Five Takeaways from Mankato East beating Mankato West 62-51

<p>The Mankato East vs Mankato West rivalry is a must see game for high school basketball fans, especially when both teams are good.  East earned the win 62-51 last night and here are our Five Takeaways. </p> <p><strong>One.  The Atmosphere</strong>.  Last night was a great night for high school basketball but I decided to make the hour drive to Mankato.  Why?  Several reasons.  The first one being both East vs West are talented and if you want to see this game it’s best when both teams are really good.  But it’s more than that.  The game was played at the Taylor Center which is always great to watch a game at.  The city of Mankato came out with a great crowd to see the game and the student sections were great.  But most of all, this is a passionate rivalry and you can see it in the faces of everybody in the building.  The only downfall?  The popcorn was so so so salty.  Goodness, somebody clog that seasoned salt shaker! </p> <p><strong>Two.  Big Night for BJ</strong>.  Mankato West had a terrible time locating [player_tooltip player_id="850715" first="BJ" last="Omot"] in transition, they had a terrible time keeping up with Omot in transition, and they had a terrible time rotating to him in the halfcourt defense allowing the final Cougar pass to land in Omot’s hands for a dunk.  Five of them in fact.  Omot had a couple attacks to the rim completed using his long strides to get to angles and then touching in shots or extending around help to finish.  Outside of one three, the finishes were in the paint.  And when you can shoot from two feet over and over, you do it.  Omot had 26 points on 12 of 15 shooting with nine boards.  He’s a modern day wing/forward that can stretch the defense with his skill and has to be defended by a bigger player which is tough.  The high major potential is there for some time in the future. </p> <p><strong>Three.  Top Performers</strong>.  In addition to Omot, [player_tooltip player_id="1268453" first="Puolrah" last="Gong"] played well again.  He’s such a perfect compliment to Omot because Gong is also a face-up talented perimeter player that must be defended by a bigger body.  And with East running a five out ball screen motion and bigs having to step out with Gong and Omot, there is so much space to work.  Puoh really started the game with some excellent ball movement earning four quick assists mostly hitting cutters.  He then scored 14 points.  [player_tooltip player_id="958360" first="Mekhi" last="Collins"] was the other player that fits into the category for top performer.  He finished just under half of his attempts for 13 points although there were a couple attempts at the cup he would like to have back.  Mekhi hit a couple jumpers, moved the ball for four assists, and rebounded five times.  Solid game but a bit below where he usually is finishing wise. </p> <p><strong>Four.  New Names to Know.</strong> Loved what I saw from Mankato East senior Jacob Eggert.  Another player that did a great job moving the ball in the Cougar motion, he defended well, and made most of the few shot attempts he got.  Mankato West senior Aidan Corbett also had my interest.  He has some ball skill that is tough to move with which led to his four scores (nine points) and five assists. Interesting player that I think colleges should track.  If he shows consistency I think he could be a solid prospect. </p> <p><strong>Five</strong>. Brogan Madson is a Mankato East freshman that we may as well commit to memory.  The young guard has a stroke and he’s already handling the basketball for a very good varsity basketball team.  The veteran Scarlet players didn’t seem to bother Brogan at all. Good you guard prospect. </p>