Ten Best: Park Center vs Owatonna
The Breakdown Community Clash kicked off boys action with a physical overtime battle between Owatonna and Park Center. Late foul shots from Derrcik Ogechi led to his team high 16 points and a 66-61 victory. MVP. Derrick Ogechi. The Pirate…
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Continue ReadingThe Breakdown Community Clash kicked off boys action with a physical overtime battle between Owatonna and Park Center. Late foul shots from Derrcik Ogechi led to his team high 16 points and a 66-61 victory.
MVP. Derrick Ogechi. The Pirate win was a balanced effort but Ogechi put the game away with six late foul shots, had a timely second half three, and was the only player that gave the Pirates much first half offense. He’s a 6-foot-2 senior guard.
Offensive MVP. Dalton Kubista, The Owatonna juniors started the game very slow shooting wise but helped the Huskies make their run with back to back threes in the second and several trips to the foul line. Made four threes in all and scored 23 points.
Defensive MVP. Tough Choice here, a lot to pick from. I thought both teams battled hard defensively, here were some things that stood out.
Dain Dainja. The shot blocking from the freshman was important because he swatted away three attacks and played a role in keeping the opponents away from attacking.
Alex Raichle. Foul trouble stopped him from having the impact he wanted but Alex kept a D1 guard in front of him for the majority of the game beating Kamara to angles with his lateral quickness and high motor. A deep stance combined with physical play made Kamara’s night tough (13 points on 4 of 13 shooting, 3 of 8 foul shooting, too many turnovers).
Park Center wings. It was a team approach from Ogechi, Jarius Cook, Xavier Bonner, and Lavante Parker who all forced Kubista into a tough day shooting. All of his looks were hotly contested and many were off balance!
Top Underclassmen. Dain Dainja. Good players to choose from with Jason Williamson being a nice player (6 boards) for Owatonna, Emmanuel Tamba worked off ball for four scores, and Kkari Broadway grabbed five boards to push the pace the other way (although he had a tough day). But it was the 6-foot-8 size of Dainja that blocked shots, assisted three times in the post, scored two big buckets in overtime, and grabbed eight boards. Dainja has good potential.
Best Under the Radar Performance. Jarius Cook. The Park Center junior is a very clean player. Steady with a great demeanor Cook works hard as a defender and is a smart player offensively. His 6-0 run in the second half gave Park Center momentum and it included a physical step through to score and an open floor dunk. Had 13 for the game on six shots. Would of liked to see him touch some more.
Top Prospect. Dainja. Good list here with Cook looking like a D1 potential guy, Kamara headed to Idaho, and Kubista looking like either an NSIC guy or a top MIAC recruit, but Dainja has the size, length, early low post skills, and agility in a big frame to be a D1 post. To what level we are not sure. Cook is interesting too. Watching him going forward will be fun because he could develop into a really good prospect as well.
Best Aspect of the Environment. Community Clash. The teams watched their girls play and then played their game. Lots of community members watching both teams. They also are two teams that don’t see much of each other so seeing Josh Williams and James Ware go at it was fun.
Best Story Going Forward. Both teams are a threat. Don’t forget Owatonna in 1AAAA. Them against Lakeville South will be a great 4-5 game and then Lakeville North likely deals with the winner.
Same for Park Center. They have beaten Maple Grove and CDH this year and were a top ten team so they will be a tough out for whomever they get in their section semis (Osseo is my guess) followed by likely Champlin Park if they get to the section final.
Other. Losini Kamara went on a key three score run in the second half and did the ball handling for the Pirates. Tough day for him but he had flashes….Jay Sullivan scored three times in the second half that gave this team a chance including a pull-up and an attacking contested kiss…Nolan Melo of Owatonna, 6-foot-6 forward, had a game high eight boards….Andrew Jackson, a 6-foot-5 junior forward, finished with eight points and six boards for the Huskies…