The nightcap on the West court features two perennially strong programs in Class AAAA when the host Skippers play No. 3 AAAA Lakeville South in the Breakdown Sports Tip Off Classic at Minnetonka.

Minnetonka (4-8) has a new face on the bench in former Henry Sibley coach Tom Dasovich, who comes over to the Skippers after leading the Warriors to third place in the state last winter. Dasovich has plenty of talent on his new squad, but he has one huge challenge – he’ll be squaring off directly with the team that kept his old Henry Sibley program from winning last year’s title – Hopkins. It should make for some instant classics in the rivalry of Classic Lake foes (although now the conference is renamed the Lake with the arrival of Eden Prairie).

Senior forward Nick Latzke (13.7 ppg) leads the way as the only returning starter. He’s an accomplished shooter who last year showed that he could also drive to the bucket. He’ll be counted on for big numbers, as the other four starters (all of whom were All-Classic Lake or honorable mention) have all graduated, Chad Howard, Cole Stefan, Leonard Glass and Tor Anderson. The quartet combined for more than 50 points per game.

Senior forwards Andy Jones (9.6 ppg) and Blake Nelson (7.6 ppg), junior forward Andrew Turnblad (7.8 ppg), sophomore guard Malcolm Moore (7.0 ppg) and junior guard Tommy McDermott (12.6 ppg) will battle to take spots in the starting lineup.

Lakeville South (9-2) made terrific improvements last winter, jumping by eight victories from the previous season and getting all the way to the Section 3AAAA finals before falling to Eastview. The Cougars won’t be sneaking up on anyone this winter, as four returning starters make them a team to beat.

Seniors Alex Richter (24.7 ppg), Jon Christensen (12.0 ppg), Riley West (11.5 ppg) and Spencer Pankonin (8.6 ppg) give South talent and depth across the court. Richter is a high-scoring 6-foot-5 forward who has been among the state’s top scorers each of the past two seasons. Christensen, a 6-foot-5 forward and Pankonin, a 6-foot-7 center, give the Panthers size inside, while West, a 6-foot-1 guard, is a good back court player.

Latzke showed us he can shoot as a sophomore and then as a junior he put the ball on the deck scoring on a regular basis.  This year he’s adept at both and should put up big numbers, potentially even more so than his 15.1 points per game last winter.

Two years in a row he’s finished on top of the Lake Conference scoring list and you can expect that to continue.  Richter is very hard to stop going at the rim and now he’s added to his repertoire. The 6-foot-5 All-State honorable mention forward had 22.9 points per game.