Border Battle: Top Performers
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Who were Minnesota’s top performers from the Border Battle on Saturday? Here are the names! Isaac Asuma Isaac Asuma 6'3" | PG Cherry | 2024 State #102 Nation MN of Cherry (6’3 sr). Playing in front of his future college…
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Continue ReadingWho were Minnesota’s top performers from the Border Battle on Saturday? Here are the names!
Isaac Asuma
Isaac
Asuma
6'3" | PG
Cherry | 2024
State
#102
Nation
MN
of Cherry (6’3 sr). Playing in front of his future college coach Ben Johnson the biggest thing Isaac did was lock down a Bemidji State signed 6’5 big. Isaac got four steals, two blocks and limited his man to 9 of 26 shooting. Isaac was so good at defending in the post the big man took nearly half of his attempts at the arc. Moving to the other side of the ball, Asuma hit 9 of 15 shots for his 19 points with one toe on the line long two and several mid-range makes. The assortment included a step back, a fall away, and your typical quick elbow pull-up. Add in the ten boards and nine assists and it was one assist away from a triple double.
Jordan Cain
Jordan
Cain
6'3" | SF
Minnetonka | 2024
State
MN
of Minnetonka (6’3 sr). Cain played a very active, rim slashing game continually finding ways to get attempts at the cup. And it was all hard work. Open floor runs, cuts during actions, second chance attempts, dribble attacks, you name it. Cain was on a constant rim run getting himself chances and it led to eight field goal makes and seven foul shot attempts (he made six). It was all effort from the explosive forward and it was the type of effort that earned a win.
Josiah Coleman
Josiah
Coleman
6'3" | SG
Edina | 2024
State
MN
of Edina (6’3 sr). Edina is playing really good basketball right now and it’s no coincidence that Josiah is playing at his best. Coleman is a versatile scoring threat that we’ve seen handle some in his life, play around the basket some, but really settle into a wing scoring role. He hit four threes and scoring 26 in a win over River Falls on 8 of 13 shooting. Well built senior that I think could make for a great MIAC player or a guy an NSIC should look at if they need some young wings after their transfer looks are done. Watch out for Edina and Coleman down the stretch.
Daniel Freitag
Daniel
Freitag
6'1" | PG
Breck | 2024
State
#142
Nation
MN
of Breck (6’2 sr). Daniel is the most physically gifted athlete in Minnesota plus he’s put in the weight room to make him not only as explosive as they come but as strong as you will find. Put that against a Heritage Christian team without much size or athletes and you get a dominating performance from the future Badger. Daniel had ten assists and some of them were outstanding leads putting the ball in places where defenders simply couldn’t see or get to from their position. And Daniel broke down his opponents with the dribble every chance he could. Made 8 of 18 shots for 22 points with ten assists and eight boards.
Ari Gooch
Ari
Gooch
6'1" | SG
Park Center | 2024
State
MN
of Park Center (6’2 sr). When it comes to speed off the ball,
Ari Gooch
Ari
Gooch
6'1" | SG
Park Center | 2024
State
MN
may have used his speed off the ball for more results than I have ever seen a player use it. He flew into the lane for seven offensive rebounds and he flew up the floor for for transition chances. Gooch did some handling when Casmic Chavis was out and his ball movement in the halfcourt created chances for others. Gooch also hit a pair of jumpers on his way to an impressive 29 point, 13 rebound, six assist game shooting 12 of 19 from the field and making all of his foul shots. The sprint speed of Gooch combined with that explosive bounce make him a tough cover. He has the ability to be a game changing defender too.
Nolan Groves Nolan Groves 6'4" | CG Orono | 2025 State #259 Nation MN of Orono (6’4 jr). Groves had a box and one on him much of the game but worked his way to space for 16 points on 14 attempts with five assists and ten boards. He would out work the face guarding defender at times to get to a catch but he also got a couple second chance scores. With Central trying to take him out of the game Groves was able to find teammates for a relentless barrage of threes leading to a win. When it comes to juniors having great years Nolan is at the top of the list with maybe one or two others.
Dothan Ijadimbola
Dothan
Ijadimbola
6'6" | SF
Totino Grace | 2026
State
MN
of Totino-Grace (6’6 soph). We’ve talked about this in detail but Dothan has an upside because of what he brings that is unique: skill, agility, strength and body control in an agile 6’6 frame. Dothan scored on 8 of 11 attempts for his 18 points and the assortment of scores will look great on his resume. The pull-ups, open floor finishes, and the footwork from mid-range to get clear to complete, all of it was outstanding.
Isaiah Johnson
Isaiah
Johnson
6'7" | SF
Totino-Grace | 2024
State
#135
Nation
MN
of Totino-Grace (6’7 sr). Johnson had a 23 point, five board, five assist all around game making 10 of 17 shot attempts. The things that stood out the most to me were his passing out of the post or on the wing, the physical nature of his finishes as Isaiah already has a college ready build, and the mid-range touch looked great. Johnson is a player that I think has an incredibly high ceiling by the time he is about 20 or 21 and right now he is doing a lot of everything for the Eagles.