The Class AAAA Simulation Series: Round 1, Games 1-8

<p>Here at NHR we’re finding ways to go back and watch old games, analyze current talent or predict how the rest of the playoffs would finish. All three of these content styles focus on real games. Today, for pure entertainment, we’re changing it up.</p> <p>I have found a workable basketball game simulation website to host the first installments of our hypothetical tournament, and we begin with Class AAAA. The top 32 teams in order of QRF ranking have been entered, with starting lineup and player rating estimates based on the 2019-20 season.</p> <p>The one big downside to this tournament is I can see the composite team ratings in order, but as far as I can tell the first round matchups are as random as possible. So just like the State Tournament, we get to enjoy that the entire way.</p> <p>All we get for results of these games are final scores and individual player points (note that no bench players are involved, only the starting five). It isn’t much, but it was a fun exercise in these four walls of isolation.</p> <p>Without further ado, the first round commences with these eight games:</p> <p><strong>Game 1: Spring Lake Park 87, Robbinsdale Cooper 75</strong></p> <p>An extremely balanced scoring attack leads the Panthers to victory, led by Bemidji State-bound guard [player_tooltip player_id="721857" first="Gabe" last="Myren"] with 29 points. Senior wing [player_tooltip player_id="846121" first="Blake" last="Remme"] (headed to NDSCS next year) scored an efficient 19 while [player_tooltip player_id="774804" first="Kaleb" last="Skelly"] and [player_tooltip player_id="846155" first="Daydor" last="Phillips"] bullied the smaller Cooper defense inside with 16 and 12, respectively. [player_tooltip player_id="846263" first="Jacob" last="Say"] added 11 points.</p> <p>Jeffrey Cooper (an underrated 6-4 multifaceted junior forward) poured in 30 for the Hawks. Classmate and lead guard [player_tooltip player_id="567080" first="Broderick" last="Powell Jr"]. gave 18 points in the loss as well.</p> <p><strong>Game 2: White Bear Lake 91, Duluth East 78</strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="962200" first="Jack" last="Janicki"], a top-five 2023 talent in Minnesota, led the Bears to an impressive win with 23 points. All five Bears were in double figures, as [player_tooltip player_id="774889" first="Will" last="Forsythe"] scored 22, Moses Hancock 18, [player_tooltip player_id="957215" first="Kanye" last="Raheem"] 17 and [player_tooltip player_id="955873" first="Brice" last="Peters"] 11.</p> <p>Not to be forgotten though, a recent stock riser in 6-6 wing [player_tooltip player_id="774801" first="Mattie" last="Thompson"] stepped up for Duluth East scoring 28. Point guard [player_tooltip player_id="958677" first="Will" last="Van Scoy"] added a strong 20 and [player_tooltip player_id="774755" first="Noah" last="Paulson"] scored 16 inside.</p> <p><strong>Game 3: Cretin-Derham Hall 90, East Ridge 81</strong></p> <p>It wouldn’t be the MN basketball postseason without an egregiously-seeded first-round matchup, and we get the best game we can out of it between SEC rivals. CDH’s [player_tooltip player_id="850701" first="Tre" last="Holloman"] was excellent leading the way with 25 points and what we can assume was a bevy of assists, most of which found [player_tooltip player_id="846138" first="Amari" last="Carter"] (22 points) on the receiving end. [player_tooltip player_id="846128" first="Curtis" last="Jones"] knocked out six threes for 18 points (I think it’s safe to say one of the best shooters in MN can have that kind of game). The combo of Carter and [player_tooltip player_id="721893" first="Will" last="Burke"] held [player_tooltip player_id="846105" first="Ben" last="Carlson"] to 10 points.</p> <p>For East Ridge, Lake Region State commit [player_tooltip player_id="721938" first="Brody" last="Kriesel"] was unstoppable on the wing, scoring 25 himself. Big guard [player_tooltip player_id="850708" first="Kendall" last="Blue"] scored 19 orchestrating the offense. [player_tooltip player_id="774745" first="Drew" last="Adams"] added 16 for the Raptors.</p> <p><strong>Game 4: Eden Prairie 79, Hopkins 70</strong></p> <p>Another unfortunate matchup in round one, it’s hard to see as strong a team as Hopkins go down early. [player_tooltip player_id="846114" first="Austin" last="Andrews"] used his low block magic to sneak a 26-point night on the board, and [player_tooltip player_id="721835" first="John" last="Henry"] scored 19 getting hot late from deep. [player_tooltip player_id="846111" first="Connor" last="Christensen"] drew the defensive assignment on [player_tooltip player_id="532358" first="Kerwin" last="Walton"] playing hard and giving extra effort for 16 points.</p> <p>Walton scored 21, and [player_tooltip player_id="955831" first="Regan" last="Merritt"] continued his sharpshooting ways with a 17-point night. [player_tooltip player_id="850704" first="Elvis" last="Nnaji"] took big steps forward for 14 points against one of the best defensive squads in the state.</p> <p><strong>Game 5: Moorhead 92, North St. Paul 69</strong></p> <p>In a surprisingly large blowout, Moorhead got excellent production across the board. [player_tooltip player_id="567055" first="Brady" last="Walthall"] led the way with 24 and big man [player_tooltip player_id="958666" first="Donnavin" last="Hinsz"] added 22 points gritting around inside on the boards. Senior wing [player_tooltip player_id="549379" first="Drew" last="Hagen"] scored 18 using his length to beat contested hands. [player_tooltip player_id="774855" first="Blake" last="Walthall"] also contributed 17.</p> <p>For the Polars, [player_tooltip player_id="721921" first="Shaheed" last="Muhammad"] was held to eight points which is logically a chief reason why the game got out of hand. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="958644" first="Shawn" last="West-Zimpel"] was Herculean scoring 22 in defeat and highflyer LaRon Thomas added 16.</p> <p><strong>Game 6: Lakeville North 87, Robbinsdale Armstrong 71</strong></p> <p>Big games from inside-out tandem [player_tooltip player_id="846201" first="Carter" last="Patterson"] (29 points) and [player_tooltip player_id="846162" first="Noah" last="Frechette"] (25 points) propel the Panthers to victory. A staunch defensive effort (relative to the rest of the results so far) was headed by [player_tooltip player_id="846193" first="Josh" last="Kamara"] and [player_tooltip player_id="957223" first="Cooper" last="Laufenburger"].</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="549398" first="Adam" last="Biewen"] hit multiple triples (multriples?) en route to 24 for the Falcons. [player_tooltip player_id="721919" first="Hezekiah" last="Iyawe"], another stock-rising metro player, poured in 18 in the paint. Point guard [player_tooltip player_id="846186" first="Jake" last="Breitbach"] was held to seven points, [player_tooltip player_id="958647" first="Peyton" last="Newbern"] scored 12 and [player_tooltip player_id="957152" first="D’Sean" last="Larkins"] added 10.</p> <p><strong>Game 7: Prior Lake 77, Eastview 68</strong></p> <p>Both teams have a high-major Division I forward. [player_tooltip player_id="532352" first="Dawson" last="Garcia"] got the win individually and as a team, scoring 22. The supporting cast was superb, with [player_tooltip player_id="774931" first="Kyle" last="McCullough"] scoring 15, [player_tooltip player_id="850712" first="Malcolm" last="Jones"] and [player_tooltip player_id="721843" first="Tyree" last="Ihenacho"] provided 14 apiece and [player_tooltip player_id="774911" first="Tommy" last="Mestnik"] led the way at the point with 12.</p> <p>Wisconsin-bound [player_tooltip player_id="721823" first="Steven" last="Crowl"] scored 16, while point guard [player_tooltip player_id="721878" first="Jaylen" last="James"] led the team with 19 points. Across the entire lineup Eastview has the size advantage, but shots just didn’t fall as [player_tooltip player_id="721842" first="Tate" last="Machacek"] and [player_tooltip player_id="955661" first="Caden" last="Scales"] scored 12 each and [player_tooltip player_id="721854" first="Ryan" last="Thissen"] added nine.</p> <p><strong>Game 8: Park Center 100, Minnetonka 74</strong></p> <p>It was a frontcourt party for the Pirates, who got 32 points from star center [player_tooltip player_id="846104" first="Dain" last="Dainja"], 23 from do-everything wing [player_tooltip player_id="846118" first="Detavius" last="Frierson"] and 20 from stretch forward [player_tooltip player_id="759132" first="John" last="Grigsby"]. The smaller Minnetonka lineup couldn’t hold fast to the relentless pressure on the rim that Park Center produces.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="846115" first="Cameron" last="Steele"] put up another day at the office scoring 22. Guard [player_tooltip player_id="850734" first="Cohen" last="Kellogg"] was impressive against the larger PC frontcourt adding 19 points, and [player_tooltip player_id="955660" first="JT" last="Gaffney"] continued his stellar shooting season putting in 16.</p> <p>Stay tuned for the second half of round one!</p>