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by Alex Focke
The BREAKDOWN
(posted 01-24-2010)
EAU CLAIRE, WI – Minnehaha Academy jumped out to a 10-2 lead early, led by senior guard Parker Hines. Hines hit two three pointers and a midrange jump shot as the Blair-Taylor Wildcats sat in a 2-3 zone. Following a timeout, the Wildcats became the aggressors, punishing the Redhawks inside. Coach Storlie substituted Reggie Kujak, a 6-foot-6 sophomore and brother of starter Hank Kujak. Reggie finished with 4 points and 7 rebounds. With that substitution, the Kujak brothers alongside Isaiah Paulson got it done for the Wildcats inside. After a hot start, the Redhawks went cold from the field and sat around the perimeter settling for outside shots and allowing the Wildcats back into the game. The Wildcats used their inside advantage to climb within one point of the Redhawks. But, with 30 seconds remaining in the half, Minnehaha held for the final shot and lefty point guard, Austin Brown hit a three pointer from the wing as time expired giving Minnehaha a 31-27 lead.
The second half started out with junior guard, Hank Kujak asserting himself offensively, scoring the first four points for the Wildcats and setting up his teammates with good scoring opportunities. He finished with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Minnehaha Academy came out from halftime with a clear objective. Get the ball inside to post presence Taylor Hansen and attack the basket. Hansen finished with 14 points and 9 rebounds. The Redhawks were aggressive in the second half, as Brown, Hines and Hansen attacked the middle of the Wildcat’s 2-3 zone.
The game was back and forth all half. Blair-Taylor took the lead for the first time all game at 37-36 with a 3-point basket by Shay Benedict. The biggest lead for the Wildcats came in the 4th quarter when Lucas Howe grabbed an offensive rebound and scored a basket and the free throw to go up 49-46. Parker Hines came right down and hit back to back 3-pointers. Shay Benedict answered with a 3 of his own tying the game at 52-52. With the game tied at 54-54 and a 1:20 remaining in the game, Minnehaha held the ball for the final shot of the game, but were unable to even get a shot off before the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.
In overtime, Minnehaha started out strong and had a lead 61-54. Blair-Taylor kept hanging around and extending the game. Austin Brown played a key role in overtime, scoring 6 points for the Redhawks. Blair-Taylor had a shot at the buzzer to tie, but came up short. Minnehaha won the game, 67-64. Parker Hines was the game high scorer with 23 points, including 5 three pointers and Austin Brown finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for the Redhawks. Cory Cartrette had 16 points to lead the Wildcats.
EAU CLAIRE, WI – The second game of the 2010 Border Battle featured the Minnesota Transitions Wolves against the Fall Creek Crickets. Kevin and Kyle Noreen are two talented brothers for the MTS Wolves. Kevin is a 6-foot-10 senior and Boston College commit, and Kyle is a 6-foot-6 junior. Fall Creek is a team full of good shooters, featuring Jordan Reetz. They will look to spread out the Wolves’ patented zone defense.
The Crickets came out hot from the field, knocking down six 3-pointers in the first half against the Transitions 2-3 zone defense. Jordan Reetz and Jeremy Burns each had a pair of 3-pointers and kept the jump shooting Crickets in the game. The methodical Transition’s offense used Kevin and Kyle Noreen’s 2 man game of ball screens and post ups to secure a one point lead at the half, 26-25. Kevin finished the first half with 12 points, scoring inside, outside and from the free throw line. Rodney Owens was a spark for the Wolves, getting out in the passing lanes and scoring in transition.
The Crickets came out in the second half in an extended zone defense and did a good job of speeding up the Wolves early. Fall Creek kept shooting the ball well from outside, but Kevin Noreen began to take over, scoring nine points in the 3rd quarter. MTS sped up their game and put up 18 points in the 3rd quarter and extended their lead to 44-38. Just as their offense began to speed up, their defensive pressure increased. The Wolves were getting out on the shooters from Fall Creek, getting in passing lanes and scoring in transition.
The pesky Crickets continued to hang around and remained poised against the swarming defense. Jordan Reetz knocked down a huge three pointer to cut the lead to 56-54 with a little over a minute to remain in the game. Kevin Noreen stepped to the line with 24 seconds remaining in the game and a two point lead. He missed the first and made the second free throw giving the Crickets a chance for the tie late. Coming out of a timeout, the Crickets looked to set up a play, but the defensive pressure from the Wolves got to point guard, Jeremy Burns as he was called for a traveling violation forcing the Crickets to foul.
Fall Creek made 11 3-pointers in the game but it wasn’t enough as the Minnesota Transitions won the game in regulation 58-54. Kevin Noreen finished with 28 points and teammate Rodney Owens had 12 points. Luke Tweed had four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points and Jordan Reetz had 10 points.
EAU CLAIRE, WI – The third game of the 2010 Minnesota/Wisconsin Border Battle featured the Eau Claire Regis Ramblers against the Minneapolis North Polars. Minnesota was already 2-0 on the day after wins by Minnehaha Academy and Minnesota Transitions. The Polars are coached by Broderick Powell and looked to spread the floor and attack. Big man Mark Devine is a good athlete that will finish baskets around the rim and is very active on the glass. Eau Claire Regis, coached by Bill Uelmen, comes from the Cloverbelt Conference and is lead by a tough hardnosed senior in Adam Ganske.
Both Regis and North cranked up the pressure in the contest. Point guard Conner Miller did a nice job for the Ramblers keeping his team under control with the pressure from Mpls North’s defense. Miller had the Ramblers showing good patience on offense and controlling the tempo of the game. Ganske scored 4 quick points in the first quarter off ballscreens with Miller. The Ramblers were playing a ¾ 1-3-1 and falling back into a 2-3 zone. The Polars hit three 3-pointers in the first half against the zone and started to do a better job of getting the ball inside to Mark Devine. Devine scored 4 points in the second quarter on thunderous two handed dunks. The half ended with a tough jumper made by Adam Ganske to tie the game at 17-17.
As the pressure continued to intensify, turnovers became the story. Both the Polars and the Ramblers were plagued with turnovers. Sharp shooter Ricky Collins hit two big three pointers for the Polars and Deloney hit one as well as the Polars started converting on the Remblers’ turnovers and pulling away. The Ramblers were outscored 15-9 in the third quarter.
The speed of the game and the defensive pressure wore on the Ramblers as their shots began to miss short. The Ramblers started the quarter out 1-for-6 from the free throw line and the Polars were cleaning up on the offensive glass. With a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, North was able to pull Regis out of its zone, break down the defense and attack the basket. The Polars’ lead continued to increase and reached 16 midway through the fourth quarter. Minneapolis North closed out Eau Claire Regis, winning 47-40.
Ricky Collins was the game high scorer with 14 points. Teammate Ariel Deloney finished with 12 points. For Eau Claire Regis, Conner Miller led all scorers with 13 points and Adam Ganske had 11.
EAU CLAIRE, WI – Full results were unavailable.
EAU CLAIRE, WI – Full results were unavailable.
by Ryan James
The BREAKDOWN
(posted 01-25-2009)
This weekend’s Border Battle in Owatonna matched five Minnesota programs against five teams from Wisconsin and it was one of the most incredible days of basketball that I have seen in a long time. In these five games you had two overtimes games including one that went through four extra sessions, a heroic late game jumper from a current Minnesota star and future Wisconsin star, a sensational shooting performance in the opener, and a crazy crowd cheering on the host school to a victory in the matinee. This year’s Border Battle created memories as the basketball action was full of dramatic performances.
Although the final score may not have showed it some believe the first game had the most incredible performance. As a team Benton nailed 13 of 21 three point attempts and the big flurry came with about six minutes to go in the first half. The Cardinals of BA had a three-point lead but Benton hit five straight triples and went into the half up 16 points.
The Cards were able to claw their way back within five in the second half riding the outstanding performance of their senior Chris Palmer. Chris produced his 14th double-double of the season scoring 34 points and grabbing 13 boards but it just wasn’t enough.
Benton received contributions from every wing who played beyond the arc all contributing to the 13 made triples. Sophomore guard Matt Savatski led Benton with 21 points while twin brothers Conner and Jordan Hendricks combined for 30 points as they made eight treys as a family.
GAME QUOTE: “It’s hard to play defense when they were making it from everywhere,” Chris Palmer said. “Even when we had a hand in their face they were still making everything.”
“That was probably the best shooting performance I’ve seen in a very long time,” BA’s Drew Mathews said.
Honestly I don’t believe I had ever seen a four overtime high school basketball game until yesterday afternoon. The game seemed to be over in regulation when PEM had the four point advantage with about 45 seconds remaining. But sophomore star Cole Olstad was called for a foul and a technical foul that gave Roncalli extra chances from the foul line. Cole fouled out right there in regulation ending Olstad’s game that was plagued by foul trouble.
There were to many big shots in the overtimes to recall but a couple of the biggest were hit by Roncalli star sophomore Ben Stelzer who had South Dakota State in the stands watching him. Ben certainly did impress with a pair of game tying triples at the buzzer, eight three-pointers overall, and 37 points.
PEM was in good shape behind Clay Olstad until he fouled out at the end of the third overtime. Without the Olstad brothers PEM was still very competitive but they had lost a big part of their identity and ultimately faltered. Clay finished the game with 29 points and he impressed with his multi-dimensional attack both putting the basketball on the ground and hitting clutch jumpers. Ross Grobe contributed 22 for the Bulldogs while Adam Koss scored 24 for Roncalli.
GAME QUOTE: "It was a fun experience and one of the wildest games I've ever been a part of," Kirk Thompson of PEM said. "I don't think this loss hurts our confidence any but what we take away from it is that it was a great learning experience."
It looked like it was over. The Islanders had been trailing for 80 percent of the game and were down eight points. The Border Battle was about to be won by Wisconsin for the third straight year. People started heading for the local eateries so they could return in time to watch the Henry Sibley/Kaukauna game that followed. But when the fans returned jaws dropped as the Islanders had fought back to win this game in overtime.
DeLaSalle’s offense has been in a funk. They scored only 25 points in a loss to Pierz, they lost for the first time maybe ever to St. Paul Academy, and most recently they fell against Minnehaha Academy. But things turned for the better Saturday when Jalen Jaspers and A.J. Barker both caught stride at the same time. Jaspers attacked the hoop hitting his short pull-ups and runners while A.J.’s stroke found a needed rhythm. Barker scored six overtime points including four clinching free throws. Barker and Jaspers combined to score 52 of the 73 DeLaSalle Islander points on the way to victory. Also important was the play of sophomore Jonah Travis who resembled Miles Tarver with his short misses in the first half but in the second half Jonah finished in the fashion of a Jayson Walton scoring around the rim scoring ten.
Kameron Cerroni led Hamilton with 22 points, while LaMonte Hall scored 17 and John Hertle added 16.
With 20 seconds to go Mike Bruesewitz took the basketball at the top of the key, called a set, beat his man off the dribble, and hit an elbow jumper with three seconds remaining. It was a great shot for Mike as he was hit on the arm but still finished and the clock showed three seconds. Kaukauna missed a late game desperate three attempt and Sibley improved to 13-2.
You have to take your hat off to Kaukauna who was incredibly well prepared for this basketball game. They are a very physical team who plays incredible defense with all five players on the floor defending as one. Post touches were limited from the bigger Sibley team and the Kaukauna players hounded every possession. Kaukauna surely had a scouting report prepared and the players followed every part of it to a disciplined T.
Bruesewitz hit the memorable basket but this was not one of his better games because he was limited due to foul trouble. Simply put I’ll say the calls against Mike were embarrassing for the officials but Bruesewitz still fought through the time on the bench to make the game winner. He finished with 11 points while Maurice Hernandez scored 17 points (including five made triples) with ten rebounds and Chris Halvorsen produced 15 points and 14 boards. As a team Sibley gave up only four offensive rebounds. Chris’s father Dan Halvorsen is a 1969 Owatonna graduate and a member of the school’s Hall of Fame. Dan certainly did catch most of the game but he had quite a following over in the corner of the gym with several locals coming out to chat.
Kaukauna was led by the 23 points from Jordan Giordana. Giordana hit a triple late in the game to pull his team within one point, he hit a runner in the lane to tie the game at 55, but missed the shot at the buzzer that would have gave his team the victory.
GAME QUOTE: “Kaukauna played the best defensive game against us that anybody has all year,” said Sibley coach Tom Dasovich of the Galloping Ghosts which is the best school nickname ever. “They didn't put an extreme amount of ball pressure on but played the best and most fundamentally sound helpside we have seen. They were very well coached.”
To say there was some tension in the building would be an understatement. The hometown Owatonna student section was very entertaining and a little bit provoking while the Rapids fans weren’t very pleased with the officials. So tension was high and one team left quite upset but overall the fifth game was also extremely entertaining.
Three-sport star Kyle Melcher hit numerous short range left-handed jumpers to score 21 points leading the Huskies. He also grabbed nine boards and teamed with fellow Owatonna senior big Taylor Steinbauer to shut down Rapids big Clayton Heuer. To understand how big of a task this was know that Heuer is amongst the top five favorites for the Wisconsin Mr. Basketball award and a commit to Wisconsin-Green Bay. But Melcher and Steinbauer held him to nine points, four rebounds, and much frustration.
Spencer Busho made one of the biggest shots of the game sinking a buzzer beater right before the half to pull his team within two points. Busho hit three triples for the game and scored 11 points. Owatonna’s biggest stat may have been the seven total turnovers.
GAME QUOTE: “I thought we did a great job with him (Heuer),” said Huskies coach Josh Williams. “We kind of tag-teamed him with those guys back and forth, and they did a phenomenal job on him all night.
“We really had some guys step up and hit some huge shots in the second half. We just weren’t getting those shots to fall in the first half, but our guys really showed a lot of maturity not to hang their heads and get down. They stayed it in and we came back and won a big game.”
JEFF CAGLE
Posted: Saturday, January 24, 2009 9:07 pm
OWATONNA — Jill Knight and Judy Vaughn had left the village of Benton, Wis. around 5:30 a.m. Saturday to watch Matt Savatski, Knight’s nephew and Vaughn’s grandson, play against Bethlehem Academy at Owatonna High School.
The 233-mile jaunt took them through Dubuque, Iowa, and then through Rochester before arriving at Owatonna High School around 11 a.m. It’s not the kind of road trip they make often.
“It’s an opportunity for the kids,” Knight said.
This weekend, Owatonna High School became the hub for the third annual Border Battle, where schools with good basketball programs from Minnesota and Wisconsin compete against each other to see which state dominates the court.
Parents and other supporters from Benton began to arrive Friday evening. Benton is a small village of 1,000 residents and a high school population of 80 people.
For the rest of the story....
Minnesota and Wisconsin collide in 3rd annual Border Battle
Owatonna hosts Wisconsin’s best boys cagers Saturday, Jan. 24
OWATONNA, Minn. (Jan. 12, 2009) – State bragging rights are going to be up for grabs Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009 on the courts at Owatonna High School for the third annual Border Battle, featuring top high school boys basketball teams from Minnesota and Wisconsin. Games begin at noon Saturday with a showdown between Class A Bethlehem Academy and Division 4 Benton (WI) and conclude at 8 p.m. with a battle between host Owatonna and Wisconsin Rapids (WI).
Saturday, Jan. 24
Noon – Benton (WI) vs. Bethlehem Academy (MN)
2 p.m. – Manitowoc Roncalli (WI) vs. Plainview-Elgin-Millville (MN)
4 p.m. – Sussex Hamilton (WI) vs. De La Salle (MN)
6 p.m. – Kaukauna (WI) vs. Henry Sibley (MN)
8 p.m. – Wisconsin Rapids (WI) vs. Owatonna (MN)
The Border Battle features dozens of college prospects, including many who are being looked at by D1 schools. The teams playing also include Minnesota’s Class AAAA runner-up Henry Sibley (currently ranked No. 2AAAA), unbeaten Plainview-Elgin-Millville (ranked No. 3AA) and Bethlehem Academy (ranked No. 6A) as well as top Wisconsin teams such as Benton (ranked No. 3 in Division 4), Sussex Hamilton and Wisconsin Rapids. Get ready for some high-flying, fast-paced action, as four of the five games will use a 35-second shot clock.
Benton is currently ranked third among Division 4 schools with a 7-1 record. The Zephyrs are led by a strong senior class, including point guard Kane Hoffmann and shooting guards Connor Hendricks and Jordan Hendricks. Benton finished 24-1 a year ago under the direction of long-time coach Jim Blaine.
With the exception of a slip up at NRHEG, the Cardinals of Faribault's Bethlehem Academy have had an outstanding year and they've been dominant the last three weeks. The most recent victory for BA was a 71-53 win over Mankato Loyola who was ranked 6th in state. Leading the Cards is versatile 6-foot-3 senior Chris Palmer, who is capable of a triple double on any night, 6-foot-4 senior Drew Mathews, and 5-foot-11 junior Jordan Clark.
Manitowoc Roncalli advanced to the WIAA Division 3 State Tournament in 2005, 2006 and 2007. The Jets boast one of the state's top sophomores in sharpshooting guard Ben Stelzer and are defending champions in the Olympian Conference under highly successful coach Joe Rux.
The Bulldogs from Plainview/Elgin-Millville are 11-0 on the year and ranked third in class AA. They are led by the brother combination of 6-foot-2 junior Clay Olstad and 6-foot-4 sophomore swimgman Cole Olstad. P-E-M has had several highlights already this year but nothing bigger than defeating three class AAAA schools at the Rochester Rotary Classic. The Bulldogs wiped out Rochester JM (82-49), Stillwater (64-54), and Apple Valley (65-60) to win the Classic and those schools are three (JM), four (AV), and six times (Stillwater) bigger than P-E-M who enrolls 516 students.
Sussex Hamilton is led by UW-Green Bay recruit Kameron Cerroni, a high-scoring 6-2 wing guard with unlimited shooting range. Juniors Brett Meinecke and Brian Gryszkiewicz are also top performers for coach Andy Cerroni.
The DeLaSalle Islanders are 4-1 on the year with their one slip up being a Target Center game where they lost to Pierz 50-25. The traditionally tough Islander defense is only giving up 50 points a game and some new stars are being born on the Island. Junior Jalen Jaspers and sophomore Jonah Travis have each had some big highlights this year and they seem to be the future stars following in the footsteps of guys like Darren Dearing, Allan Anderson, Tom Conroy, Cameron Rundles, Jamar Diggs, and others.
The Border Battle began in January 2007 at Tartan High School in Oakdale, Minn. The BREAKDOWN staff and Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook wanted to team up to showcase teams and players from their respective states and provide unique, competitive match-ups that might not otherwise be seen. Through two events (last year in Verona, Wisc.), Wisconsin has earned bragging rights by claiming a 3-2 victory in each.
Kaukauna is one of the elite teams in one of the state's best conferences, the Fox Valley Association. The Ghosts are led by senior Jordan Giordana, who has tremendous shooting range, and junior Jake Schalow, the son of Ghosts' coach Mike Schalow.
Henry Sibley is the second ranked team in the state with 9-2 record. Their only losses were to the best team in Minnesota (Hopkins, 77-66) and the best team in Wisconsin (Madison Memorial 67-64). The Sibley frontline has four division one prospects in 7-foot-0 Jake Kreuser, 6-foot-8 Chris Halvorsen, 6-foot-7 Mike Bruesewitz, and 6-foot-7 Mike Rostampour plus senior Maurice Hernandez is one of the most deadly shooters in all of Minnesota. Sibley finished in 2nd place last year at the State Tournament.
Wisconsin Rapids boasts one of Wisconsin's top post players in 6-9 senior Clayton Heuer, a UW-Green Bay recruit. Coach Dan Witter is one of the state's most respected head coaches and will build his team around the considerable talents of Heuer.
The host school Owatonna has one of the better frontlines in Minnesota with 6-foot-8 Taylor Steinbauer and 6-foot-7 Kyle Melcher dominating the paint. These two have led the Huskies to an 8-2 start on the year and an undefeated record in Big Nine Conference play through five games. The Huskies are the section one AAAA favorite to make the state tournament.
By Mark Miller
Wishoops.net Editor
Round three of the annual Wisconsin vs. Minnesota Border Battle is set for Saturday at Owatonna High School with Badger-state squads looking to come out on top for the third year in a row.
Wisconsin entrants won three of the five contests in the series in each of the past two seasons and will look to capture the majority of head-to-head matchups with the Gopher-state counterparts once again this season.
This year’s event gets under way with Division 4 powerhouse Benton taking on Bethlehem Academy of Faribault, Minnesota at noon. The Border Battle once again is co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook and The Breakdown.
A 35-second shot clock will be used in four of the five contests and the teams will play 18-minute halves – per Minnesota rules – rather than eight-minute quarters.
Following is a brief preview for each contest: http://www.wissports.net/sports/hoopsb/blog/message.aspx?f=123&id=989781 |
Recap of the 2nd Annual Border Battle
