Mile High Madness: Minnesota Heat to the Title Game

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The [program_tooltip program_id='2075674' first='Minnesota' last='Heat'] Conyers team went to Denver and battled to the Mile High Madness title contest. We watched the Heat beat the Colorado Elite Ballerz 81-69 and this is what we saw!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2369272' first='Tyler' last='Eklund']. The Braham lead guard put together a ten point, eight rebound, nine assists, and four steal game against the Ballerz. The biggest memory I will have is Eklund pushing turnovers and long boards the other direction for easy transition points as the Heat continually built their lead capitalizing on mistakes. The deep defensive stance of Eklund beat his man to spots so many teams it was easier for his man to not touch the ball, or take a bad shot as opposed to try and dribble or pass with the attempted corner turn. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560850' first='Tristan' last='Hanson']. The all state 17u player from Centennial capped off his summer with a big weekend in Denver. In this semi-final win the 6'5 Heat leading scorer hit four threes in the first half and one late in the second half to squad any attempt at a Colorado Elite comeback. He also mixed in two dunks and a total of 12 shots made in 22 attempts. A 30 point game scoring start to finish.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2575632' first='Cole' last='Johnson']. I think this was a game where players could get a little loose as the opponent didn't always move the ball as well as a team could. But Johnson was very steady grabbing nine rebounds, allowing no post touches, and scoring eight points including a three. I thought the Maple Grove big man did a great job moving the ball out of the paint area to open shooters. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2382253' first='Colton' last='Miller']. The Andover summer surprise didn't have a great gave scoring just twice against the Ballerz but he did pass the ball for four assists and he matched Hanson's semi-final 30 with a 30 point game of his own in the championship game loss. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1858796' first='Ezra' last='Cunningham']. Ezra was a key part of the Heat withstanding the Ballerz second half run as he scored ten of his 14 points later in the second half. He mixed in two threes with two rim scores late, and hit on six of 11 attempts for the game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560875' first='Calvin' last='Peterson']. Peterson was good moving the ball in transition, and he really excelled in the middle of the floor getting the ball from one side to the other for shots, or finding cutters to score. The Roosevelt guard scored nine boards but his seven rebounds and five assists were likely more important to the win. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2121382' first='Noah' last='Stencel']. Noah came off the bench to hit two threes, move the ball for three assists, and he grabbed four rebounds. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->