The SPTS Preview
The SPTS begins this weekend at Mounds Park Academy. What are the top match-ups? Who is playing well right now? We run you through it in our SPTS preview.
17U Top Contenders. The Omaha Crusaders won the 16U level last year and often you expect the champ to be the favorite and they are definitely on the short list of favorites. They are coming off a 4-1 weekend in the Adidas Uprising Silver Division and have five of the top six 2018 kids in Nebraska. That includes 6-foot-10 Brady Heiman, Roman Behrens, Shereef Mitchell, and others.
So who is going to try and take that spot from Omaha? The Minnesota Comets played to the Comets Shootout final and have a 4-5 mark in NY2LA play through two events. With Matt Todd, Brevyn-Spann Ford, and Joseph Hedstrom leading the way they can match-up with most.
Minnesota Fury is the fourth ranked team in Minnesota right now and the way they play defensively they will play with everybody. Michael Jones is the scoring threat for them and they have a team full of battlers. The Dakota Schoolers have one of their best teams in years with a lot of size led by Trevor Hanson and Mason Larson up front and a talent like AJ Plitzuweit in the backcourt. The Minnesota Select are 4-4 in NY2LA league play with Beijan Newbern and Luke Martens leading the way.
17U Not Sures. Not Sure as in we don’t have enough information. The KC Basketball Club is new to the event and new to us. The Wisconsin Playmakers have South Dakota State commit Owen King and brother Noah King among others, but this may be their first event. There is also the ECI Prospects who played one weekend so far and won three of four games but we still know little. They have a nice group led by Josh Sipes, Kade Amundson, and Joe Pistorius who didn’t play the first weekend.
The Other Contenders. SW Minnesota Stars are playing in the second weekend and this group is led by a nice guard group of Trey Lance, Noah Slagter, and Mitch Ilrbeck. Wear Out the Net is coming off an open division championship in the NY2LA with Tyler Lewko and Dalton Kubista leading the way. If they keep playing the way they have been they could be a definite contender.
Heat Pratt was going to be in the not sures but they’ve played a couple weekends already and need to develop some consistency. The talent is there though to be good. Aaron Smith, Alex Battist, and Kameron Davis lead the way and are a talented trio. Finally there is the Iowa Mavericks, another new team to this league who has had a nice start to the year.
Saturday’s Top Five Games.
- Comets Lewis vs Fury Wilde
- Omaha Crusaders vs Dakota Schoolers
- Fury Wilde vs Dakota Schoolers
- Select Ohnstad vs WOTN Ewing
- Playmakers vs Fury Wilde
16U. Wide open! Select, Comets, Fury, and WOTN are all off to great seasons so far this year while ECI went 3-1 their first weekend of play. The Playmakers won the 15U division last year and if this is the same crew as that they have to be considered the top dog. The Crusaders have four of the top eight players in their grade including the state’s top player Akol Arop. Several of the others are unknowns.
15U. Fury Zurn is the overwhelming favorite here. A 15-1 start on the year with two titles and the only loss being to one of the best 15U teams in the country (MoKan). This group beat 43 Hoops by a considerable margin and they are a top three team in Minnesota playing well.