Class A State Tournament: #1 RTR Stays on Top

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Russell-Tyler-Ruthon spent most of the season as our Class A number one team and today they finished off a great season with a championship!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Experienced Team Basketball</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>RTR have what I felt is the perfect combination of experience, talent, skill, and size for a small school champ. [player_tooltip player_id='962291' first='Aiden' last='Wichmann'] is the guard play maker with some size, [player_tooltip player_id='1284129' first='Drew' last='Werkman'] is the active post with some size, and they have shooters and defenders that the fill the rolls around them. Everybody on the floor was a willing worker, and everybody on the floor played within their role to win games.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wichmann scored 18 points with seven boards and six assists while Werkman had 15 points and five boards. [player_tooltip player_id='1225656' first='Max' last='Briggs'] scored 17 points while [player_tooltip player_id='1225651' first='Erick' last='Reader'] had a double double of 11 points and 13 rebounds.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top 5 </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='962291' first='Aiden' last='Wichmann'] of RTR. Aiden was the Class A state tournament MVP using his combo guard skills and size to be an all around producer. Led his team in scoring, solid rebounder and the main creator. Headed to Ridgewater CC</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284129' first='Drew' last='Werkman'] of RTR. The size of the state tournament bigs gave him trouble at times but he was still able to actively score at the rim while defending in way that limited top opposing options. Second option that was consistent.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1225656' first='Max' last='Briggs'] of NLA. Max is a playmaker that has greatly improved this winter. His ability to handle opposing guard pressure took a major step forward since the start of the year and he stepped up as a needed scorer with improved percentages. He looks like he will be a quality Division III guard in the coming years.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1225651' first='Erick' last='Reader'] of NLA. I really like Reader as a walk-on for the Minnesota Gophers because he has a nice shooting touch and good size they can add weight to. He will be serviceable in practice to battle the bigs and maybe in some games in the future when they need size. An impressive rebounder every game. <br><br>Hayden Gravely of RTR. Outstanding defensive effort getting his size on the ball all game. Hit the big three too but his defense was outstanding.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->