Tip Off Classic: Main Court Supporting Standouts
We ran through the MVPs of the main court but along with those MVPs the winning teams had several standouts including that of Anthony Davis of Hopkins and others.
Zach Theisen of Osseo. The Orioles sharp shooter scored 27 which usually is supported by others but on Saturday in a win over St. Thomas Emmette Page had a great day. Not only did Theisen use his touch to score 27 but he also moved the ball within the Osseo halfcourt offense, and push the ball up the floor in transition to help his teammate take advantage of his scorching touch. This weekend Zach looked quicker with the ball than I think I’ve ever seen him.
Josh Jeziorski of Perham. This is a junior prospect to take note of. Josh skillfully made shots from the perimeter at 6-foot-4 and used a dribble better than I expected. What caught me off guard was the ease at which he attacked a lane and threw dunk a two handed dunk. Because of his ability to handle the ball this is a skilled player that can score on several levels and just boosted his stock in a strong way at the Tip Off.
Cole Anderson of Lakeville North. Cole knocked out jumpers from midrange and he hit threes and most of them came early when Lakeville North was putting a run on the Tech Tigers. St. Cloud Tech simply didn’t have enough experienced players on the floor to cover the array of Panther weapons and when the ball moved the way John Oxton wanted it to it was Anderson in space hitting shots.
Drew Galinson of Wayzata. Defensively they don’t come much better. The work ethic and positioning rank with the best but now as a senior he’s matured into a more mature athlete. Blocks, deflections, and steals were regular against Woodbury because Galinson first worked to get position and then used that technique and agility to make a play. On the other end Galinson knocked out four treys leading to 16 points. This guy is going to be valuable early in his college career because he is going to make practice a battle and will be educated enough to play early.
Eric Stai of Rochester JM. Teams that think they are just playing Matt Hurt are going to get burned by Stai. Eric scored a dozen points including a late game finish and a dunk in win over South. Eric is your lunchpail worker type player who moves well off of Matt Hurt in the high post. His work levels have led to MIACs calling.
Terry Lockett of Minnehaha Academy. The steady ball handler for Minnehaha who commonly makes the right passes and rarely forces his offense. Terry had ten points and six assists playing the Pirates veteran group of strong athletes. Gave his team in a steady hand after falling behind early. The top pure PG prospect in the 2020 class of Minnesota (I’m just going to call Jalen Suggs a do everything player).
Anthony Davis of Hopkins. Davis scored 16 points, was given a difficult defensive assignment, grabbed six boards, moved the ball, and was on the verge of being MVP in the Hopkins win over DeLaSalle until the Zeke Nnaji game winner pushed him to the front of the line. Davis can be your primary defender and consistently as a strong complimentary scorer game after game.
Sy Chatman of CDH. The Raiders have Sy which is the ex-factor the Raiders have over others. If a team has one big, they can use that big to foul and try and limit Daniel. But when they do that limiting Chatman is tough. Orono didn’t have a player to deal with Chatman off the ball and he went to the rim for 17 points. The week before Chatman had 33 against Hopkins so that is 50 points in two Breakdown Tip Off games on the bigger stage.
Zach Korba of Apple Valley. When Tre was sitting and the Eagles still held the lead over North it was Josh Arnold getting to the foul line and Korba making jumpers. With Luke Martens out the Eagles will need players to step and while it may not be perfect (AV lost to Edina last night) the Eagles are in a good spot with guys like Korba competing. Zach had 19 points against the defending champion North Polars.