Moorhead 91 Buffalo 80: 5 Takeaways
Moorhead is off to a 3-0 start earning three quality wins to start the season. Maleeck Harden put up 42 points with 10 boards in Friday’s win over Buffalo. Maleeck Harden Should be on Your Radar. After an excellent spring…
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Continue ReadingMoorhead is off to a 3-0 start earning three quality wins to start the season. Maleeck Harden put up 42 points with 10 boards in Friday’s win over Buffalo.
Maleeck Harden Should be on Your Radar. After an excellent spring and summer with ECI, Maleeck put together a solid year finished off by recruiting looks from NDSU, SDSU, USF, and MSUM. Harden didn’t sign in the fall which makes him one of the top unsigned players in the state as well as a candidate for Mr. Basketball. Harden is a 6-foot-6 slasher but he got started on Friday night by making several perimeter jumpers. In all the Harden touch became five threes (plus two jumpers just inside the arc) and 11 of 16 shooting overall. Once Harden established himself on the perimeter the Bison defenders were scrambling worse than they were and Maleeck used his athletic, long frame to get to the rim where 15 of 16 foul shots were put on the board. When you look at prospects at the small forward spot, Maleeck has a lot of the qualities to be a player that is recruited by many this spring at the D1 level.
The Perfect Weekend Trip. Moorhead made a weekend of it not only playing and beating Buffalo, but then beating BSM a night later in a 54-51 physical battle. In that game Drew Hagen led with 17 points while Harden scored 15. That gives them three wins over three solid programs (beat Alexandria as well) to start the season. The win over Buffalo was big not just because of the strong performance, but also because that is a Section 8AAAA victory. We will really see how good the Spuds are when they play section leader Maple Grove followed by games versus Osseo and Fergus Falls.
Early Struggle for Buffalo. The Bison had higher expectations coming into the season but they’ve lost three in a row including a loss at Andover and giving up 91 points to Moorhead. The Bison look quite a bit out of sync defensively and they should have at least a couple wins so far based on the talent on their roster. Things don’t get easier either with a game against Waconia coming up as well as road tests against undefeated Chanhassen as well as a game with Elk River. There is plenty of time to take steps forward but the early season has been a struggle for the Bison.
Hagen and Walthall. Drew Hagen is a very interesting player, as well as an interesting prospect. First off Hagen has legit 6-foot-5 size on the wing. Hagen is comfortable handling and passing the basketball so he could play a few different spots. Defensively Hagen moves his feet laterally well not just in foot speed but position wise Drew fights to the spot very well. Hagen uses his length well and he’s very vocal. Defensively Drew is one of the better communicators on the floor. Against Buffalo, Hagen showed some range (a pair of threes) and scored his 18 on 7 of 9 shooting.
The Buffalo Juniors. The reason expectations are high at Buffalo is the talented junior class. The potential is there but something is amiss. Tony Dahl came off the bench to score 15 as well as throw some of the best halfcourt passes that we saw all game. Aidan Bouman was fantastic in working to position, holding that position to target and catch, and showing a nice touch to finish. Bouman is also a heck of an athlete that had one of the nastier two hand dunks you will see. Bouman – who is committed to Iowa State for football – fouled out but had 22 points and nine boards before going to the bench. Then you have Matthew Willert who looks even longer at about 6-foot-5 than when we saw him this summer. Willert came off the bench playing about half the game but in that half game he made six treys and cut to the rim for a pair of dunks (29 points in all). As talented as these guys, they (and all of their teammates) all have to get way better defensively if they are to make the steps they hope to take next year.