Minnesota Select Classic: 17 USunday Standouts
The Minnesota Select Classic ended Sunday with Rip City taking home the title by beating Southeast Minnesota Lightning. Here were the guys who played well:
Rip City had to earn a tough win over Minnesota Knights in the semifinals and did so thanks in large part to the efforts of DJ Fleming, Chris Seymore and Terrell James. The three guards really controlled the play throughout the game, shutting down any potential penetration and forcing the Knights’ guards to knock down shots which they proved incapable of doing. All three guys did a good job of getting into the paint and making plays as well and that carried over into the championship game where Rip City dominated SE MN Lightning to the tune of a 72-52 win.
Damien Goergen was giving up a good four inches inside against Mark Mboya Kotieno in the championship game but he more than held his own. His ability to handle the ball and create shots for teammates really put the Lightning in a bind.
SE MN Lightning advanced to the championship and got stellar play throughout the tournament from Lake City point guard Marc Kjos and Winona swingman Dakota Matthees. Those two were good in the team’s win over Brainerd but other guys stepped up big throughout the day as well including Southland’s Jared Landherr and Lake City’s Zach Bremer. Landherr is a smaller guard but he’s a good secondary playmaker and his ability to knock down spot-up jumpers was a big key when the team was going good.
Bremer really impressed throughout Sunday with his energy. At 6-foot-5, Bremer can defend multiple positions and he just seems to be in the right spot at the right time a lot. He worked his tail off on both ends of the floor, oftentimes beating the opposition and his own teammates to loose balls. Offensively, he excels off the ball where he’s a solid cutter and his 3-point shot is coming along. He’s a perfect glue guy for that team — and his high school team.
The surprise team of the weekend was undoubtedly the Brainerd Warriors. They took third place in the tournament and got a bunch of great contributions especially in their win over MN Knighst in the third-place game. Chris Karels was good all weekend at the point guard spot and his range on offense and toughness on defense was on full display throughout the entire tournament. Brandon Burggraff, Joey Sauer and Mason Malone all made plays on the perimeter too and Burggraff was especially good Sunday, knocking down at least three triples in the first half of his team’s win over MN Knights. The big man inside, Taylor Shelito was solid too. Shelito battled against the SE MN team and did a great job controlling the paint in the win over MN Knights. He’s a high-energy big who throws his weight around and finishes in traffic.
The MN Knights lost both games Sunday but Kingston Myles was impressive again. He did more as an outside shooter Sunday than he did Saturday in the bits I saw. His aggressiveness getting to the paint is solid but his jumper was cooking especially late in the game against Rip City. Tyrone Miller and Andre Jenkins did a good job throughout the tournament of attacking and putting pressure on the opposition on both ends of the floor.
I liked what I saw out of several guys for Select Leafblad in the game I saw Sunday between them and Comets Little.
Adam Schumacher continue to impress with his decision-making and poise. In an environment where everything needs to happen faster and faster, Schumacher slows it down and seems composed all game. Devin Nebo is a bit of the opposite to Schumacher in that he’s always pushing the tempo or trying to speed up his opponent and it worked well for him Sunday. I liked his pressure defense and attacking mindset offensively.
Jordan Johnston knocked down a couple more 3-pointers in the game I saw. I didn’t notice him doing a whole lot of other things, but he’s a guy worth watching throughout the summer because he’s an absolute sniper.
It’s clear that Comets Little is still developing chemistry and that they’ve got a lot of guys who are used to having the ball in their hands but it seems to be coming along. Phillip Dromgoole is an excellent playmaker and defender. Noah Kannegiesser can fill it up in a hurry with his shooting range and creativity off the bounce. And Kobey Woolhouse is cut from a similar cloth in that he’s a deadly shooter when he gets to the spots he likes on the floor — and there are a bunch. The next step for those guys will be to get more comfortable playing without the ball and I saw more of that Sunday.
I like Maple Lake’s Alex Toedter. He doesn’t have great height, but he’s strong and he’s developing his perimeter game playing next to true centers with Comets Little. He’ll have to continue developing that part of his game and work on his quickness a little bit but he’s a fun player to watch because he can do a little bit of everything on the floor.