Maple Grove Defeats Eden Prairie: You Should Have Been There

The Maple Grove win over Eden Prairie was one of the most entertaining games I have been at in a very long time for a lot of different reasons. We dive into this entertaining evening NOW!   First of all, this game was quickly not a competitive game. But that didn't seem to matter when it came to the entertainment value. Maple Grove and Eden Prairie are both fighting to stay in the Lake Conference race and being a game behind Buffalo and Wayzata, neither team could afford a loss. The Crimson built a halftime lead of 51-35, they were up 81 to 49 at one point, and the final score was 93-75 as Maple Grove is keeping pace.   How did we get there?   Four Star Star. Let's start with [player_tooltip player_id='2126467' first='Baboucarr' last='Ann']. When I say he was unstoppable, I'm not being that overly excited descriptive writer, he was pretty much unstoppable. Nothing said "unstoppable" better than Ann's four separation moves that led to a contested three point make at the halftime buzzer where the defense did everything they were supposed to, and it didn't matter.   Ann made 18 of 24 shot shots from the field with 5 of 8 from the foul line and four threes for 45 points. He broke the school record being credited for 47 (more on that later) and was mobbed by young fans after the game looking for selfies and videos of their new favorite young superstar.   Baboucarr's ability to finish attacks, his ability to separate and score, and his ability to get squared from any angle off the dribble was eye opening and definitely looked like a nationally ranked four star talent.   Baboucarr was the difference, but so was seven foot [player_tooltip player_id='2126108' first='Jack' last='Thelen'].   Big Jack. Eden Prairie has a very good big in [player_tooltip player_id='2119596' first='Cooper' last='Fahning'] and I'm sure the coaches from Augsburg and Iowa Central that were there would love to maybe land his ability (as well as Yusuf of course). But Cooper is 6'7/6'8 and Jack is seven feet and sometimes in life you are just looking up at things with little you can do about it.   Thelen had great post position all night and he turned all of his post touches into points. ALL OF THEM. Jack made all eight of his field goal attempts - including a three - and all three of his foul shots resulting in a 20 point game. And Maple Grove likely would have taken advantage of it more, had Ann not been having the best scoring game in Crimson history.   So Thelen helped in other ways which included ball screens, a couple blocked shots, eight boards and limiting Fahning to two of eight shooting for the game.   Lighting Juice. Eden Prairie had its chance early because [player_tooltip player_id='1560851' first='Hamze' last='Yusuf'] was red hot early in the game. He had 20 points on the board ten minutes into the contest! Yusuf has always been quick but damn...... it's like he found another gear, or maybe drank some lightning juice because he was in and out of his moves faster than the camera could see. Honestly, my old cell phone camera had a video where I swear the lens couldn't catch up with him.   Hamze "Lightning Juice" Yusuf scored 36 points on 12 of 22 field goal attempts including four threes and eight of ten foul shooting. Watching Yusuf get out of his move and into a jumper I was starting to think... man.... that looks somewhat like what Tomes did last Friday. I am not saying they are the same player, but defenses are having trouble defending these guys because of their quickness with the ball.   Great Crowd. Yusuf also has the biggest student section (I think most of them were students but some seemed like fans in their 20s as well) that I have seen all year. EP seemed to have an Eagle student section and a Hamze student section (both of which were pretty big) and that made for a lot of entertaining moments and a lot of smiles all around.   When EP was down 53 to 81 and Yusuf lobbed to Eden Prairie sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2380768' first='Jamir' last='Davis'] for a physical one hand dunk, the building went nuts. NUTS. I have never seen a place go that crazy while the team they were cheering for... WAS GETTING THEIR BUTT KICKED.   [player_tooltip player_id='2380768' first='Jamir' last='Davis'] is a sophomore guard with a ton of explosive potential and he had 16 points last night highlighted by six of six foul shooting. Davis is the future of EP basketball as we are seeing a talent that could be special.   There were also a few moments from the game that made you smile, but also shake your head. Like the Eden Prairie bench. Guys, the dunk was awesome but you are losing by 28 points, maybe ten guys on the bench jumping and throwing their arms up in wild celebration should be saved for a win, not a dunk while you are getting drubbed.   Or the one group of EP students. Maybe taunting [player_tooltip player_id='2121341' first='Gavin' last='Elmquist'] - the player that hit the five threes in that DeLaSalle win - with your "ZERO" hand actions for the point total...... it might be a little lost when the team you are cheering for looked completely helpless on Defense all game.   And Elmquist should have had a field goal but the scorekeeper gave his first half lay-up - which was called for goal-tending - to Ann. It was the scorekeeper's fault the kid was taunted in the first place LOL. And Elmquist then scored so the rowdy Eagle fans had to find something else to get excited for when their team was losing by 26 points.   [player_tooltip player_id='2126442' first='Bennett' last='Cizadlo'] played well for the Crimson hitting a couple threes but he only took four shots because Thelen and Ann were that dominant. [player_tooltip player_id='1560877' first='Grant' last='Sprute'] had six points and eight boards for the Eagles.

The Maple Grove win over Eden Prairie was one of the most entertaining games I have been at in a very long time for a lot of different reasons. We dive into this entertaining evening NOW!