Battle at the Lakes: Five Takeaways from “The Battle”
The Battle at the Lakes took another step forward this year with some of the best teams in the nation descending on the Twin Cities. Here are Five Takeways from an excellent weekend.
Classic Championship Game. The intensity of the 1Nation (out of Michigan) versus Team Rush (Kansas City) Battle at the Lakes 17U title game was the perfect example of why weekend after weekend teams travel to different destinations in search of a high level competition.
Every play in the final eight minutes of the game was a battle. The Ronnie Bell vs Ja’Kavien Lewis match-up is something everyone should search out on You Tube because each possession was one man out willing the other. Both are point guards that should have several D1 programs calling about the future. The teammates surrounding Lewis and Bell provided highlights that wowed the crowd and the physical fight that will make them college basketball players.
The best part of the 1Nation/Team Rush game was that the fans, the coaches, and most of all, the players competed at a high level and did it with respect. After the game it wasn’t the fault of the officials that 1Nation picked up the one point win on a Markeese Hastings finish over Yor Anei, it was simply 1Nation having made one more play in 32 minutes of basketball.
Hands were shook, pictures were taken, and teams traveled back to their destination with big game experience and memories. The perfect title game.
Thunder Elite Platinum is Truly Elite. The Omaha basketball program dominated the 16s level in the Twin Cities in a way that few saw coming. Nationally ranked number 14 Iowa Barnstormers? That’s a ten point Thunder win. The nationally ranked number 10 D1 Minnesota club? Give that to the Thunder as a 76-50 championship game victory. That’s three weekend championships for Thunder Elite in five chances.
Javen Udofia from Bryan, Nebraska. Malcolm Whitlow from Lincoln. Shiloh Robinson from Kearney. Mason Jung of Omaha. These are just three of several Nebraska born kids that have come together to not just showcase their talent, but Elite Platinum plays team basketball in an elite way.
They’ve won two Midwest Live events and now won the Prep Hoops Battle at the Lakes. In their first event of the year they lost in Wisconsin to the Barnstormers but have since avenged that defeat. The lone rough spot on the season was in the Run N Slam in Fort Wayne when they had only five guys and were beaten by 25th ranked Greenwood Elite in the second round of bracket play.
This is one of the best teams in the country and there is no doubt that tomorrow they will be ranked with the best by Prep Hoops.
17U Favorites Fall Early. The 17U level did not have an unbeaten squad. 1Nation lost to the Chicago Demons in their first game before winning five straight. Caron Butler Elite was defeated by the second Minnesota Fury team on Sunday on a Jingco game winner. Fellow Adidas club Team Rose clubbed D1 Minnesota by 17 in the second round of bracket play. Powerhouse Minnesota was beaten by a hard working Tri City Thunder squad and this was after Powerhouse beat second place finisher Team Rush in the first game. A high school squad from Apple Valley took out the Sanford Pentagon National Team and Team Rose lost to both Full Package and Butler Elite. Tough weekend to be a favorite.
The Star of the Show. Prep Hoops covers basketball in 23 states and this weekend writers from eight of those states were in the Twin Cities to scan the metro and see as much talent as possible. The text threat among those ten writers? Constant. Here is why they were talking about:
- Dedoch Chan was the sleeper that a lot of people wanted to know about. The Rochester John Marshall talent had a great weekend with Minnesota Lace Up and most writers thought he was a major 2017 sleeper.
- Another player that the Prep Hoops group liked was Garrett Sturtz out of Iowa Intensity.
- Tyrell Terry’s smooth style of play was loved by all eyes in attendance. His delivery was viewed as perfection.
- George Conditt of Team RWA brought the most camera men and photographers to the baseline with his explosive play.
- Thunder Elite Platinum and Iowa Barnstormers 15U squads were viewed as the most dominant teams of the weekend.
- Best plays? The finishes from Conditt, Anthony Davis, Lamar Norman, Yor Anei, Dylan LeBrun, and Race Thompson led the conversation.
- Mason Wotjusik from Greenwood Elite was one of the top young players in the conversation as a standout. Jamoni Jones too.
- The Iowa Cornsharks have the best name and logo, again.
- The real star though was Jalen Suggs. With people not knowing that he was playing with a Grassroots squad and several writers seeing him for the first time, the question kept popping up. “Who is this number 1 on Grassroots Sizzle 16s, he’s amazing”. Quickly his name circulated and then everyone at the event knew that Jalen Suggs was playing in the Battle at the Lakes and was a must see.
Outstanding Event. I couldn’t be more proud of what our Prep Hoops company came together to do this weekend. Our leadership team headed by Nick Carroll and Jake Phillips did a remarkable job scheduling this event with so many teams and so many locations. Travis Anderson and Jared Nelson were superb in their efforts to coordinate. Our writing team swarmed all the events and are still pumping out articles about talent at the 17U, 16U, and 15U levels. Extra trip of the cap to Matt Reynolds for handling the photo and video duty in a big way. And to the teams and the fans, thank you so much for coming. Usually a lot of wild things happen when you bring this many people together in a close quarters competitive situation but the crazy incidents were kept to a minimum.
And the officials! The Best Crew in America! You guys know who you are. These weekends would not be what they are without all of you. Tremendous job again, and usually done with a smile on the face (or a grin because some coach is acting crazy).