The ABC’s the State Tournament
It’s that time again Minnesota, the 2018 State Tournament! And that means the annual ABC’s of the Minnesota State Tournament!
A is for Austin, as in the Austin Packers. You’ve all heard the story about who the Packers lost and what they wouldn’t be able to do. Then the Kris Fadness coached team went out and beat Lakeville North, Minnehaha Academy, Rochester JM, and Mankato East among others and now everyone feels the Packers have very real shot at winning state. But the road is tough. Tate Hebrink, Duoth Gach and the crew have been very good.
B is for Bledsoe, as in Travis Bledsoe. Travis took a job that was very difficult. He had to fill the shoes of Dave Thorson and with things being different, any problem that happens would result in eyes on him. Travis had the Islanders at number one all year long and he helped them past Orono in a huge section final. Heck of a start and a job well done so far.
C is for Christian and Cinderella, as in Heritage Christian who is this year’s Cinderella team as they enter the state tournament at 13-17. Heritage Christian is making their first trip to the state tournament. Seth Halvorsen leads the way.
D is for Daniel, as in Daniel Oturu of Cretin-Derham Hall. The future Gopher big and a Mr. Basketball finalist is putting up 18.6 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 6.1 blocks a game for the Raiders. The Raiders are deep and can look to Oturu, Jaeden King, Sy Chatman, or Ryan Larson for consistent numbers on this balanced team.
E is for Esko, as in the Esko Eskimos. Remember all the ridiculous stuff we heard about after last year? This team has put things together and won 16 straight games for an overall record of 26-4. Quinn Fischer and Ryan Pantsar are scoring from the perimeter and nobody wants to go near Mr. Adam Trapp inside.
F is for Finlayson, as in Hinckley-Finlayson who is making their very first trip to the state tournament. This is a veteran team that made a state run beating all their section opponents by massive numbers. Not only is this team making their first trip to state, they have a chance to win it.
G is for Gabe, as in Gabe Kalscheur. Gabe is a Mr. Basketball finalist who put together one of the more amazing section final games I’ve ever seen when he scored 38 points including his last four threes of the game. Gabe is working for his fourth state title seemingly building his points per game average by a point a week. The Tyrell Terry and Gabe Kalscheur backcourt is among the best in the state.
H is for Hermantown, as in the Hawks. Hermantown is Cinderella Part 2, a 14-15 team that beat Denfeld, North Branch, and Cloquet after being the six seed in the section. David Birkeland is a 6-foot-2 senior that does a lot of things for this team.
I is for, well, whatever I want. I didn’t have a good one for I so I will use it to point out that Sam Vascellaro, Jack Thompson, and Jason Birr are back at state. And that St. Cloud Cathedral is back at state led by Mitch Plombon and Michael Schaefer. Or that Rushford-Peterson and RTR are traditionally good teams that have found their ways back to state. Or, that North Woods and Mayer Lutheran are the favorites to play for the title. The Mayer agile size versus the North Woods explosive guard scoring.
J is for Jacob, as in Jacob Beeninga. It’s wild how many times I get high school coaches telling me their players are better than Jacob. Well, many of those players who are supposed to be better than the smaller Beeninga keep losing to him and keep getting outplayed by the Wayzata star. Jacob’s 30 point section final game against Hopkins was a top performance this year. The Trojans have several talented players, guys that are seniors down to middle schoolers.
K is for Kyler & Kluge, as in Kyler Kluge of Eden Prairie. The Eden Prairie Eagles will play six, sometimes seven guys in their rotation. Five of them are sophomores and guys like Austin Andrews, John Henry, Drake Dobbs, and Conner Christensen are mature players. But Kyler is their leader on both ends of the floor.
L is for Landwehr, as in Cody Landwehr of Sauk Rapids-Rice. Cody is the senior leader of the Storm along with talented forward Deng Deang. Deang has stepped up to be the Storm’s leading scorer at 19 a game while Cody is scoring 17 a contest next to him. A very tough pair to deal with.
M is for Maple, as in Maple Grove. The Crimson had nobody back from last year’s rotation. Nobody. So no, there were no expectations really as nobody really knew who what to expect. All anybody knew was that a JV that had all the possible guys available in the junior classes on down, they won a ton of games. And we knew that Alex Battist was going to be good. Guys like Jared Rainey, Nate Adams, and Mac Wilner have really had strong years for a 21 win team.
N is for Noah, as in Noah Christensen. Noah of Breckenridge has grown to 6-foot-8, he is skilled, he is versatile, and he hasn’t just grown in height but in every other way. Noah just earned scholarships from North Dakota State and Minnesota State Moorhead and they just handed Perham their first loss of the season.
O is for Owen, as in Owen King. Owen will be playing in his fourth state tournament and he is a Mr. Basketball final five candidate. Owen got the state’s attention with his performance against Jalen Suggs and Minnehaha, and now wants his shot at them again at state.
P is for Panthers, as in Lakeville North and Cass Lake-Bena. The Lakeville North Panthers are a state tournament fixture led by Tyler Wahl, a 2019, and Coach John Oxton. The Panthers are a balanced team. The Cass Lake-Bena Panthers are back at state after having won games by an average of 32 points per game this year.
Q is for Quintin, as in Quintin Hardict of Columbia Heights. The Hylanders are a veteran team and Quintin is one of those veterans. He’s a guard averaging 14 points a game and he has a great feel playing with teammates Wendell Matthews (17.5 a game) and Deundra Roberson (19 a game) for so long.
R is for Rangers, as in Forest Lake Rangers. Forest Lake won 19 games this year and this balanced team has a guy they can go to for scoring numbers and that is Manny Jingco. Manny scores 17 a game and there are many guys around him that are solid that play their role.
S is for Suggs, as in Jalen Suggs. The five star guard has seen his long time friend Terry Lockett go down to injury and stepped into his place to take care of some of his duties and some of the regular duties he has himself and it’s led to some strong end of the year performances. Suggs and JaVonni Bickham led with 14-15 points per game each.
T is for Tre, as in Tre Jones of Apple Valley. Tre is working for his third state title of his career and is likely to soon be collecting a Mr. Basketball trophy. Jones is scoring 23 points a game on 53 percent field goal shooting, 82 percent from the foul line, and 27.4 percent at the arc. He’s giving his team 8.6 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 3.7 steals a game.
U is for Uhana, as in Uhana Ochan. Uhana will be one of the most fun to watch bigs at the state tournament. Ochan teams with Damani Hayes and Edmon Oyet as a fantastic trio of Cougar seniors who have a lot of talent around them.
V is for Visser and Veterans, as in Travis Visser from Hinckley-Finlayson. Travis is a 6-foot-3 player that can do some of everything. He is a double-double big number scoring guy that can play guard as well. Travis is one of several seniors for his team.
W is for Wishart, as in Calvin Wishart of Delano. Wishart had 126 points in three section games. The Mr. Basketball finalist is averaging 32.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 7.9 assists per game and Calvin has been outstanding since coming back from an ankle injury and a week long setback to the flu.
X is for X-Factor, as in the teams that have stepped up to knock teams out. A team like Brooklyn Center led by Lu’Cye Patterson who has been fantastic pushing himself to be an All Class AA level talent. Minnewaska Area with their senior dominate team of Matt Gruber, Jackson Johnsrud, and Garrett Jensen leading their way through a wide open 3AA section. Or Jordan who used their size and their developing talented guards to play with Eric Tiedman getting to state.
Y is for Young, as in the Young players at Caledonia, Wayzata, and Minnehaha Academy. 8th graders Eli King of Caledonia, Camden Heide of Wayzata, and Prince Algibe of Minnehaha Academy are all playing key roles for their quality teams.
Z is for Zach, as in Zach Theisen. The senior gets to play for his father one more week. The Orioles are a 23-6 team and Theisen is scoring 21 a game and pairing with Emmette Page who is scoring 23 a game. Zach and Emmette are seniors and one of the best 1-2 punches in the state.