Jack’s Week 8 Standouts

I was able to make it out to three games this week and witnessed some breakout performances. Here are the top seven prospects that caught my eye! Stillwater (63) vs Cretin-Derham Hall (81): [player_tooltip player_id="796948" first="Brandon" last="Melchior"] of Cretin-Derham Hall (6’9” Center - 2022) Wednesday’s win was the best I’ve seen Brandon play all year. Due to their lack of size, Stillwater could simply not stop the 6’9” senior. He was very efficient in the pick & roll, using his size and strength to get in good position for some highlight reel [player_tooltip player_id="850701" first="Tre" last="Holloman"] passes. Brandon was automatic around the rim, finishing the game 7 of 8 from the field. He ended the game with 14 points, tying his season-high. Melchior was also fantastic protecting the paint, picking up multiple blocks. CDH has seemed to figure it out after a slow start to the season and should be looked at as a contender in AAAA. [player_tooltip player_id="962206" first="Max" last="Shikenjanski"] of Stillwater (6’3” Guard - 2023) Max continued his dominant junior season on Wednesday night. He scored a game-high 27 points even though he was occasionally seeing double teams throughout the game. Max never panicked when put in those situations and was always finding open teammates. As a 30 PPG scorer, Max really impressed with his facilitating and passing abilities. He is very unpredictable with what he is going to do with the ball and that is what makes him so hard to slow down. Shikenjanski is currently Minnesota’s leading scorer and is lethal from all three levels. [player_tooltip player_id="958746" first="Charlie" last="Plum"] of Cretin-Derham Hall (6’5” Forward - 2022) Charlie has continued to impress me since returning from injury a couple weeks ago. What stands out to me most about Plum’s game is his athleticism and how aggressive he is grabbing rebounds. The senior forward nearly had a double-double in Wednesday’s win, he finished the game with 12 points and 9 rebounds. Stillwater could not contain Charlie in the paint as he was constantly being fouled or scoring second chance baskets. He also did a great job cutting to the rim when his defender was helping, this resulted in many easy looks.   Mound Westonka (67) vs Holy Family (75) [player_tooltip player_id="962212" first="Boden" last="Kapke"] of Holy Family (6’11” Center - 2023) Boden was a matchup nightmare in Thursday’s overtime win over Mound Westonka. He was truly dominant all game and filled up the stat sheet. He finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. Most of that scoring came in the second half as he put up 18 of his 25 points when it mattered most. Kapke is an all around player who can score from all three levels. He has a very smooth jumper and was able to knock down a pair of three-pointers. Along with that, he was effective in the post and in the pick & roll. What makes Boden so special is his ability to play on the perimeter and play a guard role at times. He has already picked up offers from Minnesota, Loyola-Chicago, Iowa, and Xavier. [player_tooltip player_id="1144113" first="Jake" last="Dallman"] of Mound Westonka (6’2” Guard - 2022) Jake kept his team in it before exiting the game with a cramp in the second half. He still managed to finish the game with a team-high 21 points, scoring from all over. Dallman was finding major success attacking the basket. He did a great job finishing through contact and over defenders with floaters when necessary. This also resulted in him drawing many fouls and getting to the free throw line. He was able to show off his outside game as well, knocking down a couple of three-pointers. Jake would be the perfect fit for any D2, D3, or NAIA schools looking for a crafty and competitive combo guard.   #1-AA Caledonia (68) vs #1-AAA Totino-Grace (67) [player_tooltip player_id="958700" first="Jackson" last="Koepke"] of Caledonia (6’2” Guard - 2022) This was my second time being impressed with Jackson’s game this season. I do not get to see Caledonia play very often and they do not always post their stats so I was not 100% sure if Koepke was always an automatic shooter, but after seeing him play on Saturday I can confirm. Jackson does a great job of getting his feet set when he is going to shoot and it looks very fluid. He also had some extremely crafty moves and finishes around the rim, one being a double crossover into a double clutch layup in the first half that impressed the whole gym. Koepke is a very fundamentally sound player and a great asset for this Warrior offense. [player_tooltip player_id="1225624" first="Thane" last="Meiners"] of Caledonia (5’11” Guard - 2022) Thane was a major contributor in Saturday’s upset win over Totino-Grace. The senior guard does all the little things for the Warriors and can score the ball as well. Meiners was finding major success attacking the rim and finishing around much larger defenders. Along with that, he connected with a second half three-pointer and finished the game with a solid 11 points. Thane was also playing some lockdown perimeter defense, forcing a five-second in a much needed situation to spark Caledonia’s huge comeback.