The Prep Hoops Perspective: East Ridge over CDH
Last Friday night I ventured to East Ridge High School where the Raptors were able to take a bite of the Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders in a fun atmosphere. What made this a great night for high school basketball? Let’s run…
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Continue ReadingLast Friday night I ventured to East Ridge High School where the Raptors were able to take a bite of the Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders in a fun atmosphere. What made this a great night for high school basketball? Let’s run down the reasons!
One. Meeting Gopher podcast superstar Luke Buer at the game he mentioned to me he was worried about getting a seat. I said “high school attendance is down these days plus everyone is playing so it won’t be too full”. Sure enough East Ridge had a crowd that filled the catwalk and both sides of the gym. Perfect Friday night to see quality talent.
Two. How quality was the talent? The players in this game brought out Richard Pitino and Rob Jeter from Minnesota (Jeter has a sone in the East Ridge program), Greg Gard and Joe Krabbenhoft from Wisconsin, and Milwaukee assistant Pat Monaghan. There were also rumors in the crowd that Iowa State, Iowa, and Colorado were there but the Fran McCaffery look-a-like was not the real thing, just because you wear an Iowa State sweater doesn’t make you a coach, and we saw nobody from Colorado. But the coaches there were watching Tre Holloman (Gopher offer), Kendall Brown (Gopher offer), Ben Carlson (Wisconsin and Minnesota offer), and Courtney Brown Jr (committed to Milwaukee).
Three. This was a big win for the Raptors. With a bigger line-up, more experience playing together, and more experience on the floor overall East Ridge was the favorite. But CDH has talent so beating them is a definite accomplishment. The Raptors are a well coached team that is disciplined in their execution. But on this night Carlson had about five inches and 25 pounds on the guy guarding him while Courtney Brown Jr had an edge of about two inches and 25 pounds on the guy guarding him. The result? Both had double-doubles so it was a long night of beating the Raiders down inside. Don’t feel bad about it East Ridge fans, they had Oturu and Chatman beating on people inside for years.
Four. Courtney Brown Jr made a nice impression on the two (at least) Mr. Basketball committee members that were in the crowd. Brown is a player that I think we will have a quick impact in college and really have a nice career as a Panther. He just plays harder than everyone else. It’s not that complicated, he just outworks you. Sure being his size and very long with nasty bounce is a very nice extra trait to have and Courtney uses it very well to his advantage. But when it comes down to it Brown brings the defense at a higher percentage of effort than most and when he’s off the ball guys have a terrible time stopping him from moving to space that becomes high percentage scores. Brown had 25 points and 15 rebounds on 7 of 13 shooting and 9 of 14 foul shooting. He made two more threes and continues to lead the Raptors in scoring (did last year as well).
Five. You could tell Ben Carlson wanted this game. There was something different about his approach. Carlson had a tough showing against Prior Lake recently so his second half dominance must of been satisfying. When you talk about Carlson a key point in the conversation is that at a listed 6-foot-10 (standing level by him on the floor Friday night he is surely taller, and I felt tiny) he moves so well with a dribble or two making shots on the move or with a short touch. But Ben has put on so much good weight that he can also pound on you. And in the second half he pounded on everything in purple and gold. The vast majority of Ben’s 26 points, 18 boards, and three blocks came in half two when Carlson battled his way to tip-ins, putbacks, and physical finishes. At times it was more of a race between Carlson and Brown to see who was going to complete plays. Ben was 9 of 19 from the field (and putback likely three of his own misses) and 8 of 10 from the foul line. His blocks sprinting to the play and physically misplacing the ball may have been the most impressive plays of the night.
Six. If you have Jaeden King you may never be out of the game. His range and confidence is tough to find a match for. King made a pair of late game threes that brought CDH within six points and this was a game that CDH really didn’t deserve to be close in but that scorching touch and crazy range of King can bring a deficit down in a hurry. The Western Illinois signed wing made seven treys and hit 9 of 18 shots overall. People often ask “how good will Jaeden be at Western” and I will continue to say “If he’s hitting shots like he does he will be on the floor”.
Seven. Speaking of hitting shots, Patrick Lynott may have been the ex-factor in this game. The East Ridge senior guard scored three three-pointers in the first half, another in the second, plus another field goal for his 14 points. Those 14 points forced CDH to locate him when shots went up and if you pull a defender towards Lynott, that just leaves more space for Brown and Carlson to work in the paint.
Eight. The emergence of junior Amari Carter. Carter had a nice role as a sophomore coming off the bench but that Carter has grown to 6-foot-6 he can play some power forward on this team and he’s shining in that role. Carter had a big game against JM and followed that up by scoring on all but one of his attempts Friday. Carter was also the most active CDH rebounder and one of the better defensive players.
Nine. Zach Zebrowski did a masterful job of making sure that Lynott had touches to shoot while Brown and Carter touched the ball near the rim in positions to score. He totaled eight assists and if some initial lay-ups were made the senior would of had ten assists overall. Clearly one of the better passing guards on quality teams in Minnesota.
Ten. Kendall Brown and Tre Holloman are the young stars that brought fans to the gym. The talent is clear (Brown’s ten points included a pair of explosive finishes while Holloman’s vision as a passer is one step higher than I had anticipated). Brown scored ten points on 5 of 11 shooting but with most touches going inside Kendall found his bigger contributions to be using his length on defense and moving the ball to the size around the basket. Holloman scored his eight points on I believe just two field goal attempts for the game (was at the foul line a number of times). Love his energy plus Holloman handling the ball has everybody back on their heels. Such a quick player to his first attack move. Five assists on the night for Holloman.
What’s Next? CDH has a huge game with White Bear Lake who is hoping to make their mark in the conference and section with a nice group of seniors. They also play St. Thomas on Friday and compete in the UST event vs BSM and Eagan over the break. East Ridge’s packed schedule continues with Eden Prairie tomorrow night and Lakeville South on Friday. They will also host their own holiday event over the break (event has New Prague, Eastview, Rosemount).