Fury/Heat Showdown – Top Performers

Who were some of the top performers from the Fury/Heat Showdown?  Prep Hoops was there to break down the talent from Friday night through Sunday evening. 

Drew Adams Drew Adams 6'8" | PF East Ridge | 2021 State MN of Minnesota Fury Zurn (6’8 PF of East Ridge, 2021).  Drew Adams Drew Adams 6'8" | PF East Ridge | 2021 State MN earned a scholarship from Winona State with his play on Sunday and I’m sure there are several other NSIC teams discussing his ability after looking at the weekend film.  Drew had a solid nine and nine in the quarters and then exploded against D1 Minnesota Prospects showing off his scoring touch from every "Around the World Game - Varsity Edition" spot on the court.  Made 8 if 10 field goals and broke that game open plus had seven boards and three scores against the size of the Minnesota Heat in the final.  

Chase Carter Chase Carter 6'7" | PF Minnehaha Academy | 2022 MN of Grassroots Sizzle Carter (6’7 PF of Minnehaha Academy, 2022).   Carter has been much more aggressive with his individual offense this July with what seems to be an emphasis on attacking other bigs off the dribble.  In Iowa he had one of his better run of games and this weekend when we saw his team play Wisconsin City, Chase had a slow start but then made the game winning plays down the stretch.  His pair of late And1 attacks followed by the game winning assist to Trent Finney Trent Finney 6'4" | PF Minnehaha Academy | 2021 State MN for a three were memorable clutch plays.  

Taison Chatman Taison Chatman 6'4" | PG Totino-Grace | 2023 State #35 Nation MN of D1 Minnesota 15u (6’4 SG of Totino-Grace, 2023).  Nobody in the state is capable of the immediate scoring burst that Taison Chatman Taison Chatman 6'4" | PG Totino-Grace | 2023 State #35 Nation MN is.  His 14 point second half blitz mixing shots at the arc with open floor explosive finishes and one on one crafty breakdowns blew up a reasonably close championship game.  I want to say this again, there is no player in Minnesota that has the offensive ability that Taison does as a high percentage three point shooter, as a mid-range scorer, as an attacking guard, as a passer, and as an explosive finisher.  Nobody else has his combination offensively at such a high level.  

Cal Greene Cal Greene 6'7" | SF Mahtomedi | 2021 MN Minnesota Fury Zurn (6’6 Forward of Mahtomedi, 2021).  It was a very solid weekend for Cal Greene Cal Greene 6'7" | SF Mahtomedi | 2021 MN .  He proved to many that he can shoot at the arc better than expected, that he can rebound in bulk better than expected, that he can put the ball on the deck and beat other quality forwards to the cup, and that he can make key late game plays.  Concordia-St. Paul must be a believer as they offered today. 

Dylan Inniger Dylan Inniger 6'5" | SF Robbinsdale Armstrong | 2021 State MN of Heat PH&J (6’6 SF of Robbinsdale Armstrong, 2021) - Dylan is a coachable kid that does the little things well showing that off as a solid contributor for a good Armstrong team last season. High academic prospect with great length and skill. Shoots it well from 3 (about 40%) and gets to the rim. High IQ player that has several MIAC schools watching his games online each weekend. 

Jack Janicki Jack Janicki 6'4" | SG White Bear Lake | 2023 State #277 Nation MN of D1 Minnesota 15u (6’4 SG of White Bear Lake, 2023).  I’ve been waiting for that one game (that I was in attendance to see) from Jack that completely put me over the edge, and in the title game against Select, Jack offered it up.  Jack has this Blake Hoffarber like range and touch mixed with some fairly nasty separation abilities with a JP Macura confident smile on his face.  He’s not JP, he’s not Blake, he is Jack.  A type of player all to his own and that confident stroke knocked out four threes and scored 17 points in the title game.  

Ayden McDonald Ayden McDonald 6'4" | PG Omaha Central | 2022 State MN of Playmakers North (6’4 PG of Hibbing, 2022). What I am going to say I have thought about a lot lately and I truly mean this.  Ayden McDonald Ayden McDonald 6'4" | PG Omaha Central | 2022 State MN is one of the five best passers that I have seen in Minnesota high school basketball in the past 10-12 years.  He is that good.  You see the ten assists a game from the winter and it pops off the page but then you see Ayden showcase his vision on the move, with flare, and making the simple smart reads.  You can count on one hand the guys that are better than him as passers in the past twelve years and that’s a good thing, his vision and understanding of the game is that good.  He is a D1 prospect you should be calling. 

Shawn West-Zimpel Shawn West-Zimpel 6'2" | SG South St. Paul | 2022 State MN of Heat Grow 16 (6’1 SG of North St. Paul, 2022).  Shawn provided consistent scoring for the Heat all weekend. Shawn produced 58 points in the four games played consistently scoring against whomever was in front of him. He has a really quick first step and finishes well around the hoop. The point total was boosted by a hot weekend of shooting at the arc making 11 of 20 three point attempts. 

Jack Wetzel of Gain Elite (6’4 SG of Prolific Prep, 2020). I really like the way the Jack Wetzel jumpshot looks.  He has really good lift on his shot complete with a high, quick release that is so often made over hotly contesting defenders.  This is a shooter that scored in double digits each game we saw.  Teams looking for shooters need to check on Jack’s film, he has the chance to be a 3-4 three-pointer made a game guy at the D1 level.

Fitzgerald Wreh of Heat Bohrer (6’3 SG of Spring Lake Park, 2021) - Fitz is the type of guy that you want to have the ball in his hands as much as possible. He is Heat Borher’s best defender, Fitz rebounds, doesn’t turn it over, is explosive and gets to the rim. Last year Wreh played a role off the Panther bench and next year should step right into a big role.  Does a lot for the team including some key defensive sequences in a big win over WOTN.