NY2LA: Best of the Dakotas is in Minneapolis this weekend
Where will the best in players and teams in North and South Dakota be this weekend? That would be Minneapolis for the NY2LA Spring Extravaganza. The Dakota Schoolers, Dakota Phenom, ECI Prospects, and South Dakota Attack are all playing at…
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Continue ReadingWhere will the best in players and teams in North and South Dakota be this weekend? That would be Minneapolis for the NY2LA Spring Extravaganza. The Dakota Schoolers, Dakota Phenom, ECI Prospects, and South Dakota Attack are all playing at the 17U and 16U level with some at 15U as well.
17U
The open division is a competitive but wide open event with 40 teams overall. A dozen of the teams are from Minnesota and these are teams that aren’t competing in any of the national leagues (NY2LA, EYBL, Adidas Uprising). The event also has a dozen of the best teams from Wisconsin (just about all the good Wisconsin teams actually in this or in the league) and a half a dozen from Illinois.
ND Phenom opens up with MN Heat Bui in the seeding game. Heat Bui was 2-2 last weekend and is ranked top 15 in the Minnesota 17U top 25. It’s a winnable game for Phenom although Heat Bui has several tough role players and good guards. Nice first opponent for Aanen Moody (who is sick and may not play), Austin Slaughter, KyJuan Johnson, Wyatt Carr, and company.
SD Attack takes on Real Athletics Rosbie who was 3-2 last weekend in St. Cloud but is not an overly talented team. Their roster is full of guys from junior varsity teams and some deep bench varsity guys. The Attack has a good chance to win the game although RA has a weekend of play on them. Matt Cartwright and JP Costello are back and we are looking forward to seeing who else they have.
ECI takes on Heat Vang and this is a really good match-up of teams that will see each other again in SPTS play in May and maybe in the summer. ECI dropped their second round game last week when Jordan Meidinger was hurt, the hope is he returns healthy from the ankle problem of last weekend. Lucas Meyer, Siman Sem, and Jacob Mertens will have to lead against a Heat Vang team that made the elite eight last weekend and was ousted by the event champion D1 Minnesota team. Parker Fox, Chane Grinde, and company will be a tough opponent.
Earlier in the week we talked about how tough of a road the Dakota Schoolers have in the East Division. Guys like Tayt Vincent, Cooper Williams, and Jack Talley as well as 2018s like Mason Larson, Trevor Hanson, and Nathan Rook are getting valuable experience against some of the best in the Midwest. Omaha Elite is one opponent this weekend and they have four D1 offered players. The Schoolers also played a strong Kessel Heat team from Illinois, the Wisconsin Playmakers who are also in the SPTS now, and Colorado Titans. It’s a loaded weekend for them.
16U
The open division of the NY2LA Spring Extravaganza has 32 teams (there are 24 in league play). Of those 32 there are 11 from Minnesota and 11 from Wisconsin. The rest are from the Illinois area for the most part plus you have two ECI squads, the SD Attack 16U team, the Schoolers, and Dakota Phenom Wiest.
Who has the best chance to make it to the Sweet 16 top bracket play? The Phenom has a Wisconsin Swing second squad that is well coached although talent wise the game should be fairly even. SD Attack has a really big Comets Servaty team so if they have the guards to move around size they have a solid chance.
The Dakota Schoolers also have a Wisconsin Swing team so this will be one of the more well coached games most likely as both programs have a reputation for being well coached. ECi Peterson gest the DTA (Devin Harris) Superstars while the top ECI squad gets the top Wisconsin Jets squad which is a tough first draw but we like the ECI squad’s chances.
So who do we think makes top 16 bracket play? Based on the match-ups I would say Schoolers, the top ECI team, and maybe the Phenom, depends on which Swing team they get. They and the Schoolers are facing the 2nd and 3rd Swing teams but it’s tough to know which is which.
15U
Keeping it simple, the Dakota Schoolers should handle MN Chill who is making their debut while ND Phenom Guist gets a Net Gain 14U team that has been outstanding so far this year.