Winter Lakes Classic: The Underclassmen Report

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Damian Ahrens, Ezekial Austin, [player_tooltip player_id='1579885' first='Nolan' last='Groves'], and [player_tooltip player_id='1572690' first='Chase' last='Thompson'] led the way for the young players in an event that was stacked with some of the best sophomore names in Minnesota.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Damian Ahrens of Sauk Centre (5'10 soph).  The Mainstreeters needed a second scoring option in a tough, low scoring game and Damian gave his team that.  He opened the contest with two threes and an attack to score and late in the game made just enough foul shots to get his team a good win over Pelican Rapids. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ezekial Austin of Albany (6'1 soph).  Yesterday I became a big believer in Ezekial Austin.  Let's get some simple stuff out of the way first, he looks taller, stronger, and quicker than when I last saw him which is of course important.  That said, what put me over the edge on Austin was his toughness, his grit in competing, a quicker burst with the dribble than I expected, and the way he moved the basketball for his team.  A coach wants a PG that goes to battle for his guys and with his guys, a PG that competes but does it while making his teammates comfortable in what they do.  That is what I saw from Austin as he totalled his four scores and six assists. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Treyvon Benson of Pelican Rapids (5'9 soph).  Sophomore point guard thrust into the ball handling role of heavy minutes because of injury, I thought Benson did a nice job of handling the ball and getting the offense started.  In addition, Benson had six assists creating for others with snap kicks or snap reversals, or using the attack to move the ball.  Nice growth from a good young player. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1579885' first='Nolan' last='Groves'] of Orono (6'2 soph).&nbsp; Right now the sophomore class of Minnesota is short on prospects that are standing up and telling the state “I am a top player in this grade”.&nbsp; One of the few that have done that is [player_tooltip player_id='1579885' first='Nolan' last='Groves'], an aggressive guard with strong skills, a great feel, and the ability to make plays with players in his comfort zone.&nbsp; Groves knocked shots down from the arc yesterday and attacked gaps for his 26 points in a win,&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Troy Hansen of Sauk Centre (6'5 soph).&nbsp; Hansen came off the bench and had three jobs: get a hand up on [player_tooltip player_id='1492613' first='Ian' last='Fahje'], rebound and he did that very well getting six boards, and just make the right play while playing hard and I felt he did that as well.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2445581' first='Seth' last='Staloch'] of Osakis (6'4 soph).&nbsp; Seth came off the Osakis bench and played his limited role pretty well.&nbsp; I thought he put a body on Leach around the cup limiting the DGF star, he scored twice, moved the ball the way his team needed him to, and with seniors graduating in key roles Seth should step right in.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1572690' first='Chase' last='Thompson'] of Alexandria (6'7 soph).&nbsp; What makes Chase so tough is his size and quick, confident release into his high percentage shooting touch.&nbsp; And last night Thompson did a great job moving off the ball and getting to balanced spots to catch and knock down shots..&nbsp; He scored 20 points in the Carindal loss.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Others that played</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cayson Bergee of DGF (6'1 soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Samuel Hondl of Albany (6'5 soph).&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brennan Johnk of DGF (5'11 soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Charlie Larson of Pelican Rapids (5'11 soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thomas Rehder of DGF (5'9 soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ashton Risko of Sauk Centre (5'11 soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2495108' first='Miguel' last='Torres'] of Pelican Rapids (6'0 fr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1484016' first='Brady' last='Wooley'] of Orono (6'9 soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->