Five Things to Know – Lester Prairie 73 Spectrum 60
Lester Prairie has won seven of their last eight getting hot at the right time including a 13 point win over the league’s top team on Friday. One. Senior Night. Friday night was senior night in Lester Prairie honoring seniors…
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Continue ReadingLester Prairie has won seven of their last eight getting hot at the right time including a 13 point win over the league’s top team on Friday.
One. Senior Night. Friday night was senior night in Lester Prairie honoring seniors Alex Heimerl, Evan Lee, and Alex Nelson. Coach Andrew Dahl went old school traditional starting all three of the seniors which gave Nelson, a 6-foot-2 wing who has been hurt nearly the entire season, a chance to begin the game. Alex Nelson hit a three pointer exciting the crowd and continuing the Bulldog roll.
Two. Rolling Bulldogs. Lester Prairie has a good low post banging center in Alex Heimerl who moves bodies for a dozen points a contest. They also have one of the quickest lead guards in the state in Evan Lee who also scores a dozen a contest plus he’s an All State Cross Country runner and was recently accepted to West Point. And they have the team’s best all around talent in leading scorer Zach Jackson, a junior. The reason the squad has won seven of eight is because guys like 6-foot-3 junior Jack Niesen, 6-foot-4 junior Dexter Harrison, 6-foot-4 sophomore Jack Behning, and six foot freshman Tanner Scheevel have taken a big step towards consistency. BOLD and New Ulm Cathedral are favorites in Section 2A North but one of them (or maybe both) will have to go through the Dogs.
Three. Senior Night MVP. Taking on an undefeated team in the league, playing on your senior night, your team is red hot, and Prep Hoops is in the house! What better night to have a career high? Spectrum is not a big team as their biggest starter is 6-foot-2 so Alex Heimerl feasted, and he feasted early. Credit Coach Dahl and point guard Evan Lee for helping get Alex early touches but Heimerl did the rest getting position to catch and power up scores. Heimerl collected a dozen boards and several of those boards came on the offensive end as Spectrum didn’t have a guy that could rotate over to Alex and box him out. Alex has a soft touch and he plays with a lot of fire so when you add in his strong 6-foot-6 frame in the paint that leads to 25 points on 10 of 18 shooting. And college coaches! Alex also has some range hitting a pair of threes. Schools at the D3 level should have a look as Alex has a touch plus an old school low post banging game.
Four. Quickest Spin Move in State? Well, Tre Holloman, Jalen Suggs, there are guys that are quicker at guard of course. But when it comes to forwards I don’t think I’ve seen a player all year attack the basket and use as quick of a spin move to success as I saw Zach Jackson use three times for scores on Friday night (and in different games in the past). The key to Jackson is his versatility. On Friday he played some lead guard both out of timeouts and pushing the ball, he’s also a quality defender, and there are few top guys on teams that pass the ball as well as Zach. Jackson rarely forces his offense but he is aggressive. Jackson scored 23 points on 8 of 12 shooting and every one of those attempts was a high percentage attempt. Jackson may use the bounce pass as well as any player and he moves off the ball as well as anybody. Throw in nine boards and you have a quality performer.
Five. Mad About Max. Who is mad about Max? Guys that have to guard him. Six foot combo guard Max Lawrence scores 24 a game for a Spectrum team that is 13-1 in league play. Lawrence is a senior with an outstanding scoring feel. Lester Prairie constantly sent extra help at Lawrence but his spin moves, hesitations, and intelligent final step led to space for 12 makes on 26 shots. Another reason Max completed plays is his soft made after contact or moving away from the defender in the air. Not only did Lawrence score 12 times for 26 points but he created shots for others with six assists and he collected ten boards. It won’t be long before we hear about Max Lawrence putting up strong numbers at some Division three school.