The Race for Mr. Basketball: The Final Five
In this article:
The Final Five have been announced for the Mr. Basketball award and here are the five names, along with some of their recent results in March!
The Final Five
Boden Kapke Boden Kapke 6'11" | C Holy Family | 2023 State #153 Nation MN of Holy Family: Scored 22 points with 14 boards versus Edison and then led the Fire to state with 13 against Minneapolis North despite fouling out early.
Ben Kopetzki Ben Kopetzki 6'0" | PG Andover | 2023 State MN of Andover: Scored 26 points with 6 assists leading his team to state against Cambridge-Istanti.
Hayden Tibbits Hayden Tibbits 5'11" | PG Wayzata | 2023 State MN of Wayzata: Had 17 points (23 for the game) and led the Trojans to state with a win over Hopkins
Nasir Whitlock Nasir Whitlock 6'2" | PG Delasalle | 2023 State MN of DeLaSalle: had 16 points leading the Islanders to state in a 65-46 win over St. Thomas
Nolan Winter Nolan Winter 7'0" | PF Lakeville North | 2023 State #98 Nation MN of Lakeville North: Scored 19 in helping the Panthers to state over Lakeville South 58-41.
The Next Up
I would say the four spots were quite clear (Winter, Whitlock, Tibbits, and Kapke). The fifth spot was earned by Kopetzki likely over Nate Dahl Nate Dahl 6'0" | PG Buffalo | 2023 State MN , Max Shikenjanski Max Shikenjanski 6'2" | PG Stillwater | 2023 State #288 Nation MN and CJ O’Hara. All were very close. Taison Chatman Taison Chatman 6'4" | PG Totino Grace | 2023 State #35 Nation MN would likely be there too (and likely was) but his injury led to him missing another game recently (and ultimately led to Taison not likely having the season he had hoped for).
The Fifth Spot
I will continue to maintain that the fifth spot should have also included Patrick Bath Patrick Bath 6'9" | C Totino Grace | 2023 State MN of Totino-Grace or Isaiah Hagen Isaiah Hagen 6'3" | PG Orono | 2023 State MN of Orono. In fact one of them would have been my fifth and I would have had a hard time picking between the two. Hagen just led Orono to state with 18 points and 9 rebounds versus BSM and Bath just had 15 points and 14 rebounds (both team highs) in helping TG beat Mahtomedi for state.