Five Things to Know: BSM defeats St. Louis Park
With one of the best team basketball performances we’ve seen this year, the Red Knights had ten different guys score in a 62-54 win over St. Louis Park. NHR was there to offer our thoughts on the game.
One. A Team Effort. Rarely this season have I seen a team play as complete of a team defensive effort combined with ball movement and quality shot selection as what I saw Benilde-St Margaret’s put forward last evening. The Red Knights saw all nine of their players score last night while limiting the Orioles to only 54 points. St. Louis Park is a team with three, maybe four future college basketball players competing for them but BSM was simply too good as a unit score on. Joe Dunn and Liam Ford led with 13 points each giving a balanced effort.
Two. Moving to 500. As good as BSM is, they are a .500 team at 12-12. They have beat Cooper, Totino-Grace, Wayzata, and St. Louis Park which are all very good wins. But as good as BSM is they don’t have a take over scorer who can simply produce in a one on one play making situation. So playing a tough schedule, BSM has had nights against good teams where they just couldn’t get into good space enough to score the points needed to keep up with other teams. But make no mistake about it, BSM has a great chance at defeating Chanhassen and Richfield to finish their regular season followed by section play. Having recently lost to Cooper, it seems likely that BSM will play Roosevelt or Waconia in the 4/5 game come section play. From there it would be a match-up with DeLaSalle in the second round, if they won that 4/5 game.
Three. BSM Seniors. Gabe Alada, Joe Dunn, Vincent Friction, Riley Miller, Liam Ford, and Carter Uphus were celebrated last night and each of them played their part in the win. Alada is a physical wing that will be a college football player but at the moment he plays his role as a tough and active role player. Joe Dunn is one of the smartest players in the high post I’ve seen. Dunn’s clever off ball movement, aggressive approach going at the defense, and quality one dribble attack game turning a corner and taking contact before finishing, it all plays a key part. Riley Miller can play several spots and might be one of the most talented D3 level recruits that hasn’t been talked about enough. Miller is scoring 13 points a game as a 6-2 guard. Liam Ford knocked down five jumpers for the game and Uphus was good in the low defensively.
Four. The Orioles. Cire Mayfield (scoring 18.4 points a game with six rebounds and six assists) is nearly impossible to keep in front when he has a one dribble edge coming at you. Most people simply can’t move their feet with him. Aidan Doherty is a bouncy, active, 6-foot-4 combo forward that physically has the tools for college basketball and Joey Whitlock is a shooter that somebody will want. St. Thomas, Luther College, and Northwestern were all in attendance watching all these seniors as well as the BSM seniors. As good as these guys are, Junior Anthony Rayson was their best player last night. Rayson is a strong wide bodied 6-foot-5 active big that plays some of the best low post defense I’ve seen this year. Neither Drees or Uphus was able to score a low post basket against him. Rayson had 14 in the loss, and Aidan scored an active 14 himself. The BSM defense was just too good for the Orioles guard to put points up against.
Five. The BSM Future. Six-foot-8 BSM junior Dylan Drees is long, moves fairly well, and has shooting range. Drees hit two threes in this game and you can see the potential. Six-foot-3 sophomore Walker Johnson also hit a pair of threes, and then there is Nick Peterson. Peterson is a 6-foot-3 glue guy that you can plug into several different positions. He handled the ball well last night and directed the team with verbal commands and first reads that looked very bit of a PG. Peterson also has the size and scoring touch to be an efficient scorer as he had ten last night. It was Peterson that BSM trusted to be a position defender on Cire Mayfield and Nick was in a stance, closed out correctly, and had the right footwork to help limit Mayfield under double digits.