The Race for Mr. Basketball
Nearly every player that is in the Mr. Basketball race competed in the Twin Cities this past week on display in front of the state. Who lifted themselves in the race? The Leader. Matthew Hurt. It’s been a tough start…
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Continue ReadingNearly every player that is in the Mr. Basketball race competed in the Twin Cities this past week on display in front of the state. Who lifted themselves in the race?
The Leader. Matthew Hurt. It’s been a tough start for the Rockets. Matthew Hurt is back but he’s playing with a team nearly full of inexperienced players that are working their way into a comfort at the varsity level. JM has lost to CDH, Mankato East, and Northfield. Hurt has scored exactly 100 points of his team’s 188 points so far. The Rockets have a game with Winona at home on Friday. Hurt is leading the state in scoring by nearly seven points a game.
Final Five. Tyler Wahl, Tyrell Terry, Zeke Nnaji, David Roddy. Wahl, Terry, Nnaji, and Roddy were the four names with Hurt that we mentioned as leaders for the early season final five. Unfortunately Tyrell Terry is hurt and could be out for some time with an arm injury.
Zeke Nnaji and the Royals picked up big win against Minnehaha Academy last night improving to 3-1. Nnaji struggled with the size of Chet Holmgren making just 6 of 18 shots for 13 points and 12 boards. Nnaji had 31 versus Orono and put forth a big 25 points with 10 baords in a key win over Lakeville North.
David Roddy has his team at 4-0 on the season and ranked among the best in Class AA. Roddy has averaged 23.5 points and 15 rebounds a game so far. Double-doubles all over including a 24 point/21 boards beating Cristo Rey. The win over Lake City really put Breck in everybody’s conversation.
Lakeville North is 2-1 on the year and Tyler Wahl is another big name talent averaging a double-double. Wahl has put up 25 points and 12 boards on average with a key win over Edina.
Top Ten. What big names have played their way into top ten consideration (Top Ten is later in the year, the Watch List is about 3-4 weeks away).
When it comes to the East Ridge Raptors, Ben Carlson and Kendall Brown continue to be the recruits that get the national attention. That said, Courtney Brown Jr of the Raptors continues to be the consistent scoring leader for the team.
A name that must be added to the list is Moorhead’s Maleeck Harden. Harden came down to the Twin Cities and put up 42 points making 11 of 16 shots with a dozen boards. Harden added an offer from South Dakota State shortly after that game.
Tyrell Terry is out but the Islanders are still looking to be the number one team in the state regardless of class right now. How is that happening? Jamison Battle is scoring 30 a game and leading several talented young Islanders. Battle scored 40 in a huge win over Wayzata.
The preseason number one in Class A was Springfield and once again it’s Isaac Fink leading. Fink led his team to a key win over New Ulm Cathedral with a ridiculous 34 points and 15 boards, and Isaac’s team is 4-0.
When I watched Antwan Kimmons over the weekend I couldn’t help but to think back when Kwadzo Ahelegbe went from a very strong junior to one of the state’s best scorers as a senior. Not to say that Kimmons and Kwadzo are the same, as they are different players but Ahelegbe scored 45 against Edina. Kimmons is scoring 29 a game.
Also need to add that Baden Noennig, a top 20-25 level player/prospect in the season class has Mayer Lutheran back in contention and just became the school’s all time leading scorer.