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by Ryan James
bassgemrj@hotmail.com
As we enter the New Year and people put together their resolutions in a time of change, some things will stay they same and that includes Moorhead basketball continuing to roll up the victories. At 6-0 on the year, the Spuds have easily handled all comers save the one-point victory over St. Cloud Apollo.
Defeating Pelican Rapids last Friday Spuds leader put up 27 points as Moorhead beat Pelican Rapids 75-46 in their holiday tournament. Entering the year Jordan was already the 6th leading scorer in Moorhead high school history and steadily climbing higher up the ranks. He scored his 1,000th point at the end of last year while also dishing out 4.8 assists a game.
Through six games Jordan is averaging 23 points a contest including the 35 points and five assists he put up against Fargo North in an 80-69 victory. In that game Jordan was 15 of 16 from the free throw line and earlier in the year in the season opener versus Alexandria Jordan put 31 points going 12 of 16 from the field. In that 82-55 win Driscoll was five of five from the free-throw line and he dished out five assists.
“The season has been going well,” Jordan said. “We are a little bigger than last year and defensively we are much stronger. Coach (CR) Gulsvig and coach (Corey) Zimmerman have really helped me a lot the past four years. They really stressed defense and commitment. They have really pushed me to become a better basketball player by working on my game year round.”
The Spuds are an independent team without a conference. They do some traveling around the state including a pair of games in the metro at Robbinsdale Armstrong and at Lakeville North, a game in the southwestern part of the state at Marshall, and match-ups traveling across the north to Brainerd and Grand Rapids. They started the year ranked in the top 15 and already undefeated the Spuds are likely to remain in the elite rankings of Minnesota’s biggest class. “My goals for this season are to at least win 20 games and to make it to the state tournament,” said Driscoll.
Getting prepared for playing college basketball and for each year of varsity basketball Jordan has chosen to play with the Howard Pulley Panthers each spring and summer. “Playing for Pulley for two years has really helped me become a tougher player physically and mentally,” Jordan explained. “We always were playing against great players and teams. The travel was demanding, but it was fun. The coaching was exceptional.”
To what school the 6-foot-1 backcourt leader of the Spuds plays for is really up in the air. He’s received interest from coaches at every level as division two schools, division three programs, NAIA schools, and one division one has shown interest.
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