SPTS 17U Preview
Team Record SPTS Record Comets Lewis 10-2 0-0 OSA Crusaders 10-2 0-0 Fury Zurn 10-3 0-0 Heat Vang 9-3 0-0 WOTN Nicols 9-3 0-0 MN Select 5-7 0-0 SW MN Stars 4-3 0-0 ECI Prospects 3-5 0-0 WI Playmakers 3-9…
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Continue ReadingTeam | Record | SPTS Record |
---|---|---|
Comets Lewis | 10-2 | 0-0 |
OSA Crusaders | 10-2 | 0-0 |
Fury Zurn | 10-3 | 0-0 |
Heat Vang | 9-3 | 0-0 |
WOTN Nicols | 9-3 | 0-0 |
MN Select | 5-7 | 0-0 |
SW MN Stars | 4-3 | 0-0 |
ECI Prospects | 3-5 | 0-0 |
WI Playmakers | 3-9 | 0-0 |
Dakota Schoolers | 2-6 | 0-0 |
ShowTime Hoopers | 2-6 | 0-0 |
SD Heat | 0-4 | 0-0 |
The Sanford Pentagon Tournament Series gets started tomorrow morning in Apple Valley and four games will be played this weekend. Next weekend the teams travel to Omaha for another set of four games. The SPTS finishes up in Sioux Falls in July with the last three games of league play followed by bracket play.
Today we preview this weekend’s slate of action going state by state to a finish.
Minnesota. The Land of 10,000 Lakes is home to half of the teams in the league and includes the two teams that most consider to be the favorites (Comets and Fury) as well as six of the top seven teams in the league record wise to this point.
The Comets and Fury are on a collision course. Both lost their first game of the season to D1 Minnesota in St. Cloud, both lost the first weekend of the open period (Comets to Illinois Irish, Fury to Kingdom Hoops), and the Comets had a fantastic weekend in Dallas two weeks back while the Fury won their first three before losing to a former EYBL program (New York Lightning). Both have won ten games, they play next weekend in Omaha.
This weekend the Comets face South Dakota Heat, SW MN Stars, Minnesota Select, and Omaha Crusaders. The big game is Omaha but you know that the Stars and Select will give their best effort and try and slow down the hot Comets. The Fury plays teams that all have losing records to start the event (ECI, SD Heat, Playmakers, Select). Select does come in off a solid weekend in Dallas so that is a game to watch.
Heat Vang and WOTN are the top game of the round one of games. Both are 9-3, both are top ten teams in Minnesota hoping for a big win to start the weekend. WOTN is likely a more physical team, the Heat will have the edge in overall talent at the top of the roster. The game should be very close.
Heat Vang then plays three teams that have losing records (Showtime, Schoolers, and Playmakers) but we expect the Schoolers and Playmakers to rebound this weekend after tough starts in the NY2LA League record wise. WOTN plays three Minnesota teams (Select, SW, Heat) as well as ECI. WOTN has a chance to win all of them but any of the games could go either way.
Select and the SW Stars open the weekend Saturday at 1:20 in a game that could be very close assuming the Stars have their top guys and they don’t choose prom over basketball (fellas, most of you went to prom last year and can go again next year!). Both teams then play the Comets and WOTN as well so the Minnesota rankings will definitely add more head to head representation after this weekend.
South Dakota. “Great Faces, Great Places, Great Buckets!” People in South Dakota love basketball and the kids playing for the Schoolers and Heat and the fans and coaches of these teams love it more than most. The Schoolers have only played in the difficult and talented NY2LA Basketball League so far and while they are 2-6, they have also lost a game in overtime and three others by two or less baskets. When this team has time to gel they will be fine. The Heat has only played one weekend so far so and they have three 16U kids playing up so it’s a young group.
Problem for the Heat is they are faced with a Saturday slate of the Comets and Fury. You can look at that as “getting the tough ones out of the way” or you can just say “wow, playing the event favorites immediately?” Either way it’s a tough thing to ask of a young group.
The Schoolers have a tough Sunday (Minnesota Heat and Omaha Crusaders) but a winnable Saturday (Playmakers and Showtime Hoopers). The Playmakers are in a similar position of struggling in the talented NY2LA Basketball League although at least the Schoolers won a couple games.
North Dakota. ECI has been off for a couple weeks after a tough start to each of their first two tournaments (Comets Shootout and NY2LA Spring Extravaganza). They rebounded to win some games late in each and this weekend they hope to make a nice step forward.
They didn’t get any gifts schedule wise. The Crusaders are their first opponent Saturday followed by an aggressive WOTN club. ECI has the talent to win both especially if Jordan Meidinger is close to healthy but they have to do better than they did against good opponents in April.
Iowa. ShowTime Hoopers is a new team to the league run by former NDSU player CoCo Cofield. They have been playing in Iowa events in the Pentagon events for multiple years. Their first weekend they have both Heat teams (SD and MN) as well as the Schoolers and ECI. Three of those opponents have struggled to win at the start of the year but the Iowa squad has also found wins tough to come by.
Wisconsin. The Playmakers are a respected program that has put some nice players into college basketball (Matt Thomas at Iowa State, the Jespersons at a couple places, etc) and they have been playing in local events for years so their addition to the league was logical. They played well in St. Cloud (3-1) but have had a nightmare in the NY2LA League going winless. They open with the Fury followed by Schoolers and the two Heat teams.
Nebraska. For as long as this league has been played the Fury, Comets, Schoolers, and OSA Crusaders have been the top dogs. The Crusaders are off to a nice start but they aren’t quite as roster packed as usual. They are still a quality team and will give the Schoolers, Comets, Stars, and ECI a tough first weekend game