Class A State Tournament: Semi-Final Standouts
RTR and North Woods will bring their opposing Black & Blue jerseys to Saturday’s state championship. Who stood out in the semi-finals to get there? NHR breaks it down.
Noah DeLapaz of Cass Lake-Bena, Senior. Noah has had a strong season and it was no surprise that he was the one guy that could find ways to produce against North Woods. Noah put up 16 points making three treys plus grabbed nine boards. Noah came into the game scoring 16 a contest and had 16 on 16 shots.
Cade Goggleye of North Woods, Junior. That hot shooting hand of Cade Googleye was on fire again and today he limited what he took at the arc as the Grizzlies offense produced so many good shots. Cade was at the foul line for 10 of 14 foul shooting on his way to 26 fouls. Have to find this man on the court!
Carter Hansen of RTR, Junior. Carter is an absolute grinder. Complete workhorse. It’s almost funny how much harder he busts his butt more than others. He’s just on another level than everyone else when it comes to effort and motor. He scored 18 points, with 16 rebounds, and four steals. He played all butt one minute and burned the rubber off his shoes in getting those numbers for his team. He didn’t have a great day shooting but Carter kept coming at everyone so he was at the foul line nine times making eight.
Garrett Kern of RTR, Senior. Kern had trouble hitting over the Crusaders length but he did make a pair of threes and in the ugly RTR/Mayer Lutheran game. In that contest two threes went a long way. Kern also had nine assists and moved the ball well, plus scored 10 points.
Westin Kirk of RTR, Senior. RTR is a veteran team that grinds people and Kirk is another grinder. Three steals, five boards, aggressively going at the cup to get to the foul line. Kirk scored his ten to support the squad but he was a part of a defense that dominated Mayer Lutheran.
Trevor Morrison of North Woods, Sophomore. Here was the x-factor, the grinder in the paint for North Woods made 6 of his 8 shots scoring 14 points with seven boards. Morrison is the leading rebounder of the team but today he put some buckets in at a higher rate than usual.
Baden Noennig of Mayer Lutheran, Junior. The versatile talent of Baden Noennig was visible in this game. Baden had trouble with the workmen like defense of RTR turning the ball over, but they couldn’t score over him either. Baden was the only guy that could consistently find a way to get a good shot off against RTR. He didn’t shoot well, but got to the line pushing his way to 15 points. Throw in the 11 rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and three steals for some of everything and Baden was the most talented guy on the court, but didn’t have his best offensive game.
Tate Olson of North Woods, Senior. Tate is a veteran, and today he played like a veteran. North Woods had control of the game and Olson teamed with Cade to keep team control of the game. Scored 11 but more importantly chased seven boards and dished out five assists.