Sweet 16: The All Event Team

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Alexandria won the Sweet 16 this weekend knocking off the Hopkins Royals in the championship game. Here is the all event team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>First Team</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2118495' first='Talan' last='Witt'] of Alexandria. A really good junior year turned into a monster 17u season and there appears to be no slowing Talan down as he was excellent again this weekend leading his team to the Sweet 16 title. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1550877' first='Jayden' last='Moore'] of Hopkins. Jayden was fantastic all weekend. His attack, his push, Jayden is playing at a level that few can reach right now. Seems quite matured. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560795' first='Maddox' last='Lewis'] of Sartell. Had a couple monster shooting games including the win over Waseca and had a big half against Mankato East as well. Led Sartell to the final four.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560798' first='Lucas' last='Gustafson'] of Mankato East. Lucas is simply one of the toughest players in the state. It's likely the easiest way to describe him. Did a really nice job playmaking.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2121332' first='Deron' last='Russell'] of Waseca. Russell helped the Jays beat TG in one game, he had 46 points in another game, and he had the play of the event with a one hand throw down in another. Top ten in state may no longer do him justice. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Second Team</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2118449' first='Mason' last='Witt'] of Alexandria. Another big weekend of handling, knocking out shots, and leading one of the most potent offensive attacks in the state. The Cards are certainly on the short list of state title contenders. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1874906' first='Kyree' last='Nelson'] of Hopkins. The highly ranked Illinois transfer has been the needed wing scoring option the Royals need to go with their size and with their attacking ball handlers. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2115657' first='Gavin' last='Roderick'] of Alexandria. The Cardinals surely look to have three scoring options they can rely on with Roderick slashing and catching and facing to consistently produced game by game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1597670' first='Braden' last='Petzel'] of Mankato East. Petzel had two really good games including a dominating low post performance against Sartell. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2851170' first='Jack' last='Welch'] of Pelican Rapids. Welch and the Vikings represented Class A well with a win over TG led by Welch up front as the Eagles didn't have the size to match up with him. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Third team</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2115658' first='Myles' last='Gray'] of Alexandria. Had a huge title game to beat Hopkins using his activity and hard working play. Saved his biggest game for the biggest game of the weekend. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2119640' first='Bennett' last='Bommersbach'] of Sartell. Bennett didn't get to Sunday but he had such a big Saturday that Sartell was able to make the semi-finals of this event. Sartell is an 8AAA favorite and this weekend was a great example of that prediction.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2420169' first='Ahmed' last='Nur'] of Hopkins. Had a few really good games despite missing a good part of the East game. Nur was said to have a good Saturday and played well in the title contest. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2423655' first='Griffin' last='Schott'] of Mankato East. This is an emerging shooter. Second time we've had eyes on Griffin where he was knocking down shots and helping the Cougars win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2465510' first='Mark' last='Graff'] of Mahtomedi. Zephyrs picked up a couple nice wins including a late game key win over Orono and it was Graff who once again has played well. He's coming off of a 21 point per game weekend at the end of July in 17u play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->