#PHTwinCitiesTakedown: Mu for More!

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Twin Cities Takedown kicked off last night and the games were A+ with so many close games throughout the pools. Here are my Friday night headliners!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mu for More! </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Breck point guard Muaath Muhammad (also known as Mu Muhammad) had a really strong year for the Mustangs and now he's getting his chance to be more of a featured playmaker with Real Phenom, and last night he thrived. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The opponent was [program_tooltip program_id='2075685' first='Minnesota' last='Select'] and the team Mu was leading was Real Phenom. The strong guard did a fantastic job of being patient within the halfcourt, and picking his spots to attack the paint. Muhammad was outstanding using his 5'10 strong frame getting an angle, and then holding the leverage to get the angle to the rim. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mu is a very good passer, an excellent ball handler, and we saw his steady play for Breck at the state tournament. But in this game Select didn't have a guard with the speed/strength combo to keep Muhammad from the paint and Mu took advantage focusing more on the finishing himself aspect. And it worked. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Muaath had 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting and he did that leading Phenom to a 76-70 win over Select. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2848557,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media","className":"is-style-default"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-style-default"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Christofferson.jpeg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Christofferson.jpeg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-2848557" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Team Hoops = Eight Half One 3s = Big Lead</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[program_tooltip program_id='2075672' first='Minnesota' last='Fury'] Reyes is winning games because they play team basketball. Outstanding team basketball. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>They built a first half lead in the area of 20 points against Team FSA moving the basketball just daggering threes from all over the halfcourt area. In the first 20 minutes of the game [player_tooltip player_id='1874940' first='Zach' last='Espinosa'] (Centennial) hit a couple, [player_tooltip player_id='1560811' first='Collin' last='Johnson'] (Lakeville South) hit a couple, [player_tooltip player_id='1960892' first='Henry' last='Knutson'] (Maple Grove) hit one, [player_tooltip player_id='2119593' first='Lars' last='Osteraas'] (St. Thomas) hit one, [player_tooltip player_id='1560768' first='Colin' last='Welch'] (Spring Lake Park) hit one, [player_tooltip player_id='2417626' first='Will' last='Gyarmaty'] (Mayo) and [player_tooltip player_id='1560857' first='Zach' last='Christofferson'] (Prior Lake) hit one. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The ball was zipping all over the court and with six guys having multiple assists, it was a team effort. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>FSA made their comeback when the Fury shooting level went from scorching to mild, and there needed to be individual efforts to complete the 63-54 win. Christofferson scored a dozen points, Gyarmaty knocked out late threes, and Osteraas had clutch baskets. Throw in the battle on the glass from Knutson and the pieces came together for a great example of what a team win is. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Mad Max in Control</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[program_tooltip program_id='2075672' first='Minnesota' last='Fury'] Zurn is testing themselves against older players this weekend and they did it last night short a couple bodies so the Fury needed somebody to step up. And [player_tooltip player_id='2433532' first='Max' last='Beeninga'] of Wayzata did just that. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Powerhouse Minnesota 17a is an attacking, aggressive team that gets after teams with speed and ball pressure. A great test for a young player like Beeninga. But Max took that pressure, used his strength and savvy to advance the ball the length of the court, and made clutch plays down the stretch to earn his team the win. It was a couple threes in half two, it was limiting turnovers against the pressure, and it was moving the basketball for high percentage shots. Throw in some late foul shots and it was a clutch performance. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Scoring Punch</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560835' first='Tian' last='Chatman']. Tian defends, he will board, and he will make some wow plays. He was able to keep Team FSA from getting down too deep against Fury Reyes and he did it making some balanced perimeter jumpers using the dribble off a screen scoring in the window just before the Fury defenders could step to him. It was a 22 point game with nine boards on 7 of 15 shooting. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560839' first='Xavier' last='Frelix']. Playing his first game with Select, Xavier got off to a bit of a slow start but once he got comfortable it was four threes made and Select had a chance. Frelix looks a bit taller and a lot stronger. He's about a 6'2/6'3 shooter that scored 18 points on 6 of 14 shooting. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Quick Hitters</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2834062' first='Riley' last='Mcpipe'] of Real Phenom found space against Select and used his speed and toughness to get to the front of the rim to score 17 points. He forced Select to foul him and he made all his foul shots. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2417085' first='Javaun' last='Watson'] of Real Phenom (Hopkins) was interesting for Phenom playing hard and totaling nine points and eight boards, He was an effort player that played his role very well. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126126' first='Ray' last='Brau'] of [program_tooltip program_id='2075672' first='Minnesota' last='Fury'] Zurn put the game away for his team with some huge putback scores. Too strong to block out, too willed to slow down from getting to the result. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2119645' first='Tyrel' last='Pride'] of Powerhouse Minnesota (St. Paul Johnson). I think we can now call him a consistent scorer. Gave his team a chance last night with two late threes, has scored all month for Powerhouse, leading scorer for the Governors this year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->