What I learned: Holiday tournament week
Holiday tournament week is a great time for teams to take inventory of what they’ve got. Most teams by this point in the season have played six, eight, maybe 10 games. So while it’s still technically early in the year,…
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Continue ReadingHoliday tournament week is a great time for teams to take inventory of what they’ve got. Most teams by this point in the season have played six, eight, maybe 10 games. So while it’s still technically early in the year, most teams are at least figuring out what they’ve got and what they do and don’t do well.
There were a lot of great tournaments or showcase events last week and while a lot of teams ultimately end up taking losses because there are so many good matchups, it’s an opportunity for so many teams to learn something about themselves.
With the spirit of learning in mind, here are some things I learned or was reminded of last week during the holiday tournament week:
Highway 13 is loaded
This one isn’t necessarily a shock for me given I cover and see a couple of these teams on a regular basis but last week was yet another reminder that the teams up and down Highway 13 are really good.
New Prague’s quietly put together a 10-0 start to the season and the Trojans are winning by an average margin of 14 points per game. They’ve got good wins over East Ridge, Totino-Grace and Andover in particular.
Waseca went to state last year thanks in large part to superstar guard Nick Dufault. Dufault is at Southwest Minnesota State now, but the Bluejays might actually be better. Jake Guse is a Division II big man who anchors things inside. Kaleb Nelson and Malik Willingham give them two high-scoring perimeter players. The Bluejays have all the components to contend for a state tournament appearance again this season.
Waterville-Elysian-Morristown and New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva (that’s a mouthful I know) played each other Thursday night in hopefully the first of three matchups this season. The Panthers won 50-43 at home.
NRHEG was particularly impressive last week too, picking up three wins over the holiday break to stay unbeaten on the year. The Panthers beat St. Croix Lutheran and Maple River on back-to-back nights to win the Bethany Lutheran Tournament, providing evidence that they’ve got a case for the best team in the Gopher Conference and Section 2AA-South. Oakley Baker’s been one of the best players in Class AA for a while and Tyler Raimann’s emerged as a top-end big man. They key for the Panthers — as it’s been for a couple years now will be getting production from the complementary players like Benji Lundberg and Chad Agrimson.
The Buccaneers just got back to full strength over the holiday break, getting point guard Logan Sendle back from mono. Their stud big man, Zac Olson missed the first few games with a knee injury and his return coincided with Sendle’s illness. Both are back now. While they were out, Dallas McBroom — a D-II baseball commit — emerged as something of a go-to guy for the Bucs. With all three healthy and on the same page, the Bucs are a top-10 team in Class AA.
Lake City is legit
One of the big surprise teams at least for me early in the season has been Lake City out of the Hiawatha Valley League. The Tigers were very good a year ago but when a Class AA school loses 10 seniors, a drop off doesn’t feel farfetched. The opposite has happened for the Tigers. They look just as good despite playing youngsters all over the court.
Already owning impressive wins over Plainview-Elgin-Millville and Pine Island, the Tigers went out and beat Rosemount in the Rochester Rotary Classic. Rosemount is one of the better Class AAAA teams in the state. The Tigers ran out of gas the next night, and got demolished by Robbinsale Cooper. But that tells me more about the Hawks. Mark Kjos and Mitch Marien provide excellent guard play and the Tigers have two excellent freshmen. The Tigers are better than I was expecting. A lot better.
Can anyone in Class A contend with the Polars?
Right now it looks like Class A is shaping up to be Minneapolis North and friends. That’s not a knock on the top teams in Class A. Goodhue looks strong. Spring Grove and Heritage Christian just played last week and both teams are excellent.
But the Polars just look like they’re on another level right now. It feels like it’s going to take a combination of them being a tad off plus another team playing its absolute best to knock them off in a tournament setting.
They beat Red Lake last week in the Minneapolis North Holiday Tournament in a competitive game. Red Lake has one of the top teams in Class A. The Polars play at Heritage Christian and in Prinsburg against Central MN Christian in the next month. Those games will be telling in determining whether or not it’s the Polars’ world and we’re just living in it.
Section 6 is crazy good
This shouldn’t come as a big surprise but holiday tournament week was yet another reminder that Section 6 is a bear of a section in Class AA, AAA and AAAA.
Melrose is ranked No. 1 in Class AA. St. Cloud Cathedral is a top-five team in Class AA as well. The Crusaders beat Watertown-Mayer last week in their holiday tournament and Melrose beat the Crusaders in that same tourney.
Melrose has the more veteran team and Dillon Haider and Brady Birch give them a pair of high-end players. The Crusaders run out a dominant big-man duo of Michael Schaeffer and Mitchell Plombon. A rematch would be awfully exciting and both are certainly capable of winning state.
Class AAA’s Section 6 was ridiculous last year and while it might not be as deep this season as teams like Waconia and Benilde-St. Margaret’s have taken steps back from a win/loss standpoint, the top of the section is as good as ever.
DeLaSalle should still be considered the favorite the win the AAA title because, well, who can remember when the Islanders didn’t win the AAA title? They took one on the chin last week, losing to IMG Academy. IMG Academy has the No. 5 rated player in the 2017 and 2018 class on its roster. It’s a national powerhouse. Orono’s played 11 games already this year and the Spartans rack up quality wins every week. They beat Rocori and Lakeville South — two decent teams — at the Granite City Classic.
Delano took its first loss in the same tournament, dropping a close game to St. Cloud Tech before beating Rocori. And Minneapolis Patrick Henry blew out Mitchell Christian (SD) before losing to First Assembly Christian (based out of Memphis). DeLaSalle, Orono and Delano are ranked Nos. 1, 2 and 4 in Class AAA. Patrick Henry will likely move in and out of the rankings as well. The Patriots are a legitimate top-15 team.
On paper, DeLaSalle still looks like the top team because its got Goanar Mar, Gabe Kalscheur, Dave Thorson and a ton of talent. But Orono’s got loads of talent too with guys like Colton Codute, Max Bjorklund and Jarvis Thomas. So does Delano with Calvin Wishart and Derek Techam. So does Patrick Henry with Jordan Lynn and Savion Scott.
Class AAAA’s Section 6 has been Hopkins’ for a long time. It still might be, but if anything it’s a lot more competitive now. Wayzata put together an incredibly impressive holiday week, beating Park Center and Cretin-Derham Hall and is undefeated on the season. Robbinsdale Armstrong beat up on Northfield before giving Lakeville North a good run in the Lakeville North Tournament. And Robbinsdale Cooper won the Rochester Rotary Classic, blowing out Rochester John Marshall and Lake City on back-to-back nights.
Hopkins fell victim to Jalen Suggs and Minnehaha Academy last week, so the Royals’ week wasn’t as good. But it’s Hopkins. The Royals have the talent, they’ve got the coaching and they’ll always be there. It just looks like they’ll have more company than usual this year.