#PHStomping Grounds: The Weekend 17U Results Analysis (MN)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What teams played as expected? Who surprised? We check on that now!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Real Phenom</strong>. This run of Real Phenom high level play continues as not only did they defeat three really good Minnesota teams, they also put together a headlining victory knocking off Stanford Sports Academy. The win over SSA is huge because that is the team that is fully loaded with South Dakota's best players including three D1 offered players. Phenom beat SSA the same way the did everybody else in a close game: ball pressure, ball movement, balance. The three Bs! [player_tooltip player_id='1968451' first='Hanif' last='Muhammad'], [player_tooltip player_id='1284139' first='Grayson' last='Okoronkwo'], [player_tooltip player_id='2103258' first='De'von' last='Irvin'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1448601' first='Desmond' last='Ware'] continue to hound the ball and they continue to move the basketball in ways that gets the team consistent quality shots. They all took turns having big games with Ware hitting four threes in the first half against SSA and Grayson attacking Rise relentlessly. Throw in what Ben Shafer, [player_tooltip player_id='1288787' first='Brody' last='Wishart'], [player_tooltip player_id='1594744' first='Billy' last='Demars'] and company are doing on the wing and you have a deep group. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Minnesota Rush</strong>. Another strong weekend for the Rush who may not wow you with star power but they are tough, balanced and play great team basketball. They knocked off [program_tooltip program_id='2078859' first='Starks' last='Elite'], Minnesota Rise, Bearstail out of North Dakota and gave SSA a run. The two Minnesota teams in Pool A that walked out of the event with more than one win were Real Phenom and Rush. Rush went 3-1. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='2075310' first='Northstar' last='Titans'] Brodeur</strong>. This was such a take notice weekend for the Titans. They beat three teams in Pool B by double figures and beat the Stars by eight in a solid game. We talked about Joey Freitheim from Mounds View and [player_tooltip player_id='2361349' first='Jaymeson' last='Travis'] from Osseo but this team is more than that. [player_tooltip player_id='1654019' first='Braedy' last='Laliberte'] of Maple Grove looks to be another Crimson player that is about to take a big step as a senior. [player_tooltip player_id='1288742' first='Myles' last='Thomsen'] of Spring Lake Park, [player_tooltip player_id='1288672' first='Owen' last='Brodeur'] of Blaine, and [player_tooltip player_id='1665991' first='Ty' last='Swanson'] of Osseo are also key pieces of this highly successful team that went 4-0. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Southwest Minnesota Stars</strong>. The Stars kicked off the weekend beating Sacred Hoops in a game where they stepped in for a team that had to back out, they beat the second Bearstail team, and they knocked off the colorful Northwest Iowa Stars. More good wins for a team of steady basketball players that have played better than I think people expected. The Stars lost by three scores to Titans Bordeur and they lost to the second Sanford Sports team (the second best team in South Dakota) in another close game. Solid weekend for the Stars.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Real Phenom Ivan</strong>. Don't call them a second team, this group continues to win games! Four of them in fact. They blew out a team from Iowa, beat a team from North Dakota by a dozen, and then won close games against Crossfire Ronning and Northstar Wynia. If you want to call them a second team, fine, they are working towards being the best second team in the state of Minnesota (which by the way is an interesting idea to chat about if parents can get past the term second team). [player_tooltip player_id='1647832' first='Isiah' last='Ayala'] continues to be a headliner for the team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->