Chaska 71 Bloomington Jefferson 66 - Five Takeaways

Friday night basketball at Chaska is a favorite of mine because of the atmosphere and facility. And when the games are good like Jefferson vs Chaska was, it’s even better. Here are five things to takeaway from Friday night. One. [player_tooltip player_id="846120" first="Zach" last="Lea"] Ranks with the Best. Let me define best. If you were to chart 20 things that you want from a high school basketball player and those things included defense, versatility, character, and many things in between, Zach would score way higher than most think. On Friday night I saw Lea handle the ball some, defend the other team’s best guy, lead his team in scoring, and move the ball patiently through the disciplined Jefferson defenders. He also stretched the defense by hitting four three-pointers and led the team in scoring with 16 points on only nine shots. And in the next game Lea could lock a guy down, play the four totaling a double-double without shooting a three, and nobody would be surprised by it. His versatility is something Minnesota-Duluth will love. Two. Jefferson is Back at Full Strength. The Jags are just 4-7 but if I am the coaches at St Louis Park, Bloomington Kennedy, Cooper and Shakopee (the upcoming Jaguar opponents) I would be very aware that this team is different with [player_tooltip player_id="721904" first="Manny" last="Montgomery"] back on the floor. Not only does this team return Manny, but [player_tooltip player_id="955681" first="Evan" last="Lind"] is getting better in the middle, [player_tooltip player_id="962220" first="Alex" last="Jones"] is a very talented freshman who should only get better, and defensively they will continue to improve as a unit. [player_tooltip player_id="960334" first="Aidan" last="Atkins"] is a total pest defensively and I love the sophomore passes the ball. Jones and Atkins will make a very strong backcourt for the next 2.5 years. Keep an eye on [player_tooltip player_id="955681" first="Evan" last="Lind"] if you are looking for a division three or NAIA big. Evan is 6-foot-7 leading Jefferson in scoring so far this season. He outplayed a talented young Chaska sophomore with 24 points and eight rebounds on 10 of 12 shooting plus he sunk all four foul shots. Lind is good on the offensive glass and I really like his touch facing up out of the post after contact. Jefferson ran some good plays for Lind on the block. Be careful with the Jags going forward. Three. Young and Talented. What makes Chaska a top five team in the state right now is that they can hurt you from so many different angles. On Friday night leading scorer [player_tooltip player_id="532600" first="Luke" last="Strazzanti"] wasn’t getting the space he had in past games for open looks so those looks shifted to other player and Luke did a great job moving the ball. Lea was a recipient, junior shooter [player_tooltip player_id="774803" first="Jack" last="Frick"] was a recipient making four threes, junior worker [player_tooltip player_id="567064" first="Spencer" last="Goetz"] was a recipient totaling a dozen points and six boards, and senior power forward [player_tooltip player_id="721980" first="Mahad" last="Faisal"] was likely the biggest benefactor totaling 16 points (more on that in a bit). What’s even scarier is that this balanced Chaska rotation has four of their top seven guys coming back in the future (Frick, Strazzanti, Goetz, and [player_tooltip player_id="850714" first="Brady" last="Nicholson"]). Chaska is in the "Group of Death" which is also known as Section 2AAAA and when the playoff start I predict them to be 23-3 at the very worst. It’s very possible that Chaska may not lose another regular season game as it’s Prior Lake and league opponents the rest of the way. Four. [player_tooltip player_id="721904" first="Manny" last="Montgomery"]. Manny is an instant impact player. In his second game back from injury Montgomery went at one of the best defenders in the state and put 22 points, five boards, and four assists on the board shooting 8-14 from the floor and made four three-pointers. This game (his second of the year) gave me more clarity that Manny is in deed one of the top 30/40 players in the state. I would guess I have seen Manny play four games in the past eight months and I would see he has likely hit on half of his threes in those games. Manny has good size at 6-foot-4 so he doesn’t need much room to get a look and when Chaska closed out with a hand down Manny knocked down open looks. He has a nice hesitation ability to him as well as a good first step when he moves to space to playmake. The floater was made a couple times on Friday night as well. A very good player that I have heard is looking at the junior college route to start and I have no doubt that he’s a full scholarship division one junior college player. Five. I See You Mahad! [player_tooltip player_id="721980" first="Mahad" last="Faisal"] is a 6-foot-7 senior power forward for Chaska that scored 16 points and with every foul shot and field goal he made a guy to my right could be heard saying "I see you Mahad!" And yes Mahad I see that you are scoring a dozen points a game for the Hawks plus had 16 on Friday that included 7 of 9 foul shooting. Jefferson never truly went away but Chaska’s run of threes from [player_tooltip player_id="774803" first="Jack" last="Frick"] and the late pair of field goals and several foul shot makes from Faisal helped put the game away. Mahad’s final two field goals - including the clincher with 14 seconds to go - were baseline attacks using two or three dribbles to get to scoring position. What really caught my eye was one was a left hand attack with a left hand finish and the other was a right hand attack with a right hand finish. This young man has some real potential.