December Awards

Player of the Month Contenders

December started off with a bang as 5-3 senior guard McKenna Hofschild of Prior Lake scored an all-time state record of 63 points in a 99-95 loss to Park Center at the Girls Breakdown Tip-Off. Another really big explosion was guard Harrison Cleary's 47-point burst for UMCrookston in a 108-88 win over MSU Moorhead on December 7.

But the best players overall among Minnesota's small colleges were senior guard Ryan Bruggeman (Pelican Rapids) who averaged 24 ppg and 6.5 assists in 7 games, and also senior post Hannah Spaulding of St. Thomas who averaged 18 ppg and 9 boards as the Tommies went 6-1 for the month.

Speaking of colleges, of course, the Gopher men and women each lost just once. Jordan Murphy continued his remarkable play for the men, averaging 12 its and 9 boards, becoming the Gophers all-time leading rebounder, and just the 14th Big 10 player ever to surpass 1,000 boards. Amir Coffey came up big with 32 points against Nebraska,  come-from-behind win that saved the Gophers from the uncomfortable possibility of an 0-2 start in the conference.

Kenisha Bell and Taiye Bello continued their terrific play for the women but, like St. Thomas, a road loss late in the month kept them from getting to 2019 undefeated. Still, Lindsay Whalen's Gophers are 12-1, sure to remain in the top 20-25, and with a winnable home game against Illinois on Sunday.

Karl Anthony Towns has reasserted himself for the Timberwolves, averaging darn near a 30-20 for the past 4 games though the Wolves nevertheless managed to lose twice.

Among the high schoolers, our pre-season Player of the Year Matthew Hurt of Rochester John Marshall has done what was expected, scoring 35 ppg with a high of 55, while Dawson Garcia of Prior Lake also had a terrific December at 30 ppg. Jalen Suggs of Minnehaha has also been terrific, including a 39-point effort vs. Hopkins the other night. Among the girls Hofschild is #4 in the state at 28 ppg, while Paige Bueckers has led Hopkins to an undefeated month at #5 with 27 ppg.

Player of the Month

Those are the contenders. The finalists are Hofschild, Murphy and Hurt. The Player of the Month? Well, frankly, it would be hard not to pick Murphy for his historic achievements but we already picked him as Player of the Month in November. So that makes things a little easier. Our Player of the Month is McKenna Hofschild, 5-3, senior, guard, Prior Lake, who is heading to Seton Hall.

Team of the Month

The Team of the Month is a little easier. If not for their loss the other day at Michigan, the Gopher women would be the obvious choice, though here again, they were already our choice for November. And, so, there's two reasons to consider the St. Thomas women and the Hopkins girls. In case you didn't know, Hopkins is 10-0 and has outscored a pretty tough schedule by an average of 84-54. They boast one of, if not possibly, though it's too early to say, but possibly the best girl ever to come out of Minnesota, and I mean ever, in Bueckers. So, the Hopkins girls are our choice of Team of the Month.

Coach of the Month

Well, the best coaches coach the best teams, right? Now, obviously, Lindsay Whalen was our top coach for November. And, while I can come up with a good argument for Ruth Sinn of St. Thomas and Brian Cosgriff of Hopkins (and also, by the way, Wendy Kohler of the Alexandria girls), my Coach of the Month is again Lindsay Whalen.

Game of the Month

There were a lot of great games and I'm going to pick 2, one that I saw and one that I didn't.  The most significant game of the month was the Gopher men coming from behind to beat Nebraska 85-78, because a loss in that one makes 'em 0-2 and in the Big 10 0-2 is a pretty deep hole to climb out of. So, I don't know yet that the Gophers are legitimate contenders in the Big 10 but they have to win that game to have any chance whatsoever.

The most exciting game saw the White Bear Lake boys edge Mahtomedi 77-75 in 2OT at Mahtomedi. Right behind it was the Wayzata girls' 78-76 win at Stillwater a few nights earlier. East metro basketball at its best.