As another great Minnesota Breakdown High School event comes to a close, many people are still talking about the Tip-Off Classic and the elite match ups. The annual event that is held each year is one of Minnesota's premier high school showcase events that put Minnesota talent on National display for the nation to see with talent coming from the state at all levels. The event has been growing in size and notoriety each year. This past weekend you couldn’t count the number of Elite Coaches in the building for this event. As expected the elite players rose to the occasion for their teams and stuffed the stat sheets. Players such as Jalen Suggs, Dawson Garcia, Chet Holmgren, Tre Holloman, Ben Carlson, Dain Dainja, J’Vonne Hadley, Steven Crowl, etc. stood out this past weekend. Here’s a review from this past Saturday…
MVP: Ben Carlson - 6’10” - F - 2020 - 40 point dominant performance against Park Center. Park Center came into the weekend as arguably one of the top two teams in the state. Ben set the record for East Ridge High School single game points record. It was one to Witness. This was the best scoring performance in the past 8 years since 6’10” Royce White was in High School. We grow more impressed each week with Ben Carlson as he displays so many great attributes to his game. He showed us the ability to score around the basket, the ability to score threes, has a mid-range, and has the ability to put the ball on the floor to score. The way he scored is the reason why he is our Hoop Stars Media MVP.
Biggest matchup of the evening: Cretin Derham Hall vs. Minnehaha Academy was the biggest game of the year locally in the state of Minnesota. Cretin Derham - Hall has had the biggest upset in recent Minnesota History beating a nationally ranked team and a team that many reporters called the best team in the state regardless of class. The state was stunned as it was a great team performance that lead Cretin to victory turning good players into players on the radar for many Coaches and High School fans.
IMPACT PLAYERS OF THE WEEKEND
Tre Holloman - 6’2” - PG - 2022 - Tre Holloman is a Coach’s dream and the true definition of a true point guard. He is a floor general and a leader on the court. Coming into the weekend facing the biggest game of his young career against the mighty machine of Minnehaha. On paper Cretin Derham Hall was out matched per position and size in the talent category. However, the best thing about sports, is it is not always the most talented team that wins but the team that plays the most together and rises to the occasion. Tre Holloman had his hands all over the game against Minnehaha controlling tempo, pace of the game, scored big baskets when his team needed it and defended the ball hard all night long. The energy for this game was that of the NCAA field of 64. Many people walked away from this game with a new found respect for Tre Holloman and his growth as a great point guard.
Jalen Suggs - 6’5” - G - 2020 - Suggs is coming off another state football championship run. He is the scariest player in his class. He plays the game with so much passion and heart. Having heart is another skill set in itself. Jalen Suggs is not in mid-season form and straight from football he puts up 30 points in the biggest game of the year so far. As Jalen Suggs ponders the direction he will take after high school, will it be college or Pro. You are looking at a future NBA pro game in High School.
PLAYERS OF THE GAMES
Cretin Derham Hall - Curtis Jones with 19 pts
Player of the Game: Jaylen James with 27 pts, big 3s
Player of the Game: Champlin Park - Francis Nwaokorie with 17 pts,
Player of the Game: Caledonia - Noah King - 2020- with 21 pts, 7 reb
Player of the Game: Lakeville South - Reid Patterson with 28 pts
Player of the Game: Shakopee - Will Cordes with 23 pts
TOP SCORERS
Player of the Game: Minnetonka - Cam Steele with 38 pts, 8 reb - 2020
Player of the Game: Lake City - Nate Heise with 39 pts
FINAL SCORES OF TOP GAMES
Champlin Park 63, Waseca 41
Eastview 98, Wayzata 82
Shakopee 85, Hopkins 82
Eden Prairie 79, Prior Lake 58
East Ridge 62, Park Center 57
Cretin-Derham Hall 75, Minnehaha Academy 66