Ten Best: Champlin Park vs Rochester JM
Champlin Park is the preseason number one and their 39 point win over Rochester John Marshall opened many eyes. Champlin Park is the preseason number one at the Breakdown and Northstar Hoops because of their size, depth, and weapons all…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingChamplin Park is the preseason number one and their 39 point win over Rochester John Marshall opened many eyes.
Champlin Park is the preseason number one at the Breakdown and Northstar Hoops because of their size, depth, and weapons all over the floor. Brian Smith hit seven of his first eight shots, McKinley Wright scored on six of his first seven, and then Josiah Strong hit four of first five perimeter jumpers. The final total was Smith with 22, Wright with 27, and Strong with 13 and the Rockets simply couldn’t match. When you can get 62 points from your starting backcourt (much of it early) and then have DJ Hunter come off the bench and give you another 14 it’s tough to guard all of those weapons.
The JM Rockets have some southern firepower to counter but the Rebels threw Marcus Hill at five star sophomore Matthew Hurt from the start. Hill did a decent job defending one on one but was at his best when the Rebels went to a 1-3-1 and Hill reeked havoc everywhere (Hill had 11 points, 10 boards, and 5 assists as well). The Rebel defense sent two or three at Hurt all game and Matthew did score 24 points on 24 shots but his teammates couldn’t keep up with the Rebel weapons.
The Rebels also got 19 points, seven boards, and seven assists from Theo John (who made all of his shot attempts) who is headed to Marquette. Dayton bound McKinley Wright finished with 27 points on 18 attempts, ten boards, and six assists.
MVP: McKinley Wright
McKinley simply took over the game. JM had not player that could catch up to his transition push and change his course of direction much less get in front of him. The Dayton signed guard hit for 27 points on 18 shots, showed why he’s maybe the best rebounding high school guard I’ve seen grabbing ten more, and dished out six assists.
Best Offensive Performance: Brian Smith
Made seven of his first eight shots by halftime for 17 points and overall knocked out four treys going towards his 22 points. When Brian has hit feet set in space I would say chances are about 65 percent that the shot is going in. He is that deadly and when he’s playing with a team that has Rebel weapons there are always open shots.
Best Defensive Performance: Marcus Hill
Marcus was the defensive game changer. His one on one efforts against Hurt, his jumping passing lanes, and high effort help overs were outstanding. If he wasn’t playing with McKinley he would of easily been the most versatile player on the floor in terms of his defense, scoring (11), rebounding (10), steals (5), and passing (5 assists). Fantastic all around game.
Best Guy Off the Bench: DJ Hunter
This is a deep line-up and Hunter started for the Pulley Panthers before getting hurt. Who starts for Howard Pulley and is able to mentally handle going to the bench for their high school team? I know a guy, DJ Hunter. Came off the bench to knock out a couple threes and score 14 points.
Best Coaching Decision: Rebel Zone
Defending Matthew Hurt’s versatile five star game is nearly impossible, so what try one on one? Champlin Park threw a 1-3-1 zone on the floor and whenever Matt touched the ball the zone sent three guys his way making Hurt go through that to try and get a good look. It limited Hurt’s quality of shots, it forced turnovers, and the switch to the zone ignited a running game.
Best Intangibles: Hill
I will not soon forget the way Marcus dove hard into passing lanes, how he chased boards, ran the floor, and his effort to help over or double the ball for the Rebels. I know McKinley had huge numbers but the effort of Hill may have been the biggest game changer.
Best Under the Radar Performance: Dedoch Chan
Many Rockets weren’t able to handle the zone but Chan stepped up and had a decent game. He scored 16 points and should have a standout year next to Matthew. As a long 6-foot-6 player he’s really grown into the role of worker/face-up attacking power forward.
Best Underclassmen: Matthew Hurt
Not many guys can deal with double and triple teams but still shoot 10 of 24 and score 24 points despite athletic talent flying at him from all over. Hurt was able to skillfully find space for his midrange touch over and over (except when the Rebels gave him a bloody nose).
Best Story to watch moving forward: JM’s Development
Right now I’m indifferent on what I think will happen with JM this year. I thought they looked really good at Gopher team camp and there is no way you can judge a team on one game when that game was against the Class AAAA #1 on the first date of the season. I believe they will roll through the Big Nine and enter the playoffs at about 24-2 or 23-3. To get where they want in section play this team really needs depth to develop in terms of bench guys they can trust to make the right offensive plays (screens, cuts, ball movement, etc) and to be good workers/intelligent position defenders.
Best Stat: Theo John
Theo didn’t miss a field goal on his way to 19 points. He also had seven assists. There were missed foul shots and a lot of bad turnovers but 19 points with seven boards and great kickouts from the post was a nice beginning.