Comets Shootout: Hosts earn the title

Top Moments

1. Sean Ryan makes a fallaway jumper at the buzzer to send the title game into overtime. Dalante Peyton did the job of making the first foul shot and then getting the perfect bounce on the free throw miss.
2. Jordan Bolton strips the ball away from the Fury on the last second attempt securing the win for the Comets
3. Ryan Jacobus hit four threes on four straight possessions changing the game with Minnesota Select.
4. Bryce Irsfeld knocked out a corner trey while being fouled giving him a four point play late putting Comets into the next round.
5. Steffon Mitchell scores six points, gets a steal, and boards in traffic putting the game away yet again.
6. Ethan Novacinski saves his best minutes for the end of the title game getting four late scores, some boards, an assist, etc.
7. Nick Dufault explodes for 23 points in the middle of the Select game keeping the team in the game to the end.
8. Sam Baker with two late attacks, some free throws, and a dagger assist beating his man middle opening up the dime drop
9. Sam Sustacek showing off his three point stroke and three point attack leading all scorers in first half
10. Quinton Siebenahler put the Heat game away with ten points in the final five or six minutes
11. Jack Kortes coming out party scoring 22 against ECI in a semi-final final victory.

Game Summaries

Comets Lewis 79 Fury Wilde 78 OT.  In one of the more memorable title games you will ever seen the Fury fell behind late after some big plays from Matt Keller and Ethan Novacinski, but then kept battling to a 75-72 score.  The Comets opted to foul instead of play the defense out so they fouled Dalante Peyton.  Peyton made the first free throw but missed the second on purpose.  The Fury got the board and Sean Ryan made a fall-a-way shot at the buzzer.  In overtime the teams went back and forth again until there was four seconds on the clock.  Fury had Jubie Alade attacking but Jordan Bolton stole the ball and picked up the big victory.

Heat Vang 61 Select Ohnstad 50.  Select held a three score lead for a while as Sam Sustacek had a big first half showing us his full repertoire on the offensive end.  Select carried that lead into the second half but then Ryan Jacobus caught the hot hand, or shall we say, the Heated Hand.  Four straight possessions Ryan knocked out treys and his team not only took the lead, they went up three scores.  Quinton Siebenahler went to work with ten points down the stretch for the victory.

Select Altenhofen 64 ECI Prospects 54.  Select offensively executed better and the inconsistent defensive efforts of ECI collapsed quickly time after time.  Select did a great job of grinding a possession, getting space, and scoring open looks.  Jack Kortes had a fantastic game and Sam Baker put things away down the stretch.

Fury Wilde 64 Select Altenhofen 58. When it comes to excellent games this was it.  Very hard hitting and physical, getting space to score was rare.  The teams went nose to nose for much of the game with Nick Dufualt exploding for 23 points but countered by good runs from Austin Slater and others.  Neck and neck down the stretch Steffon Mitchell came off the bench and did what Steffon does.  He scored on a post up, pulled down traffic boards, had a steal, and made foul shots.  He stepped up while Select had trouble getting good looks and that was the game.

Player Notes

Jubie Alade (Fury Wilde, Armstrong), Wing.  In an earlier tournament game Jubie was making treys.  In the semi-final he was asked to face guard and deny and he did it with success.  Jubie is a stronger player now, continues to be what he was athletically, and defensively he’s really made big strides.  Lockdown type guy?  DJ Pollard type guy?

Sam Baker (Select Altehnhofen, BSM), Wing.  Baker beat ECI players to space throughout the second half and the plays he made both scoring over defenders and creating for others locked up the quarterfinal victory.  I think what caught my eye the most was his recognition.  Sam saw a weak defender leaning so he burst, he saw the defender over compensating on a ball screen so he attacked the space, he went baseline, saw a corner, and finished.

Henry Bensen (Select Altenhofen, Roseville), PF. Most likely didn’t notice but Henry rarely came off the floor.  Why?  Because he defends, he’s tough, he’s steady handling the ball, and all of this will result in some college program grabbing him as their visual leader of the future.  Players respect him.

Kobe Boraas (Comets Lewis, Sauk Rapids-Rice), SG.  Kobe’s stock is going up because he’s being seen hitting threes, he’s attacking to finish over contesting defenders, and he’s had some explosive scores as well rising about to bang on people.  All around scorer moving up the list of schools and scouts.

Eli Cave (Select Altenhofen, BSM), PF.  Eli Cave.  The guy that threw down the dunk yesterday that had everybody turning their head.  Today in the contest with Fury he scored on three possessions in the second half that had coaches flipping their packets.  First was the three-pointer, second was the attacking score and foul shot, third was the baseline attack finish complete with free throw make.  Cave is coming of age, one of these late bloomer types that NHR loves to find and tell you about.

Cole Dahl (Comets Lewis, Northern Freeze), Forward.  Notice I say forward and not power forward.  He’s been playing a lot of three man for the Comets because he is so skilled and moves well enough laterally to guard some threes.  Had some big time blocks chasing down the ball and Cole’s shooting form is picturesque at the arc.

Nick Dufualt (Select Altenhofen, Waseca), PG.  Nick exploded for 23 against the Fury and excited a crowd watching close.  His threes weren’t a surprise because he does that.  What really caught the eye was the dribble separation attack moves into traffic and Nick scored over the top of that helping traffic taking contact.  Had some juice bursting out of his crossovers.

Nick Geolat (Heat Vang, Eden Prairie), Wing.  One of the best all around team basketball players in Minnesota.  Nick defends consistently, he understands the value of a ball reversal, and he understands the value of a one dribble attack kickout.  He is your “Hoosiers Basics” kind of guy and coaches love those Skilled, Sound guys at 6-foot-3 and long.

Ryan Jacobus (Heat Vang, Eden Prairie), Guard.  This is not complicated.  Ryan changed the game and he did it with deep college area, maybe NBA area treys.  Four of them on four possessions.  Five of them in the second half in all. Game changer.

Jack Kortes (Select Altenhofen, Prior Lake), Wing.  This was definitely the coming out party for the Prior Lake scorer.  Kortes scored 22 and they came from every angle a person could score from inside and out.  He had a couple long range jumpers, some tricky one handed finishes pulling-up, and Jack moved without the ball to finish.  He’s a longer wing with more agility than expected.

Matt Keller (Comets Lewis, Elk River), Guard.  Matt is quickly becoming one of the more fun players to watch.  His pushing of the ball reminds me of a running back bursting up the field and hitting seems to explode to the rim for a score.  Players have to step fully in front because Matt is too strong to simply reach on.

Matt Kreklow (Comets Lewis, Delano).  Like every Kreklow brother and cousin before him, Matt can shoot with range.  He knocked out two corner treys when the Comets made their run to taking the lead regulation lead.  With feet set he looks dangerous.

Steffon Mitchell (Fury Wilde, Shakopee), Forward.  Dealt with foul trouble for most of the game but once again was Mr. Clutch, Mr. Playmaker, the new Nate Wolters (late game production wise)?  We are in St. Cloud. Mitchell stepped up as the late game play maker, again.  In the first half of the championship game Mitchell couldn’t be stopped scoring 14 in 11 minutes including his trademark fallaway touch score.

Ethan Novacinski (Comets Lewis, Apoll), PF.  Ethan saved his best play for late when he stepped forward to produce three or four crucial late game finishes plus a steal and block that were vital to the win.  His biggest bucket was countering Austin Slater’s spin to score in the post with one of his own.  Novacinski is a bit lighter than some other posts but he’s got with leverage and his spin is very quick.

Dalante Peyton (Fury Wilde, SPA), Guard.  He could be All-American as a defender, seriously.  With his strength, lateral explosion, focus, defensive knowledge, and effort he could be one of the best defenders on the circuit this year.  Surely one of the elite in SPTS.   Also, Peyton has been hitting his three-pointers all weekend long.  That includes the final where he knocked out some treys and he hit the needed free throws, plus missed the free throw perfectly that became the Sean Ryan score.

Braxton Raymond (Select Ohnstad, Kasson-Mantorville), SF.  I feel like Braxton has grown a bit and reshaped himself more since I saw him in December.  Moving better and looks trimmer which allowed him to fight off a screen to get into space for a trey and then attack to score on the next possession.

Quinton Siebenahler (Heat Vang, Luverne), PF.  Quinton simply took advantage of his physical gifts in the second half and helped Heat to the W.  He pulled rebounds down basically from the square and on the way down the large elbows were extended.  He also scored on the block three times late using his size to turn, get to space, and finish.  Add the four of four late free throw shooting and you have a big day.

Austin Slater (Fury Wilde, Wayzata), PF.  Austin had a really nice first half facing up to hit a couple short jumpers and then stepping out to nail a three.  The Wayzata Trojan is very skilled and he put forth a lot of rebounding fight in the semi-final. In the final Slater spun on the block to score two moves finished with a short kiss off the glass.  Looking more confident in his low post game this weekend as his scoring numbers were up.

Jack Stensgard (Select Ohnstad, Simley), Guard.  Jack has a bit of a sneaky floater game that teams have trouble defending plus he got his feet set and knocked out two large treys.  I list him as guard as he can handle and make great decisions, but he’s a shooter too.

Sam Sustacek (Select Ohnstad, Orono), PF.  Sam is as physical as they come.  He will battle you, run you over for a loose ball, swing an elbow at your nose after a board.  But today he knocked out three first half treys showing a face-up touch with range.  If he scores a perimeter jumper once again, that’s a big deal prospect wise.  But of course his bread and butter is inside, and he’s tough enough to eat old butter on burnt toast.

Lucas Walford (Heat NW, New Prague), PF.  Last week we learned more on his physical ability than just skill before he faced-up and went either way or hit short hooks.  This weekend his baskets were completely about physical attacks and I’m now thinking this is kind of a Tommy Gathje/Logan Doyle mix of that makes sense.