Community Clash Top Performers

The Community Clash brought together several of the better players in the state of Minnesota from many different communities. Here are the Saturday standouts. Zac Centers of Mathtomedi. Centers is known as a defender and that part of his game is very much respected but against East, Zac knocked out four threes forcing the East defense to extend which allowed Hadley and Devin Melzer to work more around the paint. East has several talented guards that are laterally annoying but Centers made 8 of 17 shots. Joich Gong of Mankato East. Not the best shooting day for Goich but the player he is, Gong led with unselfishness totaling ten assists including a couple late ball reversals that were crucial. Chased boards too but I love d how Joich passed the offense against the Zephyr zone. Also did a great job with one dribble attacks into hitting a cutter or finding a shooter. J’Vonne Hadley of Mahtomedi. Two of J’Vonne’s first three baskets were from the arc and on display was a beautiful shooting stroke that has moved Hadley into a new bracket of prospect recruiting. Hadley had an injured hand that took a long time to recover from but it’s healthy plus he has put in a ton of work as a player to improve. Hadley is also an outstanding athlete (several transition buckets and two explosive blocks) and stronger than most (moved himself through several players for scores while being fouled). Is Hadley a top ten player in the junior class? Without a doubt. If he continues to improve he could climb into many national rankings based on the way he’s playing right now. Maleeck Harden of Moorhead. Minnesota has very few players in the “unsigned category” that are full scholarship guys but Harden is certainly one of them. At 6-foot-6 with growing skill and division one agility/athleticism Harden has visually become a much better leader. Harden is locked in on his senior season which so far is going well at 14-3. The Spuds have won 11 of their last 12 including victories over Fergus Falls (Twice), Rogers, STMA, Buffalo, Alexandria, and West Fargo. Harden had one of the better ball denial players in the metro on him and Maleeck was able to score 19 on 7 of 16 shooting with seven boards. It wasn’t his best shooting performance but Harden was able to grind his way to just enough points in a slow, physical game. PJ Hayes of Waconia. This year I’ve earned a lot of respect for PJ Hayes. Hayes is a scoring wing that can move between being a dribble separation scorer within the framework or a catch and shoot guy devastating teams within an offense. With the Cats needing Hayes to also do a lot of ball handling and playmaking PJ has taken on a massive role and scored 24 points per game as a junior. Today against Monticello the Magic threw everything they had at PJ defensively. Hayes scored 17 points on 7 of 17 shooting and many of those attempts took a lot of creative effort because of the defense. Kale Hoselton of STMA. Kale stands 6-foot-3 as a strong forward that can play both spots for his team. Against Moorhead, Kale produced a double double of 17 points and ten boards on 8 of 16 shooting. Kale is the STMA leading scorer at 14.5 points per game for a 12-5 team. STMA opened half two with a lob play for Kale that he surprisingly caught and finished despite a bad pass. It was a great example of the agility that is going to surprise this 17u season. But Kale also scores because opposing fours are often too slow or not strong enough to deal with Kale’s cut/dribble attack to the rim. Paris Johnson Jr of St. Louis Park. Coming into the game Paris was a name noticed because he has been producing quality numbers all year. The moment that caught our eye was when St. Louis Park rotated the ball to the baseline and he attacked with a nasty leaner before the defense could rotate to position. Johnson followed that with a slashing finish in transition and several more slashes for a game high 23 points. Johnson stands 6-foot-3, is long and agile. A raw prospect with a nice ceiling. Reagan Koch of Jordan. Reagan is a six foot sophomore guard that caught fire in half one turning a close game into an early route. It’s rare that you see one of those fully explosive shooting halves from a player but today Koch was in that zone as his five threes lit up his bench and changed the contest. Koch scored 20 points for the game, 19 of which came in half one. Jax Madson of Mankato East. Another East player who did some of everything for his team. Jax hit five threes but eventually there were heavily denials and for a moment it looked like a special rules zone on him. Madson helped on the boards with seven and also did a great job moving the basketball around in the zone (four assists). Nick Manathana of Rockford. You have to have a lot of respect for Nick. He lost fellow captain and top returning player Luke Pepin before the season meaning the team was going to take a big hit in talent. Nick has responded with an 18 point per game season and even when they were down to Jordan, Nick was verbally supportive and directive of his team. Had 15 in the loss. Jordan Merseth of Mankato East. What you first need to know is that Jordan one the game for his team with a one handed tip-in at the buzzer. Nobody put a body on Merseth so he found space and completed the possession with the winner. Merseth was a beast on the glass pulling in ten boards and Jordan made seven of eleven field goals. Mahtomedi had a lot of size but Merseth outworked it with intelligence in positioning, and hustle beating other size to spots. A 6-foot-5 intelligent frontcourt player with range. Austin Peppe of Monticello. At 6-foot-5 as a forward Peppe is long and active. He’s the type of player that can impact a game without recording big numbers. Today he helped to Hayes or defended Hayes forcing everything over or around his length. Another tough, active, team worker for a Monticello squad that is 10-8 having won four of five. Anthony Rayson of St Louis Park. Anthony looks about 6-foot-6 and was every bit as immovable as he’s been. Such good footwork and outstanding hands, showed off his face-up touch and so many muscle finishes on his way to 22 points. Ryan Samuelson of Jordan. The Hubmen simply dissected the short-handed Rockford club (who lost Luke Pepin for the season). Ryan was a big part of the spread offense that moved the ball, flashed in players to the post from all angles including Ryan who scored part of his 20 in the post. Blake Thompson of Monticello. Blake mastered the art of moving without the ball behind the defense against Waconia. Blake’s a 5-foot-11 guard that scored a team high 17 points and most of them were off quick cuts to catch and finish. Thompson is also a trusted active defender who boards really well for a guard (six a contest) and is the team leader in assists. Austin Wetter of Monticello. Austin is scoring 17 points a game for the Magic this year and doing it in a versatile way. At 6-foot-5 he has the skill to handle the ball for his team and after making the initial read he moves right into a position as a scorer. As a scorer Wetter made a pair of threes and totaled 13 points for the game. Not a great shooting game but Wetter is a tough player to match-up with. You can’t put any bigs on him because he is too quick and too skilled but you have to use a long wing because most guards are too short and can be overpowered. Grabbed seven boards, led his team in assists, and looks like a top 50 level player in a very good class of Minnesota talent.