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Tip Off Classic review: main court

By Breakdown Staff, 12/12/15, 11:00AM CST

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Dec. 12: Hopkins upsets No. 1 Apple Valley in thriller

Waseca 69 Browerville 66
 
The Bluejays, now a Class AAA team, showed their edge of depth and size by building an early 38-17 lead on an incredible Nick Dufault halftime buzzer beater and a doubled up rebounding edge early.  Dufault went off for an early 24 first half points no matter what the Tigers did to try and defend them.  Things changed in half two though (this game was headlined as Dufualt vs Irsfeld) and when Bryce started to find space, his teammates benefitted (he had four straight possessions with assists) and he took care of his end matching the 32 points from Dufault.  The Tigers moved the 21 point deficit down to a basket but then Dufault put the game away with late foul shots (he made 12 of 12 foul shots for the game).  Dufault led with 36.

— Ryan James

Score by half
Waseca 38-31--69
Browerville 17-49--66
Individual scoring 
Waseca
: Elijah Carter 2, Jake Guse 6, Nick Dufault 36, Kaleb Nelson 15, Adam Schumacher 4, Dakota Williamson 6
Browerville: Brendan Emery 13, Noah Iten 5, Tervor Johnson 3, Ryan Warwick 13, Bryce Irsfeld 32
 
St. Croix  Lutheran 86 Braham 75
 
Braham controlled the first half forcing 11 St. Croix Lutheran turnovers and hitting six treys (four by Chris Olson).  It was a nine point game and the Bombers seemed to have firm control at the break.  Next thing you know, all of the Crusader players were in double figures, Braham had gone ice cold, Ade Murkey helped force Olson into a 10 of 31 shooting game, and it was a 25 point swing in the second half.  It was a 53 point Crusader explosion and a dominating 50 to 27 edge on the glass. Trenton Krueger and Ade Murkey each had massive double-doubles with 20 points/21 rebounds for Krueger and 23 points/16 rebounds for Murkey. Aage Rovney, Venkat Valluri, and Jamaris Johnson all his double digits to overcome the 25 points from Olson and 18 from Ryan Larson.  

— Ryan James

Scoring by half
St. Croix Lutheran 33-53--86
Braham 42-33--75
Individual scoring
St. Croix Lutheran
: Gunnar Maki 3, Trenton Krueger 20, Aage Rovney 16, Ade Murkey 23, Venkat Valluri 11, Jason Rupprecht 3, Jamaris Johnson 10
Braham: Connor Tschumper 10, John Larson 9, Ryan Larson 18, Alec Olson 12, Chris Olson 25

Minneapolis North 96, Fridley 57

The North Polars jumped ahead 7-0, eased up a bit, Coach McKenzie refocused them with a timeout, and then things exploded from there.  Exploded to the point of a 96-57 victory.  What was a close game for a moment exploded into 32 Fridley turnovers.  Half of those turnovers were Polar players jumping passing lanes or picking pockets as they recorded 16 steals. Jamil Jackson worked for a dozen, Tyler Johnson hit a three and was on constant transition for his 19, and Patrick Dembley and Isaac Johnson both had 20 points.  Dembley dissected Fridley on the break while Johnson set a tone with his work rate.  In the end, the Polars totaled a 96-57 win.  The record pushed the Polars to 6-0 on the season and they look by far like the favorite to Class A.  Right now I’m not sure who is even close enough to consider as contenders to their number one spot. 

— Ryan James

Score by half
Mpls North 47-49--96
Fridley 30-27--57
Individual scoring 
Mpls North:
Jamil Jackson 12, JaQuan Sanders-Smith 7, Tyler Johnson 19, Pat Dembley 20, Isaac Johnson 20, Ahzerick Rodgers 4, Marquis Holloman 1, Tayler Johnson 9, Jamire Jackson 4
Fridley:  Shyheem Murray9, Omarai Engle 1, Tirik Reeves 12, Tessy Pall 10, Michael Crandall 10, Terrell Nyangai 1, Tyree Caruthers 7, Latrell Pate 6

Tartan 72 Linn Mar 64

Tartan and Linn-Mar played one of the more physical games you will ever see.  What was the final difference?  It was Tartan being the deeper and more athletic team.  Linn-Mar had three guys with most of their buckets early while the Titans went through six players of multiple scores to get a 30-28 lead at the break.  Jordan Horn scored twice in the first half but only had five points while Jordan Bohannon, headed to Iowa, found a quick rhythm.  Then Jordan took over.  Horn scored a three, transitioned to attack, scored on a baseline drive, and then down the stretch built up his total possession after possession giving his squad a game high 29 to the 22 of Bohannon.  As a team the Titans forced Bohannon into 7 of 23 shooting (Horn was 12 of 18).  The Titans executed an efficient halfcourt offense with Elijah Johnson, Jordan Thompson, Jarvis Thomas, and Horn all executed staying on the floor for most of the game because they were the most physical holding Linn-Mar’s D1 pair (Bohannon and Jared Printy) to 11 of 35 shooting overall. 

— Ryan James

Score by half
Tartan 30-42--72
Linn-Mar 28-36--64
Individual scoring
Tartan
: Elijah Johnson 6, Jarvis Thomas 8, Noah Whalen 6, Jordan Horn 29, Jordan Thompson 12, King Mules 2, Joevon Walker 9
Linn-Mar:  Jared Printy 12, Riley Murphy 3, Jordan Bohannon 22, Beau Klostermann 7, Jordan Brandt 9, Reese Phillips 9, Bryce Miller 2

Hopkins 89 Apple Valley 81

The Hopkins vs Apple Valley game lived up to all the hype we’ve been giving it for several months.  The Eagles led early and then when Tre Jones put down the dunk of the day in transition on Ishmael El-Amin, there was the highlight of the day.  Funny thing though, the Royals did not respond to that dunk in a defeated way.  What they did was take control of the game.  El-Amin quickly made two treys, Xavier Johnson made two himself, and Amir Coffey knocked out three foul shots at the end of the half for a 45-40 lead.  
 
The Royals pushed held the edge for much of the second half but Brock Bertram’s consistent play around the basket helped, Cameron Kirksey scored three times in a run, and Gary Trent continually found ways to get his 27 points despite defenders bothering him at every turn.  A Trent three tied the game at 70.  With two minutes to go the game remained tied but it was the Royals who found the toughness for the victory.  Amir Coffey rebounded, created, and finished like the top 40 player he is and Vinnie Shahid’s stroke was pure from the perimeter again.  The Royals used a differential of a dozen foul shots (30-18), most from their transition attack, to grab the win 89-81.  Trent had the 27, Bertram had a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds, Jones had 13, and Kirksey had a dozen.  Hopkins was led by 22 points and ten rebounds from Coffey, Shahid had 16, El-Amin had 16, Wright 14, and Johnson 12.  The Royals are your new number one in Class AAAA basketball.   

— Ryan James

Score by half
Hopkins 45-44--89
Apple Valley 40-41--81
Individual scoring
Hopkins
:  Xavier Johnson 12, Simon Wright 14, Amir Coffey 22, Vinnie Shahid 16, Erik Davis 9, Ishmael El-Amin 16
Apple Valley:  Gary Trent Jr 27, Tre Jones 13, Jordan Bolton 8, Cameron Kirksey 12, Brock Bertram 21

Champlin Park 75, DeLaSalle 68

The Islander defense and the explosive scoring punch of Gabe Kalscheur was able to hold Champlin Park down for about a half.  Kalscheur had 25 at the break and Rebel guard McKinley Wright was still working his way to find the right attack.  Theo John kept his team in the game making ten of ten free throws plus a couple early buckets but at the break DeLaSalle was up.  Coming out of the locker room for half two the Rebel leader (Wright) began to find his way, and the defense started to need extra breaths.  Kalscheur then picked up foul four with nine minutes to go in the half and right there Wright smelled blood.  First Wright scored on putbacks, then it was basket attacks, followed by some pull-ups, and then it was everything.  He even threw in a behind the back dribble into a pull-up for a score.  The dagger was a contested three that put the Rebels up double figures followed by McKinley attacking and fouling Kalscheur out.  Gabe hit the 30 point mark and put on a strong show but it was McKinley Wright that took the game over leading the Rebels to a 75-68 victory. 

— Ryan James

Score by half
Champlin Park 34-41--75
DeLaSalle 38-30--68
Individual scoring
DeLaSalle:
  Goanar Mar 11, Gabe Kalscheur 30, Will Irvin 2, Samm Jones 13, Christian Dickson 12
Champlin Park:  Theo John 22, Mello Adkins 3, DJ Hunter 11, McKinley Wright 26, Brian Smith 7, Josiah Strong 1, Chris Davis 5

Maple Grove 70, Wayzata 47

The game was never close.  Wayzata tried some early timeouts but it didn’t help.  Brad Davison scored nine early and then started distributing while Reed Nikko controlled the paint on the other end.  The usually strong Trojan defense (it nearly beat Hopkins last night) was beaten badly by the Crimson ball movement and they also had great trouble with Tywhon Pickford’s size and activity with or without the basketball.  Last March Wayzata knocked the Crimson out of the playoffs in the semi-final round when many felt Maple Grove would play for the final so there was some definite “getting even” motivating to this game.  And Maple Grove got even early and often on their way to a 70-47 win.  Tywhon scored 25 points, Davison had 15, Taron 13 and Nikko put up eight points and nine boards.

— Ryan James

Score by half
Maple Grove 38-32--70
Wayzata 14-33--47
Individual scoring
Maple Grove:
  Jack Hutchison 2, Reed Nikko 8, Taron Pickford 13, Tywhon Pickford 25, Brad Davison 15, Michael Lu 2, Zion Allen 3, Bubba Horton 2
Wayzata:  Austin Slater 1, Troy Louwagie 4, Johnny Beeinga 2, Gavin Baumgartner 7, Jack Sowada 15, Jacob Benninga 5, Bryce Hemple 2, Ty Gelinkse 4, Ryan Lindberg 3, Parker Hlavacek 2

Minnetonka 75, Cretin-Derham Hall 68

The 'Tonka Skippers hosted the final game on their home court and they held their court well with a 75-68 victory.  The balance of the Skipper line-up receiving 23 points from Amar Miller (and five assists), 18 from Cedric Boone, 15 from Seth Coatta, and a monster double-double of 14 rebounds with 14 points from Max Cooper who separated his shoulder with six minutes left in the game.  The Skippers needed all of this to counter the 11 of 17 shooting and 23 points with 11 rebounds of Daniel Oturo who continues to blossom with every game.  He and Jordan Ammons put up a fight for the Raiders but the foul shooting edge of 14 of 17 for Tonka (CDH shot 4 of 7) and a plus nine rebounding edge put them over the top.  Along with their balance. 

— Ryan James

Score by half
Minnetonka 35-40--75
Cretin-Derham Hall 34-34--68
Individual scoring
Minnetonka: Matt Haas 2, Max Cooper 14, Cedric Boone 18, Amar Miller 23, Seth Coatta 15, Burt Hedstrom 3
Cretin-DH: Chris Perry 4, Denzel Fondungallah 4, Daniel Oturo 23, Deland Phillips 5, Jordan Ammons 12, Ray Sean Treadwell 5, Jake Prince 7, Charlie Dennis 5, Griffin Gamble 3

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