Five Takeaways from Prior Lake/Farmington
NHR was at the Farmington/Prior Lake game last night viewing the 60-53 victory for the Lakers and here is our “Five Takeaways” from all the action.
One. Garcia’s World. Dawson Garcia was rated as a four star prospect by Prep Hoops in the recent Top 250 2020 national rankings. At 6-foot-10, agile, and skilled as a top 100 level prospect Dawson has a chance to be even better than that.
Garcia made 9 of 18 field goals and 7 of 8 foul shots for his 25 points plus he grabbed 16 rebounds giving him a double-double. Dawson has grown to a legit 6-foot-10 and he uses that size very well extending with his length to finish. The most impressive part of Garcia’s game is his ability to handle the basketball comfortably and his ability to see plays develop. Between his vision hitting cutters with passes and Garcia’s patience letting the defense move and attacking space with an agile touch, what Garcia does is very rare.
This is the type of prospect that will have several high major programs tracking him hard and the national scouts wondering where he belongs in the national top 100. Dawson can reach these levels if he continues to work on his game as he has.
Two. Prior Lake Size Part 2. Garcia isn’t the only sizeable player that gives Prior Lake a mismatch. Junior 6-foot-10 teammate Robert Jones is another D1 level talent who Farmington didn’t have the size to deal with. Jones put up his 18 points on 8 of 16 shooting and was at his best later in the game when the defense tired and was no longer able to move to Jones to try and affect his play.
Robert looks stronger, more agile, and his body control has taken steps in a positive direction. In other words Jones is maturing in many ways. Robert still has a ways to go but the potential is there for Robert to be a big that can move his feet as a defensive center, board out of his area, and score actively off the basketball. Jones is agile inside so as his low post moves become more comfortable to him, Jones will be able to quickly shoulder turn before the defense reacts.
Three. Veteran Tigers. It didn’t take long to see what Farmington is a four win team this early in the season. This is a basketball team that is experienced and disciplined. Everyone on the floor seems to have a strong grasp of how the team needs to move the basketball to get good looks and on the other end they compete hard as a defensive unit limiting good shots despite a serious lack of size.
Caden Freetly is the team leader both as a scorer and as a lead defender. When your best player is also one of your hardest working players that is always worth a few extra wins right there. Caden was used as an active defender at the top of the zone and he defended Garcia when Farmington was in man. Caden struggled down the stretch to finish but he hit double figures early when the team had the halftime lead. Caden seems to have all the tools to be an early contributor at St. Mary’s.
Junior 6-foot-1 guard Adam Weed caught fire late in the game totaling a team high 14 points and all of them came in the second half. Weed scored at the arc, off the dribble from mid-range, he caught and hit from mid-range, and made foul shots. Inside, senior undersized post Brock Mogensen grabbed eight boards while junior Miles Mendes, a 6-foot-4 wing, scored four field goals showing the potential that caught our eye this fall.
Four. Prior Lake Guards. Garcia and Jones had more than two-thirds of the team’s points but the guard contributions to the game were important. Junior guard Sam Nissen did a combination of things like handle the ball, dish out five assists, and score a couple late field goals to help the Lakers in the home stretch (I actually was keeping Sam’s stats accidently in two different columns last night so adding the two 23s I had going, Sam had a solid eight points, four rebounds and six assists). Fellow Jackyse Jacox plays with some flare which didn’t always have great results but down the stretch when he was more direct with his play. At that point Jackyse made some important plays utilizing his potential. Also, senior wing Nate Moorse hit a pair of treys.
Five. What’s Next? Prior Lake is now 1-1 after a loss to Tonka and last night’s win. The Lakers next play three games in South Dakota after Christmas followed by games at Eastview and Jefferson after the New Year. The Lakers will be good but it’s a tough early season slate (we think, the Mike Miller Classic can have everything from the best teams in the country to some of the worst teams playing in South Dakota).
Farmington is 4-2 and has a key slate of games coming up. First is the Hastings Tournament that starts with Irondale. That’s followed by New Prague, Lakeville South, Shakopee, and Eastview. Those four games after the New Year’s need to include a couple wins.