Grand Forks Red River vs. Moorhead: Top Players

<p><strong>Moorhead, MN - </strong>We had a border battle in Moorhead tonight. Both teams played hard and fought all night. The lead changed hands many times and there were some impressive runs put on by each team. We also had some standout individual performances. Read below for the Top plays from this Tuesday night matchup. </p> <p><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1373426" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/01/mhd-crop-3916x2571-1643172202-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/01/zachkraft2022-crop-3226x2118-1643172301.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1373430" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/01/zachkraft2022-crop-3226x2118-1643172301-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a></p> <p><strong>Scores</strong></p> <p>Halftime - Red River 41 Moorhead 42</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Final - Red River 71 Moorhead 78</span></p> <h4><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Top Roughriders</strong></span></h4> <p> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1115649" first="Zach" last="Kraft"] (2023) |6-2 G|</strong></p> <p>27 points, 2-2 ft’s, six 3-pointers. He was hot tonight from beyond the arc. I knew Kraft was a good shooter and he was great tonight. He drilled triples with pull-ups, stepbacks, catch-n-shoot, and one from a hand-back. Zach has all the skills you need to be an elite shooter from deep. He has a quick shot that is buttery smooth. Zach gets good elevation on his jumper and his follow-through is soft. He was feeling it tonight, but he still looked to create for others. Kraft can also hit the 15-foot jumper and finish in traffic at the rim. He had an impossible finish in transition. It looked like it would be a 1on1 breakaway and out of nowhere two Spuds showed up. Kraft was already going up with the shot and he somehow made it, I would like to see that reply! In the second half, Kraft drove, the help stepped up and he hit [player_tooltip player_id="1169135" first="Pearce" last="Parks"] in the corner for a wide-open 30-ball. His team lost but Kraft had a very nice showing.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="812222" first="Paine" last="Parks"] (2022) |6-3 G/F|</strong></p> <p>15 points, 4-4 ft’s, one 3-pointer. He scored all of his points in the first half but was still productive in other ways in the second half. Paine is big and strong but he is skilled and an excellent passer. He started the game off with a dime to a fellow Roughrider. When he is in the lane, Parks is great at using head fakes and pivots to get the D out of position. In the first half, he had a pretty across-the-rim finger-roll finish that required a ton of arc and touch. Later in the game, Parks drove into the lane, the D stepped up and Paine delivered an underhand shovel pass to a teammate for a layup. Shortly after he nailed a nice 10-foot fade-away jumper. Right before halftime, Parks had a spectacular off-balance left-handed finger-roll finish. He had many other nice passes and Paine was great on the boards. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1138811" first="Reis" last="Rowekamp"] (2023) |6-4 G|</strong></p> <p>10 points, 1-1 ft’s, one 3-pointer. He showed his athleticism with a long hang-time finish with a hand directly in his face. Reis showed a smooth 2-dribble pull-up from 15-feet. Reis had a tough AND1 finish where he got smacked in the face and he cashed the FT after. Rowekamp hit a 3-ball late in the game to help with the comeback. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1138812" first="Carter" last="Byron"] (2023) |6-7 PF| </strong></p> <p>12 points, 1-2 ft’s, one 3-pointer. He was impressive off the bench. I like the way Carter moves without the ball. When his defender helps, Byron slips to the basket. He also hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Carter is an impressive finisher around the rim.</p> <h4><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Top Spuds</strong></span></h4> <p><strong>Dylan Zimmerman (2024) |6-5 SG|</strong></p> <p>28 points, 5-6 ft’s, five 3-pointers. He was the star of the game for the Spuds. Dylan showed off his athleticism with a breakaway tomahawk slam dunk. I knew he was going to have a good night when Dylan was fouled shooting a 3-pointer to start the game. It is always nice to score your first basket of the game from the FT-line. I am impressed with how quickly he gets his shot off and he is very consistent. When he is getting ready for a shot in transition or if a defender is close, his footwork is quick and fancy. It almost looks like Zimmerman is tap dancing. Besides shooting well from beyond the arc, Dylan scored with a soft runner, and he hit a 15-foot jumper with a shooters-touch roll. On defense, Dylan showed keen anticipation skills when stealing passes. Zimmerman is a scary player with a bright future. </p> <p><strong>Mekhi Elmore (2022) |5-10 PG|</strong></p> <p>13 points, 3-6 ft’s. He showed off his soft-touch with a bank-runner off the square. He also hit a smooth mid-range jumper. I liked his awareness and soft touch on a lob pass to Jenkins. Mekhi had multiple other nice post entries to Spuds posting up. On defense, Elmore showed quick hands when stealing the ball. Elmore had a couple of very nice finishes. He sliced in between 2 defenders for a difficult shot. He also showed some sweet footwork on a step-through finish. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1139197" first="Adam" last="Jenkins"] (2023) |6-8 PF|</strong></p> <p>12 points, 2-2 ft’s. He looked good rebounding the ball on both ends of the floor. I like how Adam attacks the basketball. When posting up, Jenkins had a beautiful baby hook shot with a defender bodied up with him. He showed his athleticism when going up to catch a lob pass on a BLOB, Adam came down the floor and exploded to the hoop for a quick 2-points. I liked how he sealed smaller defenders in the paint, once he got the ball it made for easy baskets. He also pinned a defender on the high side, a Spud saw the pin and delivered a pass to Adam for a bucket. On defense, Jenkins blocked and contested many shots. Adam had a nice all-around game tonight. </p> <p><strong>Hunter Wachenheim (2022) |6-6 C|</strong></p> <p>8 points. This big man can be a beast around the basket. When posting up, Hunter had his defender stuck on the high side, he pinned him there and caught a pass for 2 easy points. Wachenheim was tough on the O-boards again, he score on a putback. Hunter showed his strength with a double-team finish from the block. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1139205" first="John" last="Jenkins"] (2022) |6-5 G|</strong></p> <p>12 points, two 3-pointers. He is a long athlete that gave a nice scoring punch tonight. Jenkins knocked down timely 3-pointers. his baseline jumper looked very nice. I like Jenkins’s effort and heart. </p>