Minnesota Playoff Central – The Stars of Wednesday

Players stepped up on Tuesday.  Bryce Boyd Bryce Boyd 6'4" | SF Holy Angels | 2021 State MN .  Karsten Clay Karsten Clay 6'0" | PG Northfield | 2021 State MN .  Riley Larson.  Also a career ended but we think schools should check him out, that’s Hunter Hannuksela.  Playoff Central.  Two games Playoff Central had our eyes on were Holy Angels vs St. Paul Highland Park, and Northfield vs Rochester Century.  The two teams that we thought would win (AHA and Northfield) earned those wins.  AHA senior Bryce Boyd Bryce Boyd 6'4" | SF Holy Angels | 2021 State MN (future UST football player) won the match-up against Joey Kottke with Boyd doubling Kotte’s scoring output (16 to 8) while having a big defensive game.  Then there was the 17 point, 5 board effort from Rob Issa, a AHA junior.  Issa stepped up provided an edge that Highland Park couldn’t match.  As far as Northfield, Karsten Clay Karsten Clay 6'0" | PG Northfield | 2021 State MN stepped up to score 20 pushing his team to a 64-54 win.   Upset City.  Twelve seed International Falls defeated 5th Eveleth-Gilbert in what looks like a big upset but the Broncos were a .500 team knocking off a 12-win squad so it was more a minor upset.  But the biggest upset of the evening!  International Falls is a veteran team and the senior group of Bryant Koenig, Riley Larson, and Cullen Rein led the way.  Junior Jett Tomczak Jett Tomczak 6'1" | SG International Falls | 2022 MN joined them in double figures. The biggest momentum boost of the game was likely the Riley Larson four basket run in the first half that pushed the lead to double digits.  The Big Stage.  Class A basketball is everywhere on the schedule with playoff games all over the state.  Cleveland versus New Ulm Cathedral is surely one of the top games of the night.  The NUC Greyhounds are 11-6 and playing top ten ranked Cleveland in the 4/5 game.  Most eyes will be on Section 4AAAA though.  White Bear Lake led by top sophomore Jack Janicki Jack Janicki 6'4" | CG White Bear Lake | 2023 State #178 Nation MN facing East Ridge and their top playmaker Kendall Blue Kendall Blue 6'6" | SG East Ridge | 2022 State #242 Nation MN .  That’s the 3/6 game.  In the 4/5 game you can see Tartan (13-4) versus St. Paul Central (10-2).  Dewayne Thompson Dewayne Thompson 6'1" | PG Tartan | 2021 State MN leads the Titans with 14 a game while Gedeon Musabyimana Gedeon Musabyimana 6'2" | PG St. Paul Central | 2022 State MN and Kaden Doram Kaden Doram 6'3" | SF St. Paul Central | 2021 State MN lead Central.  Curtis Favors Curtis Favors 6'3" | SG Tartan | 2021 State MN versus Kaden Doram Kaden Doram 6'3" | SF St. Paul Central | 2021 State MN will be excellent basketball.   Tip of the Hat to the Career. A senior bucket getter that local college coaches may want to check on is Hunter Hannuksela. Hunter is 6-foot-4 wing and a really good athlete that has some of the best senior guard bounce in the state (a couple of the dunks in the video below are impressive). Hunter scored 27 points a game this year making 48 percent of the 14-15 shots he took a game (70 percent foul shooter).  Hunter also grabbed twelve boards a game for Mesabi East.