Breakdown State Tournament: Class A
A year ago Spring Grove was upset in section play, they were stopped short of the state tournament. Last weekend Chase Grinde led his team to the Breakdown State Tournament title beating Minneapolis North Spring Grove beat Minneapolis North 52-49…
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Continue ReadingA year ago Spring Grove was upset in section play, they were stopped short of the state tournament. Last weekend Chase Grinde led his team to the Breakdown State Tournament title beating Minneapolis North
- Spring Grove beat Minneapolis North 52-49 to win Class A and it was Chase Grinde morning, noon, and night (or in basketball terms, at the start, middle, and end). Grinde used the spin move to constantly take his lead guard approach and make it into a basket attack in the lane. Grinde had a late game And1, hit key late foul shots, and was able to attack the best defenders North could put on him without turnovers or troubled shot attempts.
- Chase Grinde opened the title game hitting threes, attacking to score, and playing lead guard for Spring Grove against Minneapolis North. He had a score or an assist on Spring Grove’s first 21 points.
- The Chase Grinde game changer in the semi-finals was the five three-pointers made in six possessions. It was a one point game against Heritage Christian and then Grinde’s stroke started going, and it was a blowout when he was done.
- Ex-factors in the Spring Grove win included: five charges taken, the assisting play of Brock Schuttemeier. Brock, a senior-to-be, scored on the attack four different times. 2019 Ethan Matzke deserves a lot of praise for the way he played against North as well. Ethan is a well built guy who can play four positions (played three in this game). Ethan was in the 20 plus area hitting three treys and scoring inside. Tough competitor who will be a sophomore.
- Isaac Johnson of Minneapolis North had a tough first half, sat out part of the second half, and then came on the floor and scored at least a point on five of six possessions after entering. His turnaround gave them a chance later.
- Goodhue and Minneapolis North played a rematch from last year’s title game only this time it wasn’t close for just one half, it was close for a pair of halves. Goodhue used a five-pass, back-screen, back-cut constant motion movement of ball and player to get continual scores behind the North defense. It was an eye-opening performance from Goodhue considering it’s mid-summer but their halfcourt offense looked to be in late March form.
- Eli Campbell, a young Minneapolis North talent. It was noteworthy that he was on the court in crunch time but the reason he is here is because JaQuan Sanders-Smith attacked in overtime on the final possession, kicked to Campbell, and Campbell knocked out the game winning shot to put Minneapolis North in the finals.
- One of the top names taken from this event was Zach Johansen from Heritage Christian. He exploded for 29 points in game one and was one of the top scorers overall point wise for the event. Zach played very well for the Crossfire Singh team the past four months and then really played big on the Breakdown stage last weekend.
- CJ Woda on the opposite wing, or pushing the ball, with Johansen makes Heritage Christian a team to talk even more about. Woda scored 26 in their opener including four treys plus he played some point and scored inside. Woda and Johansen is an outstanding combo at the Class A level.
- Isaac Fink of Springfield backed up all of his freshman year numbers by attacking some of Class A’s best this past weekend and getting middle on everybody. A physical, skilled competitor who also hit multiple treys in every game, Fink is one of the state’s best 2019 players. Why didn’t you hear his name during AAU much? He only played in two events because he’s a baseball standout but this weekend showed he’s a hooping standout too.