Hoop City Classic (Sioux Falls) Standouts
The Hoop City Classic always spends one day in Sioux Falls and among the five boys games played these were the standouts from the event.
Alden Applewhite of Houston. The top 100 level small forward prospect played several roles for Houston including hitting four threes on his way to a team high 16 points. Applewhite also helped limit Matthew Mors to a single score defensively and he worked his way to six boards for the game. A terrific all around performance for the Memphis talent.
Mukeba Jean-Baptiste of Lynn English. Mukeba is a 6-foot-9 big that reclassified from the 2019 class to the 2020 class. Lynn English is becoming more physical both in appearance and in play and he showed that with his 15 boards and several high percentage finishes.
Joe Kolbeck of Brandon Valley. The six foot guard may have earned MVP honors for Brandon Valley’s big win over DeLaSalle. The junior’s basket attack led to constant playmaking with rim completions and an And1 plus Kolbeck hit a huge three at the end of a quarter to open the lead to double figures. He scored 14 points, dished out five assists, and chased down six boards.
Jaxon LaBrie of Brandon Valley. The Lynx knocked off the defending Minnesota Class AAA champion DeLaSalle Islanders in impressive fashion beating the team by double digits and controlling the pace throughout. One of the key reasons BV had this statement win was LaBrie knocking out five threes stretching the Islander defense further than they could defend. LaBrie is a 5-foot-10 guard with a game changing stroke.
TJ Madlock of Houston. Loved the way that Madlock played in transition for his team in a 27 point win over Yankton. The locals weren’t able to get a man in front of Madlock’s transition push and even when they did he created shots for others with his crafty ability to pass the ball. Madlock scored at the rim four times (most with a contesting arm arriving late to contest) plus he had eight assists in the win.
Jarnel Snow Guzman of Lynn English. The speedster of the Massachusetts state champion is a ball pressure nightmare for the opposition with quick hands and a darting ability to close space on defense. He led Lynn English to 31 point win over Harrisburg and did it with five steals and several rim attacks. Guzman was the difference maker though because the 5-foot-7 guard’s jumper was on hitting five threes leading to 23 points.
Ganin Thompson of SF Washington. What Washington did to defeat Collierville from Tennessee was defend and it was everybody on the court doing their job. Thompson, a 6-foot-6 power forward, completed possessions with a load of defensive boards plus a couple putbacks on his way to a double-double of 14 points and 12 boards.
Zach Witte of SF Christian. Witte is that physical 6-foot-7 USD football signed player that takes the basketball court mixing skill with an aggressive approach. Witte doesn’t need constant touches to make an impact because of his ability to move opposing bigs off the block plus he had 13 points and seven boards.