Border Battle

It's been a few days since the Border Battle but, first time I've really had the chance to get to a recap. I'll keep this short and sweet and won't get into things too detailed.

Desoto 38 Heritage Christian 27I got to this one late so I really wasn't into the game a whole lot. Desoto played a zone defense and Heritage couldn't penetrate it and settled for threes all game long and those threes didn't fall all game long. I hate to say it but, was a bit of a sleeper.

Stevens Point Pacelli 61 Spring Grove 48
The shooting of Pacelli guard 6'0 senior Cameron Cloud was the story in this one. Spring Grove couldn't seem to find him ever and felt like Cloud couldn't miss. Early on Spring Grove did a great job of feeding 6'6 senior Sam Sanness but, in the second half they seemed to of forgotten him. Both times I've watched Spring Grove they seem to panic when they get down late and just started firing threes that weren't good shots and made the score look worse then what it actually was.

Lake City 84 Prescott 77
This game was a ton of fun to watch as both teams went at each other all game long and it was right from the get go. Lake City senior 5'10 Marc Kjos made his first five three point shots but, he was matched time and again by super scorer 6'0 Prescott senior Petey Brookshaw. Brookshaw was everything he was advertised and was one of the more impressive players of the day. Both teams took a ton of threes throughout. In the second half Prescott sophomore 6'2 Parker Nielsen got going from the outside and he was matched by fellow sophomores on the other side in 6'3 Nathan Heise and 6'4 Reid Gastner. All three guys Kjos, Heise, and Gastner scored 20 plus for Lake City while Brookshaw knocked down 34 and Nielsen chipped in 16.

Kaukauna 122 Minneapolis North 107
Kaukauna jumped North from the get go and this game was basically a 20 point game throughout but, of course 6'0 senior Jordan McCabe made it interesting a fun too watch. North pushed the tempo and that played right into McCabe's hands. It felt like every shot Kaukauna took was a three and North had no intention of slowing things down. Kaukauna played a triangle and two defense and North couldn't hit the outside shots to get them out of that zone defense. North junior Nasir El'Amin got 39 points but, that was really only because Kaukauna let him get it and stopped everyone else. 6'2 eighth grader Trej Holloman was impressive to see and I'll be interested to see him in the future. 5'10 sophomore Keaton Ferris was money from the outside and he fed off of McCabe as did 6'5 senior Eric Carl who seems to have expanded his game this year. 6'8 Kaukauan senior Dylan Kurey also showed a nice touch from the outside as well.

Appleton Xavier 74 Minnetonka 59
Early on it looked like this might be the first lose of the season for Xavier as they seemed to struggle with Minnetonka's size and their threes weren't falling. Xavier limped to a first half lead of five but, in the second half things took off a bit. their senior guards 6'1 Hunter Plamann and 6'0 Sam Ferris got things going in the transition game and big man 6'5 senior Nate DeYoung was the one that got things going from the outside. Minnetonka really didn't have anyone that had a great game and the guy that I thought go do it 6'0 junior Jalen Dearring had 15 points but, didn't really look to control this game or try to take over.

La Crosse Central 65 North St Paul 60
For the life of me I can't remember much about this game. Early on for North St. Paul 6'6 senior Goodnews Knegeol was hitting the shots from the outside but, then he just kind of disappeared for a good portion of the game. Thankfully they had 5'11 junior Dajuan Carter off the bench you seemed to be that gunner off the bench that can just go out and score. Carter was huge carrying this team throughout. Late in the game Knegeol got it going a bit but, when they were down by three with under five seconds there was some confusion as an in bounds pass to Knegeol was take away by Carter who took the last second three that didn't fall and send to create a little controversy between team mates. Central was at their strength just driving to the lane and it was a team effort of their big four 6'7 sophomore Terrence Thomopson, 6'1 junior Noah Parcher, 6'5 Jordan Davis, and 6'5 Johnny Davis. The Davis twins led the way just driving the lane and using their athleticism to finish.

Minnehaha Academy 73 Stevens Point 68
The game of the day featuring the host team. I really thought Minnehaha would run away with this game but, point held with them behind the exceptional play of 6'3 senior Drew Blair. Blair was extremely expressive scoring at well. Whether Blair was handling the ball or moving without the ball Minnehaha had a hard time stopping him. Mark Miller has stated that Blair looks like an all state player and I'd be hard pressed to disagree. The game started off with 6'5 eighth grader Prince Aligbe grabbing an offensive rebounded and throwing it down hard that got the gym buzzing. Super star sophomore 6'4 Jalen Suggs was who everyone wanted to see and he didn't disappoint. Suggs started a little slow in the first half and had some sort of an abdomen injury that hampered him. In the second half he didn't show any signs of the injury and the threes started to fall and he was looking like an elite point guard finding his team mates and giving it to the crowd with the James Harden feed me and then a stare down of the crowd. Aligbe had another highlight when Suggs missed the lay up and Aligbe finished it off with the put back dunk and then let out the Kevin Garnett yell.

I've mentioned all the top players so I'm not going to go into that too much and it's late enough that I need to hit the bed. Tomorrow I'll be back with the Stoughton vs La Crosse Central write up from last night.