Class AAA Tournament Takeaways
High School hoops in Minnesota ended last weekend with three new teams claiming state titles. For the first time since 2011, DeLaSalle went into this past season not as the defending state champions. The Islanders were undoubtedly the favorites in…
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Continue ReadingHigh School hoops in Minnesota ended last weekend with three new teams claiming state titles. For the first time since 2011, DeLaSalle went into this past season not as the defending state champions. The Islanders were undoubtedly the favorites in Class AAA and they proved everyone right by rolling through the postseason on their way to yet another state championship.
Here are five takeaways from the state tournament:
The Islanders were the best team in AAA from start to finish
DeLaSalle went into this season as a fairly heavy favorite to win a state championship. Such is life when the best point guard and best power forward in the state play on your team. Such is life when the rest of the Class AAA field lacks the top-shelf talent to truly challenge. Either way, DeLaSalle was a machine all season long and went through the postseason with little trouble before beating Waseca 63-56 in the championship game.
The Islanders are so well-regimented when it comes to execution on both ends of the floor, it’s easy to forget that they are just high schoolers. They move the ball and get the shots they want on an incredibly high percentage of their possessions. They grind you down with dogging perimeter defense. They rotate extremely well. They are as connected on that end as any team in the state (it doesn’t hurt that they’ve got an endless wave of tough-minded, athletic guards on the first row) and they simply don’t make a lot of mistakes. Yeah Tyrell Terry and Jamison Battle form the best 1-2 punch in Class AAA, but the Islanders have an excellent system and coaching that seems to extract every bit of potential out of all the other guys too. They blew out Princeton in the state semifinal game. The game with Waseca never really felt in doubt. They crushed AAA competition all year. Impressive.
Waseca loses one of its best all-time players, but the Bluejays will be a force for at least two more years.
Malik Willingham has long been established as one of the best guards in the state. He’s been a key figure on two state tournament teams for Waseca and has the ability and the mental fortitude to excel in high-pressure spots. His growth as a player over the last four years has been impressive and he’ll leave Waseca as one of the best players in school history without a doubt. He’s gone, as is Matt Olsem and a good senior class as a whole. But the Bluejays will be a top-five team in Class AAA next year and the year after because of an outstanding group of Sophomores. Andrew Morgan averaged 16 points and eight rebounds as a sophomore and showed in the state tournament what kind of long-term potential he’s got. Ryan Dufault already has two years of starting experience and will now take on a bigger role with Willingham graduating but he’s clearly a top-end player in that 2021 class and Kyrese Willingham is a terrific athlete who can do quite a bit of everything on the court. He’s more well-rounded than Malik was as a sophomore and even if he never scores quite as much as his older brother, he’s going to be a stud for all the things he brings to the table. Things are going well in that Waseca program right now.
The Austin talent well isn’t drying up soon either
Austin’s had a very good three-year run here, getting to a state championship game two years ago before getting to the state semifinal rounds each of the last two years. The Packers have been one of the elite teams in Class AAA for a while and in what was supposed to be something of a building season after losing great groups of seniors each of the last two years, the Packers won 25 games and took home a third-place finish at state. As always, they’ll lose some really good seniors including Medi Obang who had a fantastic season. But as always, this is something of a wait-your-turn program at this point and underclassmen don’t play a lot not because they aren’t talented, but because there’s good players ahead of them. There’s still a lot of talent in that program and they’ll have a handful of really good players back. Don’t expect Austin to drop off.
Princeton, Holy Angels, Bemidji and Monticello bid adieu to good senior classes
Princeton had been building for this season for a while and the Tigers didn’t disappoint. With a senior heavy group lead by Jon Stimmler, James Flicek, Adam Williams, Reilly O’Neill and Calvin Peterson, the Tigers were a top-five team in AAA all year, took home a share of the Mississippi Eight and won a game in the state tournament. Four guys eclipsed 1,000 career points. Three of them did it over the course of four years in a Princeton uniform and their style of play was wildly entertaining and beautiful for a novice basketball spectator. Losing that many seniors is always difficult. This group was special though.
Bemidji was one of the best teams in northern Minnesota last season and while there are still a couple of quality guys that should be back, the Lumberjacks will lose some seniors who played big roles on this team the last few years. Spencer Konecne blossomed into one of the best big men in the state. Kade Peterson didn’t put up big numbers but was an excellent glue type guy and Ryan Bieberdorf has been a consistent player on the wing for a couple years.
Monticello didn’t have a good regular season, going 11-15 but the Magic figured things out late in the year and surged to the finish line, winning Section 5 on the way to state. Monticello’s group of seniors is much less heralded than some of the others but guys like Blake Thompson, Shawn Sellner, Austin Puppe, Tommy Blackstone and Carson Sawatzke have been varsity regulars for three years. With head coach Jason Schmidt stepping down, the new head coach will be stepping into a roster facing a lot of turnover. Austin Wetter is really good, but the Magic will miss that group of seniors.
Holy Angels was one of the surprise teams in Class AAA this year. After winning just nine games a year ago, the Stars won 26 and took home the consolation championship. A senior class led by Thor Holien and Max Gerstner was strengthened when Charles Johnson transferred in this team took very little time establishing itself as one of the best in the state. With those guys gone to graduation, things will be much more difficult. Matt Banovetz and Emmett Johnson will be back as starters, but that senior class went out with quite a bang.
Preview for next year?
Only two teams – Austin and DeLaSalle – were return state tournament teams this season. Six teams turned over and it wouldn’t be incredibly shocking to see similar turnover for next year. Austin and DeLaSalle will both be favorites in their respective sections again and Mahtomedi will likely be up towards the top if only because of J’Vonne Hadley but beyond that, there could be a lot of new faces. The best of that potential crop could be the three-time defending state champions at the Class AA level, Minnehaha, which is attempting to opt up to AAA. The Redhawks could be the best team in AAA if they do indeed move up. Princeton, Monticello, Bemidji and Holy Angels all face rebuilding seasons though. Waseca returns a boatload of talent, but Section 2 is always one of the best in the state and Mankato East will certainly be right there with the Bluejays competing for supremacy in that region.
Class AAA may not have a bonafide favorite though for the first time in years. Unless DeLaSalle gets a number of high-impact transfers (always possible) or has a ton of underclass talent in the system that simply didn’t play because of guys ahead of them (always probable), the Islanders could take a step back. They can take a number of big steps back and still be one of the best teams in the state, but they might not have the overwhelming talent they’ve had in recent years. Dare I say, Class AAA could look somewhat open next year.