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.