NHR State Tournament: Top Ten What to Watch For
The Northstar Hoops Report State Tournament starts tonight. Three days of competing for the state title. It’s bracket play from start to finish. Let’s Go!
The top ten “What to Watch For” gives you the breakdown heading into the final AAU weekend of the spring.
One, The Top Spot. Look through the Minnesota top 25 and you see that 20 of them are vying for the state tournament (plus all of the top teams in the “Others” category). The list includes the third ranked team in the state Powerhouse Minnesota, the fourth ranked team Minnesota Select, plus top ten teams WOTN, 43 Hoops, Mpls FAB, and the Minnesota Eagles not to mention Comets Servaty and Fury Antl who have top ten talent. The 17s are at Champlin Park and the event will be outstanding.
Two, Powerhouse the Favorite. Powerhouse Minnesota finished second last year behind the D1 Minnesota 15u team that played up. This year they are playing in the fourth local event (Battle at the Lakes, Comets Shootout, Pulley Invitational) and this is the one they are hoping brings home the gold. With their recent win over Select Ohstad the Powerhouse team is looked at as the favorite especially considering they have the most explosive team in the state with Josiah Strong, Anthony Davis, Michael Schaefer, and Jarius Cook. Playing a solid schedule the Powerhouse squad has lost just five games in five events.
Three, Select is Right There. Playing that NY2LA and SPTS schedule has led to Select Ohnstad losing a few games they didn’t want to. Thirty-one games already is a load but it obviously prepared Select who battled their way to the SPTS title game last weekend. With wins over the top Comets and Fury teams Select Ohnstad pushed their way to the final and now have their vision on the state crown (and a third place ranking in state!). Beijan Newbern was the hero last weekend but it’s a team battle with Cire Mayfield, CJ Dickson, Luke Martens, and others.
Four, It’s Up for Grabs. Anybody can get this. Don’t think so? Remember, Powerhouse Minnesota lost to Fury Antl the first weekend of the year. Select Ohnstad has lost to Powerhouse Minnesota and they dropped a game to the Phenom having to play them a second time in twelve hours at the Pulley event (and the seedings that used the state rankings from last week could result in a Phenom/Select rubber match).
WOTN and 43 Hoops have played each other once with WOTN winning but neither have faced off against too many top Minnesota teams yet. WOTN is 2-3 against our top ten, 43 Hoops is 2-1 against the top ten. In addition, 43 Hoops has done some trash talking on twitter about their ranking so now they have a chance to back up that talk. Would love to see a rematch of Dalton Kubista, Nolan Melo, and Tyler Lewko taking on Deundra Robinson, Wendell Matthews, and company
Five, the 17U sleepers. Comets Servaty is a talented team. Justin Balcome, Jordan Belka, Steele Senske, and Gavin Bates are scholarship level players. They just loss a game every once in awhile that flusters them. They have the pieces to make a run. Same can be said for Fury Antl who needs to find a way to beat the better teams having gone 0-5 against teams ranked above them since the Powerhouse loss. A true sleeper could be the Minnesota Magic Elite team who is 19-5 but has only played two of the top ten in Minnesota. The Magic is big and has a number of solid kids who just graduated, they could be the sleeper or you could see D1 Minnesota Rise get a full roster together and show how good they could be (if Isaac Fink, Mike Coble, Damani Hayes, and Uhana Ochan are there along with the tough guards they are a tough out).
Six, 16u. The 16U state tournament has 18 of the top 25 in the state competing for the state tournament title. Now it’s time to prove who is what. Teams like Select Jaryan and WOTN Swedburg have the wins on their resume that could push them to being a top three team in state if they run the table this weekend. Both have beaten third ranked Comets Stump with Select also beating the top Fury squad and WOTN also beating that Fury team plus Select Jaryan. A weekend run could even mean the resume for making a case for that second spot. Fury Mikiska is 21-10 and is looking for some key wins, much of the same can be said for them.
Seven, Ring the Belle, Time to Eat! No Crossfire Belle, we didn’t forget about you. In fact this is the team entering the 16u event as the favorite. They are ranked fourth in the state and have lost only three games this year. Their top win is over Net Gain plus they’ve beaten Comets K three times, Fury Kaupa once, and Heat Bui once Now it’s time to face some of the 16u top squads like WOTN Swed, Select Jaryan, Fury M, Select Blue, and Fury K and see how they do. If Crossfire Belle can do that, tough to keep them away from being one of the state’s elite two or three teams.
Eight, the 16U Sleeper. Powerhouse Minnesota has some good wins, SW Minnesota Stars has really only played SPTS teams so they could branch out and make a run, Heat Wright has a chance, and then there is the very interesting Select Blue. As the 9th ranked team in the event they are hardly a giant sleeper at 16-4. Select Blue is actually 8-1 against ranked teams this year in Minnesota if you can believe that. The secret of this team is the Winona Four (Jake Reeck, Brad Winter, Brody Bittle, and Terrell Hall). Sure it’s a group effort that Blue is 16-4 as they have a lot of good players. But the Winona Four played as sophomores and made the Winhawks better than expected this winter and now they are playing together for Select and having success.
Nine, 15U. The 15U tournament has 14 of the state’s top 20 squads including the highest ranked sleeper in the event, Fury Kline. They are 22-4 this year and ranked 4th in the state. Fury K is 7-2 against ranked teams this year. But yet you’ve heard about D1 Minnesota, Fury Zurn, 43 Hoops, Team Get Shook, and Pulley but what do you know about Fury K? You know that this weekend you will get a chance to see what they are about.
Ten, the Main Event, 43 vs Get Shook. The most anticipated match-up of the event is likely 43 Hoops and their undefeated NY2LA record against Team Get Shook, the Comets Shootout runner-up and the team that beat Howard Pulley Washington twice. There has been a lot of talk about these teams competing and it’s something that the event is looking forward to. If Team Get Shook can get past Fury K.