Fury Shootout Preview
The Minnesota Fury Shootout is this weekend in Apple Valley and NHR gets you ready with today’s preview.
17U. This is a 22 team group led by the host Minnesota Fury Wilde team that is 18-5 on the season and 8-2 in SPTS play. They are the hosts and joined by seven other teams in the NHR top 25 including fellow Fury squad Fury Antl who is 16-6 on the season. We haven’t seen a Fury Wilde vs Fury Antl game yet but it could be very fun. Max Bjorklund and Manny Jingco getting their shot at Michael Jones and Eric Tiedman and company.
The Minnesota Eagles are coming off a final four spot in the Battle at the Lakes along with UA team 1Nation and Adidas squad Team Rush. The Eagles are 12-6 on the year right now and ranked 10th in the state. An Eagles vs Fury Antl game would also be a strong semi-final. Ely Hendrickson and Nathan Macho hope to grab themselves some gold after a big weekend in the Battle at the Lakes.
This event will be a great chance for the Minnesota Magic Elite team (12-4), Comets Servaty (8-9 but talented and hoping to put a big weekend together), and Rip City (9-6 with a solid list of wins and a Select Classic title) to make a final four or title game run. The same could be said for 16th ranked West Central United. Jordan Belka and Justin Balcome lead the Comets squad and should have college programs on the sideline.
Also in the event is 25th ranked Minnesota Basketball Academy, recently ranked SE Minnesota Lightning and WOTN Wold, and teams like Minnesota Ice, School Boys, and several others.
16U. The 16U group is smaller with 14 teams and led by the Minnesota Fury pair of top ten teams. Fury Mikiska is 4th in the NHR rankings and Fury Kaupa is 9th so they are the odds on favorite to meet in the title contest. They haven’t played yet but Fury M is 12-5 and Fury K is 13-7 this year.
Who could spoil the Fury on Fury game? Heat Bui who is coming off a huge weekend at the Heat event boosting their season from being an afterthought to being the 11th ranked team in the state including a win over Fury Kaupa.
The 16th ranked Comets K team is competing, 22nd ranked Select Koch is in Apple Valley, 23rd ranked SE Minnesota Lightning, and 24th ranked WOTN Christenson. That makes half of the 14 teams being top 25 clubs.
15U. Excited because you saw Fury Zurn and 43 Hoops in the same event again? It’s actually the second 43 Hoops 15U team so tame the excitement. Fury Zurn will be the big favorite as they’ve had a big year so far with only two losses and a first place spot in the SPTS league shared with the top 43 Hoops team. Fury Zurn is the third ranked team in 15U in Minnesota.
The 15U group of play has 27 teams so there is plenty of upset potential. Fury Kline is the fifth ranked team in the state at 15-2 and they should not be overlooked. They will likely have a chance to upset one of these teams. Same could be said for 10th ranked Minnesota Matrix. Or maybe 14th ranked D1 Rise.