Minnesota Playoff Central: Eagles Move on to Face Minnehaha

<p>In the Titanic Tuesday Night Clashes, Totino-Grace, Champlin Park, and Park Center all came out on top.  Wednesday?  Class A and Class AA take center stage. </p> <p><strong>Playoff Central.  </strong>Totino-Grace and Columbia Heights went at it in the 2/3 game of 4AAA and 3rd ranked vs 4th ranked teams in Class AAA basketball.  The Eagles earned the victory 91-65 and it was a completely balanced effort.  [player_tooltip player_id="532550" first="DJ" last="Akpati"] (11 points and 6 assists) set the tone early with his early deliveries for open attempts.  The first seven Totino-Grace field goals came from seven different players.  Demarion Watson’s outstanding defensive impact (deflections, six blocks, most of the 14 boards on the defensive end) was important as was the consistent production from [player_tooltip player_id="962199" first="CJ" last="O’Hara"].  O’Hara, a sophomore, plays a veteran game as he’s so efficient. Scored a team high 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting.  Throw in the 6 of 7 shooting from [player_tooltip player_id="962198" first="Taison" last="Chatman"] and the dozen points from [player_tooltip player_id="532558" first="Devin" last="Burger"] (who is shooting the ball well) and it was an overwhelming team performance.  </p> <p>The Hylanders finish a very good year at 12-3.  [player_tooltip player_id="958648" first="Hassan" last="Kamara"] made four threes scoring 20 while [player_tooltip player_id="850729" first="Muja" last="Burton"] had 20.  With both of them back Terrance Brown back at guard, [player_tooltip player_id="958666" first="Donnavin" last="Hinsz"] returning, and then [player_tooltip player_id="850719" first="Spencer" last="Alvarez"] back on the floor (he’s been hurt) the Hylanders will return next season ready for another run. </p> <p><strong>Upset City</strong>.   The one seed goes down.  Moorhead defeated Brainerd in the 1/5 game and the Spuds did it with a 13 point win (76-63).  The Spuds defense forced 16 turnovers and was the key to a 13-0 second half run plus the shooting hand of [player_tooltip player_id="774855" first="Blake" last="Walthall"] went red hot with a run of three threes in the middle of the game.  Blake scored a team high 22 points and the heavy attacking guards of the Spuds made it tough for Brainerd to get consistent good looks all night.  </p> <p><strong>The Big Stage.  </strong>What to watch tonight?  I have three big games in my head and I’m not sure what I want to look at but I will have an eye on all three:</p> <ul> <li>5th Ranked Deer River vs North Woods</li> <li>3rd Ranked Caledonia vs 7th Ranked Stewartville</li> <li>5th Ranked Melrose vs 10th Ranked Albany</li> </ul> <p>Any one of those contests should be worth your time this evening.  </p> <p><strong>Players To Watch</strong>.   Several of the top names in the state had big games last night. </p> <ul> <li>Minnehaha Academy started slow before [player_tooltip player_id="532574" first="Chet" last="Holmgren"] took over scoring 31 points</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="532583" first="Trey" last="Longstreet"] brought Delano to a double over time victory over Fridley scoring 31.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="850701" first="Tre" last="Holloman"] led CDH over East Ridge 76-61 and Holloman had 28 points and 11 assists, a massive part of their offense.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="850710" first="Braeden" last="Carrington"] scored 26 leading Park Center over Mounds View with 26. </li> <li>Leroy and Dominic Fairbanks each scored 18 pushing Cass Lake-Bena to the section finals</li> <li>Junior Austin Hansen scored 31 as Grand Rapids pushed Princeton to the buzzer. </li> </ul> <p><strong>Tip of the Hat to the Career</strong>.  [player_tooltip player_id="567071" first="Sam" last="Votava"] of East Grand Forks will play at Concordia-Moorhead next year and in my opinion the school got a steal.   This is a player that scored nearly 2,000 points plus around 900 boards, 800 assists, and around 500 steals in 152 games.  His games played, steal, and assist totals are school records and I can definitely see it as the game I reviewed this year and the two I watched from last year, two of them were triple doubles and another was close to it!  Certainly one of the better lead guards in the state and will surely be one of the best lead guards entering the MIAC next winter. </p>