normal year, wouldn't move up after 6 straight titles and 7 of 8. They won't move up after 20. You know it's true.

But, anyway, Minnehaha  somehow got the nation's hype machine and its team, Sierra Canyon, to come to Minnesota to play them at the Target Center on TV. It was a great night of basketball, if your idea of basketball is the NBA all-star game and the Harlem Globetrotters. It was show time from the opening tip. Sierra had Bronny James, son of LeBron James, yeah, that LeBron James. He's just a freshman and he may one day be a great ballplayer. For now, he comes off the bench, but that's plenty of fodder for the hype masters, I guess. But, Sierra also has Zaire Wade, son of Dwayne, also not a star. But, after James transferred to Sierra, he was followed by 5-star dudes B.J. Boston, now a Kentucky commit, and Ziaire Williams. Boston scored 27 points with 8 boards for the losers.

But, the fact is that Sierra is better than what it showed on January 4. They finished 30-4 and rated #2 nationally behind 25-0 Montverde Academy (FL).

Minnehaha's role in this soap opera was a tribute to Jalen Suggs, the #10-ranked player nationally in this year's senior class. He fed the hype machine by announcing his college choice on TV the night before. He "committed" to Gonzaga. It was the kind of commitment that required a postscript, however, that Suggs would continue to consider turning professional overseas. He patted Richard Pitino on the head, then kicked him in the ass, saying that the Gophers just weren't where Jalen Suggs needed them to be. As if their mission is to serve Jalen Suggs. Sigh.

But, hey, Suggs scored 23 points and made the highlight reel against Sierra Canyon and Bronny James.

Game of the Year: St. John's 82 St. Thomas 63

That brings us to the game of the year, and a game that was about the game, and about basketball, and about all the things missing at the Target Center on January 4. St. Thomas had already won at St. John's 71-66, as the Johnnies made just 4-of-19 3-pointers. But, then St. John's came down to the big city and hammered the Tommies 87-70, making 6-of-13 3s and 30-of-42 (.714) 2s. The Johnnies and Tommies tied for the MIAC regular season title--it was the Johnnies 9th title, St. Thomas has 34. For whatever reason, St. John's got the #1 seed and the home court advantage for the playoffs. In the semis, the Johnnies beat St. Olaf easily while St. Thomas pulled away from St. Mary's around the 10 minute mark and won by 13.

So, now, St. John's ran out to an 11-0 lead. The Tommies got within 16-12 but trailed 41-28 at the half, and never got within single digits in the 2nd half. Jubie Alade and Oakley Baker made 9-of-15 3s for the Johnnies and scored 47 points between them.

All of which may not quite seem like a Game of the Year. But, considering they both went on to win a pair of NCAA tournament games on the road, and that they were 27-2 and 26-3, and that they were #2 and #4 in the nation, and considering further that they were scheduled to play one another again at St. John's in the D3 Sweet 16, well, there was enough riding on this game to make it a great game even in a relative blowout. Who thought, for example, that there would be another blowout in the round of 16? No one, that's who. But, since that game never came to pass, this one will have to do and it will do as our Game of the Year.