Breakdown Tip-Off Classic: East Court Things to Watch

The Breakdown Tip-Off Classic is Saturday at Hopkins. In what has undoubtedly become one of the best days of the year for Minnesota High School Hoops, this year’s slate of games should be as entertaining as ever. While much of the hoopla surrounding the event focuses on the main court matchups - which often feature the future D1 kids and big boy programs - the East Court has no shortage of excellent matchups, if in an albeit, lower wattage. Here are some things I’m looking forward to seeing on the East Court in particular: Class AA Top-Four matchup Perhaps the juiciest matchup of the day on the East court is the second game of the day when No. 2 Lake City faces off with No. 4 Minneapolis North in what could be a potential state semifinal or state title matchup. Last year’s state tournament runner-up and third-place finishers get an early look at another contender in this one. Lake City returns one of the best duos in the state in senior guard Nate Heise and senior forward Reid Gastner. Minneapolis North has more to replace from last year but Willie Wilson has emerged as the next likely star for the Polars and Davon Townley Jr. is one of the best big men in Class AA. The big key to this one will be the pace. Lake City wants to be Virginia. Minneapolis North wants to be West Virginia. In theory, the Tigers should be able to handle the kind of pressure the Polars will bring, and execute their offense. But Minneapolis North has a way of making the game ugly even for the most talented of opponents. The headline guys will get their due, but I’m curious to see how much of an impact a guy like Clifford Brown or Darius Hanson can make a big impact on the game for Minneapolis North and on the other side, can Justin Wohlers be a potential game-breaker for Lake City. Minneota Frontcourt vs. BOLD Guards If there’s a matchup that could be as intriguing as that Lake City-Minneapolis North matchup, it’s this one. BOLD and Minneota are both among the five or so best teams in Class A, though neither reached the state tournament a year ago. Both bring back significant players with multiple years of starting experience and high-end talent. Stylistically though, these teams are going to look very different on Saturday. BOLD might not play a guy taller than 6-foot-2 while Minneota will look set up camp around the rim and control the paint. Gavin Vosika, Jordan Sagedahl and Drew Sagedahl form a deadly perimeter trio with their ability to space the floor, shoot from deep, get to gaps and make plays. Vosika is one of the best rebounding guards in the state and he’ll be called to do even more of that in this specific game as his team will be outsized by a significant amount. The Vikings are going to be a load for a lot of people inside with Logan Sussner and Nolan Boerboom. Sussner was a double-double guy last year and has the size, strength and athleticism to abuse smaller guys on the block and the offensive glass. Jacob Hennen is a bigger guard who excels at getting to the rim and making a living at the free throw line. Section 1 and 8 Contenders Square Off One of the sneaky good matchups of the day is in the afternoon session when Lakeville South takes on Buffalo. The Bison won’t have two starters from last year’s section final team, but Matt Willert is one of the deadliest shooters and scorers in the state and Brandon Maatz is a multi-year starting guard. Those two guys give Buffalo the floor of a rock-solid team and one that can still contend at the top of Section 8AAAA. Lakeville South returns four starters from last year’s team and with Lakeville North moving to Section 3 combined with Rochester John Marshall heading into the post-Matthew Hurt era, Section 1 appears there for the taking. The Cougars return stud junior guard Reid Patterson and junior big man Riley Mahlman, which gives them two all-conference caliber pieces to build around. This feels like a pretty even matchup from a talent perspective. Willert and Patterson are among the best wings in the state in their respective classes and both teams have solid casts of returners that should give this game an organized feel by early-season standards. There’s really no downside to playing in a game like this early in the year, but the winner will undoubtedly feel good about dispatching a team it could ultimately see come March. New-Look Perham and familiar faces at Caledonia Arguably the best game on the east court last year was a Perham victory over Caledonia. Those two don’t square off again this year, but both teams come into the 2019-20 season with high expectations, even if they are in much different places. For Perham, it’s the collective page turn to a team without Jenson Beachy, Josh Jeziorski and Carter Cresap plus a handful of other solid seniors. Those guys were foundational pieces to Perham’s strong run over the last three or four years. Don’t expect the Yellowjackets to fall off, but there might still be some growing pains as guys get accustomed to new roles. Finn Diggins, Charlie Rasmussen and Elijah Morris are potential high-end players and they’ll lead a green Perham group against what should be one of the best teams in Class AA this year in Mound Westonka. The White Hawks have a deep group of talented guards led by Jameson Sexton and Jason Spaeth. Caledonia faces a fair amount of roster turnover, but a constant over the last five or six years has been the King brothers, and for the final time, the Warriors will go into the season with multiple King brothers on the same team. Noah and Eli King form one of the best duos in Class AA. They’ll take on what should be a strong Maranatha team that is bringing back a handful of guys from a team that won 23 games a year ago.