Section 5AA Semi-Finals: The Standouts
Tonight Brooklyn Center and Minneapolis North play for the state tournament but on Wednesday they defeated Rockford and Breck respectively. Who stood out? NHR breaks it down today.
Top Five Standouts
Lu’Cye Patterson of Brooklyn Center. Rockford used their match-up zone on BC and for a bit of time, it worked. But then the Centaurs sophomore figured out that flashing into the high post, catching in the short corner, catching in the deep corner, and taking dribble hand-offs would get him the ball in space and once he did, it was over. Regardless if it was transition or in the halfcourt set, Rockford didn’t deny Patterson the ball nor did they keep him in front so Patterson put up a dominating 30 points on 80 percent shooting. For a guard. The efficiency of his game and Rockford says everything you need to know about Patterson’s intelligence as a player. He made 12 of 15 shots and 6 of 9 foul shots for his 30 plus dished out seven assists. Lu’Cye’s usage of fakes, the spin move, and quick hesitations are far beyond his years. His ability to create offense with the dribble is so rare and the touch is high level too. When Patterson physically matures and that part of him catches up to his rare creative ability, we are talking about a very high level player.
Odell Wilson IV of Minneapolis North. The Polars big man made 14 of 18 shots totaling 30 points with seven rebounds. If David Roddy wasn’t near him – and the way that North moved the ball scattering the Breck defense David nor anyone else ever was – Odell was shooting 2 foot lay-ups over and over. When somebody was contesting Wilson he did a nice job of getting to the other side of the rim and making the crafty left hand finishes from all angles. Wilson understands moving behind the defense which puts him in position to score and his short jumper looks very good. Odell went over the 2,000 point mark for his career and he was honored for his outstanding achievement in the second half.
Nasir El-Amin of Minneapolis North. It’s hard to pick a Polars MVP from Wednesday because they did such a great job moving the basketball that it was a team effort slicing the Breck defense and putting up big numbers. The player leading this offensive attack was junior Nasir El-Amin who had 14 points, five assists, and five rebounds. If basketball had hockey assists he would of had about another eight. Nasir’s initial pass against the Breck zone was consistently the right read opening the floor, Nasir’s attacks moved the zone allowing for kick-outs, shots, and passes to cutters, and he also did a great job rotating the ball at the top of the key.
David Roddy of Breck. This was the game that the junior wanted to have as Roddy didn’t touch the ball in good spots consistently and at times he tried to create for himself but turned the ball over as the North defense was all over him with numbers. But Roddy is a hard working, never say die type of competitor who often uses his versatility to find a way to produce. Roddy eventually worked his way to eight field goal makes around the basket in a dozen attempts (19 points and 9 rebounds). There were about three dunks that were explosive getting off his feet before most could react to the play and then David had a couple blocks exploding off his feet to knock attempts away fresh from his opponent’s hands. Roddy had the full North Dakota staff watching as well as Drake.
Luke Pepin of Rockford. Luke is a 6-foot-2 sophomore who has led Rockford in scoring all year with 16 plus a game. He had 18 points and six rebounds as a jack of all trades guy but then he fouled out with five minutes to go and Rockford seemed to have no chance from there. Pepin was excellent within the Rockford defense moving actively to his assignment and getting to boards from all spots on the floor. He scored most of his 18 in a an active way but showed ball handling skills and a nice little touch as well. It was my first look at Pepin and it was positive because he was productive in several ways. It will be interesting to see how he progresses going forward.
Five More
Tayler Johnson of Minneapolis North. Johnson scored on 8 of 18 shot attempts including three made treys and put up 20 points.
Joey Manley of Breck. Joey is the kind of guy who is always reading a defense and finding his way to space against defenders who stop paying attention to him as the ball moves the other direction. Manley scored 14 in the game and most were active scores but he hit two jumpers too.
Adreone Sprinkles of Brooklyn Center. Sprinkles slashed to the cup beating rotating defenders and he always seemed to be moving on the baseline to catch and make plays at the rim before the Rockford D could react. Had 16 points.
Kyle Calder of Rockford. Calder gave his team 14 points and 8 rebounds in his final game at the school.
Maalik Harut of Brooklyn Center. Scored a dozen and was another guy that did exactly what BC needed against the zone attacking cracks and moving the abll the way the coaches wanted them to.