St. Cloud Tech 87 Esko 72: Five Things to Know

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Cloud Tech put together an impressive 15 point win over Esko, a top ten team in Class AA basketball. What should you know about this game? We break it down.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>One. Tech's Defensive Length</strong>. I thought St. Cloud Tech did a wonderful job getting length on the Esko scoring options with nearly all shot attempts. Six-foot-3 Jaden Harris, 6-foot-6 Amarr Boyongo, 6-foot-4 [player_tooltip player_id='2233675' first='Ismael' last='Traore'], all three of these seniors are long and active For Tech and they did a great job getting length on Esko. This led to Esko's top scoring options having some rough shooting nights. [player_tooltip player_id='2093687' first='Makoi' last='Perich'] - yes the football superstar that picked Minnesota over USC, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Florida State - shot 8 of 19 and most of that was around the rim. Six-foot-6 Esko big [player_tooltip player_id='2375115' first='Braedyn' last='Male'] shot 3 of 10 and he came into this game shooting a solid percentage. [player_tooltip player_id='1961792' first='Dalton' last='Spindler'] is Esko's second best scorer and he shot 4 of 12. [player_tooltip player_id='1456173' first='Jacion' last='Owens'] shot 3 of 10 as Harris and [player_tooltip player_id='1284214' first='Tameron' last='Ferguson'] got length on him. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Two. Quick Transition</strong>. Tech forced some turnovers but they also did a masterful job of turning defensive boards into rapid fast break opportunities. Harris and Ferguson - one had the ball and the other was always in fast transit - seemed to turn every Esko mistake into a fast two. Amarr Boyongo had two lob finishes late that were impressive but it was Harris and Ferguson hitting the quick green light to go that seemed to stop every Esko attempt at making a run. [player_tooltip player_id='1293963' first='Mekhi' last='Edwards'] grabbing eight rebounds also helped these quick transition pushes. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three. Ferguson</strong>. There is a lot to say here but I think the two biggest takeaways for me were: 1) his dribble separation move into a shot or attack has to rank with one of the quickest while in control I have ever seen, and 2) he scored his 36 points on a very efficient 15 of 25 shooting. Ferguson's mix of transition scores with four threes on limited three point attempts combined with some excellent contested finishes led to one of the more efficient mid-30s scoring efforts you will ever see for a guard. I also thought he did a nice job mixing in the ball movement so Harris, [player_tooltip player_id='1542122' first='Palmer' last='Baynes'] and others could get to their attempts. He had back to back 40+ games coming into this game but against a top ten team shooting 15 of 25 might be even more impressive. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Four. Jaden Harris</strong>. It's only one game but I am a big fan of senior Jaden Harris. I really liked the defense he played on Esko and how quickly he got the ball moving the other way. His attacks mixed with his toughness on defense and his toughness on the glass really has me thinking Tech's backcourt can make a lot of noise come March. Harris finished with 18 points on 8 of 11 shooting plus seven rebounds, six assists and a strong defensive effort. Very good game from Harris. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Five. Esko Will Respond</strong>. Esko actually has Cherry this week in a game that I might try and watch online if the Gopher/Hoosier early game time allows it. Esko had a ton of trouble with Tech's length but Class AA basketball will not be throwing that type of athletic length at Esko unless they are facing Breck at some point. You can see clearly where Perich - who battled for 22 points and 14 rebounds - and Male are high percentage scoring factors around the basket in most games on the Esko schedule. I thought [player_tooltip player_id='1456173' first='Jacion' last='Owens'] did a good job on Ferguson in denial early but strong first pass denial doesn't help when your player is out in transition so fast. I was impressed with [player_tooltip player_id='2104463' first='Sam' last='Haugen'] on a rough night and you can see that [player_tooltip player_id='1961792' first='Dalton' last='Spindler'] is a versatile player. Esko is going to have a very nice year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->