Ten Best: Class A State Title Game
Tea Area earned themselves a Class A State title and a 21-4 record on the season last night when they lifted the championship gold. The Wrath of the Titans? How about The Wrath of the Young Titans!
MVP. Ethan Freidel. Ethan led the Class A State Tournament in scoring and saved his best performance for last, 29 points on six threes in the state title game. Not to mention Ethan put the game away with his foul shooting down the stretch. Freidel has always been a clutch late game player and he was every bit of that Saturday night.
Top Offensive Player. Jadon Janke. Madison made a comeback and a big part of it came from 6-foot-3 Jadon Janke, a junior wing who came off the bench. Jadon had 20 and his pair of threes as well as a pair of on-balance attack finishes speared the Madison comeback attempt in the fourth quarter. At times Jadon put his team on his back offensively. He scored 16 of his 20 in the second half.
Top Defensive Player. Justin Hohn-Mack. There were many players that stood out for Tea defensively but 6-foot-1 guard Justin Hohn-Mack stood out because he helped limit what Mason Leighton was able to do and Justin’s steal into a transition score was one of the biggest plays of the game. Justin is a really nice sophomore guard that has our attention as a nice guard prospect.
Top Prospect. Noah Freidel. Easy choice. The Tea Area 6-foot-4 sophomore already has local scholarship offers and he hasn’t even scratched the surface of what he can be. Noah is a very skilled wing that can play four spots on the floor and is asked to do a variety of things. Tea Area isn’t very big so Noah has to be a big rebounder and he did that last night with nine. Noah is a confident player and quite comfortable with the ball anywhere on the floor. His most memorable play was a split of the defense after a ball screen into a kiss off the glass on the move.
Top Player off the Bench. Janke. Jadon came off the bench and scored on 9 of 15 attempts giving him the 20 for the game along with five boards. Brother Jaxon Janke, a starter, had a tough day shooting (2 of 11) but did other things like grab 13 rebounds and dish out four assists. Jaxon, also a junior, led the state tournament in boards.
Top Under the Radar Performance. Kade Stearns. The 5-foot-11 sophomore knocked out a pair of threes during the first half scoring run and then had a second half three and a putback score that were clutch baskets. Scored a dozen points to support the Freidel scoring.
Top Underclassmen. The Sophomore Fab Four. Noah Freidel is a sophomore. Justin Hohn-Mack is a sophomore. Kade Stearns is a sophomore. Six-foot-4 starting Tea Area center Kaleb Joffer who scored twice and had five boards, he is a sophomore. Four sophomore starters and this team went 21-4 and won a state title. Incredible. Madison used zero underclassmen by the way so that makes this even more amazing as this group was facing all experienced players. Didn’t matter.
Best Aspect of the Environment. David vs Goliath. This was sold pretty hard because it was a 1 vs 6 seed but come on, these teams were very similar outside of the Sophomore Fab Four. The teams had similar records, played similar schedules, and played a competitive game earlier in the year. That said, every one bought in and it helped make this game so fun.
The game. It was incredible. So many incredible clutch plays. Guys were making plays that they had never produced before on this stage and in this environment. No, I don’t believe this was a David vs Goliath, a real David vs Goliath was Bridgewater-Emery vs Platte-Geddes (wasn’t close), but I do believe that build-up made this even more fun.
Best Story Going Forward. Preseason #1. Tea Area is an easy preseason number one considering what they have coming back with four starters that have a title trophy. Repeating is very tough and teams like this Madison squad with Fiegen and the Jankes, Sioux Valley, and Sioux Falls Christian among others, they will all have something to say, but Tea Area brings back four starters and should be preseason #1.
Other. Aaron Fiegen. I was most impressed with his comfort playing at the arc. He’s very confident with one or two dribbles going at the rim and has the touch and body control to score on the move. Add in his length at 6-foot-6 and you have a multiple position guy with good potential. He scored on four of six shots for a dozen points.