Thursday, January 29, 2009

Minnesota: Delano Getting it Done

Offerdahl and Kreklow lead the way for Tigers; Milestone for Zellmer.



By Matt Krumrie

MaxPreps.com

Starting Five

1. Delano Getting it Done: One team that has emerged in 3A is Delano. The Tigers are 6-0 in the Wright County Conference and 11-1 overall, ranked No. 8 in the state. Leading the way for Delano is Joey Offerdahl, who averages 16.8 points per game, and Kyle Kreklow, who is scoring 12.8 points per game. Other key contributors this season have been Jay Stevens, Darius Clare, Jake Raskob, Joe Silahacek and Michael Yahnke.

2. Minutemen Making Mark: Central is in fight for the St. Paul City Conference title with rival Johnson. And while Johnson has the upper hand after defeating Central 69-67 on Jan. 13, Taylor Smaller, Jordan Larson, LeDarian Horton and the rest of this team are looking forward to the Feb. 10 rematch that could have serious conference title implications. Smaller leads the team with 15.2 points per game, while Horton is averaging 12.3 and Larson is averaging 12.2.

3. Tartan Titans Tough: There are three losses on the Tartan Titans schedule – all to talented teams: St. Cloud Apollo, Henry Sibley and Richfield. At 9-3 Tartan has snuck into the top 10 rankings in 4A. Led by Northern Iowa recruit Marc Sonnen (19.8 points per game), the Titans are playing well in the tough Classic Suburban Conference (led by Sibley and Richfield). Sonnen scored 29 points in a win over Hill-Murray Tuesday and 24 in a win over Simley Friday. In mid-January Sonnen recorded a triple double with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Derek Peterson averages 8 points per game and Manani Beavers 7.5 for Tartan.

4. Big Win For Bloomington Jefferson: Jefferson earned an impressive Lake Conference road win over 6th-ranked Eden Prairie Tuesday. The Jaguars defeated the Eagles 59-50 to improve to 7-3 in the Lake and 8-4 overall. Chad Foslien and Chad Gilmer each had 15 points to lead Bloomington in the win, while Moses Alipate added 12. Eden Prairie dropped to 8-2 in the Lake and 12-4 overall.

5. Milestone for Matt Zellmer: Blooming Prairie’s Matt Zellmer scored 34 points in the Awesome Blossom’s 86-60 win over Randolph Tuesday. In that win Zellmer went over the 1,000 point mark for his career. He is averaging 19 points a game this year, while teammate Israel Clark is also averaging 19 points per game and Josh Toquam 12.

Three to Watch


1. Plainview-Elgin-Millville: At 9-0 (13-1 overall), P-E-M is in first place in the Three Rivers Conference. On Tuesday Cole Olstad scored 20 points to lead P-E-M to a 67-42 win over a Fillmore Central team coached by Olstad’s uncle, Heath Olstad. Olstad, Ross Grobe and Chris Conrad are among the leaders for P-E-M.

2. Josh Figini, Chisago Lakes: Figini may not play at one of the biggest schools in the greater Twin Cities, but he plays as big as any player in the metro. The Chisago Lakes forward averages 26.3 points and 6 rebounds per game on the season.

3. Chris Breuer, St. Croix Lutheran: Breuer, the son of former Minnesota Gophers star and NBA center Randy Breuer, is averaging 20.6 points per game for the Crusaders.

Two Hot Too Handle

1. Kevin Noreen, Minnesota Transitions: Noreen is pouring in a state-leading 33.9 points per game and averaging just under 13 rebounds per game. He has a season-high of 53 points in a Jan. 15 win over Dunwoody Tech.

2. Ibrahim Abukar, St. Cloud Apollo: Abukar made five 3-pointers Tuesday and Apollo made 10 total as a team in a 80-69 win over Rocori. Andre Garth led SCA with 22 points, while Blake Maslonkowski scored 14 in the win.

Inside the Numbers

82 – Points Anoka scored in an 82-79 overtime win over Andover Tuesday

28 – Points scored by Anoka’s Bernie Ward in that win over Andover. Ward led all scorers and is averaging 18.3 points per game. Other high scorers in that win were: Lomumba Ismail (18), Nick Welle (13) and David Mooers (10).

27 – Points scored by Scott Nystrom of Kimball in a 64-54 win over St. John’s Prep Tuesday.

24 – Points scored by Mankato Loyola’s Jackson Bartlett in a 64-49 win over St. Clair Monday. It was a career-high for Bartlett, who also pulled down 14 rebounds.

25 – Points scored by Stephen Woods of St. John’s Prep in that 64-54 loss to Kimball.

13 – Points Ryan Goetzinger of Caledonia scored in a 53-29 win over Wabasha-Kellogg.

13 – Rebounds Goetzinger had in that same game to finish with a double-double.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Streaking Rebels Staring Down Osseo In Northwest Suburban



(Created: Sunday, January 25, 2009 12:42 PM CST)

As the month of December ran out of days, simultaneously signaling the coming of a New Year, the Champlin Park boys basketball team was running out of options.

Leading up to the last day of 2008, the Rebels had played six games with just two wins to show for it.

The last of those losses in a 90-71 showing against Hopkins, the state's best team and one that has been mentioned as possibly the best high school team ever in Minnesota.

Regardless, Champlin Park needed to pick a direction. They could curtail and pack in the rest of the season, or they could use the remaining days of 2008 to get better.

A month later, their choice is obvious. Starting with a 78-50 win over Irondale New Year's Eve, the Rebels have won seven of their last eight ball games, including five of six in Northwest Suburban Conference play.

"Since we played Hopkins, we've been a different team mentally," said head coach Mark Tuchscherer. "The biggest thing has been our defensive intensity. We lost by 20, but we brought some intensity, and I think some of the kids realized we could play with those guys. Ever since then, our defensive intensity has been outstanding."

There has been one hiccup in the form of a 75-54 loss to Osseo, but that setback has a lot in common with each of Champlin Park's defeats.

All five losses have come against teams that at the time were rated in the top-10 of Class 4A.

Osseo has been ranked fifth most of the year, Hopkins is the clear No. 1, and there have also been a pair of setbacks to No. 8 Wayzata and another to defending state champion Minnetonka.

But other than those games, Champlin Park's been perfect.

"We are winning the games we should win, and we've lost a couple close games with those ranked teams," Tuchscherer said. "We are happy with where we are at."

And they are happy on both ends of the court. Tuchscherer alluded to the defensive effort, and offensively, Champlin Park has four players averaging in double figures, and two more scoring at least five points a night.
"That's a good thing," said senior guard Scott Theisen, who at 17.4 points per game leads the team in scoring. "We have so many scorers on the team, and when we play certain teams, they can't just shut down on person. It's a benefit for us that we have five players that can get double figures any given night."

Out of that group, Theisen was expected to score. As was junior forward Kyle Zimmerman (14.3 points per game) and junior guard Jasper Duberry (12.8).

Junior Josh Pella is a different story though. He played mainly on the junior varsity last year, but in his first year at the varsity level, he's netting 10.6 points a night, is also the conferences top rebounder and is second in the league in steals.

"He kind of does everything," Tuchscherer said. "He's Mr. Utility. His goal every night is 10 and 10, and he's been getting that on a consistent basis."

Likewise, the Rebels have been winning just as consistently as of late, and that could continue.

They beat Andover 46-43 Friday, Jan. 23 to move to 9-5 overall and 5-1 in the Northwest Suburban. This week, they were scheduled to play at Park Center Jan. 27 before hosting Anoka Jan. 30. From there, the Rebels will face Elk River, Centennial and Maple Grove before settling into a rematch with Osseo at home on a night (Friday, Feb. 13) known for the unknown.

And if Champlin Park's current trend continues, that game could be for a share of first place in the conference.

For a team that plays just two seniors, that would be frightening.

"I know, but we aren't thinking about Osseo yet," Theisen said. "That would be our goal though; run a bunch off before we get to them and hopefully win one there and have a split for first."
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Pictures courtesy of Michael Much of MN Photo Net. Your Source for Minnesota High School, Varsity, and AAU sports action photography for Basketball, Football and Basball. Visit the www.mnphotonet.net galleries and order your Prep and Varsity high resolution prints for home delivery today.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Blaze Too Hot For Wildcats

Photo by Rick Orndorf
Eagan’s Ben Sicoli, No. 32, tries to pass the ball to teammate Ryan Donovan, No. 33, while Burnsville’s Hunter Winey, No. 33, and Devon Knopke, No. 32, defend.

The Burnsville boys basketball team continued to blaze through the Lake Conference schedule with a convincing 81-59 victory over Eagan on Jan. 20.

Burnsville got off to an insurmountable 40-19 lead by halftime giving Eagan little chance to catch up.

Four players were in double figures for the Blaze. Devon Knopke led with 17 points. Jack Ghizoni put together 15 points, Jeff Fallat had 14 and Alex Wheeler 10.

Eagan’s Ryan Donovan did what he could with 16 points. Charley Baker had 12 and Tom Bloomquist had 11.

Burnsville remains in the hunt for the Lake Conference title. The victory over Eagan puts the Blaze’s conference record at 6-2 with losses to Eastview and Bloomington Jefferson. Eden Prairie has the lead with one loss with a big showdown at Burnsville on Friday, Jan. 23.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

The Lightning Overcome The Blaze

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Eastview Lightning boys basketball squad stole a win on the road at Burnsville Friday night, 83-72. With a balanced scoring attack for the Lightning, defensively they shut down the Blaze top performer, Devon Knopke. Karl Otto paced the Lightning with 23 points, followed by Drew Bjordahl with 16, Andrew McLean with 14, and Drew Johnson and Vinard Birch with 13. Eastview turns right back around tonight with a home contest against Cretin Derham Hall, a 7:15 start. Go Lightning!

Boys Basketball Burnsville 89 John Marshall 83

1/17/2009 7:40:02 PM

Rochester John Marshall made a season-high 10 three-pointers but it wasn't enough to keep the Rockets from dropping a non-conference boys basketball game 89-83 to No. 10-ranked Burnsville Saturday afternoon at the JM gym.

Burnsville jumped on top early and built a 13-point lead by halftime, leaving the Rockets to play catch-up again. JM cut Burnsville's lead from 29 points down to six in the closing minutes, but the rally wasn't enough. JM dropped to 3-9 overall with its third straight loss. "Considering they're the No. 10 team in the state, it wasn't too bad," JM coach Richard Cain said. He said slow starts have been a habit for his Rockets.

"We've been digging ourselves a hole in the first half; we seem to want to see how good the other team is first, before we react," he said. "We're relying on the three-point shot a bit too much; we've been getting one shot and then we're done."

Senior forward Zach Smith led JM with 22 points, and senior forward Matt Miller added 13 and made four of JM's 10 three-pointers. Junior forward Robert Marshall came off the bench to play tough defense, Cain noted.

Burnsville had an important 8-point edge at the free-throw line, and the Blaze made 22 of 24 attempts. Junior guard Devon Knopke led Burnsville with 26 points.

Cain said that he is still using nine to 11 players regularly each game, still looking for "that right mix". JM returns to conference action Friday at Albert Lea.

BURNSVILLE (89)
Jeff Fallat 14, Jeff Plummer 11, Patrick Rogers 9, Jack Ghizoni 7, Devon Knopke 26, Hunter Winey 2, Landon Berge 3, Alex Wheeler 15, Kyle Johnson 2.

JOHN MARSHALL (83)

Jordan Stokes 5, Nate Miller 10, Justin Behnke 8, Matt Miller 13, Joe Moen 8, Abdi Ahmed 6, Guelord Mpagazihe 1, Kirby Reeping 0, Robert Marshall 1, Zach Smith 22, Ryan Rushton 6.

Halftime: Burnsville 42, JM 29.

Free throws: Burnsville 22-24, JM 14-27.

Three-pointers: Burnsville 2 (Rogers 1, Bardger 1), JM 10 (Stokes 1, Nate Miller 1, Behnke 1, Matt Miller 4, Smith 1, Rushton 2).

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Minnesota: Hopkins Humbles Sibley at Home

Thursday, January 15, 2009

By Matt Krumrie

MaxPreps.com

Starting Five

1. Hopkins Holds off Henry Sibley: In a match-up of the state’s two top teams, Hopkins showed why it is ranked No. 1 in the state with a 77-66 win over No. 2 Sibley Friday in front of 2,800 fans at the Sibley gym in Mendota Heights. Hopkins stars Royce White and Trent Lockett led a balanced attack with 13 points each, while teammate Marcus Williams added 12. Sibley was led by Mike Bruesewitz with 15 points and Maurice Hernandez with 15. Hopkins led 43-33 at halftime in a game that featured six players who have signed with Division I programs, including White (Minnesota), Lockett (Arizona State) and Bruesewitz (Wisconsin).

2. Champlin Park Challenging in Northwest Suburban: Osseo entered the season as the favorite in the Northwest Suburban Conference, and so far, the Orioles are living up to expectations at 3-0 in the conference and 9-1 overall. One team that could be ready to challenge in the conference race is Champlin Park. The Rebels defeated Blaine 75-73 Tuesday to move to 3-0 in the conference (7-4 overall). The Rebels lead the conference in points per game at 72.6 and have a balanced attack led by Scott Theisen (16.4 points per game), Kyle Zimmermann (15.2), Jasper Duberry (14.1), Josh Pella (11.3) and Tyler Munneke (7.7). In that win against Blaine Zimmermann scored 25 and Duberry 20 to lead the Rebels, who face Osseo Thursday evening.

3. Owatonna Rolling: Owatonna appears to be one outstate threat teams will have to deal with this year. The Huskies improved to 5-0 in the Big Nine and 8-2 overall with a 63-48 win over Rochester John Marshall Tuesday. Kyle Melcher scored 13 points and had 11 rebounds, Spencer Busho scored 11, Taylor Steinbauer 9 and Vaughn Thada 8. The Huskies are tied for first in the Big Nine Conference with Mankato West, the top-ranked team in 3A. Owatonna is ranked No. 8 in 4A. The two teams square off for the first time Friday in Mankato.

4. Awesome Blossom Playing Awesome: Blooming Prairie remains on top of the Gopher Conference with a 65-45 win over J-W-P this week. Cooper Nelson scored 15 points to lead BP, who improved to 5-0 in the conference and 8-1 overall. Matt Zellmer scored 14 and Israel Clark 12 in the win for BP.

5. Cooper Cruising: Nine games, nine wins for the Robbinsdale Cooper basketball team. Led by Rodney Williams (15.9 points per game), a Minnesota recruit and one of the most high-flying players in the country, Cooper is far from one dimensional. Other key players for the Classic Lake title contenders include Kenquane Brown (15.2), Quincey Bethea (13.1) and Joe Bright (13.3).

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The Full Court Press

(Pictured: Johnson won last night at the buzzer.)

Full-Court Press Carries Blaze Past Irish



JOHN MILLEA

For the Burnsville boys' basketball team, the best offense Tuesday night was stout defense. The Blaze, ranked No. 8 in Class 4A, leaned on a full-court press to hold off Rosemount 74-68 in a Lake Conference game at Rosemount.

Burnsville (8-2, 5-1 Lake) began the day sharing first place with Chaska and Eden Prairie. But Rosemount (5-6, 3-4), which had won four in a row, gave the Blaze all it wanted.

The key stretch began with 7 1/2 minutes to play when Burnsville applied the press. Rosemount went scoreless for nearly five minutes as a four-point Irish lead was turned into a six-point margin for Burnsville. The Blaze is a balanced offensive team with four players averaging in double figures, and five players scored during Burnsville's decisive 10-0 run.

Alex Wheeler and Patrick Rogers led Burnsville with 20 points each, and Devon Knopke had 18. Four Irish players reached double figures, led by Toriano Tatum, who had 17 off the bench.

Rosemount's winning streak had been fueled in part by Zach Vraa. In the previous four games he had scored 27, 34, 23 and 31 points. This time, however, Vraa was held to 12 points.

CHAMPLIN PARK 75, BLAINE 73


Junior guard Jasper Duberry made a short shot in the lane at the buzzer, giving the Rebels a victory over the Bengals in the Northwest Suburban. Senior forward Dylan Rodriguez scored a game-high 34 points for Blaine, which tied the score at 73-73 with 31.3 seconds remaining. Rodriguez scored 25 points in the second half as Blaine battled back from a 10-point deficit at halftime.

Friday, January 9, 2009

#1 Tacks On Another Win



Henry Sibley’s Chris Halvorsen couldn’t protect the ball as he tried to pass while being pressured by Hopkins’ Trent Lockett. Photo by Jim Gehrz, Star Tribune

The Royals and their stellar lineup took this battle, but signs point to a March rematch in 4A. Lots of numbers came to mind before Hopkins played at Henry Sibley in a Friday night nonconference matchup of the top boys' basketball teams in Minnesota:

1: Hopkins' ranking in Class 4A;
2: Henry Sibley's ranking;
6: NCAA Division I signees in the starting lineups;
17-1: Teams' combined record. However, some other numbers hold more importance:
77-66: The final score in Hopkins' victory over the Warriors.
78: Days until the 4A state championship game is played at Target Center, when we could see a rematch.
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Friday's game had all the trappings of a lose-and-go-home postseason scenario. The 3,000-seat gym in Mendota Heights was packed to the rafters, ticket sales were stopped 45 minutes before tipoff, and about 500 fans who arrived after that were turned away. The intensity was feverish long before tipoff; the Henry Sibley student section booed the Hopkins players when they walked into the gym during the junior varsity game, 90 minutes before varsity tipoff.

BLOOMINGTON JEFFERSON 80, BURNSVILLE 73:



The Alipate brothers teamed up to hand Burnsville its first loss of the season. Sophomore guard Marcus had 22 points and senior forward Moses added 17, lifting the Jaguars over Class 4A, No. 8 Burnsville in the Lake. The Jaguars had four players in double figures. Burnsville junior guard Devon Knopke scored a game-high 30 points.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Former Warrior Wins in Homecoming As Coach







Champlin Park 82, Warriors 63


Mark Tuchscherer almost looked out of place.

The 1998 Brainerd High School graduate, and former Warrior boys' basketball standout, was patrolling the opposite sideline Friday as head coach of the Champlin Park Rebels, who scored an 82-63 victory that kept the Warriors winless.

"It was different," Tuchscherer said of being on the opposing sideline. "It was hard not to think about it. You try not to but it was different to see a bunch of old coaches and mentors and talk to them before the game. It was a good time."

Leading 35-34 at the half the Rebels shot 63.6 percent (21 of 33) in the second half and outscored Brainerd 47-29.

Champlin Park buried five of its nine threes in the second half but also scored on fast breaks and in the paint. In the first three minutes of the second Brainerd turned the ball over three times and the Rebels soared ahead 52-41. Brainerd was never closer than eight the rest of the way.


Jasper Duberry

The Rebels had outstanding balance as Jasper Duberry scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half, Josh Pella had 11 of his 15 in the first, D'Andre Williamson scored 12 of his 13 in the second and Ty Munneke had nine in each half.


Scott Theisen, who entered the game as the Rebels' leading scorer with a 17.3 average, was held to four points.

"We didn't shoot the ball well the first half," Tuchscherer said. "We really don't have much of an inside game. We're not very big but we're pretty crafty inside.

"They kind of took away (Kyle) Zimmerman in the post but we were able to hit some shots. Our main shooter (Theisen) wasn't hitting but our second-best shooter (Munneke) was doing just fine."

Tyler Munneke
Warriors coach Matt Urbanek shuffled his lineup, giving senior Mike Gervenak and junior Joel Martin their first starts. Gervenak responded with 10 points and Martin with 12.

"We had some guys who were given their first opportunity to get significant minutes and took advantage of it," Urbanek said. "They played hard, they played defense, they played unselfishly, set the tone and set a great example for the rest of our team."

Brainerd shot 48.4 percent in the first half, which was tied six times. The Warriors overcame a 16-7 deficit with a 10-point run that put them ahead 17-16. The teams virtually traded baskets until the intermission.

The Warriors made just 30 percent (9 of 30) of their shots in the second and finished with 21 turnovers.

Kyle Crocker led Brainerd with 16 points. Ben Gervais came off the bench to add 10.

"A couple things have been our Achilles heel this year," Urbanek said. "One of them has been turnovers. We had times tonight where we did a lot better than that, we had times where we struggled with that. That's something we've been talking a lot about and working on. That's something we need to do a better job of if we're going to be a good team.

"The second thing is shot selection and sharing the ball. That's been our second Achilles heel. We've talked a lot about that too. I thought we made some progress in that area. I thought we had a lot more chemistry tonight and I thought we shared the ball a lot better."

The loss dropped Brainerd to 0-5 overall.

"It's a long season," Urbanek said. "It's not a sprint, it's a marathon. We have a long way to go. We've played five games. We have 20 games to go in our regular season. We have not seen the results in the win-loss column, but we saw progress. We have to keep that in mind."

Champlin Park 35 47 - 82

Brainerd 34 29 - 63

CHAMPLIN PARK
Jasper Duberry 18, Josh Pella 15, D'Andre Williamson 13, Scott Theisen 4, Kyle Zimmerman 8, Tyler Munneke 18, Dillon Hager 3, Jordan Reibling 3. FG 34-65. FT 5-8. 3-point baskets: 9 (Duberry 2, Pella, Munneke 4, Hager, Reibling). Turnovers: 9.

BRAINERD
Mike Gervenak 10, Kyle Crocker 16, Joel Martin 12, Aaron Pavek 9, Garth Askegaard 4, Ben Gervais 10, Sam Feyder 2. FG 24-61. FT 8-11. 3-point baskets: 7 (Gervenak 2, Crocker, Martin 2, Gervais 2). Turnovers: 21.

MIKE BIALKA may be reached at mike.bialka@brainerddispatch.com or at 855-5861.