Minnesota Playoff Central: Tibbits Leads Wayzata to State

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The first of 32 State Tournament tickets was punched on Tuesday night when [player_tooltip player_id='1167554' first='Hayden' last='Tibbits'] scored 17 second half points and led Wayzata on a second half comeback.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Playoff Central</strong>. Hopkins had Wayzata on the ropes for a half Tuesday night building a ten point lead at the break. However, Trojan senior standout [player_tooltip player_id='1167554' first='Hayden' last='Tibbits'] was at it again turning whatever early result his team had into another victory. The Mr. Basketball top ten candidate scored 17 second half points on his way to a game high 23 and was supported by [player_tooltip player_id='1287438' first='Jackson' last='McAndrew'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1201757' first='Spencer' last='Hall'] in double digits. It's Wayzata's third straight state tournament appearance and their fifth appearance at state in the last seven years. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Now, who will join them?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Upset City</strong>. The only upset from Tuesday night was the game we detailed when Osseo beat Maple Grove on the Crimson's home floor (which is like a mile from the Osseo home floor). DeMari Larkins controlled the pace of play and down the stretch when [player_tooltip player_id='1293966' first='Henry' last='Stang'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1158739' first='Raoul' last='Vaidya'] got hot, Larkins kept them from a complete comeback by hitting clutch foul shots routinely. Larkins scored a game high 26 points led by his 12 of 14 foul shooting. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Big Stage</strong>. There are 21 games tonight. Where can you catch two? Six different spots! And the metro gets one this time! Southwest Minnesota State, UMD, St. John's STMA HS, Detroit Lakes HS, and Hermantown HS all have a pair for fans to see tonight. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And tonight there are three more bids on the line. Those games for the state tournament include: Alexandria vs St. Cloud Tech, Dawson-Boyd vs RTR, and Redwood Valley vs Eden Valley-Watkins. And if you are at SMSU tonight you can see two of them!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Performers</strong>. CJ O'Hara scored ten times at the rim leading Park Center to a romp over Mounds View 73-35. CJ had 24 points in the win and Park Center will play Osseo for a chance at state later this week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Minnehaha Academy backcourt of [player_tooltip player_id='1499627' first='Lorenzo' last='Levy'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1284157' first='Jerome' last='Williams Jr'] each had 23 points leading the Redhawks over St. Agnes 92-67. The Redhawks will play Concorida Academy for state this Friday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1730571' first='Colter' last='Stone'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1225651' first='Erick' last='Reader'] each had 20 for New Life Academy. NLA knocked off Metro Schools Prep leading to their Friday game against Legacy Christian for state. [player_tooltip player_id='1284187' first='Micah' last='Strand'] had 20 points and 7 assists on Tuesday when Legacy beat Liberty. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tip of the Hat to the Career</strong>. The senior pair of [player_tooltip player_id='1158739' first='Raoul' last='Vaidya'] and [player_tooltip player_id='962204' first='Lincoln' last='Palbicki'] led Maple Grove to a better season than I or others expected. Both have been key players for Maple Grove for multiple seasons and represented their program well. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hopkins big [player_tooltip player_id='1345987' first='Vincent' last='Hillesheim'] was one of the most improved players in the state of Minnesota this year. He followed a nice 17u season by scoring 14 points a game and helping his young backcourt keep Hopkins a top ten ten most of the season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->