State Tournament Wednesday: The Topics Of the Day!
What were the key moments of Wednesday’s State Tournament? We break it down now at NHR.
- The evening was finished off by a three overtime memorable game where St. Cloud Cathedral defeated Esko. Both teams battled but it was clutch shooting from Jackson Jangular, Mitchell Plombon, and Nick Schaefer that moved Cathedral on to the next round.
- Forest Lake just about pulled the upset of the year when they pushed Apple Valley to the edge before falling by two scores. After two non entertaining games and many expecting to blow Apple Valley out, many were surprised when the 1-3-1 Ranger zone and strong days from Manny Jingco and Cooper Berg nearly pulled the upset.
- Why didn’t Forest Lake get the upset? Because Tre Jones is that good. Tre had a rough first half but once he frustrated Forest Lake’s halfcourt offense with his defense on Jingco followed by turnovers forced, the game changed. Jones forced four turnovers that became Eagle scores and Apple Valley moved on.
- Just before the first half end, Ryan Larson sent a perfect lob pass to Sy Chatman and the Raider senior gave the crowd a beautiful dunk just before the buzzer. Chatman had a double-double for the game.
- Tyler Wahl was the MVP of the day at Class AAAA. When you add up all he did defensively, playing point guard, and scoring in the post, it was surely the most complete day of any player.
- The top Class AAA performer? Calvin Wishart no doubt. Nobody wants to deal with him right now. Wishart scored 35 with 12 rebounds and several assists leading the Tigers past the three seed Mankato East squad. Again, Wishart is on fire and nobody wants to deal with him at the moment. It’s kind of like the Nate Wolters run from nine years ago.
- The Drake Dobbs corner three to give Eden Prairie a halftime lead of 33-18 was a big dagger for any chances Osseo had. That coupled with the EP Triangle and Two defense limiting Zach Theisen and Emmette Page to few open opportunities.
- Playing in front of his future coach Richard Pitino, Daniel Oturu earned his double-double by grabbing a board and finishing at the cup on a high effort transition rim run. That play said everything about Daniels’ effort and it was a key highlight because it was his double-double mark.
- People need to start thinking strongly about Brooklyn Center being a state contender, now. Not later, now. They beat Minneapolis North and today handled Breckenridge for most of the game. Breckenridge is a team that just gave Perham their first loss and Lu’Cye Patterson went right through them for 25 points and six rebounds.
- Columbia Heights vs St. Thomas was supposed to be a big game but Columbia Heights controlled the pace of play both in transition and in the halfcourt. Quentin Hardrict played one of the finer games of his career with nine assists and Deundra Roberson scored 24 as nobody could match his athleticism.
- Connor Christensen hit four half threes for Eden Prairie in their win over Osseo. As far as the Eagles go, when your fifth leading scorer and top defender puts up 18 first half points you are in great shape. With several college coaches watching Connor had a big day.
- Cody Landwehr‘s Sauk Rapids team lost to Austin but Cody had a double-double and became the all time leading scorer at his school.
- Austin forward Moses Issa had 20 points in the win showing his explosive bounce to the cup and his developing three point stroke. With that type of explosive bounce, a strong frame, and an improving stroke at 6-foot-4, Moses Issa is becoming a prospect to know.
- Chet Holmgren had 14 points in his statewide debut in the state tournament. Had an aggressive dunk and hit a couple threes giving everyone thoughts on “who is the state’s best freshman?” Could it be Chet? The upcoming months will tell.
- Finally Quinn Fischer of Esko. He’s now 6-foot-5 and explosive off the dribble. The Esko senior scored 18 before fouling out which was tough, but with so many schools seeing his improved basket attack as well as his agility with that attack, good things could happen soon for him.