Best of the Hall of Fame Winter Classic, Part 2--The Boys

The Minnesota High School Basketball Hall of Fame held 3 boys games (to go along with 3 girls games described in a separate post) on Saturday, January 14 at Anoka Ramsey Community College. The boys results:

#3 Hopkins 87 Andover 81

St. Francis 79 #9 Austin 76

#2 Lakeville North 86 #5 Eden Prairie 75

The lead changed hands 11 times in the 1st game between Hopkins and Andover. Andover led early, but Hopkins led by 16 late in the 1st half and 46-34 at the half. Andover came back and the 2 teams swapped the lead through much of the 2nd half. Hopkins only took the lead for good inside of 4 minutes. It was a case of too much Jayden Moore and Anthony Smith for Hopkins. Moore is a 5-10 freshman guard and he did it all with 26 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists. He did need 25 shots to get his 26 points (10-for-25), while Smith only needed 17 shots (12-for-17 including 7-of-10 3s) to get to 33 points and he added 6 rebounds. 

Andover got 25 points and 5 steals from Sam Musungu, and 23 points and 12 rebounds from Landyn Nelson. Guard Ben Kopetzki had an off-night for him with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting but also with 9 assists. 

The 2nd game was even more a game of runs though the lead changed hands just once. Austin led by 15 in the 1st half but St. Francis got back within 45-44 at the half, as both teams shot 50% or better. Guard Jack Lang hit 7 3s in the 1st half for 21 Austin points. The 2nd half was all Matthew Bothun and once St. Francis got the lead, they never relinquished it. The largest lead was 8 at the 6 minute mark, but it was a one-possession game through most of the final 2 or 3 minutes. The 6-9 Bothun, who is headed for North Dakota, it all. He is very highly skilled both inside and out. He scored 34 points on 14-of-24 shooting with 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. 

Finally, the "big game" was slightly less big than anticipated as Lakeville North's 6-11 senior Nolan Winter did not play, but that didn't seem to slow the Panthers down. Seniors Will Kutzler and Jace Hernandez filled in for Winter and scored 13 points between them. But it was "guards" Jack Robison (6-6 junior) and Hudson Vaith (6-5 senior) who did the heavy lifting with 55 points between them. Lakeville ran out to a 47-28 halftime lead though Eden Prairie closed the gap with a 47-39 2nd half advantage. 

Top Performers

C--Buai Duop, Austin, 6-4, senior, 20 points (9-of-14 FG), 5 rebounds

F--Matthew Bothun, St. Francis, 6-9, senior, 34 points (14-of-24 FG), 9 rebounds

W--Hudson Vaith, Lakeville North, 6-5, senior, 32 points

PG--Jayden Moore, Hopkins 5-10, freshman, 26 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists

SG--Anthony Smith, Hopkins, 5-8, junior, 33 points (12-of-17 FG, 7-of-10 3s), 6 rebounds

2nd Team

C--Will Kutzler, Lakeville North, 6-7, senior, 9 points

F--Landyn Nelson, Andover, 6-5, senior, 23 points (9-of-19 FG), 12 rebounds

W--Jack Robison, Lakeville North, 6-6, junior, 23 points

PG--Sam Musungu, Andover, 6-2, senior, 25 points (9-of-22 FG), 4 rebounds, 5 steals

SG--Jack Lang, Austin, 5-11, senior 24 points (8-of-14 FG, 7-of-13 3s), 4 rebounds

Best of the Hall of Fame Winter Classic, Part 1--The Girls

You might have heard of the Hall of Fame Winter Classic sponsored by the Minnesota High School Basketball Hall or Fame. Or not. The event was kind of snakebit. Over 4 years, out of a total of 48 scheduled games, they had played only 5 due to snowstorms and COVID. But, there's good news. They got in all 12 games last Saturday at Anoka Ramsey Community College, 6 girls, 6 boys, 6 varsity, 6 JV, with 8 of the 12 participating teams being ranked at the time. 

Among the girls, the varsity results were:

#1 Hopkins 74 Roseville 53

#6 Minnetonka 56 #8 Benilde-St. Margaret's 52 in the best of the 3 girls games

#7 Goodhue 86 Pine City 58

Minnetonka-Benilde was the 1st game up. Tonka shot it rather poorly, 24% in the 1st half, 38% in the 2nd, 30% for the day. Aaliyah Crump, selected as the game MVP, shot 8-of-24 and scored 23 points and added 8 rebounds for the winners. Benilde shot it a little better at 38% for the game. Olivia Olson shot 9-of-16 and scored 21 points to go with 9 rebounds. It was 26-all at the half and it stayed close. A Crump 3 inside of a minute-and-a-half finally put Minnetonka in the driver's seat. Benilde turned it over 21 times, and Minnetonka had 13 extra FG attempts and a 23-11 edge in points off turnovers. 

Goodhue then put on a clinic against a good Pine City team. I specifically mention that Pine City is a good team because the final score--Goodhue 86 Pine City 58--might not suggest as much. The Dragons have 3 6-1 girls, who shot 15-of-34 among them and all of whom scored in double figures (Kloey Lind 15, Sophia Lahti 14 and Karly Jusczak 13). But they could not match up with Goodhue's quickness. Tori Miller and Elizabeth Gadient combined to shoot 16-of-24 for 36 points, while Gadient added 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals. They turned Pine City over 25 times, 21 of them on Goodhue steals, and had a 32-8 edge in points off turnovers. They also had a 22-2 scoring advantage off the bench.

Finally, Roseville stayed with #1 Hopkins for awhile as the Royals shot just 39% to Roseville's 35%. But Hopkins had a 17-3 edge on the offensive boards and a 15-2 edge in 2nd chance points. Kelly Boyle scored 27 for Hopkins on 9-of-18 3-pointers, while Taylor Woodson dominated in every phase of the game with 20 points (9-of-13 FG), 9 rebounds and 3 steals. Kendall Barnes scored 19 for Roseville, thanks mainly to 14 trips to the FT line. 

Top Performers

C--Sidney Reed, Minnetonka, 6-1, junior, 9 points (4-of-9 FG), 11 rebounds

F--Taylor Woodson, Hopkins, 6-0, senior, 20 points (9-of-13 FG), 9 rebounds, 3 steals

PG--Elizabeth Gadient, Goodhue, 5-11. junior, 16 points (7-of-10 FG), 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals

SG--Kelly Boyle, Hopkins, 5-7, senior (9-of-19 FG/9-of-18 3s), 4 assists

SG (tie)--Aaliyah Crump, Minnetonka, 6-1, sophomore, 23 points, 8 rebounds

SG (tie)--Olivia Olson, Benilde, 6-1, junior, 21 points, 9 rebounds

6th--Ava Wallaker, Goodhue, 5-8, freshman, the only player to come off the bench in the 3 girls games and score in double figures at 10 with 3 assists and 4 steals

2nd Team

C--Sunaja Agara, Hopkins, 6-0, senior, 9 points 5 rebounds

F--Kloey Lind, Pine City, 6-1, senior, 15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists

F--Tori Miller, Goodhue, 5-11, senior, 22 points (9-of-14 FG)

PG--Kendall Barnes, Roseville, 5-7, junior, 19 points, 8 rebounds

SG--Kendall McGee, Benilde, sophomore, 19 points, 5 rebounds

6th (tie)--Analya Solonoa, Roseville, 5-8, 8th grade, 9 points (3-of-6 FG) and 2 rebounds in just 11 minutes off the bench

6th (tie)--Sydney Friedly, Benilde, 8th grade, 5 points (2-of-5 FG), 3 assists and 2 steals in 22 minutes off the bench