Lake City 76 PEM 59: Five Things to Know
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In a match-up of 2 vs 4, Lake City had the edge of depth, experience, guard play, and homecourt and it led to a 76-59 win. Here are five things to know. One. Depth & Experience. When I saw this…
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Continue ReadingIn a match-up of 2 vs 4, Lake City had the edge of depth, experience, guard play, and homecourt and it led to a 76-59 win. Here are five things to know.
One. Depth & Experience. When I saw this game was the first for both teams I hated it. If it’s avoidable – maybe it’s not, I don’t know, I am not an athletic director – it should have been avoided. Why? Because this game is going to pack the gym with fans. The season opener will always get a good crowd, why waste the attendance that game one gets on a game that you know will get a good crowd? And experience, Lake City has way more varsity experience on their roster right now. How awesome would it have been if PEM’s players had a month more under their belt for two regular season games? That would have made for even better battles for these student athletes. Also, if these teams build up a nice first three, four weeks or whatever, you can build up the match-up and pack the gym even more!
So that brings us to depth and experience. PEM returns two starters, Lake City returns four starters. Lake City also returns a bit more from their bench. In game one of the season that gave Lake City a massive advantage and that was clear when they won 76-59 with better guard play and 1-2 more scoring options to use throughout the game. After watching this game I surely think Lake City is the better team.
Jaden Shones Jaden Shones 6'1" | SG Lake City | 2024 State MN , Keegan Ryan Keegan Ryan 6'2" | SF Lake City | 2024 State MN and Rylee Fick are by far better than what PEM have as their third, four, and fifth starters. That said, when these new PEM starters and key reserves get more time with Kaiden Peters Kaiden Peters 6'2" | CG Plainview/Elgin-Millville | 2023 State MN and Aeron Stevens Aeron Stevens 6'7" | PF Plainview-Eligin-Millville | 2023 State MN the Tigers will surely be better. Maybe not better than Lake City, but better.
I am very much looking forward to that second match-up, and it would have been more fun if those players had experience for TWO regular season powerhouse games.
Two. Hunter Lorenson Hunter Lorenson 6'0" | PG Lake City | 2024 State MN . Hunter won his match-up on both ends and it was not close. One of the biggest plays of the game was Hunter stealing the ball from a PEM guard and then going the other way to score. It was big for momentum and the ease at which Hunter stole the ball and went the other way was like a giant signal that he was on a way different level than his opponents.
The Lorenson pull-up jumper has become one of my favorite jumpers in high school basketball this year. The quickness of the first step beating his man, the footwork used to get to the space quickly, the lift, and the pretty touch, all of it stuck in my mind. That and the late game power surge from Hunter that saw him hit 8 of 9 foul shots down the stretch, hit a three, and score four times with that pull-up. In all he had 28 points on 9 of 15 shooting.
Three. The D of Ryan Heise Ryan Heise 6'8" | SF Lake City | 2023 State MN . The four shots that Ryan made for 11 points, the six boards, the pair of assists, all of it was a bonus. The biggest thing Heise did was keep length in front of Aeron Stevens Aeron Stevens 6'7" | PF Plainview-Eligin-Millville | 2023 State MN all game limiting the SMSU signed forward to 15 points on 4 of 14 shooting. Anything that Stevens did near the rim had Heise’s hand in his way and most times it was a miss. The jumpers that Stevens attempted were with a Heise hand in the way. Ryan played one of the best defensive games you will see all season, in game one.
Four. The Lake City X-Factors. We spoke of the Lake City depth advantage and mentioned Jaden Shones Jaden Shones 6'1" | SG Lake City | 2024 State MN , Keegan Ryan Keegan Ryan 6'2" | SF Lake City | 2024 State MN and Rylee Fick. All three were huge to this win:
- Shones had a late half run of four baskets that was a massive momentum boost for his team. He scored 12 points for the game with six boards, and at times had trouble finishing, but the junior’s four score late first half boost was crucial to the win.
- Fick was a rebounding monster. With Heise chasing Stevens all over Lake City needed a guy around the glass and the 6’5 junior was that guy. He grabbed 12 boards for the contest.
- Keegan Ryan Keegan Ryan 6'2" | SF Lake City | 2024 State MN might be a prospect we need to start talking about more. Yet another Lake City junior, the 6’4 wing had a steal and dunk that was massive for momentum plus he passed the ball well (4 assists), hit some threes (two of them), grabbed boards (5), and scored 15 points on only eight shot attempts.
Five. PEM Will Bounce Back. Like I mentioned, PEM lost three starters from a season ago and some key reserves. They have two stars returning but a lot of guys getting experience around them and this was the first big minute game for several of those players. And they had to do it against a Lake City team with a lot of varsity experience.
Kaiden Peters Kaiden Peters 6'2" | CG Plainview/Elgin-Millville | 2023 State MN was very good he just had to score through 2-3 bodies in the second half and it was tough. Lake City’s defensive help support did a wonderful job as they have been through this before and did a great job in support. Peters still scored 20 points with eight boards and I really liked how he finished with either hand on his attacks. Lake City’s initial defender had a terrible time trying to keep him in front.
PEM senior Jameson Brinkman did a nice job off the bench. So nice that he started the second half. The 6’3 big scored on his first five shot attempts including a three, a mid-range jumper, and two scores at the rim. He finished with 13 points on 6 of 8 shooting.