Battle at the Lakes: Sunday’s Best
Battle at the Lakes Championship Sunday was fantastic from 8am until the sun started moving towards its final set over the Twin Cities. The winners? Who you expected but the action and the effort of some of the Midwest’s best…
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Continue ReadingBattle at the Lakes Championship Sunday was fantastic from 8am until the sun started moving towards its final set over the Twin Cities. The winners? Who you expected but the action and the effort of some of the Midwest’s best was something to see.
Kalif Ahmed (Phenom/Park Center). He’s about a six foot guard and he’s a shooter. The last two weekends he’s been a game changing shooter. Prep Hoops has watched Xalif change games late with his touch including against the Minnesota Warriors when his team was down nine with 30 seconds left and he hit two more clutch treys.
Terry Armstrong (Greenwood Elite). The 2019 may be the most memorable player from the event for those who are local and have seen the guys from D1 Minnesota times before. This morning his team was beaten soundly but Terry’s expression never changed nor did his approach. Armstrong hit the 20 plus point mark again including four treys and three smooth pull-up jumpers that were executed with a quick separation and an even quicker lift with a soft release.
Mike Cornelius (tMBA Rip City/ST Paul Highland Park). Has a good frame at about 6-foot-3, strong, and agile. Had a really nice year in the St. Paul City Conference and this weekend he is coming hard off ball screens and blowing into the lane for regular production. Mike seems to have good potential as a power wing because he’s so hard to knock off balance and has great lift to finish over contesting hands.
AJ Green (IA Barnstormers). AJ scored 27 and that total was on five threes and six jumpers from mid-range. The Playground guards could not keep him close as AJ pulled-up out of separation in every which direction including some outstanding stepbacks. To keep a hand in his face the Barnstormers had to put a 6-foot-4 wing on AJ because the guards didn’t have the combination of size and length to keep AJ from getting to space for a beautiful jumper. It was my first view of AJ and I was blown away by the variety of dribble separation makes that have obviously been crafted through years of trips to the gym.
Tyler Herro (Playground Warriors/Whitnall). Herro scored ten field goals and most of them showcased his pretty lift and a release that reminds me of Sam Jacobson from the mid-90s. Tyler scored 22 points but his biggest contribution was moving over to guard AJ Green, who was scorching hot, and putting a long arm in his way with lateral steps that kept him in front. I don’t recall Green making a shot over Herro in the second half of the second half and that was big to the Playground win as the ten makes was.
Matthew Hurt (D1 Minnesota/Rochester JM). Matt has so many good teammates that it’s hard to comprehend how he is so often the guy playing some of the most consistent minutes and commonly making big plays when his team makes runs. But in our viewing of the semi-final game Matt had an enormous slam on a guy, he had a steal into a break that stopped opponents momentum, and he had a defensive split on a 1 on 2 And1 that simply didn’t make sense but his length, skill, and determination made the play.
David Iwowari (1Nation/Wahlert Catholic). A long, incredibly bouncy forward who may have just set the record for the most blocks swatted a foot above the box. He chased down or helped over at least four shots that were hammered off the glass in entertaining fashion. So much bounce meaning so much potential as he can move well in whatever way you want.
Kobe King (Playground Warriors/La Crosse Central). If Kobe hadn’t had two scoring explosions the Warriors would of dropped their quarterfinal game by a huge margin. Kobe attacked the rim for four scores in two minutes in the first half and then attacked the rim three times in four possessions in the second half. Those were his 16 attacking points and they changed the momentum of the game both times giving his team life.
Luke Loehr (Warriors/Rosemount). Luke is one of the first guys you think about when talking rebounding in Minnesota. Has feel, effort, and quick bounce to the ball outside of his area ranks with the best. He made a couple of those plays late against the Phenom and he hit an important three helping them move on. At 6-foot-7 with the fight and intelligence to be a working forward but the skills there to be a face-up forward too this is a valued prospect getting better daily. In the second game Luke scored a game high 14 points and was brilliant moving without the ball for scores. Also hit a big three and late free throws to beat Playground Warriors.
Jordan McCabe (Playground Elite/LaCrossse Central). Let’s get this out of the way, Jordan’s handles are incredible and he has such a feel for the ball that it’s pretty much a part of him in the way he controls it. The jumper was good as well hitting six of them with a calm and poised approach despite a hand in the face. But the thing that really caught me was his verbal direction. Jordan was outstanding in command of his team.
Cade McKnight (IA Barnstormers/Grinnell). Caught our eye first with his monster screens that opened teammates up for jumpers and after being the worker helping others Cade went to work on the block and outfought guys his equal at 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-9 for several power scores. McKnight power turned on guys, kept balance, took contact, and finished many times. Love him as a power four who can fight as a five.
Tyler Riemersma (MN Warriors/Bloom Jefferson). Competing against a couple other D1 offered bigs from Playground Warriors Tyler was the more skilled, the hardest worker, and the more intelligent off the ball mover. Tyler won the late game battles on the glass, moved behind his man for key scores late, had a couple assists post to post, and faced up to touch in over the top like he usually does. He’s faced some quality opponents so far and Tyler has been the best inside.
Cody Robertson (ECI Select/GFRR). Cody was flying up the floor, curling hard for dribble hand-offs, and blasting off ball screens to hit the lane and then finish before anybody could rotate to the ball. He upset the opposing coach to bad that he was cursing his kids out for not being able to keep Cody in front. Had a seven field goal game in a loss to tMBA.
Joe Smoldt (IA Barnstormers/Gladbrook-Reinbeck). Used ball screens and torched Greenwood Elite. Hit seven jumpers before taking a seat in a blowout, five of them at the arc. Once he came off the ball screen and made shot after shot the game was over. Smoldt is one of the best shooters in this event and nobody knows that more than the teams he has scorched this weekend. Outstanding shooter.
Rog Stein (1Nation/Kalamazoo Central). Loved the spirit he played with, or swagger. He was challenged by a player verbally and simply went at him. Hit a three, attacked for scores, cheered wildly when his teammates hit shots. An entertaining wing with agility and it looks like he can shoot at least decently from the perimeter.
Collin Trottier (ECI Select/WF Sheyenne). A 6-foot-7 power forward who scored six times as tMBA didn’t have a player that could keep him higher of the block so Collin caught, turned, touched in softly. Also liked his mid-range touch and he had space to hit because the post defender was worried about being posted up. Also, Collin moved better laterally than I expected angling off the attack.