2023-24 State Tournament: Skippers Go For Gold!
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Nineteen game losing streak to Wayzata? Over. And all it took was a defensive buy-in!
Lakeville South scored 92.
Park Center scored 92.
Hopkins scored 103.
Wayzata scored 98.
And then conversations were had. Bryce Tesdahl talked about it in detail on Thursday and tonight Minnetonka put together a defensive masterpiece. They held Wayzata to 61 points on 37 percent shooting.
Was it physical? Absolutely. Did they annoy and antagonize Jackson McAndew and the Trojans ? Most certainly. They even got me going a bit on Twitter! And they did it in a way that frustrated some and completely took others out of the game.
Greyson Uelmen Greyson Uelmen 6'2" | PG Minnetonka | 2024 State MN has always been a guy who defended. And tonight he did it at a high level. Malachi Boadi-Aboagye played some big minutes off the bench on McAndrew. Kayden Wells blocked two shots, supported in help, and defensive rebounded in game winning ways. All together Minnetonka played the game they wanted to, and won a state title.
The Minnetonka pestering defense held Jackson McAndrew Jackson McAndrew 6'10" | PF Wayzata | 2024 State #24 Nation MN to four points and 1 of 8 shooting in the second half.
MVP. I will say Andy Stefonowicz Andy Stefonowicz 6'2" | PG Minnetonka | 2024 State MN . His control of the ball and his decision making throughout the game was outstanding. The defensive rebound late that he decided to push instead of running out the clock, that was a game winner. A game winning And1. A memorable play and a memorable decision. He finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists shooting 7 of 13 from the field.
Underclassmen MVP. That would have to be Christian Wiggins Christian Wiggins 6'3" | SG Wayzata | 2026 State MN , a sophomore from Wayzata. You can see that big things are ahead for this kid assuming he continues to work and develop. He’s been a better shooter, defender, and ball handler than I expected to see this season. Tonight he had 18 points making half of his ten shots (including three threes) and sunk all of his foul shot attempts.
Three More
Jordan Cain Jordan Cain 6'3" | SF Minnetonka | 2024 State MN was a big part of the early lead that Minnetonka built. His three pointer and pull-up jumper were big early scores and he had a late follow-up finish to his own miss that was a Trojan momentum stopper. He scored 17 points with nine boards.
Kayden Wells. The Minnetonka big guy coming back to the school where he started was a huge piece to this championship puzzle. He gave the team a player that could defend bigs, that could defensive board, and that could finish around the basket right at the rim. He also allowed Cain to do more out of the paint on both ends. Wells had 19 points and 10 rebounds on 7 of 9 shooting.
Jackson McAndrew Jackson McAndrew 6'10" | PF Wayzata | 2024 State #24 Nation MN . Jackson dealt with small bear hugs, double hand checks, and constant forearms the entire night. I’m actually amazed he kept his poise as long as he did because there is no doubt his body has scratches and hand marks and some bruises all over. He scored 21 points on 7 of 16 shooting with ten boards and four blocks. He has a bright future and tonight had to do a bit too much himself.