Bethany Lutheran Tournament Preview
Bethany Lutheran plays host to a number of excellent small-school programs for a three-day period this week. Two teams from last year’s Class AA state tournament will be there as Maple River and St. Croix Lutheran are in attendance. St.…
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Continue ReadingBethany Lutheran plays host to a number of excellent small-school programs for a three-day period this week.
Two teams from last year’s Class AA state tournament will be there as Maple River and St. Croix Lutheran are in attendance. St. Clair went to the state tournament in Class A and solid programs like New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva and Fairmont are both included as well.
Here are some things to watch:
Gopher Conference Contenders
NRHEG and Maple River are undoubtedly two of the three best teams in the Gopher Conference along with Waterville-Elysian-Morristown. The Panthers are off to a 5-0 start with all five wins coming by double-figures. Oakley Baker might be the best player in the field but the future St. Johns baller has plenty of help too.
6-foot-8 big man Tyler Raimann is off to an excellent start this season, averaging 16.2 points and 8.2 rebounds. Raimann’s an intriguing prospect who’s been garnering a lot of DIII and NAIA interest. They open the tournament with Le Sueur-Henderson, a team they beat by 26 a week ago.
Maple River is off to a 5-2 start with losses to Belle Plaine and WEM. The Eagles might have the best backcourt at the event as senior guards Jeff Lewis and Cole Sohre team up to form a great duo. Lewis is the team’s point guard and has taken on a larger scoring role this season after averaging 10 points and five assists. Sohre is a knockdown 3-point shooter and a pesky defender on the wing. Maple River opens the tournament with Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial, a team the Eagles beat by 17 a week ago.
Tough sledding in the paint
For good big man play, head to Bethany Lutheran this week.
While the best player in the tournament might be Oakley Baker, the next five or six best players in the tournament might be big men. Jamaris Johnson and Walker Tordsen go head-to-head when St. Croix Lutheran faces Fairmont. Both guys are double-double threats, top 100 seniors and top scoring options for their teams.
The winner of that game likely faces NRHEG, which has Raimann roaming inside.
Minnesota Valley Lutheran and St. Clair are both off to solid starts this year. Both teams have their starting centers to thank for that. Mitchell Weber (pictured) is a load inside for the Cyclones and averages more than 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Nick Fischer leads the Mustangs, averaging 17.6 points and 9.6 boards.
Fischer, Johnson and Raimann are all capable of playing college ball, as is Weber though he’s just a junior. Tordsen might be the best big man at the event but unless something’s changed, he’s not pursuing a college basketball career.
Either way, seeing how those big men all respond to bigs that are just as good as them will be interesting.
Guards to watch
The Maple River duo of Lewis and Sohre is the best duo at the tournament but there are a couple other guards to watch as well. LS-H senior guard Cole Pengilly is one of the top scorers in the tournament, averaging just less than 20 points per game. He’ll have to carry the Giants if they are to have any chance against NRHEG. Blaid Friedrichs is in a similar boat as Pengilly, leading Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial.
First round game to watch: MVL vs. St. Clair
The big man matchup of Weber and Fischer is awfully enticing and the two teams, at least on paper, seem to be the closest in terms of talent level.
MVL’s got a couple other players that can do damage including sophomore guard Jake Kettner (10.7 points per game). St. Clair lost to Maple River and NRHEG early in the year while MVL lost to St. Croix Lutheran.
Second round game to watch: St. Croix Lutheran vs. NRHEG
This is assuming both teams win on the first day but a St. Croix Lutheran-NRHEG matchup could be excellent. The big man matchup of Raimann and Johnson would be entertaining of course.
But the matchup on the wing between Baker (pictured) and Crusaders forward Garrett Maag (one of the top prospects in the field) would be perhaps the most intriguing.
Picking a tournament winner: St. Croix Lutheran
I think NRHEG and St. Croix Lutheran will play in the second round and I think the winner of that game wins the tournament. St. Croix Lutheran is just 3-3 on the season, but its three losses are to some of the top teams in the state (Waseca, Esko and St. Thomas Academy). The Crusaders are still breaking in a fairly new group, so there’ll be some ups and downs. But they’ve got a lot of talent.