Ten Best: Lakeville North vs CDH
Lakeville North and Cretin-Derham Hall played one of those games that A) captured your attention and B) had you asking your neighbor “when did they take the lead?” There were momentum swings between the Panthers and the Raiders throughout the contest…
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Continue ReadingLakeville North and Cretin-Derham Hall played one of those games that A) captured your attention and B) had you asking your neighbor “when did they take the lead?” There were momentum swings between the Panthers and the Raiders throughout the contest and it kept the crowd locked in throughout.
A big reason the crowd was locked in was the play of Wisconsin signed Nathan Reuvers of Lakeville North. The 6-foot-10 power forward who just finds ways to produce points. Reuvers is ultra confident in what he can do with the ball and that includes range on his jumper, his ability to find space to score in the post, and Nathan will go after the offensive glass with a motor. Facing off with CDH big Daniel Oturo, Reuvers put a couple fouls on the younger player which allowed him the freedom to boost his production late in the first half. Both players were good, both swatted each other three or four times, and both showed why they are nationally ranked top 100 prospects.
The other quality battle was at point guard where Ryan Larson and Ethan Igbanugo went at it. Igbanugo got the upper hand defensively forcing turnovers plus he scored 23 on a solid shooting night. Larson was at the foul line all night making 12 of 13 leading to his 18 points. Both had late game scores but neither could push their team to the win in regulation. So after Larson missed, and Trevor Schermann missed in the last five seconds the game went to overtime tied at 67.
In overtime Trevor Schermann made his first field goal of the contest scoring a corner trey and then he had a smart skip pass to Jalen Lucas for a corner jumper giving the Panthers a 74-69 lead. Igbanugo’s catch of a ball reversal followed by an attack finish give North a three score lead heading into the last minute. The Panthers eventually put the game away from the foul line and won 82-74. Reuvers scored 35 points with 15 rebounds and six blocks and Igbanugo had 23 points.
MVP: Nathan Reuuvers. Took the game over and could not be stopped offensively. Scored in several ways and once Oturo was in foul trouble there was nothing much more that could be done by CDH.
Best Offensive Performance: Reuvers. And it’s no brainer. In 30 years of Minnesota high school basketball the only frontcourt guys that were better than Nathan at producing were offensively were Kris Humphries and Royce White. Add Rick Rickert and Reuvers and those are the best frontcourt scorers I can think.
Best Defensive Performance: Ethan Igbanugo. Ehtan was fantastic on Ryan Larson forcing turnovers and tough shots. Larson eventually got to the foul line in the second half but Ethan did a great job on him while also scoring 23 points.
Best Guy Off the Bench: Jaedan King. The CDH Raider scored three times of the bench and he’s becoming a guy many 16U coaches are about to chase down.
Best Under the Radar Performance: Jalen Lucas. A new name from the Panthers, Jalen scored three times and made some late plays on both ends including a big corner jumper in overtime.
Best Underclassmen: Tyler Wahl. The Panther forward is starting for this veteran team is physically there. He is still young and a bit raw with things to learn but the talent is there.
Best Story to watch Moving Forward: CDH Next? The Raiders have put together a tough schedule as they always do but this talented junior bunch has dropped games to Lakeville North and Apple Valley who are top five level squads. Wins will come this year but they have more fights coming up with East Ridge, St. Thomas, Park Center, and Wayzata as the next four games.
Best Aspect of the Environment: Richard Pitino and staff front and center. How important is Daniel Oturo do the University of Minnesota? They had FOUR coaches with chairs pulled up to the sideline watching Oturo’s every move.
Best Prospect: Oturo/Reuvers. Both of them are ranked about the same nationally. They are different as Reuvers is a skilled four man senior while Oturo is a still growing center who has length for days, is strong defensively, and aggressively at the rim offensively.
Other: Ryan Larson was key for CDH at the foul line which is where most of his 18 points came from… Jake Prince is a way better shooter than I thought and he scored 18…Sy Chatman is a better prospect than I thought. He had a dozen and will be going up the rankings…