The Race for Mr. Basketball: Madson firm in Top Ten

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We are nearing mid-season and it's so so cold. It's that time of the year where the best of the best grind things out and continue to push forward. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Favorite. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1579885' first='Nolan' last='Groves'] of Orono.</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Just one game for Nolan in the last week and it was his team crushing Jefferson 86-53. Nolan had 22 points, five boards, four assists, and three assists followed by a quick seat in the blowout win. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Final Five. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1310206' first='Tommy' last='Ahneman'] of CDH, [player_tooltip player_id='1572690' first='Chase' last='Thompson'] of Alexandria, Chace Watley of Totino-Grace, [player_tooltip player_id='1572689' first='Jalen' last='Wilson'] of BSM</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thompson had 17 points and five rebounds and an early seat in a 44 point win over Fergus Falls followed by a 21 point, seven rebound performance and an early seat in a 81-46 win over Sartell. Alex is playing so well and so balanced that Thompson and the starters are getting early chances to rest. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Totino-Grace had two blowout wins in the last week beating Elk River and Andover. Watley had 17 points and seven assists in one of the games, the other game was not reported. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1572689' first='Jalen' last='Wilson'] of BSM had 32 points last night as the Red Knights remained undefeated by beating a short handed St. Louis Park. He also had 25 points in a win over Maple Grove. Wilson might be moving into the top three the way he is playing right now. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was a second straight single digit game for Tommy as he scored one basket and then got hurt in the win over Woodbury game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Next Up. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1574223' first='CJ' last='Armstrong'] of Richfield</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>CJ is about to take one of the spots above. Maybe it's because Tommy has been hurt, maybe its because somebody else slips, whatever, Armstrong is coming for that spot. Armstrong had 30 in a 20+ win over Kennedy and then 28 and a very early seat in an 81 point win (117-36) over Brooklyn Center</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Top Ten: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1574212' first='Anthony' last='Smith'] of Hopkins, [player_tooltip player_id='1288748' first='Tyler' last='Wagner'] of Champlin Park, [player_tooltip player_id='1437303' first='Brogan' last='Madson'] of Mankato East</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Smith had 15 points and five assists on 6 of 8 shooting in the Waconia win, he had 16 points and seven assists on 7 of 14 shooting in a 28-point win over EP, and then last night had 30 points on 9 of 16 shooting with five threes and seven of seven foul shooting plus seven boards, five assists and three steals. Smith is also becoming a prospect I think that could start snagging more attention here as his game is looking very matured this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wagner had 25 points in what was an upset loss against Maple Grove and then for the 4th time this year Wagner had a total of 19 points beating Osseo by 16.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Madson led East to three wins in the past week. He&nbsp;had 20 points, six rebounds, seven assists and five steals hammering Mayo who has been playing very well. Brogan then had 21 points and five assists in a blowout rivalry win over West and then led his team to a 100-45 win over New Ulm but no stats are listed.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Who is 10th?</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Well..... I had [player_tooltip player_id='1874916' first='Micah' last='Curtis'] but he hasn't played in ten games. I was thinking maybe an Albany player but [player_tooltip player_id='1286547' first='Sam' last='Hondl'] has been hurt for several games and while [player_tooltip player_id='1575328' first='Ezekial' last='Austin'] is a good candidate, they are an undefeated team as much because of balance as much as Austin (who had 16 last night in a blowout win). [player_tooltip player_id='1574225' first='Miles' last='Newton'] could be a conversation but his team is .500 and just lost to Apple Valley. Somebody from SRR? Maybe but they are so balanced. Could it be [player_tooltip player_id='1567964' first='Isa' last='El-Amin']? He has come back from injury and has played really well helping Tonka to 8-4. Maybe we go back to [player_tooltip player_id='1574216' first='Azayah' last='Washington'] who has his team at 7-5 after a 27 point game and then an eight three point make game scoring 38 and leading Apollo past rival Tech. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I would say Washington is my tenth right now. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->