Beaverton 47, Mountainside 45: 10 Best

<p>The Metro League promises to be a tight race this season and there was no better way to kick things off Tuesday night than Mountainside and Beaverton. Both teams were had rankings in the Top Ten and it promised to be a clash of styles - Mountainside with their up-tempo, three-shooting ways and Beaverton with their more deliberate pace and defensive-minded philosophy - and in the end it was the Beavers that won out in a slugfest, 47-45.</p> <p>It was no doubt a tempo that Beaverton preferred and their zone defense dared Mountainside to shoot - which of course the Mavericks did, but didn't have much success only hitting 9-for-31 from three-point range and 17-for-47 overall. Offensively, Beaverton worked on pounding the ball inside to post <strong>Dane Erikstrup</strong>, who was no match for defenders in scoring 21 points. Despite their shooting woes, Mountainside stayed within striking distance with some late threes from <strong>Bennett Giebels</strong> (14 points) and <strong>Grayson Rowell</strong> (9 points) but Beaverton hung on for the win to improve to 11-2.</p> <p>Here are the “10 Best” from the game.</p> <p><strong>MVP: Dane Erikstrup (2021 Beaverton)</strong></p> <p>Erikstrup was undoubtedly the focus of the game for both teams, as Beaverton looked to pound it inside to him offensively and Mountainside tried its best to limit his touches and body him up. The 6-foot-9 junior simply got things done with 21 points and eight rebounds, but was clutch at the end of the game, hitting 3-for-4 free throws late to seal the deal.</p> <p><strong>Play of the game: Davidson to Erikstrup Late</strong></p> <p>With a little over a minute to go, Beaverton led by five and was hanging on to their lead. In a bit of a scramble, the Beavers got the ball and Cody Davidson spotted Erikstrup inside for an easy layup that pushed the lead up to seven - something that was critical as it helped pad the margin to survive two late threes by Mountainside.</p> <p><strong>Best offensive performance: Dane Erikstrup (2021 Beaverton)</strong></p> <p>Quite honestly it wasn't Erikstrup's best shooting night as he finished 7-for-17 from the floor, including 0-for-4 from three-point range. But the big man was near unstoppable when he got the ball cleanly down on the block, where he went to his go-to move, a spin to his left and a half-hook off the glass - a bucket he was able to get all night long.</p> <p><strong>Best defensive performance – Beaverton Zone</strong></p> <p>It was a real team effort by the Beavers on defense. The guards put effective pressure up on the top of the zone and overall Beaverton really forced Mountainside to chuck up threes without a ton of clean looks. Erikstrup manned the middle and largely prevented any easy buckets inside.</p> <p><strong>Best guy off the bench – Trevon Hamilton (2022 Beaverton)</strong></p> <p>Beaverton didn't go deep at all into their reserves but the guys that did play got plenty of minutes. Hamilton broke loose for a fast break bucket, tallied a couple of assists and grabbed a rebound, but often seemed to be in the right place at the right time especially on the defensive end. That came as no surprise to Vancil who considers the 5-foot-11 sophomore one of the most athletic guys he's ever had.</p> <p><strong>Best intangibles – Finn Barkenaes (2021 Beaverton)</strong></p> <p>Barkenaes may have only scored three points. But the 6-foot-2 certainly made an impact in other ways, grabbing five boards, dishing out three assists, and blocking one shot in a glue-guy type of performance. He was also effectively able to use his length and lankiness in Beaverton's zone defense up on top.</p> <p><strong>Best under-the-radar performance – John Oleson (2020 Beaverton)</strong></p> <p>His numbers weren't particularly huge and were actually a pretty typical night for Oleson - 12 points, 6 rebounds, a couple of threes made. But where Oleson's value really came into play was handling the ball at the point - something Vancil is having his senior do more often. He handled the pressure well, got the ball up court and helped the Beavers set up their offense and tempo.</p> <p><strong>Best underclassman – Dane Erikstrup (2021 Beaverton)</strong></p> <p>Hard not to put the Beaverton big man in multiple categories but as a junior and the best player on the floor on Tuesday night, Erikstrup qualifies for this as well. He's likely to move up into the Top Ten in the next Class of 2021 rankings update.</p> <p><strong>Best Interior Passing – Andrew Ingalls (2020 Mountainside)</strong></p> <p>It wasn't a big scoring night for the senior big man from Mountainside but he found other ways to contribute. He grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and tried his best to body up Erikstrup inside, but where he shined, especially in the second half, was with his passing. Since he didn't really look to score, he was able to get the ball to guys either cutting inside or spotting up outside for three, and ended up with four assists.</p> <p><strong>Best aspect of the environment – The Beaverton Student Section</strong></p> <p>With Beaver fans split on Tuesday night with the high-profile girls game between Beaverton and Mountainside going on at the home of the Mavericks, the crowd wasn't as big as it could have been. But there was still a rowdy group of students in the Beaverton student section all wearing matching T-Shirts, with the spirited band seated to their left. It was a classic Metro League atmosphere.</p>