5 Names To Know: Spectrum defeats Kimball 70-55

<p>**Photo courtesy of Elk River Star News**</p> <p>Another jog north to the Elk River area on Thursday gave me a chance to see some less-than-local names go at it. Spectrum has a slew of capable scorers and they were too much for Drew Gustafson and the visiting Kimball Cubs, 70-55 final. Here are five names to know:</p> <p><strong>Matt Kruse. </strong>A 6-foot-4 small forward with extreme touch and balance off the dribble. Kruse is scoring around 20 per game this year for the undefeated Sting and he went even further scoring 31 to lead his team on Thursday. Matt was hitting from downtown in half one and then used the defense’s aggressiveness against them to dribble into midrange pullups. One word to describe him is fluid. Definitely a senior name who could pick up UMAC interest as we go. I like his game a lot, tons of confidence.</p> <p><strong>Cole Elrod. </strong>The recent Northwestern-St. Paul commit had an assistant watching and he played well on Thursday. With a solid size advantage inside he did most of his damage there picking up fouls and finishing through contact consistently. Elrod had 20 points on the night getting to the middle of the floor easily. I’d say the tandem of Elrod and Kruse is as good as any in Class AA. They’ve played a lot of years together and have been rewarded by cracking the top 10 around the state.</p> <p><strong>Max Lawrence. </strong>The third head of Sting scoring is point guard Max Lawrence. The shifty 5-11 used a flurry of spin moves to avoid defenders in the paint on his way to 14 points. He scoops underneath outstretched hands for touch layups and also just outruns guys with the ball in his hands. A perfect third guy who will distribute when needed too.</p> <p><strong>Drew Gustafson. </strong>Drew was a pretty hot name in the summer playing in the Comets program and Thursday was my first real close look at him. He’s built like a linebacker (I’m guessing he is one) and can overpowert almost anyone inside. Spectrum’s zone forced him to shoot from outside a little more than he’d like in the first half but he began to find a rhythm at the rim later. Finished with 14 hard-earned points. Strong senior who stands about 6-2.</p> <p><strong>Thomas Pearson. </strong>Kimball’s secondary guy was Thomas Pearson, 6-foot senior guard. Another guy with broad shoulders who did a little of everything for the Cubs, scoring 12 along with a few assists and good defense. Kimball always needs someone besides Gustafson to do some playmaking (Drew brought the ball up every time) and Pearson did enough of it to keep Kimball in it.</p>