The Big Stage: The Top Performers

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was another special weekend event full of big results and fun memories. What players stood out the most? Here are our top performers!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1172835' first='Casmir' last='Chavis'] of Park Center (jr, PG).&nbsp; Chavis took over the game twice. First he had a seven bucket stretch in the middle of the game that included five buckets at the rim and then two threes.&nbsp; Chavis then had an attack, a charge take, and four foul shots that put the game away.&nbsp; After a four miss start to the game Chavis scored 23 points making all five of his foul shots and he hit two threes.&nbsp; The distribution is perfect right now, his transition game is elite, and Chavis is shooting the ball well from the perimeter.&nbsp; No junior is playing as well as Chavis is.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1572691' first='Jaleel' last='Donley'] of Benilde-St. Margaret's (soph PG).&nbsp; Donley was a total tale of two halves.&nbsp; He was zero for the field in half one with a couple of assists.&nbsp; In the second half his dribble penetration in the halfcourt and push in transition could not be stopped.&nbsp; He finished the game with 18 points and 10 assists with nearly all of that production in the second half.&nbsp; This is one of the most explosive players in the state with the ball in his hands.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='962199' first='CJ' last='O'Hara'] of Park Center (sr wing).&nbsp; Rough first half, 15 point second half.&nbsp; Made six of his last eight attempts including active buckets early in the half and then a clutch mid-lane jumper down the stretch.&nbsp; The biggest thing CJ did as the game moved on was pressure the ball and defend with a ton of pressuring effort.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1140498' first='Chet' last='Kloss'] of Eastview (sr big).&nbsp; The Concordia-St. Paul commit just missed a double-double by a board.&nbsp; Outside of foul shot woes Chet had a great game.&nbsp; Low post defense was tough, best rebounder on the floor, faced up and went at Osseo bigs with quality success, and he won his box-out battle constantly.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='962246' first='Ben' last='Kopetzki'] of Andover (sr guard).&nbsp; Ben has been on a scoring role this year and he put up another 33 points this evening.&nbsp; Ben had to work for it including five threes, making all eight foul shots, and scoring on some of his own misses, but in the end it was another huge outing.&nbsp; He took 25 shots and made ten despite getting all the defensive attention with every screen.&nbsp; Ben has one of the best touches out there but he's become a guy that can get to that touch in so many ways. Teams seem to mistake him as just a shooter but he uses that dribble as crafty as anybody.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1139382' first='Jake' last='Little'] of Cretin-Derham Hall (sr wing).&nbsp; Little caught our eye this fall with some good games and tonight we got a chance to see how that translated to the regular season, a team high 15 points making half of his attempts.&nbsp; Little hit three threes and led his team to a really nice win.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284213' first='Seth' last='Newbern'] of Robbinsdale Armstrong (jr guard). Not Seth's game but he's surely taken the next step as a player and prospect to the point that we have higher expectations. &nbsp; The added height and strength has surely made him a physical player, his attacks, rebounding, and defense are great examples. Finished with 17 points and seven boards.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dyan Omweno of Eastview (sr guard).&nbsp; Dylan scored a team high 16 points and did it on a dozen shots including four threes made.&nbsp; Omweno also led the constant Lightning fast break with six assists.&nbsp; He was the energy of a transition offense that controlled the game.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284106' first='Chiang' last='Ring'] of Park Center (jr big).&nbsp; About the last thing I expected was to see Ring open the game with two threes and then an And1.&nbsp; He moved through the rest of the game scoring 18 points and was a solid contributor but the start helped his team not get down double figures quickly.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284147' first='Jack' last='Robison'] of Lakeville North (jr forward).&nbsp; Jack's late game pull-up, his late game steal and dunk, the leads to [player_tooltip player_id='962214' first='Nolan' last='Winter'], all of it was eye catching plays that will be locked in as what he can do now and in the future.&nbsp; Scored his 18 points on 8 of 12 shooting and passed the ball creating comfortable opportunities for his team all night (7 assists).&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1220406' first='Trey' last='Smith'] of Osseo (sr wing).&nbsp; Even in what was a big loss Trey looked really good.&nbsp; He was having to get past his man and then score through great help and he did it commonly for 26 of his team's 55 points. Considering the attention that came his way, Smith shot 9 of 17 which including two threes, and three And1 opportunities.&nbsp; The physical qualities of a D1 are all there, and the skills are coming with it.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='962218' first='Nasir' last='Whitlock'] of DeLaSalle (sr point guard).&nbsp; I didn't get to the games in time to see a lot of the Islanders/Ponies game but I saw enough.&nbsp; Whitlock scored 27 points and right now it's easy for me to say that Nasir is the best senior point guard in the state right now,&nbsp; He's just playing better than everybody else, especially after leading DeLaSalle to a convincing win over Stillwater.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1572689' first='Jalen' last='Wilson'] of Benilde-St. Margaret's (soph forward).&nbsp; Wilson was unstoppable around the basket against Andover in the first half.&nbsp; He single handedly kept his team in the game in the first half with 20 points and 10 of 13 shooting while his teammates shot 3 of 21.&nbsp; Wilson mixed in a great face-up game from about 12 feet using a dribble and then a quick move to finish consistently.&nbsp; He then scored five times in half two giving him 30 points on 13 of 18 shooting with 13 rebounds.&nbsp; In the second Wilson did a great job finishing all of the Donley creations.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='962214' first='Nolan' last='Winter'] of Lakeville North (senior big). I would have to say that [player_tooltip player_id='962214' first='Nolan' last='Winter'] has somehow exceeded my expectations for how this season would start and you can chat about him being a Mr. Basketball favorite.&nbsp; He had a game high 27 points on 9 of 17 shooting and when the Panthers got him the ball anywhere in the paint he did a fantastic job of putting the perfect moves on whomever was defending him.&nbsp; Love the intensity and fire he is playing with.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->