Bracket Buster Notes: Class A
Minneapolis North. North looked like an unstoppable Class A force at the Breakdown Bracket Buster winning their three games by a combined 116 points. This event likely included six of the top ten Class A teams this season and North…
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Continue ReadingMinneapolis North. North looked like an unstoppable Class A force at the Breakdown Bracket Buster winning their three games by a combined 116 points. This event likely included six of the top ten Class A teams this season and North played a couple of them that will be ranked. The Polars were actually without a pair of returning starters but they still dominated the action. Tyler Johnson and Isaac Johnson were too physically imposing for any of the teams to even try and stop. Odell Wilson inside was to strong and crafty to defend. JaQuan Sanders-Smith, Pat Dembley, and Tayler Johnson were terrors on the move getting ahead of the defense and completing plays. I really liked how well the Polars moved the ball as a unit. Teams through zones at them and it had zero affect. There were kids that faced the Polar ball pressure scared out of their minds. Did they look like a team that will finally get that Class A title? This of course proves they are one of the few Class A favorites but the two main obstacles that North must overcome were not there: Rushford-Peterson and Maranatha Christian. That said, the Polars have much more talent this year than those teams do coming in and their walk through of other top Class A teams was proof of that.
Heritage Christian. You want to talk about a surprise, nobody expected them to beat Mt Iron Buhl. The biggest upset was the seven point win over Minnesota Transitions. That was the win that put them on the map. Their creative attempts to compete with the Polars early was admirable but short lived. This is a team that will make more noise than last year’s just over .500 performance. CJ Woda will put up huge numbers, Tanner Scott returns again, and Jack Vandertop was a nice second scorer for the club. Watch for them to turn more heads.
Minnesota Transitions. MTS wanted North, no doubt. The loss to Heritage stung. That said, they beat Spring Grove and they beat Springfield, who are both top ten Class A preseason caliber teams. Coach Bruce Weston was able to take a lot of positives from this event because his team beat teams that will be competing for state. Isaih Wade was nearly unstoppable around the basket especially when he was facing up to hit jumpers and knocking down fall-a-ways in route to scoring 30 against Springfield. Wade was too big and too agile for his opponents. I also liked what Charles Gordon did for the team at lead guard as well. Nice player. I expect MTS to push for top five all season and they could make a run by March.
Spring Grove. This could finally be the year they overcome the R-P annoyance. The shelf looks fully stocked for a potential run. I know they went 1-2 at the event but they beat Browerville convincingly, they picked up vital experience in a loss to North, and then lost a close game to MTS. The Lions have some young parts so there was going to be some growing pains against this level of competition but I walked away thinking they have the pieces to defeat the defending section champs. Chase Grinde showed he is the real deal. The junior-to-be backed down from nobody having success with the dribble attack against the Panthers plus he had the quick vertical bounce to pin a North Polar attack off the glass. He leads an attack that shows great ball movement and then transitions the other way to defend as a unit. Alex Engelhardt was solid inside/out and young Ethan Matzcke will be one of the top contributing freshman out there.
Browerville. Dropped their opener but Bryce Irsfeld led them to rebounding wins against Nevis and Springfield meaning they were one of four teams at the event to win four or more games. Bryce Irseld is the commander and after his dropped game one there was no way he was going to allow them to lose again and that is exactly what happened. He dominated Nevis and then controlled a good Springfield squad.
Springfield. They won one of three games but I thought they looked quite rusty. All of the teams are rusty to a degree but some have more players than others who have been hooping through the spring and summer. Individually I was very impressed with Tanner Vogel. The sophomore hit early and often scoring 14 points on six field goals in a half against MTS. Has a long frame for the guard spot, very quick release, attacked to hit, and hit with feet set. Tanner has a chance to be a special player. Isaac Fink and Kale Meendering are nice players to compliment Vogel.
Mt. Iron-Buhl. So excited to see them play and, a struggle. Lost two close games including an upset to Heritage Christian and then handled Nevis in the 7th place game. This was the type of weekend that a team can grow from as there were a couple close losses but we expected a bit more. They will be in the Tip-Off Classic so it will be fun to watch Archie Winans and Jaylon Holmes there.
Nevis. To put it mildly, things were tough. Griffin Chase is a nice player but he came to Maple Grove with an entirely new group of players around him and they just aren’t ready yet. So many guys have to be replaced.