Hardwork SZN Classic – Saturday Evening Five Best
South Dakota continues to represent well at the Hardwork SZN Classic in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Here are five players that will sleep comfortably after a strong evening of basketball. Paul Bruns Paul Bruns 6'4" | SG Dakota Valley | 2021…
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Continue ReadingSouth Dakota continues to represent well at the Hardwork SZN Classic in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Here are five players that will sleep comfortably after a strong evening of basketball.
Paul Bruns Paul Bruns 6'4" | SG Dakota Valley | 2021 State SD of SD Attack (6’4 2021 SG from Dakota Valley). The North Dakota committed guard opened the evening playing the two spot and working off the ball to catch and knock down shots behind the arc. He scored three first half threes plus another jumper. In the second half his role changed to playing more of the lead guard spot and this led to a few more plays made for others, and more attacking offense for Bruns. Three times in the second half he was able to lock his man on his hip going at the rim and then he released for production when it was comfortable. Bruns scored 20 against a solid Beyond Ball squad.
Brady Fritz Brady Fritz 6'2" | SG Winner | 2021 State SD of SD Attack (6’2 2021 SG from Winner). Brady is a natural at the off guard position. The way he smoothly moves into his cuts and then catches to attack or shoot in a fluid motion screams three sport athlete. His comfort in movement comes so natural that he can be developed basketball wise as a scorer on all three levels in the NAIA. Doane, DWU, and Northwestern have made it clear that they would like to have his 27.6 points per game (at Winner HS) in their program and we expect more schools to follow suit. There just seems to be so much to Brady that can be worked with skill wise as so much of his ability is natural. When he’s focused more on a singular sport (or maybe two as opposed to three?) I really feel his skill will take off.
Connor Geddes of SD Network (6’2 2021 SG from Harrisburg). Connor doesn’t just hit game winners, he makes regular game changers. The Network can point to a lot of areas where their lead over the Stars grew quickly and one of them is the stretch where Geddes scored on six straight scoring attempts. It went three point, short jumper, lay-up, foul shots, lay-up, jumper. This stretch of scores pushed a three score lead well into double digits. Geddes also fell right into the infectious passing that helped the team win but as far as shooters go in the 2021 class, Geddes is right up there with the main game changers.
Cael Lundin Cael Lundin 6'3" | SG Tea Area | 2022 State SD of South Dakota Venom 16u (6’2 2022 SG from Tea Area). Lundin is one of those players that even if he had a rough stretch you need to be leery of where he is at all times because he can explode and damage your day. After a tough shooting morning, Lundin bounced back with a very active showing against the Iowa Mavericks. Cael chased down defensive boards and actively forced turnovers building his steal total to four. The biggest moment came with his team down one on the final possession, the ball found it’s way to Cael and the ice man knocked out the game winning three with four seconds to go on the clock. Cael scored 17 in the win overall.
Tahj Mossburg of SD Network (6’5 2021 forward from SF Washington). I don’t know what Tahj did this winter but I sure have enjoyed watching his active growth this summer. As far as defenders go there are few that can match how active Tahj has been for the Network. Whether it was beating his man to the spot when they try to turn the corner on him or if it’s Tahj busting tail to get to his help spot for a block, shot contest, or charge take. Mossburg has more fight in him than a lot of teams in Omaha. He’s going after boards like he’s a paratrooper falling out of a plane and Tahj is flying up the floor with speeds pushing him by traffic. Mossburg threw down two dunks like he was letting the world know he’s arrived plus hit a couple threes on his way to 16 points (and a dozen boards) in the Network’s 20 point win this evening.