NY2LA Next Level Invitational: The Minnesota Notes
The NY2LA Next Level Invitational is a common event that Minnesota teams compete in every July. Several local players stood out so Prep Hoops dives in with Ten (Minnesota) Things to Know from Milwaukee.
- The Minnesota Comets Lewis club really found a grove this weekend. Healthy players, a consistent line-up, and feeling comfortable helped the Comets team jump a couple wins into the side of the bracket you want to be on. Matt Johnson, Isaac Fink, and Brandon Adelman formed an outstanding guard group that beat Quad City Elite, All Iowa Attack, and had champion Ray Allen Select on the ropes. Isaac Fink scored a combined total of over 100 points this week which is very impressive through six games in this format.
- The name of Steven Crowl continues to grow. The 6-foot-10 2020 center from WOTN and Eastview hit a couple threes this weekend and ran the floor comfortably to score in front of D1 schools but the biggest thing Crowl did was show his skill around the rim game after game. Crowl of course plays with Tate Machacek in high school and AAU. Showed off some comfortable play around the arc and was his usual self in the paint.
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Isaac Fink
Lake City Reid Gastner, a 2020 on WOTN 16s, continues to play like a very tough lead guard with his strong frame and size. Continues to shoot the ball well from the perimeter and did a great job being a vocal leader.
- Drew Gustafson continues to be a stock raiser of the spring/summer. That outside touch is now something to expect and in the Comets K Silver division title run Drew was the team’s leading scorer in three of the games. The Krusher from Kimball continues to be a reliable player for a Comets K team that has now won 29 games. Camden Arndt and Jackson Jangula also played well game after game.
- Comets DLR won half of their eight games and played well against some good teams in the event. Josh Jeziorski was playing some of the best basketball of his career this weekend scoring 14-15 a game and playing some point guard with James Flicek hurt. Josh was so good that when coaches started asked us about him over the weekend, they checked in on Comets DLR and Josh wasn’t there as he left for a high school event the last two games. Hopefully they catch him the next couple weeks as Josh played really well.
- Noah King and Matt Willert have been one of the deadlier 1-2 punches in Minnesota 16u basketball this year and one can dream about how good they will be next year at 17u. Willert scored 18 in three different games while King had 20 a couple times and 15 two other games. Comets Stumpf went 6-2 in Milwaukee including a run to the NY2LA Basketball Association final four. Quite impressive. The energy of Nick Peterson was important once again as well.
- Eli Mostaert, the NDSU committed football talent, was one of the top offensive rebounding forces in the tournament. He had one game where Eli grabbed ten offensive rebounds total. Three on one possession. Simply a monster to move on the low block.
- We keep talking about how good Matthew Onken is around the basket for the Southwest Minnesota Stars but it was his buzzer beating three-point stroke that beat Ray Allen Select in Milwaukee. Onken had 14 in that win and a big 18 to help the Stars beat the Illinois Irish. Onken’s quick shoulder turns and speedy/quality footwork were tough for opponents to deal with once again.
- Wear Out the Net played ten games going 6-4 and in those ten games over five days Gavin Patton of Minnetonka of Minnetonka continues to give his team fantastic minutes. Patton was the most consistent guy for WOTN over this ten games as he was great around the rim finishing plays plus the 6-foot-4 forward shot a high percentage from three.
- For Minnesota Select Leafblad they took some tough Ls but Malik Willingham and Jake Reeck continue to stretch defenses to their max on the perimeter. Nick Hendler and Parker Nielsen were the top players for the Select 16s while Andrew Morgan and Reid Patterson led Select Ohnstad to another strong weekend.