Wayzata 64 DeLaSalle 61: Five Things to Know

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Third ranked Wayzata (AAAA) knocked off top ranked DeLaSalle (AAA) by a score last night in an outstanding high school basketball game. Here are five things to know! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>One. Trojans had just a bit more</strong>. Down the stretch Wazyata's edge in size, and spot by spot talent just had a bit more. DeLaSalle had the best player on the floor last night and he was special at times, but the Trojans got a collection of plays from everybody that earned them the win: the Jake Berkland steal and diving assist, the [player_tooltip player_id='1287438' first='Jackson' last='McAndrew'] D-boards and quick outlets, the [player_tooltip player_id='1436435' first='Jake' last='Schmitt'] game winning block, the [player_tooltip player_id='1201757' first='Spencer' last='Hall'] defensive plays, and the [player_tooltip player_id='1167554' first='Hayden' last='Tibbits'] hustle getting him five late scores. The Islanders had the better player and they are a good team with a shot to win a title, but the Trojans had more players making plays down the stretch. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Two. Whitlock for Mr. Basketball</strong>? As we continue to detail for you every week the Mr. Basketball race is very tight. [player_tooltip player_id='962218' first='Nasir' last='Whitlock'] likely had the small step ahead coming into last night with his team being number one at the moment and Nasir just having to do a bit more for his team than some of the others. Nothing about last night took away from that opinion as Nasir found one of those scoring grooves that most people would call "in the zone" but for Whitlock it's simply a "good night" these days. My favorite part was how many shots that Nasir created for others. I thought his distribution was outstanding. He had six assists although he created a lot more opportunities than that. The Islanders also need Nasir to score and he did that putting up 31 points on 11 of 22 shooting with five threes. He's at point where I am really wondering what level of college player he has grown into. Top five prospect in the state for sure. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three. Coming Up Big When it Matters</strong>. If you walked into the gym and wondered how [player_tooltip player_id='1167554' first='Hayden' last='Tibbits'] was finishing his attempts all you had to do was look at the frustration on his face in half one and you would know. Hayden does a lot for his team but he's also the main scoring option and it was a struggle for him in half to make the open looks he created for himself. However, down the stretch Tibbits was that player we have grown familiar with scoring on five possessions late in the game including the hustling lay-up of a steal that was likely the score that led to the win, and a couple other attack finishes. Tibbits had five assists and 22 points but it was the way he put away the game that truly mattered.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Four. Schmitt on Senior Night</strong>. Wayzata has a special basketball program and I continue to love the way they do things getting the school and community involved. When I walked in last night the court was lined with teammates, friends, family and classmates and the seniors walked around the baselines and sidelines being thanked/honored by those fans. [player_tooltip player_id='1436435' first='Jake' last='Schmitt'] was one of those players, and Jake had a tremendous senior night. It started with the rebounding as Jake had seven first half rebounds with most of them being defensive boards. From there it was a couple rim scores and a pair of threes netting him a dozen points from that. The big thing in half two was the defense and with the game on the line Jake had the game winning shot block swatting the ball from Whitlock's hands and earning the win. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Five. [player_tooltip player_id='1148715' first='Jaden' last='Morgan']</strong>. Looking for a fifth talking point I settled on [player_tooltip player_id='1148715' first='Jaden' last='Morgan'], the Islander junior. DeLaSalle has a line up of seniors with only Morgan, junior Ray James Jr, and sophomore De'von Irvin in the rotation (over the full season) as non seniors. Morgan was the scoring option that I felt Wayzata concerned themselves the second most as the game moved on. He hit a couple threes early forcing the Trojans to locate him quicker which opened up more space for Whitlock to work. Morgan scored 11 and didn't have a big scoring day but he is the Islander third option and has the talent to grow into something more in the off-season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->