Minnesota Playoff Central: Crimson Moving On

The Crimson knocking off Park Center in a great playoff environment highlighted a great night of high school basketball at the AAAA level.   Playoff Central. Maple Grove picked up a 72-68 win over Park Center hanging on late after building an 11-point lead. [player_tooltip player_id='1560839' first='Xavier' last='Frelix'] was outstanding with his basket attack scoring at the rim or getting to the foul line plus that fading to the baseline unstoppable jumper was something that will stick in the memory. Frelix had 31 points on 10 of 18 shooting with 10 of 13 foul shooting.   But the Crimson had the better balance and had the better team last night. [player_tooltip player_id='2126467' first='Baboucarr' last='Ann'] had 19 points with five assists missing just one shot, and [player_tooltip player_id='1617766' first='Keegan' last='Harney'] scored 21 points pushed by his 11 of 12 foul shooting most of which came in the clutch. But let's talk [player_tooltip player_id='2104490' first='Nathan' last='Hromadka'].   Nathan is a 6'5/6'6 future tight end for North Dakota. He is a much better basketball player than people expected and that is through playing hard and playing smart. He's had a good season but Nathan came into the game shooting 2 of 10 at the arc. For the year!! But as far as Park Center is concerned, this guy goes by Dirk.   Last year against the Pirates, Hromadka hit two important threes in a small window of time. And what were the biggest shots of the game last night? You guessed it! Hromadka hitting back to back threes that put the Maple Grove lead at 11 or 12 with about five minutes to go. Nathan scored 13 points with six rebounds but his pair of threes matching the pair he hit in the previous 26 games was the highlight of the night.   That and his Superman, or Super Rodman, dive to get a loose ball in the final couple minutes.   The Big Stage. Only ONE Big school section is doing this right today with two section games in one spot and that is 7AAAA. It's Centennial vs Blaine, and Anoka vs Andover. The games are at Anoka High School.   Upset City. No upsets last night. High seeds won everywhere. The expected high level finals were settled leading to Eagan vs Apple Valley, Hopkins vs Wayzata, Champlin Park vs Maple Grove, Totino-Grace vs Monticello, and Fergus Falls vs Alexandria.   The small schools mostly all do it right: they are playing in locations for double-headers OR....... quadruple headers! Four of them!   Ralph Engelstad Arena. The 8A quarters will be at this location including games with Red Lake County, KCC, Fertile-Beltrami and others.   Esko High School. The 7A quarters include top ranked Cherry, top ten Deer River, Mountain Iron-Buhl, and others.   Mayo Civic Center. The 1A semi-finals are locked and loaded! It's Blooming Prairie against Southland, and Rushford-Peterson facing Southland. Also at MCC, it's the 1AA semi-finals. You have Lake City vs Cannon Falls, and Zumbrota-Mazzepa against Caledonia.   SJU. It's the 6AA semis including number one ranked Albany, top ten Mora, Holdingford, and others.   Hermantown. The 7AA quarters which includes Esko, Pequot Lakes and others.   Top Performers. [player_tooltip player_id='1560760' first='Kyler' last='Pust'] led the Champlin Park comeback to a win over Mounds View after being down at the half. Pust, a junior, had 20 points.   [player_tooltip player_id='1560747' first='Alex' last='Schroepfer'] had 19 as Eagan beat Hastings when Hastings missed a buzzer beating chance.   [player_tooltip player_id='1454976' first='Wyatt' last='McBeth'] had 29 leading Wayzata over Edina.   [player_tooltip player_id='1574212' first='Anthony' last='Smith'] had 41 points leading Hopkins past St. Louis Park.   Junior [player_tooltip player_id='1560822' first='Rhys' last='Nebben'] had 26 points for Monticello who beat Becker.   Tip of the Hat to the Career. A couple of the state's best saw their seasons end last night and we will get to that, but I think it's important to tip the hat to a good story as well.   Jamichael Breauxsaus-Ollie of Fridley was a junior at Wayzata last year and he played in two varsity games (late in the game). If you pay attention to the [program_tooltip program_id='2075965' first='Trojans' last=''] you know they have a couple guards (lol). So Breauxsaus-Ollie was fortunate enough to find a place to have opportunity and he made the best of it this year averaging 21 points a game and putting his name on the radar.   [player_tooltip player_id='1574216' first='Azayah' last='Washington']. The Apollo guard scored 31 plus a game this season but the Apollo season ended last night at the hands of Fergus Falls. Washington is headed to St. Cloud State next year and the Huskies are getting a steal. Washington is going to get into a college nutrition and weight program and truly flourish.   [player_tooltip player_id='1874916' first='Micah' last='Curtis'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1589407' first='Marley' last='Curtis']. This pair might be my favorite high school basketball story as far as prospects go in recent years. These two burst on the scene as sophomores but they played for a team that won two games. That 16u summer they rarely played local so they remained under the radar. However, as juniors the Curtis Brothers each scored about 20 a game and helped their team win 12 games. Then, they showed up playing every single basketball weekend there was from April from July on whatever team they could and their outstanding performances combined with growth in height, growth in strength, growing in agility, growth in skill, it all translated to opportunity at UND.   I apologize to Micah and Marley for mixing them up at times. I really tried not to but I am pretty sure I did (they are twins!). Perhaps if one was grumpy and the other happy it would have been easier but they were always both very cordial and respectful so it made it harder. LOL. Good luck to you both, we look forward to watching you in the Summit.

The Crimson knocking off Park Center in a great playoff environment highlighted a great night of high school basketball at the AAAA level.