The Minnesota HS Preview: Top Ten Tip Off Classic Games

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Breakdown Tip Off Classic is a week and a half away, and it's a day that all Minnesota high school basketball fans look forward to. Here are the top ten games at the event!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(1). Totino-Grace (1AAA) vs Lakeville North (2AAAA). The headliner is the [player_tooltip player_id='962198' first='Taison' last='Chatman'] (Ohio State) and [player_tooltip player_id='962214' first='Nolan' last='Winter'] (Wisconsin) headliner, the two biggest names in the senior class in the same game. In addition, [player_tooltip player_id='962203' first='Tommy' last='Humphries'] (Furman) and [player_tooltip player_id='1284147' first='Jack' last='Robison'] (Wisconsin) are in this game as well. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(2). Hayfield (1A) vs Cherry (2A). The Cherry/Hayfield rivalry is budding and this game will be a headliner because they are the top Class A title contenders PLUS Cherry has [player_tooltip player_id='1288733' first='Isaac' last='Asuma'] - a top junior - and he will go against the returning Class A Player of the Year [player_tooltip player_id='962284' first='Isaac' last='Matti']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(3). Holy Family (1AA) vs PEM (2AA). Another 1 vs 2, it's [player_tooltip player_id='962212' first='Boden' last='Kapke'] (Butler) and [player_tooltip player_id='1339196' first='Aeron' last='Stevens'] (PEM), it's [player_tooltip player_id='1287442' first='Kole' last='Hanson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1492565' first='Kaiden' last='Peters'], it's two of the state's better coaches, it's teams that have depth in addition to top talent. It's going to be one of the top games of the season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(4). Wayzata (3AAAA) vs Eastview (4AAAA). The Trojans and the Lightning are two of the deepest teams in the state and in this game you get teams that go 8-9 deep and you get a top junior match-up of [player_tooltip player_id='1287438' first='Jackson' last='McAndrew'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1287440' first='Jonathan' last='Mekonnen'].</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(5). DeLaSalle (2AAA) vs Minnetonka (6AAAA). The Islanders and the Skippers are very good guard teams with strong athletes that match-up really well. Love the [player_tooltip player_id='1284083' first='Andy' last='Stefonowicz'] and [player_tooltip player_id='962218' first='Nasir' last='Whitlock'] (Lehigh) match-up, love the defenders that the Islanders have going at the athletes that the Skippers have. And neither team has real big so it's a perfect match-up.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(6). Orono (3AAA) vs Minnehaha Academy (3AA). So many excellent match-ups including [player_tooltip player_id='1221177' first='Rolyns' last='Aligbe'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1484016' first='Brady' last='Wooley'] up front, [player_tooltip player_id='1189958' first='Isaiah' last='Hagen'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1284157' first='Jerome' last='Williams Jr'] in the backcourt, and a lot of other good guards and wings around them. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(7). East Ridge (5AAAA) vs Osseo (7AAAA). These are top ten teams with depth, with athletes, with top guard play, and with size. The [player_tooltip player_id='962211' first='Alex' last='Mattes'] (U of Mary) and [player_tooltip player_id='1220406' first='Trey' last='Smith'] (UMD) match-up is going to draw the most eyes but Ced Tomes and Demari Larkins would also be a lot of fun. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(8). Mahtomedi (4AAA) vs Stewartville (6AAA). Here we have a big group of guards for both teams, [player_tooltip player_id='1139594' first='Henry' last='Tschetter'] and [player_tooltip player_id='962216' first='Will' last='Underwood'] is likely the most interesting battle but both teams have a lot of depth that will make this a great game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(9). Lake City (4AA) vs Minneapolis North (10AA). [player_tooltip player_id='1225623' first='Ryan' last='Heise'] (Upper Iowa) and [player_tooltip player_id='962201' first='Maxsamus' last='Wilson'] are the seniors, [player_tooltip player_id='1284140' first='Hunter' last='Lorenson'] and Datrell McCrimmon are excellent juniors, and both teams have depth that go beyond that. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(10). Bloomington Jefferson vs Hopkins. Jefferson and Hopkins are top ten potential teams and they have two of the most exciting players in the state in [player_tooltip player_id='1151197' first='Daniel' last='Freitag'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1550877' first='Jayden' last='Moore']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->