The 5AA Quarterfinals: Five Things to Know
The games at STMA didn’t have a lot of drama in the end, but they did provide a lot of excitement. NHR was in the building to observe the action. David’s Dominance. Rockford put together a fair gameplan with a…
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Continue ReadingThe games at STMA didn’t have a lot of drama in the end, but they did provide a lot of excitement. NHR was in the building to observe the action.
David’s Dominance. Rockford put together a fair gameplan with a collapsing zone that made it tough for Breck teammates to pass the ball to David Roddy early in the game. The post would play behind David and the guard/wing commonly fronted David denying any passes. Rockford had trouble stopping David from collecting offensive boards for second chance points but their early efforts were all around. The second half on the other hand, there was no stopping David Roddy. David collected the defensive board and often pushed the ball the other way either passing his way to a Breck score or finishing himself. Then Rockford had to go man to man and they really had problems dealing with David. He had seven second half dunks including a two-hander over 7-foot Calvin Sisk on his way to 35 points and 18 rebounds making 16 of 24 field goals overall.
Mason & Daniels of MCA Production Co. Justin Mason seems to shoot the ball in a high percentage way every time I hear about MCA or watch them play. He’s been so good with his touch that Justin was recently offered by NAIA school William Penn in Iowa over the weekend. Mason scored 21 points and hit five threes and made six of eight foul shots. Then there was Clarence Daniels. Providence Academy’s bread and butter is frontcourt forwards Mark Richelson and Logan Blomberg who combined to score 30. Daniels countered using his active length with 16 points and 11 rebounds including a 7 of 8 performance at the foul line. MCA is a deep team so they were able to counter a tough game for Hakim Daniels because of the shooting of Mason and the double-double of Daniels.
Breck’s Balance. David Roddy is of course the key reason Breck only has five losses but you can’t be a top ten team all year long (and top five at the moment) without a good team. Breck has other pieces around their superstar. Joey Ganley is now healthy and back to his active, all around productive self plus the ball pressure from Jaren Morton and Elijah Zachary changed the game. Rockford had too many turnovers to count and a big reason was Morton and Zachary hounding nervous ball handlers. Not only did the Breck backcourt part force mistakes but they also made sure that every wing entry was high, ill-timed, and away from where Breck needed to start their offense. Ganley scored five times plus had six assists and six rebounds while Joey Koch was that sneaky player behind the defense always cutting to open spots for wide open easy shots. Koch had 14 and most of them were open lay-ups where his movement behind the defense did most of the work.
Breck and Maranatha has the potential to be an excellent game. Both are top ten teams with Breck having the superstar but MCA being the deeper squad. Should be a lot of fun.
Learned in Defeat. Logan Blomberg of Providence Academy showcased one of the better pivots to production that I have seen, and enjoyed watching. His 15 was then teamed with the head of steam that Mark Richelson had going at the rim for 20 points (most in the second half). MCA didn’t have a second big to slow both Providence Academy players and Richelson took example going at the foul line constantly. Providence Academy just doesn’t have the guards to play with MCA.
Rockford’s Nick Manthana had a great career and scored 17 in his final game. The shooting percentage was tough but he made all 12 of his foul shots. Rockford wasn’t able to get the ball to seven-footer Calvin Sisk much but he did have ten boards and five blocks including a sprint back on defense to swat a Roddy dunk attempt (David dunked the other seven). Todd Traen made five treys and scored 17 points giving his team a chance.
The Other Gym. Minneapolis North defeated Blake and Litchfield knocked off Watertown-Mayer. Top 40 level senior Owen Boerema scored 28 points in the win for Litchfield and then committed to Northwestern (St. Paul) shortly after the game. Senior shooter Alex Gruenke had 15. Minneapolis North was led by the 16 points from Eli Campbell and 15 from Davon Townley.