Five Things to Know: The Apple Valley Miracle
Apple Valley withstood an impressive Park Center effort getting a clutch block from Tre Jones and miracle buzzer beating bank shot from Nathan Macho.
One. The Miracle Ending. Park Center had the ball with seemingly a chance to win the game but Tre Jones put together an incredible help over block and then the ball was pushed forward to Nathan Macho. With no time to spare Macho threw up an underhand-looking shot that kissed off the glass with no time on the clock and it went in. It was Macho’s only make of the game and it was the biggest shot of the game.
Two. Tre Jones Amazing. Apple Valley is struggling right now. This is not the team they hope to become March and right now with Luke Martens out and some other seniors short on confidence Tre is having to do even more than one would expect. And he’s doing it. Jones of course that block that could be called the game winning defensive play and then there was the ten defensive boards most of which that pushed the other direction of point production. Tre made 13 of his 24 shot attempts and 7 of 10 foul shots for his 36 points. Many of the scores were aggressive attacks to the rim for two foot finishes but the pull-up jumper inside the foul line was made several times as well. Jones basically went at the entire Park Center team and scored more than half of his attempts despite multiple defenders. Oh, he also limited Jarius Cook to 4 of 16 shooting for the game. Need I say more?
Three. Tomorrow Night. We began the season with CDH at number two and Apple Valley at number one. Both teams lost games to Edina plus Apple Valley drooped a game to Minnehaha Academy. Can they knock off the number one team in the state right now with the guys around Tre not at their best? Stay tuned, the answer will come tomorrow night at the Granite City Classic.
Four. Don’t Forget About Me! Josh Arnold, the senior Eagles guard who played junior varsity last year, he’s one guy that is giving everything you would expect right now. With seven rebounds and 11 points Arnold was able to offer Jones some offensive support at times which Jones needed greatly. Now the Eagles need more players to step back into their usual production.
Five. Park Center. For the Pirates it was a tough loss. Khari Broadway had some moments that I would consider some of the better plays I’ve seen him make on both ends. The jumper looked smooth and he made some hustle plays to put points on the board. Dain Dainja started off really hot scoring most of his 16 early but he only touched the ball in the paint twice in the second half. Dain did have 15 points, six rebounds, and five blocks. DJ Purnell played his worker role totaling eight points and eight boards. The talent is there to be a top five team in state but down the stretch the Pirates couldn’t get anything out of their long grinding possessions and it seemed every time they didn’t, Jones was scoring the other way. Park Center will be heard from again though, the talent is there