The Race for Mr. Basketball: The Final Case

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We will soon know who won Mr. Basketball in Minnesota. Here is how the five candidates finished up the season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Favorite 1. [player_tooltip player_id='1579885' first='Nolan' last='Groves'] of Orono</strong>. Nolan did what he did all year: he led a team of players to more success than expected considering his team didn't have anywhere near the same depth of a lot of the tough teams they faced. In three state tournament games Orono won two, and just like they had all year, Orono had to go through the toughest gauntlet: DeLaSalle, Mankato East, and Totino-Grace. And Groves led his team to wins in two of three games (a third place finish) with one of the highest three day totals in the history of the state tournament, 104 points. He also had 20 rebounds and 9 assists, and shot 30 of 64 from the field and 35 of 53 at the foul line at state. Groves finished the season averaging 34.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, six assists and 2.7 steals a game shooting 56 percent from the field for the season scoring 1,093 points in a single season, one of the highest big school totals ever. The winner of the Gatorade Player of the Year for Minnesota. Headed to Yale but high major programs are coming in. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Favorite 2. [player_tooltip player_id='1572690' first='Chase' last='Thompson'] of Alexandria.</strong> Chase is the Mr. Basketball candidate that won a state title. Alex beat Mankato East, Totino-Grace and Byron, three top ten teams, to earn the title. Thompson gave the Cardinals 71 points, 25 rebounds, and 9 assists in three tournament games shooting 26 of 47 from the field 18 of 21 from the line, and he had five three-pointers go down across those three games. In 31 games this year Chase averaged 24.4 points a game shooting 61 percent from the field. He averaged 10.1 rebounds per game as well. Thompson was named the Star Tribune's Minnesota Player of the Year for his season long efforts. Chase led Alex to their first boys basketball State title in the history of their school. Will play for Clemson next year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1437303' first='Brogan' last='Madson'] of Mankato East</strong>. Madison brought the East Cougars to the state championship and the team finished with only two losses all season. Madson finished his state tournament week with a three week total of 63 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists on 26 of 57 shooting overall with five threes made and six of a dozen foul shooting. Madison finished his season averaging 22.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. He shot 52.5 percent from the floor and 38.5 percent from the arc. Headed to Sioux Falls. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1574227' first='Chace' last='Watley'] of Totino-Grace</strong>. In three state tournament games this week the Eagles went 1-2. Watley had 66 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists and he made 23 of 56 field goal attempts and 16 of 22 foul shots in the three games. Chace averaged 21.6 points per game this year and will play for Wofford next season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1574223' first='CJ' last='Armstrong'] of Richfield</strong>. Armstrong's Richfield team did not make the state tournament. His team finished 22-6 on the year and CJ averaged 31.4 points a game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->