Cherry Clobbers Hayfield at the Boys Tip-Off

Cherry throttled Hayfield in the feature game at this year's (that is, yesterday's) Boys Tip-Off 62-43, avenging their 72-61 loss to the state champion Vikings in last year's state semi-finals. Hayfield took early leads of 11-5 and 13-10 as all-state senior Isaac Matti drilled 3 straight 3-pointers and also put an aggressive defense on Cherry's all-state junior Isaac Asuma. 

But Cherry caught up at 15 and 18 on a pair of 3s by the vastly-improved 8th grader Isaiah Asuma, then went ahead for the first time as Isaac Asuma scored for the first time. Isaiah hit another 3 to make it 29-22. At the half it was 33-24 as Carson Brown had 12 points and Isaiah 11. Cherry never looked back, scoring on their first 2 possessions of the 2nd half to lead by 13. Hayfield never got closer than 8, and in fact soon trailed 53-33 as now it was 9th grader Noah Asuma who scored 5 buckets and big brother Isaac 3.

In last year's tournament semi-final, Cherry lacked scoring punch from anybody other than Isaac Asuma, who scored 36 of the Bears 61 points. Now, his brothers are a year older, though still just in 8th (Isaiah) and 9th (Noah) grade. And they've also added two transfers from Hibbing (so I'm told) in sophomores Noah Sundquist and Carson Brown, who scored 28 ppg between them last year. Meanwhile, Hayfield lost 2 starters, and it was the Vikings who seemed to lack scoring punch behind Isaac Matti.

So, Isaac Asuma finished with 17 points, Noah 16, Isaiah 15 and Brown 14. Isaac, who played a remarkably patient and unselfish game as the focus of the Hayfield defense, also added 12 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 blocks. Cherry made 15-of-36 2s (42%), 8-of-19 3s (also 42%) and 8-of-9 FT. The bottom line is that Cherry plays with a pace and precision that make them very, very hard to defend.

Hayfield got 23 points from Matti on 8-of-18 shooting. Next best was Ethan Pack with 8 points on 4-of-13. Matti added 10 rebounds, but also 7 turnovers. Hayfield shot 17-for-52 overall (33%) but won the battle of the boards 35-28, including 9 offensive boards and a 10-3 edge in 2nd chance points. But the turnovers were 16 for Hayfield and 7 for Cherry, and the Bears had a 14-6 edge in points off turnovers.

Hayfield was #1 in the pre-season polls, Cherry #4. So maybe Cherry could claim the #1 spot, but #2 BBE and #3 New Life might have something to say about that. But considering that BBE lost 3 starters from last year's state runner-up and New Life lost high-scoring Kollin Kaemingk, well, we'll just have to wait and see. But it is very hard to imagine that Cherry won't be one of the last four or more likely two standing in Class A come March,

The Rest of the Morning and Early Afternoon

I saw the morning and afternoon games. I did not stay into the wee hours of the evening, which I now regret, seeing the scores of some of those games!

But, the 2nd best game that I saw featured a Holy Family comeback win over Plainview-Elgin-Millville 65-62. PEM led throughout the first half as 6-7 Aeron Stevens torched the Fire for 6 3s, a couple of 2s and at least 3 assists. Holy Family's 6-11 Boden Kapke started out very slowly but got it going late in the 1st half and throughout the 2nd, showing that he is indeed a solid D1 prospect who can run the floor and play a stretch 4 at the next level. Holy Family guard Kole Hanson sealed the deal with a steal-and-2 inside of 2 minutes. I haven't seen a box score for this one but I'd guess that Stevens was probably close to 30, Kapke and Hanson in the 15 to 18 range.

Holy Family is rated #2 in the pre-season polls behind Minnehaha in Class AA while PEM is #3. But PEM was missing its 2nd best player, guard Chase Fogelson, who was at the football all-star game, and PEM beat Holy Family by 17 in a fall ball game. So it's pretty early to worry about the pecking order here.

While I was busy with Cherry and Hayfield, I missed most of another great game in which DeLaSalle beat Minnetonka 69-67 on a buzzer beater. I didn't see it but I would have to think it was by Nasir Whitlock, who was the only Islander in double figures with 35 points. I did watch enough of the game to say that these are 2 really athletic teams, and Whitlock gives the Islanders that little something extra at crunch time. Not saying they can beat Totino-Grace and I'm not saying they can't. Of course, you also can no longer say that Totino is unbeatable. 

I also paid some attention to an entertaining early morning matchup of Andover and Robbinsdale Cooper. Andover was also missing its best player, football all-star Sam Musungu, and without him, Cooper overwhelmed Andover with its tremendous quickness 94-83. I couldn't find a Cooper box score but I remember that #2 Sam Massaquoi was terrific. Meanwhile, Ben Kopetski continued his torrid play with Musungu out, scoring 40 yesterday after 46 on Friday night. 

Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial impressed in another early, early game, beating Concordia 81-62 as 5 players, 4 of them seniors, scored in double figures. Robbinsdale Armstrong edged Rosemount 53-51 as 4 players, 3 of them juniors or younger, scored in double digits. 

Next up was yet another entertaining game, as Mahtomedi pulled away from a 35-all halftime tie to beat Stewartville 74-67. Will Underwood scored 29 for the winners. Will Tschetter 21 for Stew. 

Then tell me if you've heard this one before. #3AAA Orono beats Hopkins 95-84 on Friday, then beats #1AA Minnehaha 106-97 on Saturday. No, I didn't think you'd heard of such a thing before. So far, Isaiah Hagen is scoring 30 ppg, Nolan Groves 22 and Kyle Kallenbach 17. Grant Gunderson is scoring 9 with 9 assists. Yesterday Hagen scored 29, Groves 26 and Gunderson 13 with 9 assists and 11 rebounds. Orono surely plays at one of if not the fastest pace in the state.

People Talk

So, hangin' out at the Tip-Off, you not only see some pretty good basketball but you get to gossip with some of the biggest basketball nerds around. And, what I heard was this. Some folks saw Park Center beat DeLaSalle 102-71 last Thursday. Park Center, they said, is unbeatable. On the other hand, they play Lakeville North next Saturday night at 8:30 at Osseo. You might have heard that Lakeville North beat that other previously unbeatable team, Totino-Grace, last night 68-65. 

The Best of the Best at the Girls Tip-Off

 You really have to hand it to the folks at the Breakdown. They've made the annual Tip-Offs the best and most indispensable days of the entire high school basketball season, with the possible exception of the state tournament. Friday and Saturday it was the girls' turn, and the Tip-Off featured all of the top 9 teams in AAAA, 7 of the top 10 in AAA and 7 more from AA. In Class A it was #1 vs. #3. 

(My rankings cited here, by the way, represent a composite of the rankings by the Breakdown itself and Minnesota Basketball News. And I saw all of the Saturday games. I was not there on Friday.)

And, to my mind, the most impressive performance by a Minnesota team was Wayzata's dismantling of a good White Bear Lake team. Of course, #6 Wayzata didn't draw the toughest opponent. White Bear's not even in the top 20 right now, but that's an oversight, just as it was last year when the Bears won 2 games at the state tournament. In their 73-44 win, Wayzata displayed the day's best combination of size, quickness and a team orientation. Their strength and quickness on defense, and their commitment to the defensive end will stand them in good stead throughout the year. More about Wayzata and White Bear below.

The Rest of the Best

Also impressive were #5 Chaska and #1 Hopkins. Kennedy Sanders hit 5 3s and scored 23 points in beating Lakeville North 64-50. Despite graduating Kaylee Van Epps and Mallory Heyer the past 2 years, Chaska coach Tara Seifert can surround Sanders with a smart, poised group featuring senior forward Anna Lenzen, who scored 11 points. 6-3 senior Kylie Silus came off the bench to add 9.

Hopkins, playing without Taylor Woodson at the moment, nevertheless throttled #4 Maple Grove 69-49. Nunu Agara dominated both ends of the floor inside, scoring 28 points. Maple Grove made just 1-of-17 3s, while Hopkins made just 9-of-18 FT.

But, wait, I said that Wayzata was the most impressive Minnesota team. By far the most impressive team overall was Hortonville, WI, who took it to Minnetonka 66-56. Minnetonka is of course playing without Tori McKinney for now. Still, Hortonville was very, very impressive on both ends of the floor. Their aggressive, attacking defense had the Skippers on their heels most of the time, and when they (Hortonville) missed a shot, they were super aggressive and very effective on the offensive board, especially in the 2nd half. Not only that, but their 2 best players are 5-9 freshman guard Rainey Welson and 6-2 junior wing Kallie Peppler, who scored 12. They outshot Tonka from behind the arc 11-0 as Welson made 4. I am told that Hortonville presently is rated #4 in Wisconsin but was #1 much of last year.

Individually my top players are:

C- Nunu Agara. Hopkins, 6-3, sr., 28 points

PF- Jocelyn Land, Holy Family, 6-1, jr., 24 points

SF- Alyssa Sand, Albany, 6-2, jr.

PG- Kennedy Sanders, Chaska, 5-9, sr., 23 points

CG- Rainey Welson, Hortonville, 5-9, fr., 21 points

or a 2nd G from Minnesota- Maren Westin, Becker, 5-8, sr.

My 2nd 5 would be Tori Schlagel, Eden Prairie; Hawkinson and Oberlander, Wayzata (see below); Tess Johnson of St. M-A; and Peppler. Or, if you prefer a 5th player from Minnesota, well, how about Kylan Gerads from Albany.

Wayzata 73 White Bear Lake 44

Both teams shot poorly through the first 10 minutes--Wayzata 2-for-11, White Bear 2-for-13, and Wayzata already had 5 turnovers while White Bear turned it over on their first possession and then withstood Wayzata's relentless defensive pressure, not turning it over again for the full 10 minutes. Wayzata led 5-4, White Bear tied it at 7, and it was still just 12-10 at the 7 minute mark.

But Wayzata's defense finally began to produce results. They wore White Bear out and the Bears attention to controlling the ball wavered just a bit. They turned it over 8 times in the second 10 minutes and Wayzata scored 13 points off of those turnovers. White Bear had 2 points off turnovers. Wayzata also scored off the offensive board 3 times, all in the final 3 minutes and change to increase their lead from 22-13 to 28-14. White Bear made just one of 7 shots over those 10 minutes.

The 2nd half saw more of the same. White Bear got within 31-21 but suddenly it was 43-23 at the 10 minute mark. White Bear turned it over 11 times in the 2nd half for a total of 20, and the points off turnovers for the day were 21-5 in favor of Wayzata. Wayzata got 15 offensive rebounds and the 2nd chance points were 14-3 Wayzata for the day.

Wayzata's balanced scoreing was impressive. Their most effective players were feisty 5-9 sophomore guard Sophie Hawkinson and 6-4 senior post Jessica Oberlander, who came off the bench, each with 15 points. Hawkinson's ball defense also set the tone, while Oberlander was active on the boards. 6-foot senior wing Abby Krzewinski and 5-10 junior guard Sam Johnson showed great jump shooting form, scoring 12 and 11 with 4 3s between them. 

White Bear was led by 6-0 junior F Jordyn Schmittdiel. She is a warrior. She scored 17 points on just 2-of-9 2-pointers, but 2-of 4 3s, and she got to the FT line 8 times, making 7. She had 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Repeat after me: Under Rated. White Bear was playing without 5-10 senior post Blessing Adebisi. She would not have changed the outcome, but she sure would have helped on the boards which were won by Wayzata 41-27, and then of course there were those 14 2nd chance points.

In Closing....

In AAAA, Hopkins deserves to be #1 until somebody beats 'em, and good luck with that. Still, Wayzata will be competitive with the Royals.

In AAA, Becker was impressive in its 83-76 win over Providence. And if you don't have Maren Westin on your Ms. Basketball list, well, don't be the last on your block to add her. She is the best pure shooter in the state.

In AA, well, Providence was impressive in their 83-76 loss to Becker. They sure can score. They're a little helter skelter, which is my way of saying they don't value the ball well enough and their shot selection leaves something to be desired. But they were better than Becker on several fronts but (well, I haven't seen a box score, but I'm guessing that) shooting the ball was not one of them. Oh, and Albany is better than I thought, possibly as good as #3AA.

In A, #1 Mountain Iron-Buhl blew the doors off of #3 Hayfield 79-33. Hayfield had no chance of withstanding MIB's pressure defense, with neither the size, the strength nor the quickness to protect the ball. MIB is not as deep as usual, it was strange to see their starters playing all those minutes and their rotation going just 7 deep most of the time. But they never got tired and the defensive pressure never waned. Jordan Zubich barely shot the ball through most of the first half but, no problem, guards Sage Ganyo and Hali Savela scored almost at will. By the time all was said and done, of course, Zubich had 24 while Savela and Ganyo had 22 and 19.

2022 Hoops Awards--Team and Coach of the Year Candidates

So who are the winners going to be come March, April, May? I don't have a clue. These are the teams that are doing well now.

Teams

UMD men--8-0 in the conference, 15-0 overall. It doesn't get much better than that. You may have noted that UMD's Drew Blair and Austin Andrews are among our Player of the Year candidates, and why not? They play for the best team.

Minnesota Gopher men--10-4. Seriously, you didn't give the Gophers a chance in a million to win 10 games this year. Now, the going is getting a lot tougher with a Big 10 only schedule from here on out. They are now 1-4 in the Big 10 and they probably will be the favorite in no more than 3 or 4, maybe 5 of their remaining 15 Big 10 games. That would make 'em 14-15. Well, they were one game below .500 a year ago with a lot more talent that just didn't happen to be as committed to their team or their program. Getting more wins is one sign of progress and the Gophers might still get that. But getting more per capita out of the talent that you've got might be a more sustainable sign of progress. Ski-U-Mah!

Hopkins girls--10-0. State titles 2004, 2006, 2011-12-13, 2015, 2019, runners-up 2016, 2017, 2018, 3rd place 2021. Only Hopkins could possibly be disappointed with this record. They're still hungry. Look out.

St. Cloud State women--9-1, 11-2, currently the top team in the NSIC, runners-up to UMD last year.

Augsburg men

Augsburg women--both are unbeaten in the MIAC, the men are 11-2, the women 9-3. 

St. John's men--matching Augsburg at 8-0 and 11-2.

Minnesota Timberwolves--other NBA teams have leapfrogged the Wolves but, hey, the Wolves are showing improvement. Now, if they can add just one more piece, maybe this slow pace of improvement can continue. I'd settle for that. Playoffs this year. A playoff series win next year? Hey, hope springs eternal.

Minnesota Lynx--we won't know much about this year's edition for awhile, but they've got a shot.

Mountain Iron-Buhl--after I think 11 state tournament appearances in 12 years, this might be the Rangers year. They don't look like much somehow, but then look at the scoreboard! They are killing people. 

Honorable Mention--Shakopee boys, St. Thomas men, St. Thomas women, Morris Area boys, Southwest MN State women

Coaches

Never say never, but this race might be over. The job Ben Johnson has done with the Gopher men is nothing short of miraculous. 10-4. Who seriously thought they would win 10 all year long. Lots of people thought 5 would be a stretch. 

Justin Wieck, UMD men (see above).

Jeff Buffetta, Mountain Iron-Buhl girls. Oh, yeah, and did I mention he also coaches their boys?! But it's his girls who never cease to amaze.

Chris Finch, Timberwolves. Yeah, it's a small step for a man but, you know, it's the Timberwolves, which makes it more of a giant leap. 

Cheryl Reeve, Lynx. Just on general principles, she's gotta be in the mix.

Lori Fish, St. Cloud State women. 9-1, 11-2, best team in the NSIC right now.

Aaron Greiss and Ted Riverso, Augsburg men and women. 17-0 in the MIAC between them right now, that's gotta be worth something.

Tom Webb, SW State women. Coaching out there is Marshall, a million miles from anywhere, how does he get kids to come and play for him. Well, they're improving year by year. 

Alex Focke, Hamline women. Been down so long...but now it looks like Hamline is up, 7-2 and 9-3. Big leap forward.

Honorable Mention--Mandy Pearson, UMD women; Dan Smith, St. John's men; Mark Torgerson, Morris Area boys; Laurie Kelly, Gustavus women; Ruth Sinn, St. Thomas women; John Tauer, St. Thomas men

If your team and your coach isn't on one of these lists, hang in there. Things are going to change. Nobody knows how exactly, but they're going to change by March or thereabouts.

2022 Hoops Awards Candidates--Player of the Year

 

Well, we've got enough of 2021-2022 under our belt now to make our list and check it twice. Who are likely to be candidates for the 2022 Player, Team and Coach of the Year?

Player of the Year

Karl Anthony Towns, Timberwolves

Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves--obviously the Timberwolves are improved, though just, and Towns and Edwards are the tip of the spear. Towns is scoring 25 with 9 boards and 4 assists, and he really seems to be a team guy. No whining after all these years. Ant remains an upgrade from all the offensive stars the Wolves have tried out in recent years. He's at 23 ppg with 5 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals.

Jamison Battle, Gopher men

Payton Willis, Gopher men--the other obvious candidates, and the best story so far this year. The going is getting a little tougher now, but they've already won twice as many games as anybody thought. Both of these guys has been stalwart with 34 points and 11 boards between them.

Braedon Carrington, Park Center boys--has become the favorite for Mr. Basketball. Has really improved the past 24 months. Scoring 21 and his team is 10-0.

Austin Andrews and Drew Blair, UMD men--the UMD men are 15-0 and these guys are scoring 37 between them while Andrews adds 9 boards a game and 3 assists. 

Joe Palmer, Augsburg men--the Augies are 8-0, 11-2 thanks to Palmer who leads the MIAC in scoring and rebounding at 22-9.

Brooke Olson, UMD women--the UMD women are not as invincible as they have been recently but they're 10-4, and Olson continues to be their leader at 18 ppg.

Tre Holloman, Cretin boys--long regarded as the best player of his class and the numbers are there (21 ppg, 8 rebounds, 11 assists, 4 steals), but his team is 5-5.

Honorable Mention--Jen Masello, Augsburg women; Mara Braun, Wayzata girls; Joey Batt, Mankato State women; Bella Williams, Bethel women; Kiani Lockett, Minnetonka girls

2021 Hoops Awards--Game of the Year

Again, it's a close call. But, in the end, I gotta go with the winner. And that means...

1. Chaska girls 67 Hopkins 62, state tournament semi-final--both teams came in unbeaten, but Hopkins was a clearcut favorite. Well, I saw Chaska beat Hopkins with most of these same players in a summer tournament in 2019. Still, I thought Hopkins would win. It was as tense a game as I saw all year long. Chaska won and then edged Rosemount 45-43 to win the state title.

This is just the 4th girls high school game to win game of the year honors, and the 1st since 2008.

2. Minnesota Gopher men 102 #4 Iowa 95 (OT), regular season--then there was this. The Gopher men beat 4 ranked teams early in the Big 10 season and were rated as high as #16. And then they just fell apart. But, wow, for a couple of weeks there....

3. Providence girls 94 Duluth Marshall 91, state quarter-final--this is the Gianna Kneepkens all-time record 67 point game.

4. UMD women 67 St. Cloud State 55, NSIC playoff championship

5 (tie). Gopher men 81 #17 Michigan State 56; Gopher men 77 #25 Ohio State 60; Gopher men 75 #7 Michigan 57, regular season--3 more early season wins for a total of 4 over ranked opponents; unfortunately, the frittered it all away.

8. Chaska girls 45 Rosemount 43, state final--after beating Hopkins, I must admit I thought Chaska would win easily. Rosemount was fabulous in defeat, but Chaska was the champion.

9. Waseca boys 51 Caledonia 49, state final--this looked more like a AAA game at least than AA. 2 very highly skilled teams going tooth-and-nail right to the final buzzer.

10. UMD women 76 Emporia State 70, D2 1st round

2021 Hoops Awards--Coach of the Year

Again, it was a  fairly dismal year in Minnesota basketball. I've always said that the great thing about Minnesota high school basketball is that Minnesota teams actually win. Well, it's also true that Minnesota teams win among the smaller colleges, D2 and D3. The MIAC is of course all Minnesota teams, so, duh. Yeah, Minnesota teams get to win. And, Minnesota teams have done quite well in the Northern Sun where there are no guarantees, especially the women. So, who are the brains behind the successful teams?

1. Mandy Pearson, UMD women--I've said for many years that Mandy Pearson is the best coach in Minnesota at St. Mary's and now at UMD, but I don't think she's ever been coach of the year. Well, this is her year with a 9-1 regular season record and 14-2 overall, and conference titles in both the regular seasons and the playoffs. They also won one D2 tournament game before being ousted by Nebraska-Kearney.

This is the 20th time that a girls or women's coach was coach of the year.

2. Tara Seifert, Chaska girls--they used to cal her "TGunny," short for Tara Gunderson, when she played at Iowa State. Well, she beat Hopkins and she beat Rosemount in the state finals, so you can just call her state champion, against all odds.

3. Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota Lynx--that playoff loss was a shock but Cheryl Reeve is still one of the best coaches in the world. Period.

4. Seth Anderson, Waseca boys--state AA champions beat Caledonia in a great final 51-49 to finish 23-1.

5. Lori Fish, St. Cloud State women--2nd in the Northern Sun every step of the way, and I mean that as a complement.

6. Bryan Schnettler, Wayzata boys--class AAAA champions lost to Minnehaha but beat Cretin easily for the state title. More to the point, they've been to the state tournament 3 times now in recent years in a section that includes their long-time nemesis Hopkins.

7. Chris Finch, Timberwolves--the Wolves improvement after Finch took over, along with the emergence of Anthony Edwards, gives some hope.

8 (tie). Ruth Sinn, St. Thomas women, and John Tauer, St. Thomas men--13-1 between them, 2 of the best in the business, stymied by a short season in 2021.

10 (tie). Dan Baird, Becker girls; Aaron Boyum, Albany girls; and Chad Johnston, Minneota girls--coaches of the rest of the girls champions.

2021 Hoops Awards--Team of the Year

 OK, this was very very close. It was after all a dismal year. The signature teams--the Timberwolves, the Gopher men and the Gopher women all left something to be desired. And I decided that I was not going to consider anybody that was below .500. So here is where I ended up.

1. Chaska girls 18-0--not only did Chaska win the state title undefeated, but they beat the best, or what we assumed was the best until Chaska beat them. That is of course the Hopkins girls who were also unbeaten at the time but finished 16-1 after the shocker in the Class AAAA semi-finals. Chaska 67 Hopkins 62. It was another of those perfect games. Now, I know that a perfect game usually refers to a baseball game in which a pitcher gets 27 outs without a base runner. Well, this was comparable though there are no metrics to prove it. But, seriously, Hopkins is and was so good that it would take a perfect game to beat them. And, Chaska delivered. If they played 10 times, Hopkins would win 8. But they only played this once.

This is the 30th time that a girls or women's team is team of the year. 

2. Minnehaha boys 20-1--OK, I'm gonna come clean. I am biased against Minnehaha. For a couple of years now, we've been hearing that Minnehaha is the best team in Minnesota history. My buddy Jim Paulsen at the StarTribune wrote that twice and so I asked him, who says they're the best and he said, the folks at Minnehaha. Last year when they had Suggs and Holmgren, they said that. Oh, yeah, and they lost 3 times to Minnesota teams. But then I see an online blog that purports to list the top 75 high school teams of all-time and guess what. Minnehaha 2020 is on the list. at #32. Hopkins 2019, nope. Edina 1967, nope. Minnehaha is the only Minnesota team on the list at #32. Well, I'm sorry, they're not the #32 team in Minnesota history, much less nationally. OK, so now we're talking 2021. I'll give 'em being the best boys team in the state in 2021.

3. UMD women 14-2--in a truncated season, UMD went 9-1 in the conference and 14-2 overall, including winning the Northern Sun playoff plus one game in the D2 tournament.

4. St. Thomas men 7-0--in a really truncated season, the Tommies men were unbeaten, but their season ended in January due to COVID.

5. Wayzata boys 19-2--won the AAAA state title fairly easily over Cretin, but they lost to Minnehaha 70-63 in the regular season.

6. Hopkins girls 16-1--like I said, if they played Chaska 10 times, they would have won 8. But they only played that once.

7. Minnesota Lynx 22-10--the Lynx really looked like they were going places. They started 0-4 and 5-7. They finished 22-10 which means 17-3 once they got it going. But they were dispatched with ease by the Chicago Sky in a home playoff game and things came to an abrupt and shocking halt.

8. Waseca boys 23-1--class AA champions, Waseca's first since 1918.

9. St. Thomas women 6-1--truncated in the extreme but with a lot of upside that they weren't able to realize.

10. Minneota girls 25-0--barely survived MIB 55-54 and BBE 58-55. But 25-0 was the best record of any team in the state last year. Gotta be worth a mention.

2021 Hoops Awards--Player of the Year

 I think we can all agree that the 2021 basketball season is over. I decided to wait on our 2021 Hoops Awards until after the Lynx season was over, and then the time got away from me. Better late than never.

Player of the Year

1. Chet Holmgren, Minnehaha Academy--heck, he was rated the #1 boy in the country. Hard not to honor that. He scored 21 ppg with 12 boards, 5 assists and 2 blocks for a 20-1 team, unbeaten vs. Minnesota teams with wins over the AAAA champion Wayzata 70-63 and AA champion Waseca 94-66.

2. Karl Anthony Towns, Timberwolves--the Wolves once again underwhelmed, starting 7-24, then rallying under new coach Chris Finch at 16-25, still well under .500. But Towns just keeps on plugging away with 24 ppg, 9 boards and 4 assists and great shooting at 51-42-82%.

3. Gianna Kneepkens, Duluth Marshall--yeah, I know, Class AA. Nobody complained about Carlie Wagner playing in Class AA. Kneepkens scored 43 ppg with 13 boards and 6 assists. In the state tournament she scored a state record 67 points against Providence. 

4 (tie). Paige Bueckers, Connecticut, and Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga--OK, only once, ever, have I picked a player of the year who didn't play for a Minnesota team. That was Kevin McHale in his very best NBA season, when the Boston Celtics also happened to win the NBA title. Well, I gave serious consideration to Bueckers and Suggs this year. Bueckers was of course the first freshman ever to win player of the year honors in NCAA women's ball. And Suggs, of course, hit that half-court shot to send Gonzaga to the national championship game, among other things. Still, it takes a lot to get me to say that the Minnesota player of the year is not representing a Minnesota team, and there are sufficient candidates even in the relatively dismal year of 2021 to not say it now.

4. Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves--some people thought Edwards was the Wolves MVP over Towns. He was the new toy, for sure, and gave the Wolves a dimension they haven't had since, ah, Andrew Wiggins? In any event, he averaged 22-5-4 and got totally jobbed out of the Rookie of the Year award.

5. Brooke Olson, UMD--you gotta be a geek to know about Brooke Olson but I'm up to it. Olson led the UMD women to the Northern Sun regular season and post-season titles, scoring 22 ppg with 8 rebounds.

6 (tie). Julia Bengtson, Becker, and Paige Meyer, Albany--2 super point guards who led their team to state titles. Bengtson the magician, the finesse girl; Meyer the bulldozer. Bengtson's numbers were 15-5-4-3, Meyer's were 20-8-9-4, but of course Bengtson had a vastly better supporting cast and that's the point. Bengtson made everybody better.

8. Maya Nnaji, Hopkins--OK, Nnaji may very well have been the best female high school player in the state but 1) Hopkins didn't win the title, and 2) Nnaji gets another chance this year. Her numbers were 19-6-2 and of course it came against the toughest competition in the state.

9. Marcus Carr, Gopher men--there was a time when Carr might have been the player of the year, but that was before the Gopher men went on the road. Remember when the Gophers beat rated Iowa, Michigan State, Ohio State and Michigan and was rated as high as #16. After that, they went into a major tailspin and finished 14-15 and 6-14 in the Big 10. Carr scored 19 ppg with 4 rebounds and 5 assists, but it was more like 24 ppg at home and 14 on the road.

10. Anthony Roberts, St. Cloud State--led the NSIC in scoring at 22 ppg and added 8 rebounds. 

In summary, the one player I considered for #1 aside from Holmgren (and Bueckers and Suggs) was Kneepkens. What she did was historic. 67 points! No girl has ever done that before. But Holmgren being the #1 recruit in the country is historic, too. Right now, today, Holmgren is averaging 13 ppg with 8 rebounds and shooting 61% at Gonzaga. Gonzaga is 13-2 and rated #2. Meanwhile, Kneepkens has worked her way into the starting lineup at Utah. She has now started 3 games and played in all 11 games, scoring 11 ppg with 48% shooting and 4 rebounds. The Utes are 8-3 and unranked. Advantage Holmgren, but Kneepkens will be a star in high D1 long after Holmgren has disappeared into the NBA.