Class AA State Tournament Day 1 Takeaways
The Class AA State Tournament quarterfinals were mostly blowouts as three of the four games were decided by 15 points or more. Here are 5 Takeaways from Day 1: Minnehaha didn’t shoot well at all…and still won by 30 Minnehaha…
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Continue ReadingThe Class AA State Tournament quarterfinals were mostly blowouts as three of the four games were decided by 15 points or more.
Here are 5 Takeaways from Day 1:
Minnehaha didn’t shoot well at all…and still won by 30
Minnehaha Academy is gunning for a third straight state championship and the Redhawks wasted little time Wednesday proving why. They scored 78 points on 73 total shots which isn’t all that great, and still won by 30 because of their defense. Chet Holmgren is obviously a game-changer on that end. He had eight blocks and alters an insane amount of shots. They are big, they are long. None of this is new. But it’s also worth mentioning that even in a game where they don’t shoot well, they are still capable of beating anybody.
Minneapolis North Minneapolis Northed
The Polars found themselves in a dogfight Wednesday against Esko and didn’t put the game fully away until the final minute or so. A big part of that was an inability to shoot free throws (12 of 28 overall) but the Polars were able to ultimately win the game because they forced 27 turnovers. They applied constant man-to-man pressure on the ball, they mixed up their traps and caught Esko off guard and they sped up the Eskomo guards all night. Eventually it hit a breaking point. The Polars’ athleticism is something few teams can prepare for and it was evident that even with Esko’s guards who are talented and experienced, there were times where they just were caught off guard.
Perham’s a lot more than Beachy and Jeziorski
When Perham gets talked about, the two guys headlining are almost always Jenson Beachy and Josh Jeziorski. They’ve earned it as two of the best players in school history. But the Yellowjackets are far from a two-man outfit. They’ve got several other guys who are capable of stepping up and taking over stretches of games. That’s a huge advantage to have and it separates them from a lot of small-school teams that absolutely need one or two guys to provide greatness on a nightly basis. In the quarterfinals, Finn Diggins gave them 15 and 12 and Charlie Rasmussen popped off 17.
Lake City is elite defensively
Lake City, similar to Perham, has two stars leading the charge in Nate Heise and Reid Gastner. Those two are the only double-figure scorers for the Tigers. They’ve got a host of solid outside shooters and several guys who provide great energy. But Lake City isn’t 28-2 because of a high-octane offense. The Tigers play stifling defense and control the tempo as well as any team in the state. That was their formula when they went to state two years ago and it’s the formula now. They don’t have great size but they are disciplined and physical.
Competitive Semifinals?
The quarterfinals were mostly uncompetitive. Hopefully that isn’t a theme in the tournament. Minnehaha is obviously the heavy favorite and the Redhawks already have wins over Perham and Minneapolis North. They’ll get Lake City Thursday while Perham and Minneapolis North face off. On paper, those games should be better than the games from the first round.