Five Things to Know – Champlin Park 71 Totino-Grace 69

<p>The top ranked and undefeated Champlin Park Rebels brought home a one score 71-69 win over Totino-Grace Tuesday night.  What are some things we learned from this game?  Prep Hoops breaks it down now. </p> <p><strong>One.  [player_tooltip player_id="567044" first="Francis" last="Nwaokorie"] Wants Class AAAA Player of the Year</strong>!  The 6’7, UC-San Diego division one bound Nwaokorie is now averaging 19 points and 13 rebounds a game for the undefeated, number one ranked team in Class AAAA basketball.  Francis had 28 in the earlier season one score win over Park Center and last night he posted 32 points and 13 rebounds on 13 of 17 shooting.  Francis has a great shooting touch for a big and that was clear last night when he hit a three, made his five foul shots, and finished on the move.  But it’s his incredible low post positioning as well as his ability to spin rapidly off opponents that truly makes him hard to defend.  His one dribble face-up move that comes with instant contact and then a touched in make is so good I can’t decide if that’s his trademark or if it’s the spin move.  Either way, Nwaokorie could hold a clinic on post position he is so good at establishing it.  </p> <p><strong>Two. Run the Table?</strong>  The Rebels are currently 17-0 and they have a game with Park Center tomorrow night to end the regular season.  Regardless if they win or lose against the Pirates, CP will be the one seed and face Irondale or Centennial in round one of the playoffs.  That will be followed by a second meeting with Spring Lake Park or a third meeting with Osseo (CP beat Osseo twice but both games were separated by four points or less).  If they are fortunate enough to get through that game, then it’s like top ten ranked Mounds View (the team at the top of the SEC standings) or a third game with Park Center.  And that’s just to get to state.  Trust me, nobody at CP is thinking of a table run right now, they are just thinking about the next game.  But those outside of the school are curious if it can be done. </p> <p><strong>Three. Eagle Seniors. </strong>I was really impressed with the way the Totino-Grace seniors played last night.  [player_tooltip player_id="532558" first="Devin" last="Burger"]’s ball movement creating shots for others is something that caught my attention as did his three threes (scored 11 points with five assists).  Burger does such a great job glueing this line-up together on both ends of the court.  Trusted player who also had a really nice dunk off the dribble hand offf.  One of Burger’s best creations was the "one more" feed to his fellow senior in the corner, [player_tooltip player_id="532550" first="DJ" last="Akpati"].  Akapti who is the 6th Man but seems to play close to starter minutes when I have watched the Eagles.  Akpati also knocked out three triples plus he and [player_tooltip player_id="962199" first="CJ" last="O’Hara"] make for a nice defensive pair.  </p> <p><strong>Four.  The Rebel Support</strong>.  I pry shouldn’t call [player_tooltip player_id="774746" first="Joshua" last="Strong"] support as he’s in contention for Class AAAA All State and the top ten for Mr. Basketball.  Strong had a tough game last night shooting 5 of 16 but his three second half threes late in the game lit a giant spark helping the Rebels push their way to the two point win.  I really like all the contributions from Rebel senior [player_tooltip player_id="774795" first="Dylan" last="Gichaba"] as well.  He did a great job helping limit Demarion Watson to three scores while posting 12 points and six boards himself.   The other senior who I thought played really well was Robert Feahn, a 5-foot-11 guard.  The Rebels move the ball at a high level and Feahn out the ball on the hands of Francis in good spots and then moved off it to score three times.  </p> <p><strong>Five.  What’s Next for the Eagles</strong>?  When the Eagles were at their best last night the senior duo was on the floor, O’Hara was playing active and [player_tooltip player_id="962198" first="Taison" last="Chatman"] was working in space.  Chatman had a four score second half run that included a one on one go at Strong where Chatman hit the crossover and then scored at the cup with a finger roll.  It was a 16 point night for Chatman.  </p> <p>TG will finish 14-4 and enter the playoffs as either the 2 or 3 seed.  Columbia Heights has the one loss and is ranked higher, TG has the higher QRF because they’ve played all AAAA teams this year.  Who is the 2 and who is the 3 doesn’t seem to matter too much in 4AAA in terms of who they will play.  Minnehaha will get the one and play the Mahtomedi versus St. Paul Johnson winner while TG and CH will face-off in the best semi-final in the state this year.  Before that Totino-Grace, Columbia Heights, and Minnehaha Academy will get first round match-ups with St. Anthony, Como Park, and Hill-Murray.  St. Anthony is the best of that group with five wins but whatever the case, TG and CH will certainly meet in the semi-finals.  </p>