The Minnesota Hoops Weekend

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Looking to ignore the snow and maximize your weekend when it comes to basketball games? Let us help you with a quick breakdown of the weekend. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>First Tip</strong>. At 5pm you can jump over to St. Paul Central to see Central face Hiawatha Collegiate. [player_tooltip player_id='962222' first='Jessye' last='Lewis Jr'] has been as good as expected but [player_tooltip player_id='1225652' first='Romelle' last='Bell'] has been excellent scoring 22 points a game. Senior PJ Blakey is off to a great start for Central. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Friday's Best</strong>. I am really big on the St. Cloud Tech vs Alexandria rivalry right now and they play their first game tonight. In maybe the strangest three game set, Alex beat Tech by 27 early last year and then Tech turned around and beat Alex by 28 late in the regular season last year. Game three was for state and Tech took that by a basket. The new rivalry continues to night and has section, conference, and the not as important but often talked about Class AAA rankings implications involved. [player_tooltip player_id='1284214' first='Tameron' last='Ferguson'] and Grayon Grove are top juniors, [player_tooltip player_id='1572690' first='Chase' last='Thompson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1532911' first='Giordan' last='Easley'] are top sophs, should be a ton of fun. The game is 7:15 Tech. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Bang for the Buck</strong>. Minnehaha Academy hosts Rumble on the River which is two freshmen girls games, a JV girls games, and then two JV boys games to start. The varsity action actually starts at 4:30 with a girls game between Comp Park and St. Louis Park. At 6pm the giant front line of South Ridge - including [player_tooltip player_id='962243' first='Austin' last='Josephson'] - takes on that same Hiawatha team we talked about earlier. Big back to back set for Hiawatha. The main event is a 7:30 tip off between Minnehaha Academy and Cherry High School meaning we get some [player_tooltip player_id='1288733' first='Isaac' last='Asuma'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='1284157' first='Jerome' last='Williams Jr'] action. These teams of course have more much talent including [player_tooltip player_id='1601068' first='Noah' last='Asuma'], [player_tooltip player_id='1579910' first='Noah' last='Sundquist'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1579911' first='Carson' last='Brown'] for Cherry while the Hawks also have [player_tooltip player_id='1499627' first='Lorenzo' last='Levy'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1221177' first='Rolyns' last='Aligbe'] who had 30+ plus last weekend at the Tip Off Classic. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Big Event</strong>. The Breakdown is putting together another big event and this weekend that event is at Osseo High School. Here is the list:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Champlin Park vs Robbinsdale Cooper. Cooper is coming off a great win against Andover last Saturday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hopkins vs Maple Grove. The Royals and Crimson are both off to nice starts, [player_tooltip player_id='1550877' first='Jayden' last='Moore'] is the main draw.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Cloud Tech vs Minnetonka. Love the [player_tooltip player_id='1284083' first='Andy' last='Stefonowicz'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='1284214' first='Tameron' last='Ferguson'] guard match-up.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Stillwater vs DeLaSalle. [player_tooltip player_id='962218' first='Nasir' last='Whitlock'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='962206' first='Max' last='Shikenjanski'], must see basketball right there. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Robbinsdale Armstrong vs Cretin-Derham Hall. [player_tooltip player_id='1448601' first='Desmond' last='Ware'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1560840' first='Jason' last='Johnson'], great young PG</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eastview vs Osseo. A top ten battle, [player_tooltip player_id='1220406' first='Trey' last='Smith'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1140498' first='Chet' last='Kloss'] are D2 signed talents in this one.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Benilde-St. Margaret's vs Andover. CSP bound [player_tooltip player_id='962246' first='Ben' last='Kopetzki'] is scoring, BSM has the state's best young talent. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Park Center vs Lakeville North. Read more on this below. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Final Tip</strong>. The last tip of the weekend is a part of The Big Stage put on by the Breakdown. It will be game 8 of 8 of the event and it has a chance to be the game of the year as the top spot in Class AAAA and all of Minnesota high school basketball is on the line when Park Center faces Lakeville North. Here are the match-ups for this titanic clash:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1172835' first='Casmir' last='Chavis'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='1269166' first='Matt' last='Drake'], [player_tooltip player_id='962199' first='CJ' last='O'Hara'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='1284147' first='Jack' last='Robison'], [player_tooltip player_id='1491758' first='Joe' last='Burgess'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='1139350' first='Hudson' last='Vaith'], [player_tooltip player_id='962202' first='JJ' last='Ware'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='1248324' first='Erik' last='Ryan'], and [player_tooltip player_id='1284106' first='Chiang' last='Ring'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='962214' first='Nolan' last='Winter']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That list of five starters vs five starters really grabs your attention. I would say Ring vs Winter is the biggest as we get a chance to see if Winter can finish around the rim against the best shot blocker in Minnesota. Also, the O'Hara against Robison battle should be fun too. Can Robison handle the strength of O'Hara? Should be a ton of fun.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->