18-19 Basketball Season: December Games to See
Minnesota is loaded with talent and every weeknight local fans will have a chance to see top players. Here is a quick rundown of early season games.
Friday, November 30th – Alexandria at Moorhead. The first night of the year to watch talent, the Cards head to Moorhead where Maleeck Harden, one of the top available 2019 prospects is waiting. Treyton Thompson is a nationally ranked sophomore big at Alex.
Tuesday, December 4th – Wayzata at Buffalo. Buffalo is definitely on the up and shooter Matthew Willert looks like a top D2 or even a D1 target. With Jacob Beeinga leading the way and Camden Heide looking like a top frosh (Wisconsin just watched him) the Trojans are shooting for a title.
Tuesday, December 4th – Breck at Cristo Rey. This isn’t just a game to see top 200 national talent David Roddy, it’s also a night to the up and coming players at Cristo Rey. They have a deep young group.
Thursday, December 6th – Mankato East at Rochester JM. Last year East was one of the few teams that could beat JM and in the opener for both squads, the Big Nine will have an early season favorite based on the winner. Oh, and Matthew Hurt is the best forward nationally in the senior class, he’s a great player to go and see.
Thursday, December 6th – Prior Lake at Chaska. The game has D1 committed talents Cole Nicholson (Northern Colorado) and Robert Jones (Prior Lake) on top ten teams not to mention one of the best juniors in the nation Dawson Garcia. A pair of top ten level squads.
Tuesday, December 11th – Hopkins at Minnehaha Academy. The early season game of the year candidate? Potentially. Five star Jalen Suggs, five star Zeke Nnaji, top 25 nationally ranked Chet Holmgren, and 150 2020 Kerwin Walton, top 25 2022 Prince Aligbe, a top unsigned senior in Dane Zimmer, a top uncommitted PG in Jalen Dearring, one of the elite 2-way/2-sport talented in Kaden Johnson…. Yeah you don’t want to miss this game.
Thursday, December 13th – Lakeville North at Chaska. The Panthers and the Hawks always play good basketball games and the match-up of Wisconsin bound Tyler Wahl against Northern Colorado bound Cole Nicholson looks outstanding. And there are many good players around them in a top ten level game.
Friday, December 14th – Cretin-Derham Hall at East Ridge. Another early season game of the year candidate is CDH at East Ridge for control of the SEC at the start. Trejuan Holloman is the next up and coming start in the state, Kendall Brown and Ben Carlson are offered high ranked talents already, and Jaeden King/Courtney Brown Jr are D1 committed seniors.
Friday, December 14th – Edina at Park Center. Want to get out and see Dain Dainja early in the year (the top 75 junior in Minnesota)? This is a great chance to do it because it’s Dain Dainja versus Jacob Hutson, two of the best junior bigs in the state. Jack Middleton vs Tommy Chatman Jr is a strong senior guard battle too.
Tuesday, December 18th – Eden Prairie at East Ridge. The other early season game of the year candidate is EP at East Ridge. The top two ranked teams in the state at Class AAAA matches two big, athletic squads with Kendall Brown, Courtney Brown Jr, and Ben Carlson vs Drake Dobbs, Connor Christenseb, Ariel Bland, Austin Andrews, and others.
Tuesday, December 18th – White Bear Lake at Cretin-Derham Hall. Does WBL have a shot at state? At winning the SEC? This is the game that eyes are all on. Jeremy Beckler and Sam Schwartz lead the crew in versus Jaeden King, Curtis Jones, Trejuan Holloman, and Karsten Broadley.
Friday, December 21st – Eden Prairie at Lakeville North. Another early season game of the year candidate. These are big, strong, experienced, talented teams and the winner has a chance to be preseason #1 if the previous games went well.