Comets Shootout: 17U Sunday Guard Standouts
The AAU season kicked off in style last weekend as the Comets Shootout took over the St. Cloud area. Things concluded Sunday after teams advanced into bracket play and with some of the top AAU teams in the state going head to head, a lot of players found a way to stand out.
Here are some of the guards that stood out Sunday:
I watched a fair amount of Fury Antl over the weekend and there were plenty of guys that stood out throughout the weekend for them but the guy that caught my eye a lot more Sunday than Saturday was Stillwater guard Manny Jingco. Jingco put up big numbers on a Stillwater team that didn’t enjoy much success a year ago and looked terrific in games against Powerhouse Black and Minnesota Select. Jingco took on more primary ball handling responsibilities Sunday than I saw he take on Saturday and he was very good at both finding his own shot and creating looks for teammates. He knocked down several 3-pointers and was in attack mode throughout the day.
Fury Antl ultimately ended up losing to Minnesota Select Ohnstad, a team that I like a lot. They don’t have any one true low post bruising big man but they’ve got a great mix of hybrid wings that excel on the defensive end. The guy that epitomizes that is Apple Valley swingman Luke Martens.
Martens is a grinder. He’s physical, he hustles, he defends and he can score without needing to monopolize the offense.
Another Select Ohnstad guard that had a great day was St. Louis Park point guard Cire Mayfield. I watched closely in two of Select’s three games and Mayfield went toe-to-toe with Fury Antl’s Max Bjorklund and Comets Lewis’ Matt Todd and on both occasions more than held his own. He’s a pest on the defensive end and a better offensive player than I was expecting. He uses his speed to push the pace when opportuntiies presented themselves but he was also effective scoring and facilitating in the halfcourt. He’s got a pretty jumpshot out to the 3-point line and finished over length on several instances. He’s undersized, but he looks like a terrific two-way lead guard.
Speaking of Matt Todd, I thought he was the best player for Comets Lewis throughout the day Sunday. They put the ball in his hands and ask him to make plays a lot and he’s more than capable of it. Todd has to do a lot more scoring at Monticello than he does on the AAU circuit and at his best, he’s an outstanding facilitator. He’s got a rare feel for the game and balances scoring with creating for teammates about as well as any point guard I saw over the weekend. He looks the part of a rock solid mid-major college point guard to me.
Todd’s teammate and Eden Prairie combo guard Kyler Kluge had a terrific finish to the weekend. Kluge led a ferocious comeback to help the Comets beat Select Ohnstad. Kluge had a stretch where he scored 11 points in about a three minute span and his defensive intensity was terrific. He also had a strong game in the championship loss to D1 Minnesota, using great change of pace and a variety of shots to score over length throughout the contest.
D1 Minnesota won the tournament championship and I thought the three guys who really led the way were Calvin Wishart, Both Gach and Anders Nelson.
I love Wishart as a player and I think the part of his game that goes criminally unnoticed is his defensive presence. He was the best defensive guard in the tournament for my money and while he scored a fair amount throughout the tournament, he could dominate a game without scoring because of the work he did defensively. He’s got good size for a point guard and he combines that with outstanding anticipation and effort. He’s fantastic in help defense but he’s not out there gambling just trying for steals either. On the ball, he’s as good as any guard I saw at preventing his man from going where they want to go and he prevents penetration extremely well.
Nelson was on of D1’s top scorers and on a team with top-100 prospects up front, that’s saying something. I never got the feeling that he was forcing shots though and he did a great job scoring within the flow of the game. He was also one of the guys that seemed to give constant effort in games that were already blowouts rather than chase steals or potential runouts.
Gach gets a lot of hype for the highlight plays he and his brother Duoth find themselves routinely involved in but there’s a lot more to Gach’s game than highlight dunks. At 6-foot-4, he’s got great playmaking skills and a pretty outside stroke. He’s got a balanced overall floor game and it allows him to fit in on a D1 Minnesota team that has plenty of scoring options. He’s effective with and without the ball. Playing in that 1-2-2 zone during the high school season means Gach didn’t get tested a whole lot when it comes to man-to-man defense but he maintained solid defensive positioning for the most part throughout the weekend and his athleticism obviously allows him to take more chances than a normal player.