The Race for Mr. Basketball
The Final Ten names for Minnesota’s Mr. Basketball were named recently. Where do we think they sit on the list heading into the stretch run? Who was “snubbed”? The Race for Mr. Basketball runs through it.
The Favorite. Apple Valley has found their groove with Luke Martens back and Mr. Tre Jones has his team looking like a top three Class AAAA squad again. The Eagles have won 11 in a row and recently avenged a loss to Lakeville North. Tre is leading his team in scoring (23.2), rebounds (9.5), assists (6.3), steals (3.7), and blocks and had a 25 point, 7 board performance in 9 of 16 shooting in the win over Lakeville North. Jones also had 8 assists in 17 minutes in a blowout over Rosemount, a game in which Tre took two shots.
The Top Contender. CDH is the best team in the state right now at 20-1 with Daniel Oturu‘s 18.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 6.2 blocks a game. Oturu and the Raiders went down to Iowa City and beat the best team in Iowa with Daniel putting up 21 points and 12 rebounds with Oturu making 10 of 13 shots. Oturu also just had 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 blocks against Forest Lake plus Daniel had a huge game against DeLaSalle with 25 points, 13 rebounds, and five blocks while making 12 of 17 shots. Tre is the favorite but Oturu’s team won their first head to head match-up and if CDH gets Apple Valley at state the door opens.
Top Three. Three state titles, working on a fourth, and performing at a high level, Gabe Kalscheur is in that top three as well. Against CDH, Kalscheur had fellow top ten finalist Sy Chatman guarding him and Kalscheur turned the corner on Chatman for attacking results and he hit five threes. The Islanders lost but Gabe was excellent both ways scoring 24 and defensively he forced at least six CDH turnovers which included the three charges he took. The Islanders had another big game facing a top Class AAA contender in Columbia Heights and Gabe put up 19 before taking an early seat in the 94-58 win. Kalscheur had 21 in the win over Fridley before sitting down with a 30 point win. Kalscheur leads DeLaSalle in scoring at 21 a game.
Final Five. Who are the top contenders for the final five? Jarvis Omersa has an average of 19 points and 11 rebounds and his team is healthy and primed for a Class AAA run with 11 straight wins. Jarvis had 20 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists beating Holy Family and then he had 23 points and 11 rebounds in the Waconia win. Calvin Wishart had 34 points and nine rebounds in a very important win over Holy Family and he’s putting up 31 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 7.8 assists a game against a tough schedule.
Final Ten. Monticello has lost four of seven but the latest game was another 30+ plus performance for Matt Todd who also had a game winner at the buzzer to break a four L’s in six games streak. Todd is scoring 29.4 points, 6.1 rebounds,and 6.3 assists a game but the recent losses have hurt. The looming Delano vs Monticello, Cal Wishart vs Matt Todd playoff game is going to be a must see. With all eyes in the state on him this past Saturday Owen King had all of Minnehaha’s attention and still scored 27 points with Jalen Suggs often guarding him. Caledonia has lost some tough games so they are 17-4 and King really needs that return trip to state. Woodbury’s Michael Jones is facing constant defensive gameplanning but is still scoring 27 a game although recently had a tough game in a 25 point loss to East Ridge where Jones had 10 points.
Sy Chatman, the state’s top unsigned prospect at the moment who was just offered by Richmond and UMass, is averaging 18.4 points and 8.7 rebounds. After some tough spots against DeLaSalle he rebounded for 19 and 7 against Forest Lake (9-13fg), and 20 and 10 against Iowa City West making 10 of 17 shots. A fantastic season continues for Chatman, and for Odell Wilson IV of Minneapolis North. Wilson joined fellow bigs Omersa and Chatman in having strong games against Hopkins totaling 27. Wilson is putting up 20.7 points and 8.7 rebounds a game and North is the number one team in Class AA.
Top Snubs. Who was snubbed from the top ten list? I’m not sure there was a Nate Wolters style missing the top five level snub or a Jake Sullivan not winning Mr. Basketball level snub, but there are some guys that have a case that could be made. Josiah Strong has Champlin Park rolling and he’s been great. It took a bit of time for the new look Rebels to fit their chemistry so the timing of the Mr. Basketball lists likely hurt him as Josiah is having a great year. Anthony Davis of Hopkins is another having a great year that deserved some recognition and the same could be said for Tayler Johnson especially after the big game he had against Minnehaha Academy in a win. Out of state, Michael Schaefer and Brevyn Spann-Ford from St. Cloud also can be listed here. Schaefer is putting up 26 and 13 a night.