Tuesday Night Match-Up: #2 Lakeville North vs #5 East Ridge
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Tonight we kick off a loaded week of high school basketball with the Panthers and Raptors clawing at each other in their opening games. Here are the match-ups for tonight’s big contest! Point Guard: Matt Drake Matt Drake 5'11" |…
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Continue ReadingTonight we kick off a loaded week of high school basketball with the Panthers and Raptors clawing at each other in their opening games. Here are the match-ups for tonight’s big contest!
Point Guard: Matt Drake Matt Drake 5'11" | PG Lakeville North | 2024 State MN (5’11 jr) vs Cedric Tomes Cedric Tomes 6'0" | PG East Ridge | 2026 State MN (5’10 fr). Love this point guard match-up. Both played a bit last year but both players are coming off great off-seasons and looking ready for big impacts this year. Tomes and Drake are both skilled, tough, and very confident.
Wing 1: Hudson Vaith Hudson Vaith 6'4" | SG Lakeville North | 2023 State MN (6’5 sr) vs Alex Mattes Alex Mattes 6'3" | SG East Ridge | 2023 State MN (6’3 sr). I don’t know what the Panthers will do with their line-up. It’s very possible that Sam Nolan Sam Nolan 6'0" | CG Lakeville North | 2023 State MN starts here. That said, the Raptors have started big so I think much of the game the Panthers will match. And in Vaith and Mattes we have two guys that will commonly score between 15 and 20 points a game as both are excellent shooters.
Wing 2: Jack Robison Jack Robison 6'7" | SF Lakeville North | 2024 State #158 Nation MN (6’6 jr) vs Charlie Theis Charlie Theis 6'5" | PF East Ridge | 2024 State MN (6’5 jr). Love this match-up of agile, versatile juniors. Robison, the Wisconsin commit, will handle some, he will use that lefty touch, and he will use his size around the cup some. Theis is a great counter because he’s also agile plus a very tough minded defender. Should be fun.
Forward: Will Kutzler Will Kutzler 6'7" | PF Lakeville North | 2023 State MN (6’7 sr) vs Charlie Bern Charlie Bern 6'4" | PF East Ridge | 2024 State MN (6’4 jr). I think LN will start smaller with Nolan or bigger with Kutzler. If the go big it will be Kutzler, a face-up skilled forward, vs Bern who is a varsity veteran.
Big: Nolan Winter Nolan Winter 7'0" | PF Lakeville North | 2023 State #98 Nation MN (6’10 sr) vs Bradyen Carlson (6’9 jr). Not many teams will have a talented and skilled big to look eye to eye with Nolan Winter Nolan Winter 7'0" | PF Lakeville North | 2023 State #98 Nation MN , but Carlson will be one of the few that can. I am assuming Winter is past his foot injury from this fall and hopefully he is so we can get these great match-ups this week. Winter is more agile than Carlson and more experienced, but Carlson has really worked hard to improve and those improvements have been clear.
Reserve Guard: Sam Nolan Sam Nolan 6'0" | CG Lakeville North | 2023 State MN (6’0 sr) vs Peter Koland Peter Koland 5'11" East Ridge | 2023 MN (5’11 sr). Nolan scored six points a game last year, Peter Koland Peter Koland 5'11" East Ridge | 2023 MN started some games at point last year. Both players have experience.
Reserve Frontcourt: Ali Axmed Ali Axmed 6'4" | SF Lakeville North | 2023 State MN (6’2 sr) vs Dae’John Thomas (6’3 jr). Ali is coming off a great 17u season with Minnesota Select and a nice fall. He seems to have the ability to play a nice role. Thomas was the St. Paul Johnson leading scorer last year and at 6’3 he can play inside/out.
8th Man: Jace Hernandez Jace Hernandez 6'8" | C Lakeville North | 2023 State MN (6’8 sr) vs Parker Wellman (5’11 jr). This is the 8th spot and clearly shows you that the Panthers are the bigger team, the Raptors have more guards. Jace is a great luxury to have coming off the bench while Wellman is a shooter that played some last year. Jackson Simmons Jackson Simmons 6'2" | SG East Ridge | 2023 State MN is another shooter that the Raptors have coming off the bench.
Prediction: I give the Panthers several small edges: they are at home, they have more experience at head coach, they have a bit more experience in the lead guard and post match-ups, and while they are bigger, most of that size is versatile. I say….
Lakeville North 70 East Ridge 64