Minneapolis North 72 Hopkins 57 – The Rundown

<p>After two weeks off Minneapolis North was back in action this week earning a win over Hopkins.  Who played well and what did they do?  Prep Hoops offers you The Rundown on that game. </p> <p><strong>Jarrett Brenlynd</strong> of Hopkins (6’1 Sr Guard).  There was a time early in the game that I’m sure Hopkins fans were wondering "where are the buckets going to come from?" The player that answered the call was Brenlynd.  Jarrett first caught and hit with a corner three and then took advantage of a ball reversal to attack the rotating defense with a middle driving one hand score.  Curl off a screen and hit in the tight set/catch and hit window?  Brenlynd did that too.  Scored 14 points. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="774852" first="Jack" last="Hernandez"]</strong> of Hopkins (6’8 Sr C).   Schools that look at this flim are going to like three things about Jack: 1) he showed some range hitting a three, 2) good size, and 3) he plays with that junkyard dog mentality.  Jack seems to love setting screens, he follows everything to the rim looking for putbacks (had a couple in the first half), and he is a quality hard cutting player.  North often seemed to forget about Jack so Jack scored on them five times (Hub says nine points but I remember at least 11) with the second half highlight being the baby hook off the post up. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="850704" first="Elvis" last="Nnaji"]</strong> of Hopkins (6’9 Jr C). Elvis showed some range again.  Opened the game with a 16 footer from the baseline and then hit a three in the second half. Showcased his shooting touch in a number of ways.   Made some nice passes in the post area and had his usual high percentage finishes moving to the rim. Scored a dozen.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="774808" first="Marcus" last="Owens"]</strong> of Minneapolis North (6’7 Sr PF).  The Tuesday game opened with [player_tooltip player_id="774808" first="Marcus" last="Owens"] - all 6-foot-7 of him plus what looks to be great reach - knocking out a pair of 14 foot jumpers.  Owens has come up from the Tonka program to earn a big role with North, and now he’s confidently hitting long jumpers.  A very interesting factor and at his size and agility Marcus is certainly a prospect to keep an eye on.  </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="774735" first="Davon" last="Townley Jr"]</strong> of Minneapolis North (6’6 Sr PF).  Early in the game Townley extended on the opposite side with the right hand extended lay-up off the left leg beating his man to the window of opportunity.  He missed but who knew the future Penn State defensive end has some open floor Steven Nash to him? That agility was also shown with a spinning move out of the post getting to the other side before the help could react to the attempt. We even got to see Townley steal the ball and go coast to coast for an And1. All in all, Townley’s ability to make plays in transition with or without the ball was amazing to watch.  And Hopkins may have been able to put size on Townley in the halfcourt set, there’s not much a big can do with Davon when he scored about six times in transition.  </p> <p>This game was a great representation of the skill that Townley has.  It’s game I will always remember when we talk about his basketball ability because Townley scored 26 points and most of it was using high skill, high court IQ, or a combination of the both.  It’s a game that has me thinking Mr. Basketball final five candidate for sure.  </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="774738" first="Jaelen" last="Treml"]</strong> of Hopkins (6’3 Sr Guard). Jaelen does so much.  He can be the attacking guard that creates for others, Treml always appears to be a better shooter than given credit for, and late in the first half he moved his feet with a player four inches shorter than him and forced a five second call.  Treml’s lateral quicks and defensive discipline is going to be something a coach at a scholarship school loves. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="850709" first="Willie" last="Wilson"]</strong> of Minneapolis North (6’2 Jr Guard).  Wilson was the biggest factor in North building the early lead.  His impact was simple, but it was constant.  And often times when you are the lead guard, simple is good.  Wilson put the ball on the hands of his bigs in good spots and those bigs connected.  Willie also took an early turnover the other way for a lay-up.  </p> <p>Our best look at Willie’s brilliance was the play he went through five Royals on one halfcourt possession.  Willie cleared [player_tooltip player_id="774778" first="Tristan" last="Lee"] using the ball screen and then spun out of the hard hedge by [player_tooltip player_id="958658" first="Tyrell" last="Sappington"] leading him to the rim.  Willie then went past a recovering Lee and first help defender Jarrett Brenlynd.  [player_tooltip player_id="957132" first="Xavier" last="White"] and [player_tooltip player_id="850704" first="Elvis" last="Nnaji"] were the backside help but Willie lifted over them for the one hander.  It was a truly remarkable play that I won’t forget soon.  Wilson went by or over five including one of those players twice. </p> <p>Then you had the hesitation attack that froze Treml.  The finish was good but the hesitation was the main piece of a big basket. Finally the [player_tooltip player_id="850709" first="Willie" last="Wilson"] transition game which is as good as it gets.  Finishing or delivering, Wilson will get you scores 9 times out of 10 when he’s pushing the ball.  </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/RSMsDXTBxp4" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>