St. Mary's vs. Shanley - Top Players

Fargo, ND - We had a WDA vs. EDC matchup this evening and it was a hard-fought battle! The Saints and the Deacons both came in as "new look" teams. St. Mary's lost all of their major players from last season and Shanley has a new coaching staff. It was not the prettiest game but that is to be expected in game #1. Both teams played hard and fought to the end. See below for the top plays from Saturday's matchup.   NUMBERS   HALF - St. Mary's 21 Shanley 23   FINAL - St. Mary's 42 Shanley 44   3's made - St. Mary's 5 Shanley 1   FT's - St. Mary's 9-14 Shanley 9-17   Next Game   St. Mary's at Jamestown on Dec 6th   Shanley at home vs. Red River on Dec 6th   <figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/01/TopPerformers.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/01/TopPerformers.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1370035" width="264" height="165"/></a></figure>   St. Mary's Saints   [player_tooltip player_id='1656705' first='Jacob' last='Goettle'] (2023) |6'4 F|   11 points, 5-6 FT's. He was the best player for the Saints today. I have not heard yet how many rebounds Goettle grabbed but I would guess that it was close to double figures. Jacob is a strong and thick player. He looks to be a very good help-side defender, he moved his feet and challenged people at the rim. Other times, Goettle would step up early and keep slashers from getting to the bucket. He is also a hustler. Goettle tipped a pass and dove on the floor for the loose ball. On offense, Jacob showed really good footwork. He showed multiple crafty spin and drop-step moves. He apparently has a good feel for the game, Jacob always seemed to spin/turn away from the D/help. On two occasions, Goettle scored with his left hand around the cup. The first was with a scoop shot and the second was a sweet baby hook with a soft touch. The Saints took the L, but I liked the looks of Goettle as a hardworking forward.   [player_tooltip player_id='1139266' first='Maddox' last='Doppler'] (2023) |6'4 F|   4 points, 2-2 FT's. On defense, he stood out as a rim protector with good timing and anticipation. Doppler also showed good instincts when stepping in front of a back cut to steal a pass. Maddox showed that he is an unselfish player when attacking the basket. He passed up a good opportunity to score, instead, he made a sweet bounce pass to a wide-open teammate for a score. Doppler made a very nice move in the second half with a lefty step-through finish.   [player_tooltip player_id='1164081' first='Sam' last='Fedorchak'] (2024) |6'0 G|   10 points, 1 triple, 1-1 FT's. He had a nice overall game. Fedorchak made timely plays. He is a crafty guard that showcased a nifty drive and finishes. It was an AND1 score and Sam looked confident from the line and hit the FT. He showed off some speed with a breakaway score. Sam also scored with an O-board putback bucket in the 2nd half. Fedorchak has potential.   Ben Zenker (2024) |6'0 G|   5 points, 1-4 FT's. I really like how hard Zenker played. He gave full effort all game long. He is a hustler and a grinder. Zenker's first-half score came via slash-n-score. In the second half, Ben scored with a clever step-through finish. This kept the game close when there was under a minute left in the game. This kid is a competitor and he plays with heart.   Caden Willer (2024) |6'3 G|   9 points, 3 triples. He is a long guard that did all of his damage from beyond the arc. Willer does good work spacing the floor and reacting to the defense. Caden hit some big shots. In the second half, he hit a 3-ball that took the lead for the Saints. He hit another right at the end of the game, there was less than a second left on the clock when he hit the 3. Willer nailed it from beyond college depth.   [player_tooltip player_id='1418035' first='Chris' last='Benning'] (2026) |5'10 G|   3 points, 1 triple. I like the looks of this youngster. Benning is a lefty and he looks to be a cool customer for only being a 9th grader. The young gun cashed in a 3-ball in the first half. Benning is certainly a 2026 kid to keep eyes on. I would expect his playing time to increase as the season goes on.   Shanley Deacons   [player_tooltip player_id='1128188' first='Conner' last='Kraft'] (2023) |6'8 F|   24 points, 1 triple, 7-14 FT's. He had two impressive dunks that were definitely highlight reel-type plays. The first was a putback WHAM and the second was a 2-hand SLAM. A smaller guard was trying to front Kraft, got the separation and a lob pass, his bouncy legs and long arms did the rest. Kraft lived at the FT-line in the second half. He was very very good at getting to the rim and drawing contact. He is too athletic for forwards to guard on the perimeter, Conner was constantly beating the first defender off the dribble and the help defense was forced to step up. Conner is an impressive athlete with long arms. He is going to have a fantastic senior season.   [player_tooltip player_id='1213170' first='Vuciri' last='Hakim'] (2023) |6'5 F|   12 points, 0-1 FT's. Hakim has a very long wingspan that allows him to grab rebounds and finish over defenders. He really stood out as an offensive rebounder. Hakim was like a vacuum to the ball when it came off the rim, he refused to get boxed out. Throughout the game, Vuciri had multiple slash-n-scores where his athleticism was on display. He also showed a sweet baby hook on an O-board putback. Hakim has a high ceiling.   [player_tooltip player_id='1207499' first='Kaden' last='Christmann'] (2024) |6'1 G|   2 points. He passes the eye test. Christmann is a strong, tough, and aggressive guard. I really liked his effort on defense. On his score, Kaden showed an athletic drive through traffic. There is loads of potential in Christmann's game, I am guessing that he is just a bit rusty from the football season. Look for him to perform well against RR on Tuesday.   [player_tooltip player_id='1470513' first='Jackson' last='Ajeo'] (20230 |6'0 G|   2 points. He is definitely an athlete. Ajeo is light on his feet and he is fast. He also elevates quickly. Jackson had an impressive blocked shot in the second half where he rose up and erased the shot. He also showcased quick hands when stripping the ball away from an offensive attacker. Jackson looked like a clever defender when picking off a pass on the backside of the 1-2-2 zone.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/12/shanleyvsstmary.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/12/shanleyvsstmary-1024x645.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1681729"/></a></figure>

Fargo, ND - We had a WDA vs. EDC matchup this evening and it was a hard-fought battle! The Saints and the Deacons both came in as "new look" teams. St. Mary's lost all of their major players from last season and Shanley has a new coaching staff. It was not the prettiest game but that is to be expected in game #1. Both teams played hard and fought to the end. See below for the top plays from Saturday's matchup.