Breakdown USA Tip Off Classic (Boys)Dec 11, 2016 by Brett Regan
Breakdown USA Tip Off Classic Lives Up To The Hype
Breakdown USA Tip Off Classic Lives Up To The Hype
A full recap of news and highlights for the 2016 Breakdown USA Tip Off Classic at the Lindbergh Center in Hopkins, Minnesota, on Saturday, Dec. 10.
HOPKINS, Minn. -- From buzzer-beaters to high-flying dunks, most of Minnesota's top high school programs and players dueled for the better part of 14 hours at the Lindbergh Center during the Breakdown Tip Off Classic on Saturday. Here is a look back at the notable matchups and superlative performances from the single-day event.
This one was a beauty. First, there was the fantastic matchup between bigs Nathan Reuvers (Lakeville North) and Daniel Oturu (CDH), which lived up to the billing. Reuvers finished with an eye-popping 38 points and 17 rebounds, and Oturu tallied 15 points and 11 boards. Reuvers got the better of the matchup, but Oturu had one of the plays of the day when he blocked a layup with two hands, ran in transition to the other end of the floor, and put home a layup.
As a whole, though, the game was also fantastic. The lead yo-yoed between the two for much of the evening until Lakeville North appeared to take control late in the second half.
However, Creting-Derman Hall hung around and got a putback from Oturu with 1:14 left. After getting a stop on the other end, the Raiders' Ryan Larson added a layup to knot the game at 67.
Cretin had a chance to win it in regulation but came up empty in the closing seconds. Yet, it wasn't over on their missed shot, as the Raiders were whistled for a foul on the rebound. The Panthers missed both at the stripe to send the game to overtime.
From there, it was all Lakeville North, which got an early bucket from Reuvers and never looked back to cap an extremely well-played, high-level game.
It's hard to overstate how devastating Reuvers' performance was for Cretin-Derham Hall. He was just a wrecking ball and finished with 38 points, 17 rebounds, and five blocks.
He was involved in seemingly every major play of the game and certainly won his matchup against Oturu, turning him away a number of times with blocked shots when the two were matched one-on-one in the post.
Even with the rebounds and blocks, Reuvers still maybe did the most damage from the outside. The 6-foot-10 Wisconsin signee hit 4 of 5 shots from distance, plus made 10 of 13 free throws.
He was, simply, fantastic.
How good is Champlin Park? Well, when you roll out McKinley Wright (Dayton commit) and Theo John (Marquette) as your one-two punch, there are not many teams in the state that can stop them. And Apple Valley, even with Tre Jones playing huge, wasn't one of the capable few on Saturday. John had a monster showing of 20 points and 23 rebounds, while Wright had 27 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists.
GOODNEWS, BAD MAN
The event kicked off early Saturday morning when North St. Paul junior Goodnews Kpegeol offered up one of the best dunks of the day. Aftter corralling a loose ball in transition, Kpegeol went up over a defender with a right-handed slam that delivered a better morning jolt than any cup of coffee.
An otherwise exciting game between Minnetonka and North St. Paul came to a rather anticlimactic finish. With under four seconds left, North St. Paul was called for a questionable blocking foul near the basket. And to compound the issue, it was whistled for a technical foul for voicing displeasure on the call. That resulted in four free throws and the ball for Minnetonka, which added another pair from the charity stripe to end the possession. In the end, Minnetonka sank four freebies to ice the game for a 67-63 win -- not the way you ever want to see a game decided.
Despite having one of the top prospects in the country, Rochester John Marshall had no chance against Hopkins. The Royals dominated play to the tune of a 96-62 victory over the Rockets with six players scoring in double figures. Matthew Hurt went 12 for 27 for 30 points and seven rebounds for John Marshall, but it wasn't enough to keep the Rockets close. Ishmael El-Amin had 22 points. Simon Wright added 16 and 11 rebounds, and Zeke Nnaji posted 12 points and five boards.
With the score tied and the clock dwindling, Davison squared up from near half court. The safest move would have been to attack the basket off the bounce, getting to the rim for a shot or at least putting pressure on the officials to call a foul.
Davison didn't go with the safest play, he went with a heck of a shot.
The Crimson senior delivered the game-winning 3-pointer with two seconds remaining to give Maple Grove a 67-64 win over DeLaSalle.
Davison, a Wisconsin signee, dribbled to his right with just under 10 seconds to play and then pulled up from just beyond the 3-point line and shot over an Islander defender.
Splash.
Game, Maple Grove.
Just a freshman, Jalen Suggs of Minnehaha Academy put on a show at the Lindbergh Center. He tallied a game-high 32 points on 10-of-22 shooting while also grabbing 13 rebounds. Once he crosses halfcourt, he's within his shooting range. The highlight of the day for him has two candidates: a 25-footer that caught only nylon or a two-handed tip dunk over two defenders.
Whichever your choice, both were electrifying.
Steve Prohm, Iowa State
Richard Pitino, Minnesota (with all three assistants in tow)
Archie Miller, Dayton
Tre Jones, Apple Valley: With his brother, Tyus, and Timberwolves teammate Zach LaVine in attendance, the junior phenom had 28 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in a losing effort for the Eagles.
Jordan Horn, Tartan: 23 points, three rebounds, and four assists and some big buckets in big spots for the Siena-bound guard.
Race Thompson, Robbinsdale Armstrong: The 6-foot-8 big man showed off his versatile skills in his 24-point, 13-rebound performance. He initiated offense and knocked down 2 of 4 from 3-point range.
Jake Prince, Cretin-Derham Hall: Converted 8 of 10 shots from the floor, including 3 of 5 from deep, en route to a team-high 19 points while also adding seven rebounds and two assists to his stat line.
Ethan Igbanugo, Lakeville North: 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting in a win.
Gabe Kalscheur, DeLaSalle: 27 points and seven rebounds for the Islanders junior in a late loss to Maple Grove.
Tywhon Pickford, Maple Grove: A monster performance against DeLaSalle in which he had 21 points and 15 rebounds.
Brad Davison, Maple Grove: Hit the game-winning three with two seconds to play to cap a 28-point, five-rebounds evening.
By Travis Hines
GAME OF THE NIGHT: Lakeville North 82, Cretin-Derham Hall 74, OT
This one was a beauty. First, there was the fantastic matchup between bigs Nathan Reuvers (Lakeville North) and Daniel Oturu (CDH), which lived up to the billing. Reuvers finished with an eye-popping 38 points and 17 rebounds, and Oturu tallied 15 points and 11 boards. Reuvers got the better of the matchup, but Oturu had one of the plays of the day when he blocked a layup with two hands, ran in transition to the other end of the floor, and put home a layup.
As a whole, though, the game was also fantastic. The lead yo-yoed between the two for much of the evening until Lakeville North appeared to take control late in the second half.
However, Creting-Derman Hall hung around and got a putback from Oturu with 1:14 left. After getting a stop on the other end, the Raiders' Ryan Larson added a layup to knot the game at 67.
Cretin had a chance to win it in regulation but came up empty in the closing seconds. Yet, it wasn't over on their missed shot, as the Raiders were whistled for a foul on the rebound. The Panthers missed both at the stripe to send the game to overtime.
From there, it was all Lakeville North, which got an early bucket from Reuvers and never looked back to cap an extremely well-played, high-level game.
PLAYER OF THE DAY: Nathan Reuvers, Lakeville North
It's hard to overstate how devastating Reuvers' performance was for Cretin-Derham Hall. He was just a wrecking ball and finished with 38 points, 17 rebounds, and five blocks.
He was involved in seemingly every major play of the game and certainly won his matchup against Oturu, turning him away a number of times with blocked shots when the two were matched one-on-one in the post.
Even with the rebounds and blocks, Reuvers still maybe did the most damage from the outside. The 6-foot-10 Wisconsin signee hit 4 of 5 shots from distance, plus made 10 of 13 free throws.
He was, simply, fantastic.
FEARSOME TWOSOME
How good is Champlin Park? Well, when you roll out McKinley Wright (Dayton commit) and Theo John (Marquette) as your one-two punch, there are not many teams in the state that can stop them. And Apple Valley, even with Tre Jones playing huge, wasn't one of the capable few on Saturday. John had a monster showing of 20 points and 23 rebounds, while Wright had 27 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists.
GOODNEWS, BAD MAN
The event kicked off early Saturday morning when North St. Paul junior Goodnews Kpegeol offered up one of the best dunks of the day. Aftter corralling a loose ball in transition, Kpegeol went up over a defender with a right-handed slam that delivered a better morning jolt than any cup of coffee.
GOOD GAME, TOUGH FINISH
An otherwise exciting game between Minnetonka and North St. Paul came to a rather anticlimactic finish. With under four seconds left, North St. Paul was called for a questionable blocking foul near the basket. And to compound the issue, it was whistled for a technical foul for voicing displeasure on the call. That resulted in four free throws and the ball for Minnetonka, which added another pair from the charity stripe to end the possession. In the end, Minnetonka sank four freebies to ice the game for a 67-63 win -- not the way you ever want to see a game decided.
WHOA!
Despite having one of the top prospects in the country, Rochester John Marshall had no chance against Hopkins. The Royals dominated play to the tune of a 96-62 victory over the Rockets with six players scoring in double figures. Matthew Hurt went 12 for 27 for 30 points and seven rebounds for John Marshall, but it wasn't enough to keep the Rockets close. Ishmael El-Amin had 22 points. Simon Wright added 16 and 11 rebounds, and Zeke Nnaji posted 12 points and five boards.
SHOT OF THE DAY: Brad Davison, Maple Grove
With the score tied and the clock dwindling, Davison squared up from near half court. The safest move would have been to attack the basket off the bounce, getting to the rim for a shot or at least putting pressure on the officials to call a foul.
Davison didn't go with the safest play, he went with a heck of a shot.
The Crimson senior delivered the game-winning 3-pointer with two seconds remaining to give Maple Grove a 67-64 win over DeLaSalle.
Davison, a Wisconsin signee, dribbled to his right with just under 10 seconds to play and then pulled up from just beyond the 3-point line and shot over an Islander defender.
Splash.
Game, Maple Grove.
FRESHMAN PHENOM
Just a freshman, Jalen Suggs of Minnehaha Academy put on a show at the Lindbergh Center. He tallied a game-high 32 points on 10-of-22 shooting while also grabbing 13 rebounds. Once he crosses halfcourt, he's within his shooting range. The highlight of the day for him has two candidates: a 25-footer that caught only nylon or a two-handed tip dunk over two defenders.
Whichever your choice, both were electrifying.
DIVISION I HEAD COACHES SPOTTED
Steve Prohm, Iowa State
Richard Pitino, Minnesota (with all three assistants in tow)
Archie Miller, Dayton
OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Tre Jones, Apple Valley: With his brother, Tyus, and Timberwolves teammate Zach LaVine in attendance, the junior phenom had 28 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in a losing effort for the Eagles.
Jordan Horn, Tartan: 23 points, three rebounds, and four assists and some big buckets in big spots for the Siena-bound guard.
Race Thompson, Robbinsdale Armstrong: The 6-foot-8 big man showed off his versatile skills in his 24-point, 13-rebound performance. He initiated offense and knocked down 2 of 4 from 3-point range.
Jake Prince, Cretin-Derham Hall: Converted 8 of 10 shots from the floor, including 3 of 5 from deep, en route to a team-high 19 points while also adding seven rebounds and two assists to his stat line.
Ethan Igbanugo, Lakeville North: 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting in a win.
Gabe Kalscheur, DeLaSalle: 27 points and seven rebounds for the Islanders junior in a late loss to Maple Grove.
Tywhon Pickford, Maple Grove: A monster performance against DeLaSalle in which he had 21 points and 15 rebounds.
Brad Davison, Maple Grove: Hit the game-winning three with two seconds to play to cap a 28-point, five-rebounds evening.
By Travis Hines