NHR State: 17U Standouts

<p>Who else was a standout at NHR State this weekend?  Let’s talk about some names that left a strong impression. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958728" first="Parker" last="Behne"]</strong> of Comets Belka (5’11 PG, Elk River).  Elk River is a team that I think can make a big jump next winter.  They have their four best players back and that includes double figure scoring [player_tooltip player_id="958728" first="Parker" last="Behne"].  Behne is a key reason why the Comets Belka squad had a good weekend and is having a strong spring.  The hustling lefty combo guard always competes hard, plus that feet set lefty stroke is high quality.   Mixed in a couple threes with some darts to the rim in that close lose to Select Ohnstad, and Parker’s hustling led to a couple deflections and five boards.  </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="850713" first="Carter" last="Bjerke"]</strong> of D1 Minnesota Prospects (6’8 PF, Wayzata).  [player_tooltip player_id="850713" first="Carter" last="Bjerke"] had another solid weekend.  The three things that grabbed my attention were: 1) the screens Carter set stopped players dead in their motion and opened the ball handler to play freely, 2) each game he seemed to have two low post finishes sticking a shoulder into a guy and then touching in a shot, 3) he’s rebounding quite consistently every game I see the Prospects play.  Throw in the consistently of 3-4 triples a game (40% Club member at the arc) and you have a division one prospect. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958641" first="Davion" last="Evans"]</strong> of Real Phenom (6’1 Guard, Robbinsdale Cooper).  All event long good teams with good players had a hard time keeping [player_tooltip player_id="958641" first="Davion" last="Evans"] in front.  Evans went for 17 in a 16 point win over the top Comets squad because the Comets didn’t have a guard (Kris Hoskins wasn’t there) that could keep Evans in front.  He then went at the D1 Minnesota Prospects and did the same thing getting double figure numbers at the rim.  Quick, explosive first step, beat the help to the rim all weekend.  All event honored player. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958722" first="Jamez" last="Garner"]</strong> of Real Phenom (6’0 Guard, Robbinsdale Armstrong). Garner was the perfect compliment to [player_tooltip player_id="958641" first="Davion" last="Evans"] and [player_tooltip player_id="532569" first="Andre" last="Gray"] this weekend.  His defense turned players over allowing transition chances to start, and in the halfcourt set, Garner mixed in the right attacks with quality snap ball reversals as well as penetrating kicks to allow Gray and Evans the room to work. Nice playmaking weekend for Garner. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1143865" first="Kobe" last="Kirk"]</strong> of Minnesota Heat Grow (6’3 Guard, Mounds View).  Kirk’s basketball resume says "scorer" and he does his job well for Heat Grow. Kirk’s 19 points put Heat Grow over the top of a scrappy squad from the Southwest Minnesota Stars.  Then he went at scholarship level guards on the D1 Minnesota Prospects and scored in a variety of ways.  The pull-up jumper followed by a three, and then complimented with the attacking Euro-Step floater was quite memorable.  Kirk is going to score in college, it’s just a matter of where. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958683" first="Mason" last="Lund"]</strong> of Comets Belka (6’6 Forward, Sartell).  I’ve gone through phases of where I am with [player_tooltip player_id="958683" first="Mason" last="Lund"].  It started with the initial attention grabbing with the highlight numbers playing at his high school. Then the first spring impression was one of nodding the head in agreement with what others were saying as I saw a 6-foot-6 wing that both moved well, and is skilled.  That’s been followed by seeing the consistency of results game to game.  Finally, this weekend we saw Lund put consistent numbers on the board against some of the better teams/players in the state.  That means [player_tooltip player_id="958683" first="Mason" last="Lund"] is one of the better players in the state.  And a scholarship prospect in my opinion. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958669" first="Kenji" last="Scales"]</strong> of Minnesota Select Ohnstad (6’2 Guard, Eastview).  Tough.  Clutch.  Determined.  Focused.  Winner.  Those would be my five words for [player_tooltip player_id="958669" first="Kenji" last="Scales"]. It seems like every big moment, and every big game that Select Ohnstad has played, [player_tooltip player_id="958669" first="Kenji" last="Scales"] comes up big.  Especially in the clutch.  He had some big time performances this weekend leading Select to the title.  Most notably was the 20 he had when Select just got by Comets Belka, or the 15 in the title scoring a bunch early as Select built a nice lead on Real Phenom.  Scales is a D2 scholarship guard, I feel strongly in saying that. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1143873" first="Zach" last="Zrust"]</strong> of Minnesota Comets Belka (6’7 PF, Buffalo).  The potential is there.  The size at his position is there.  The skill at the spot is there.  When Zrust just missed throwing down a dunk on one of the elite bigs in the state, everybody in the gym took notice.  Zrust went at the state title champs and put quality numbers in the book.  He’s got wide shoulders that allow him to board around players, but the skills to be your pick and pop four man.  There is more agility to him than people realize and Zach is coming off of a 14 point per game year in the Lake Conference. </p>