Class A: Finished Business
Two years ago the Minneapolis North Polars fell to Maranatha Christian in the sectional playoff round. The Polars where young and the Mustangs were the second best team in state at the time. Last year North was older and more…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingTwo years ago the Minneapolis North Polars fell to Maranatha Christian in the sectional playoff round. The Polars where young and the Mustangs were the second best team in state at the time. Last year North was older and more experienced but again they fell to the Mustangs in the section title round.
Coming up short two years in a row despite an edge in depth of talent, Coach Larry McKenzie had shirts printed for his player that read “Unfinished Business”. Today the North Polars finished their business winning the Class A state title. The game wasn’t without its drama though.
Right from the opening tip Minneapolis North had a one pass lay-up grabbing a lead 2-0 after five seconds. It was an Isaac Johnson pass to Odell Wilson IV and immediately Goodhue looked over matched. North had three more lay-ups in the next minute eventually building a 15-2 lead and at that point it became about the highlights. Tyler Johnson jumping over a player on an alley-oop, Jamil Jackson throwing down in traffic, and Isaac Johnson crossing over a guy to the floor and hitting a jumper.
Goodhue was overmatched. Out gunned. Too slow, too small, too weak. I started writing about them not being anywhere near close to the best Class A teams in recent past. Then they dug in and started chipping away.
Jacob Pasch caught ball reversals after long possessions to hit three treys. Ben Opsahl was one of four Goodhue players to sneak behind the Polar defense for second chance putbacks (Ben had four first half hustle scores). With one possession left in the half Taylor Buck gave Goodhue a 26-25 halftime lead. The building jumped off its feet. The North Polar crowd was stunned. Fans of upsets were tuning in state wide. Goodhue had people believing.
Coach Larry McKenzie had ten halftime minutes (really more like 12-14 with all the commercial breaks and such) to grab his team’s attention and refocus the group. The player who surely got the message? Junior Isaac Johnson. He immediately went hard in transition to score three early field goals plus drain a pair of free throws. Isaac also grabbed the board and threw the baseball pass to Tyler Johnson for the signature one hand dunk that people will remember from this second half.
Now up eight Polar Patrick Dembley attacked the rim to score his first two baskets of the game and Coach McKenzie made a move that slowed down Goodhue. What was it? Odell Wilson was having a strong game on the low block offensively but he was not able to guard his man on the perimeter in the first half which allowed Goodhue to hold the ball for long possessions. McKenzie subbed in JaQuan Sanders-Smith and now the Polars had five guys that harassed Goodhue above the arc forcing turnovers, bad shots, and was a key piece in North building the lead to 44-30.
There was one more run of highlights left for North. The game had hit somewhat of a lull but a Dembley feed for a Jamil dunk and a Tyler Johnson lead to Isaac for an And1 opened the lead to 61-40. The drama was no over and Coach McKenzie started taking guys out for a crowd applause starting with Johnson who led the charge in half two.
Each Polar senior had a chance to walk off the floor to an applause and a hug from Coach McKenzie. And I image that McKenzie was able to tell each player, “we finished the business”.
Numbers.
Minneapolis North won 68-45 and had four guys in double figures led by Isaac Johnson’s 18 points and 11 rebounds and the 14 points, five rebounds, and five assists from Patrick Dembley. Tyler Johnson had 11, Odell Wilson IV ten, and Jamil Jackson scored eight. North forced 19 turnovers from Goodhue, shot twice as many foul shots as their opponents, and won the game by 23 despite not making a three pointer (they didn’t need any). Goodhue was led by the dozen points from Ben Opsahl and nine each from Jacob Pasch and Jacob McNamara.
Class A All Tournament Team:
Red Lake: Will Morrison, Rob McClain
Central MN Christian: Ethan Brouwer, Taylor Slagter
Goodhue: Ben Opsahl, Jacob McNamara, Jacob Pasch
Minneapolis North: Tyler Johnson, Jamil Jackson, Odell Wilson IV