Minnesota Playoff Central – Curtis Jones Finishes the Season In Style

Fifteen more teams qualified for the state tournament on Thursday, NHR runs you through all those teams, and the top performers no!

DeLaSalle over Waconia.  The Islander defense was at it’s best on Thursday night with ball pressure and constant attention on PJ Hayes PJ Hayes 6'6" | SF Waconia | 2020 State MN forcing the Waconia senior into a tough shooting night.  For me the player of the game was Andrew Irvin Andrew Irvin 5'10" | PG DeLaSalle | 2020 State MN .  I counted five times that Irvin was on the primary ball handler and recorded a steal or deflection before the Waconia possession could be started.  Irvin attacked the length of the court for three scores at the rim plus dished out five assists.  The other Islander MVP was Jalen Travis Jalen Travis 6'8" | C DeLaSalle | 2020 State MN in the middle. 

The Travis position on the block and beautiful touch after releasing his position was another item Waconia wasn’t able to deal with.  Jalen had 22 points on 10 of 12 shooting with seven boards.  Add in the Cade Haskins Cade Haskins 6'6" | SF Delasalle | 2021 State MN dozen points with seven boards and the Amir Whitlock Amir Whitlock 6'3" | PG Golden State Prep | 2021 State MN four scores and five assists off the bench and you have a 71-45 win.  In the loss Connor Schwob once again looked really good.  He has to be one of the better frontcourt shooters in the state when it comes to that top of the key/mid-range jumper.  A smart player that had 21 points on 10 of 17 shooting with six boards. 

The Big Stage.    Curtis Jones Curtis Jones 6'3" | SG Cretin-Derham Hall | 2020 State MN Provides the Final Memory.  If last night was truly the final day of the 2019-20 season (I’m holding on to small hopes still that circumstances can change for the better in many ways) then the big memory from the final day will be Curtis Jones Curtis Jones 6'3" | SG Cretin-Derham Hall | 2020 State MN hitting a three and then sprinting the other way in joy with his teammates behind.  Jones had a season high 16 points while Tre Holloman Tre Holloman 6'2" | PG Cretin-Derham Hall | 2022 State #57 Nation MN scored 14.

Upset City!   Marshall over Mankato East. Tough to call this much of an upset considering Mankato East is ranked 3rd in the state and Marshall is ranked 4th, BUT Marshall was the one point underdog and East won the previous match-up. The Tigers turned things around playing the better team game led by 13 points and 9 boards from Noah Puetz Noah Puetz 6'6" | PF Marshall | 2020 State MN .  After the game Puetz told Sam Thiel of The Independent the following:

“It’s amazing. Ever since freshman year when I got to go with our seniors and juniors, that was a great experience and I knew I wanted to go back. We did everything we could this year to put ourselves in the position and we happened to do it this time.”

Keep that quote in mind for a moment. 

Right on Schedule.    Cambridge-Isanti.  The Bluejackets were expected to win their section and Henry Abraham Henry Abraham 5'11" | PG Cambridge | 2020 State MN was expected to have a huge scoring year.  No surprise those things happened.  While it may have been expected seeing the scoring total of 44 points from Henry Abraham Henry Abraham 5'11" | PG Cambridge | 2020 State MN is still pretty cool to see.  Cambridge won 81-73 over Duluth East earning a 24-4 record for the year.  

Tickets Punched.  Last night 15 tickets were punched.  In ABC order those schools are Caledonia, Cambridge-Isanti, Cretin-Derham Hall, Delano, DeLaSalle, Hayfield, Henning, Jackson County Central, Maple Grove, Marshall, Minnehaha Academy, Princeton, Richfield, Southwest Minnesota Christian, St. Cloud Apollo, 

Tip of the Hat to the Career.  Usually I would grab a name, or five big names and place them here in honor of the top players that had their careers end last night.  I would of talked about Matthew Willert, Joich Gong Joich Gong 6'2" | PG Mankato East | 2020 State MN , Jax Madson Jax Madson 6'1" | PG Mankato East | 2020 State MN , Matt Banovetz, Peter Soumis Peter Soumis 5'11" | PG Hermantown | 2020 State MN , PJ Hayes PJ Hayes 6'6" | SF Waconia | 2020 State MN , Connor Schwob, Ben Carlons, and Grant Jensen Grant Jensen 5'11" | PG Minnewaska Area | 2020 State MN .  

However, it looks like today we have to tip our hats to the careers of the seniors of the 16 teams that have qualified for state already, and the 32 teams that were playing for the state tournament tonight.  To all of you, I send my best wishes.  You were dealt a bad hand and it’s tough tough to understand right now but we wish you the best going forward. 

Where’s the Czar?  The Czar was at The Home of the Raiders for The Shot by Mr Jones