Teams/players to watch at Winter Lakes Classic
Most teams are in the midst of a mid-season grind through conference play but Alexandria is playing host for a full day of enticing basketball Saturday. The Winter Lakes Classic is one of the few mid-season showcase events and it…
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Continue ReadingMost teams are in the midst of a mid-season grind through conference play but Alexandria is playing host for a full day of enticing basketball Saturday.
The Winter Lakes Classic is one of the few mid-season showcase events and it features a handful of excellent teams.
Top teams playing Saturday include Perham (No. 9AA), Alexandria (No. 8AAA), Eden Valley-Watkins, Browerville/Eagle Valley and Sauk Centre. Maranatha Christian, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton and Buffalo are also in town and there will be plenty of high-end individual talent on display all day.
Game to watch: Perham vs. Eden Valley-Watkins
The game of the day in Alexandria might actually be the first one as a pair of top teams in Class AA square off in what could be future state tournament teams.
Perham heads in with just two losses on the year and quality wins over Breckenridge, Heritage Christian and Battle Lake and the Yellowjackets will have their hands full with Eden Valley-Watkins. The Eagles are 15-2 on the year and have been battled tested all year.
There are a couple of good matchups to watch during the game, most notably the guard battle between Perham’s Jenson Beachy and EV-W’s Reese Jensen. Both guys score 15-20 points per game and set the table for offenses that average nearly 70 points per game.
The other good matchup could be inside as EV-W’s Jacob Streit is one of the top forwards in Class AA. The 6-foot-4 Division II football commit is a double-double machine for the Eagles. Aaron Solberg is one of the top two-way big men in AA, providing points for the Yellowjackets on one end while controlling the paint on the other.
Prediction: Eden Valley-Watkins wins a close one.
Players to watch: High scoring guards, rinse, repeat
Want to see guards pile up points in bunches? Alexandria is the place to be Saturday.
The first game of the day features a pair of them with Beachy and Jensen of course and it doesn’t slow down after that. Browerville/Eagle Valley’s Bryce Irsfeld might be the best player to take the court Saturday and against a Marantha team that gives up more than 62 points per game, he could be in line for a big afternoon. Ryan Warwick and Jordan Gorder are both big pieces in the Tigers’ success as well.
Elisha Coleman is a name to watch in that game as well as the senior guard averages better than 14 points per game for the Mustangs. Hakim Daniels is a guy to watch as just a freshman as well.
Buffalo hasn’t had a great deal of team success so far this season but the Bison have guys worth watching. Dylan Rohlin — another future college football player — puts up about 14 points per game. The Bison will have their collective hands — Bison have hands? — full though with Spencer Hockert and the Cardinals.
Hockert’s had a monster year for Alexandria and teams up with Jaran Roste to lead a very good Cardinals squad. Both guys are capable of piling up points in a hurry for a team that averages just less than 70 points per game.