The Bethel Holiday Invitational Preview

<p>Friday and Saturday play host to many a holiday tournament across the state of Minnesota. One of the more historic and long-standing venues is Bethel University in Arden Hills, where four metro AAAA teams will play this weekend. Here's the breakdown:</p> <h3><strong>Friday</strong></h3> <p><strong>Bloomington Jefferson vs. Roseville, 6 p.m. — </strong>The Jaguars of Jefferson have played a diverse schedule so far and sit at 3-4 on the season. As always, their M.O. is to grind away minute-long possessions with ball movement and play rugged defense. All signs point to the strategy working, as Jefferson's only given up 60 points once so far. Thing is, they're without breakout scoring forward <strong>Manny Montgomery</strong> in all seven games so the offense has only put up 60 points once, too. <strong>Evan Lind </strong>leads the way scoring 11.4 PPG and Sam Wanzek is adding 8.5 a contest. Head coach Jeff Evens doesn't stray from his style and you can expect low-scoring games every night from Jefferson. The Jags have been a Bethel tourney staple for as long as I can remember (at least since my Maple Grove squad played them in 2013-14).</p> <p>Roseville is 2-5 this season having played multiple solid mid-tier teams in STMA, White Bear Lake, St. Paul Central and Mounds View, while most recently falling to a top 10-level Lakeville South team. New coach Zander Culver inherited some promising pieces led by <strong>Keyshawn Payne </strong>who is putting up 13.6 points per game. <strong>Elijah Burns </strong>has had a couple high-output games and is the second-leading scorer. The Raiders are a bit undersized especially without starting center <strong>Spencer Nath </strong>but it shouldn't be a huge disadvantage against Jefferson. The athleticism that Roseville's rotation has could be a fun contrast to the Jaguar slowdown pace.</p> <p><em>Prediction: Jefferson 57, Roseville 46</em></p> <p><strong>Robbinsdale Armstrong vs. Chanhassen, 7:45 p.m. — </strong>This is a year the Falcons had been building to with a handful of returning pieces and now a second season under head coach Jon Bryant after a surprise strong finish last year. It's a three-headed monster for the 5-1 Falcons, whose only loss is a season opener to Hopkins, and have notably defeated Minnetonka, Apple Valley and Champlin Park. The three heads? A trio of double-figure scorers in feisty point guard <strong>Jake Breitbach </strong>(16 PPG), lanky wing shooter <strong>Adam Biewen </strong>(12.8 PPG) and 6-6 paint presence <strong>Hezekiah Iyawe </strong>(10.8 PPG). There are secondary pieces contributing as well like <strong>Dylan Inniger </strong>and <strong>D'Sean Larkins </strong>with a couple buckets per game each. The Falcons have depth, experience and versatile go-to options to choose from.</p> <p>Chanhassen, meanwhile, has played a pretty brutal six-game schedule sitting at 1-5. Losses to Waconia, Edina, Cambridge-Isanti and Shakopee stand out as tough tests. The Storm have a few players stepping up like senior guard <strong>Luke Gitzen </strong>scoring almost 14 a game and <strong>Ben Giles </strong>right behind at 12 per game. The tests early in the season will no doubt prepare them for a tough section and conference play in the Metro West. It won't get much easier here with Armstrong on Friday.</p> <p><em>Prediction: Armstrong 65, Chanhassen 54</em></p> <h3>Saturday</h3> <p><strong>Bloomington Jefferson vs. Robbinsdale Armstrong, 6 p.m. — </strong>A matchup that pits two great halfcourt offense execution teams against each other. Armstrong has the firepower but Jefferson has the grit. <em>Prediction: Armstrong 70, Jefferson 55</em></p> <p><strong>Roseville vs. Chanhassen, 7:45 p.m. — </strong>Two teams in need of wins after tough early starts. Could be a Gitzen vs. Payne show! <em>Prediction: Chanhassen 62, Roseville 60</em></p>