Minnesota Playoff Central: Super Saturday

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Saturday was 68 games of Madness! We run through many of the big items from a great Saturday of basketball. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Playoff Central.</strong> With 4.5 seconds to go down one, [player_tooltip player_id='1541291' first='Dylan' last='Banks'] of 5th ranked Cannon Falls took the in-bounds pass off a cross screen and caught the ball on the run. He ran right down the middle of the floor with one Caledonia defender trailing. Two more Caledonia defenders were so close to their man they had no chance to get to him and the final two Caledonia defenders pretty much watched Banks go right down the lane for the game winner. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>So to rewind, Banks scored 20, [player_tooltip player_id='1288648' first='Aiden' last='Johnson'] had 23 and the fifth ranked Bombers are moving in. They knocked off 9th ranked Caledonia, they've beaten 7th ranked Esko, and they have split with 6th ranked Lake City. Coincidence or not, Lake City got 23 from their 6'5 senior forward [player_tooltip player_id='1284166' first='Keegan' last='Ryan'] and 20 from their point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1284140' first='Hunter' last='Lorenson'], and they beat Zumbrota-Mazeppa. Looks like a rubber match is coming! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Upset City</strong>. I think there are surely people surprised that Tartan got the win over 10th ranked East Ridge led by 24 from [player_tooltip player_id='2103366' first='Cedric' last='Banks'], or that Morris Area beat 3rd ranked Eden Valley-Watkins (I would have more on that game if I could find any information on it) but I would say there were bigger upsets, even with 3rd ranked EVW going down. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mahnomen/Waubun getting their 10th win of the season knocking off 10th ranked 21-win Cass Lake-Bena, now that's an upset! Mahnomen/Waubun was down 17 in the second half and came back to win!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And what about WAO knocking off 9th ranked Red Lake County handing the victim only their 4th loss of the season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Performers</strong>.&nbsp; Minnetonka had SIX guys in double figures beating Prior Lake 97-74. Leading scorer was Tonka leading scorer [player_tooltip player_id='1288767' first='Greyson' last='Uelmen'] who had 20.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1734188' first='Blake' last='Dalluge'] was one of SIX guys in double figures for Rogers scoring 21 and beating Moorhead 96-83. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Moose Lake-Willow River senior Nolan Nelson went for 19 surpassing 1,000 points for his career AND he led his team from down 15 to a one point win. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kevaughn Fields scored 24 points for 9th ranked Minneapolis South while [player_tooltip player_id='1434055' first='Poet' last='Davis'] had a dozen. South beat South St. Paul ending the Packer season at 13-15. And I would say that [player_tooltip player_id='1434055' first='Poet' last='Davis'] was the run away winner for Section Player of the Year in AAA. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>DeLaSalle frosh [player_tooltip player_id='2126102' first='Jaeden' last='Udean'] scored 31 for the Islanders leading his team past the Zephyrs 85-68. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1287442' first='Kole' last='Hanson'] scored 38 for Holy Family who beat MCA by 23 points in a second half point explosion by the 10th ranked Fire. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>RTR won again. The defending champ is getting a step closer to defending their title. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Six-foot-7 [player_tooltip player_id='1441861' first='Isaak' last='Eenhuis'] hit TEN threes for Annandale scoring 30 points to beat Foley</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tip of the Hat to the Career</strong>. I am picking five outstate guys to chat about. It was a huge day of hoops and a lot of high school careers were ended so it's time to honor some of those careers. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284169' first='Landon' last='Dimler'] of Mankato West. I feel like I have been seeing his name for a decade's worth of time. And every time I saw a video or some Landon in person I felt like he improved some part of his game dramatically. He made West a top ten team this year which is a big accomplishment. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284127' first='Dominic' last='Fairbanks'] of Cass Lake-Bena. I am going to miss seeing Dominic and his family in the gym. I have loved watching Dominic compete with that pretty jumper and the sincere smile after things go well. He is one of the good people in high school basketball and is from one of the good families in Minnesota high school basketball. Dom will be at Bemidji State next year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284153' first='Jay' last='Neubert'] of Sauk Centre. When people talk outstanding student athlete character, student athlete performance, and student athletic academics, it's high standard. And I think many people think [player_tooltip player_id='1288733' first='Isaac' last='Asuma'], and Isaac has earned that. But [player_tooltip player_id='1284153' first='Jay' last='Neubert'] has earned that too. Every coach he has ever had has told me how hard of a worker and how good of a teammate he is. Jay has left Sauk Centre, [program_tooltip program_id='2075672' first='Minnesota' last='Fury'] and [program_tooltip program_id='2075431' first='D1' last='Minnesota'] better for having had him in their program. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1969343' first='Gavin' last='Olson'] of Waconia. Gavin is high school basketball. The guy that works his tail off to get better, has success and doesn't act the fool on social media or in the gym after that success. Nothing flashy, just a tough kid that got results. I never expected Waconia in the top ten this year for almost the entire year but Olson led them there. He is a self made talent that worked his way up the ladder. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1434977' first='Noah' last='Stommes'] of Eden Valley-Watkins. Noah is a throw back. He's tough, he played his role, and he stuck to his role. And his teams won basketball games. Good passer, strong screener, strong post up, good paint finisher, good rebounder. He played his role and his teams won a ton. He will be a strong football player for NDSU. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1332274' first='Shaun' last='Wysocki'] of Rochester Century. Shaun has a great career ahead of him in college basketball. His team pushed Lakeville North just like Shaun has helped push every opponent he has faced. Between his Lightning and Century teams, Wysocki made every team he played on better than people expected. And he will do the same in college. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->