MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Drake Palmer]

Looks like Williams arena was the place to be this afternoon.  A number of sharpshooters all of a sudden got even hotter today.

In a losing effort against Winona, Orono's Jordan Smith scored 30 points of his team's 57 points as he makes 11-22 FGA, 6-13 from behind the arc.  Winona's 7 footer Alec Brown scored 35 points s on 16-23 FGAs, to go along with 12 rebs.   His frontcourt mate Jr. Mark Blacklock (younger brother of the Gusties' Paul Blacklock?) followed by shooting at a Jonkey- like 10-12 from the floor, 5-5 from the charity stripe for 25 points & 6 boards.

In the other AAA game, DeLaSalle vs. Little Falls, De's Jalen Jaspers who's heading to the NSIC's Univ. of Mary next fall said to his critics– "who sez my shot is broke??  Jaspers scored 26 points on 10-12 shooting from the floor & 3-3 from the 3 pt. line.

PI – I thought you said Hutch was going to give Johnson a run?

St. Cloud State heads to the NCAA Division II Final Four thanks to Taylor Witt's 43 points in 29 minutes (92-88 over Midwestern State, Texas).

Potentially a feather in the J's hat........lose to bothe the D-lll and D-ll national champs in the same year!  

Sum – umm, yeah, I guess that is a dubious type of achievement.  

So what is this - a courtesy visit before the golf & fishing openers?    On the sports the other night they said that Legends Golf Course in Prior Lake was opening up today or tomorrow.

[Buddo]

Winona's 7 footer Alec Brown scored 35 points s on 16-23 FGAs, to go along with 12 rebs.   His frontcourt mate Jr. Mark Blacklock (younger brother of the Gusties' Paul Blacklock?)

Yes, he is Paul's brother. An explosive dunker... probable D-1 recruit.

[piperinsider]

Looks like Williams arena was the place to be this afternoon.  A number of sharpshooters all of a sudden got even hotter today.

In a losing effort against Winona, Orono's Jordan Smith scored 30 points of his team's 57 points as he makes 11-22 FGA, 6-13 from behind the arc.  Winona's 7 footer Alec Brown scored 35 points s on 16-23 FGAs, to go along with 12 rebs.   His frontcourt mate Jr. Mark Blacklock (younger brother of the Gusties' Paul Blacklock?) followed by shooting at a Jonkey- like 10-12 from the floor, 5-5 from the charity stripe for 25 points & 6 boards.

In the other AAA game, DeLaSalle vs. Little Falls, De's Jalen Jaspers who's heading to the NSIC's Univ. of Mary next fall said to his critics– "who sez my shot is broke??  Jaspers scored 26 points on 10-12 shooting from the floor & 3-3 from the 3 pt. line.

PI – I thought you said Hutch was going to give Johnson a run?

St. Cloud State heads to the NCAA Division II Final Four thanks to Taylor Witt's 43 points in 29 minutes (92-88 over Midwestern State, Texas).

Potentially a feather in the J's hat........lose to bothe the D-lll and D-ll national champs in the same year!  

Sum – umm, yeah, I guess that is a dubious type of achievement.  

So what is this - a courtesy visit before the golf & fishing openers?    On the sports the other night they said that Legends Golf Course in Prior Lake was opening up today or tomorrow.

Shooting 27 percent lower than the section final, turning the ball over 25 times - that ain't going to get it done. State experience showed, then again, Johnson beats Winona by 25 and Grand Rapids by 30. They are the best team in state - no doubt. I would have taken them over Macalester this year.

[buf]

For the sake of discussion, I'm posting an email I got recently from a former high school hoops coach from just outside the metro area. He got to see the second-most controversial team in the state, behind the University of Hopkins, play for the first time just the other night.

Is anyone familiar with this team? There was a Noreen that attended St Bens a few years back. Is Kevin any relation? Could he possibly be a future Johnnie?

I'd be curious to hear what other people have seen or heard about this situation...

I got the chance to see Transitions at the WI/MN border battle in Eau Claire back in January.  The team seemed to be pretty much a 3-person team, 2 of which were the Noreen brothers.  I believe the younger Noreen also is going D1, perhaps an Ivy League school??  Not sure but I thought that I read that somewhere.  Older Noreen played really well around the hoop.  Had some nice post moves.  However, their opponent didn't really have a legitimate post player.  He could probably work on his footspeed a little more.  He also hit a 3 and looked to have a decent outside shot.

The game was close all the way, but the highlight was watching the Transitions assistant coach.  That alone was worth the price of admission.  Every time a call went against his team (eventhough it was the correct call), he would throw up his arms and stomp on the ground, yelling at the refs as they would run by the bench.  Finally he got a T in the 2nd half (could have been many more).  The crowd behind the bench (mostly nuetral observers) stood up and clapped when he got the T.  The head coach spent most of the game babysitting him, telling him to calm down.

If any of you get time, scroll through some of the boxscores of this team on the star tribune website.  Some crazy numbers, like for instance 92 points in one half.  Noreen scoring 60-some points and grabbing 20-some rebounds in a game.

[buf]

I followed the live stats for a bit of the Transitions game.  Interesting note:  Both Noreen brothers were on the court at the final buzzer (the only 2 starters in the game at this time) in a 22-point blowout.   They were still the ones taking shots and grabbing rebounds for the team in garbage time.  Gotta play every possible second to pile up the stats 

[piperinsider]

Caught some of the Grand rapids/DeLaSalle contest today....I heard that Walter Franklin, point guard of the Islanders, was going to St. Thomas next season. 4.03 points per game, 2.03 rebounds - maybe he's going for school or for football?

[Drake Palmer]

PHEW, DOUBLE OT GAMES ALL OVER THE PLACE & a few upsets to boot!! 

Caught some of the Grand rapids/DeLaSalle contest today....I heard that Walter Franklin, point guard of the Islanders, was going to St. Thomas next season. 4.03 points per game, 2.03 rebounds - maybe he's going for school or for football?

Franklin is a dual sport athlete & he may end up playing wide receiver for UST. He lead the Islanders in receptions this year & I think he averaged close to 20 yards per catch.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

what a pair of great games at Target Center last night! Looks to me like Hopkins should win tomorrow, but Tech is TOUGH and talented. A win would be a huge feather in Trewick's hat and make him the odds-on favorite to take over at SJU when/if Smith hangs it up--- assuming Trewick wants the job (sarcarsm-- he lusts the job).  i was really impressed with Tech's tenacity and their poise.

the crowd was dissapointing. the student sections were nice & vocal, but the building felt empty. Earlier in the week, the Strib ran a great article about the 50th anniversary of Edgerton's Cinderella win and ran a photo showing a PACKED Williams Arena. Compared to that, all of this week's crowds are tiny.

[Drake Palmer]

In the Eden Prairie & St. Cloud Tech game last night there was a couple of MIAC connections: First of all, there was the Gustavus connection with head coach Dave Flom & assistant coach Doug Espenson at Eden Prairie.  Also SR forward Brett Ervin is younger brother of UST's Brady Ervin.  Even the low scoring drought & offense EP was running at the end of regulation was vaguely reminiscent of the Gustie offense on occasion.   

As Mose pointed out earlier, St Cloud Tech is coached by Mike Trewick –former SMU coach & current Johnnie assistant football coach.  One of the stars for Tech is Alex Hanks who will attend MSU-Mankato next fall on a basketball scholie.  Alex is the younger brother of Nick Hanks who played sparingly for Macalester between 04-08.

the crowd was dissapointing. the student sections were nice & vocal, but the building felt empty. Earlier in the week, the Strib ran a great article about the 50th anniversary of Edgerton's Cinderella win and ran a photo showing a PACKED Williams Arena. Compared to that, all of this week's crowds are tiny.

Splitting into 4 classes certainly didn't help the state tourney, but we need to remember there are a lot more sports alternatives available, or alternatives period, than there was 50 years ago. Fewer classes might draw more interest back to the state tourney, but I do understand the adrenalin rush in winning a state title of any sort.

[piperinsider]

the crowd was dissapointing. the student sections were nice & vocal, but the building felt empty. Earlier in the week, the Strib ran a great article about the 50th anniversary of Edgerton's Cinderella win and ran a photo showing a PACKED Williams Arena. Compared to that, all of this week's crowds are tiny.

Sure it was small, but that would have been a nice crowd for a Wolves game. IALTO!

[Drake Palmer]

Sweet Sebeka!!! Sweet Class A semifinal game between Sebeka & Ellsworth.  Sebeka wins 61-60.  If I'm the Cobber coaching staff I'm all over those kids from the north country. They're rangy, athletic, quick with decent size & shooting ability. Their pg, Alex Brockpahler ran a sweet floor game, played excellent defense, & hit the game winning shot. An excellent D3 type PG. very impressive player.  

For Ellsworth, how do they get all those tall, talented players?  I was very impressed with SR forward 6-9 Tyler Gruis who is a Mr. Basketball finalist & is going to South Dakota to play basketball next year.  Based on on my limited viewing, I like Gruis better than what I saw from another Mr. Basketball finalist- Kevin Noreen from Transitions.   And Cody Schilling's younger brother Casey is one tough ball player.  Plus he's' only a soph.  31 pt & 12+ rebs.  Very nice ball game.

[Buddo]

I can't say I'm real happy that MTS won Class A today. The coach looks sleazy and the Noreens were obviously recruited or acquired through a non-traditional way. Their dad is an assistant for god's sake...  Just look at the other kids on the bench... one looked like he was in 6th grade and another looked like the only ball he's every played is on his Xbox 360. I love the concept of MTS, giving kids a second chance at earning a diploma. That's a great cause, but you can't tell me that the Noreens had it rough in inner-city Minneapolis and MTS saved their academic future. The whole situation is very odd.

I don't deny that the Noreens work very hard and are good basketball players, but their stats would easily  be cut into halves or thirds if they were playing at a class 3A or 4A school. MTS plays 5-6 kids the whole game and blows up stats. It's too bad that they had to beat a small school from a small community that produced homegrown kids.

[AO]

I can't say I'm real happy that MTS won Class A today. The coach looks sleazy and the Noreens were obviously recruited or acquired through a non-traditional way. Their dad is an assistant for god's sake...  Just look at the other kids on the bench... one looked like he was in 6th grade and another looked like the only ball he's every played is on his Xbox 360. I love the concept of MTS, giving kids a second chance at earning a diploma. That's a great cause, but you can't tell me that the Noreens had it rough in inner-city Minneapolis and MTS saved their academic future. The whole situation is very odd.

I don't deny that the Noreens work very hard and are good basketball players, but their stats would easily  be cut into halves or thirds if they were playing at a class 3A or 4A school. MTS plays 5-6 kids the whole game and blows up stats. It's too bad that they had to beat a small school from a small community that produced homegrown kids.

Well you've got it half-right at least.  You like the concept of the charter school which has helped a lot of the kids the traditional public schools have failed, and you acknowledge they've done a poor job of attracting a lot of talent based upon their serious lack of depth, but you still can't be happy for them?  The way Transitions got the Noreens to play for them is exactly the same way that other metro area powers attracted their talent.  Everything they've done is well within the rules of the MSHSL.  I'd direct your disgust towards the MSHSL.  There has to be a point at which administrators realize that with the ability to transfer, enrollment size does not matter and we should go back to the single-class format.

[Drake Palmer]

Butler's Gordon Hayward & Gusties Trevor Wittwer - cousins? 

[Drake Palmer]

Pioneer Press Metro Player of the Year

Senior Maxie Rosenbloom who helped lead his St. Paul Johnson team to the Class AAA State High School title this past weekend was just named the Pioneer Press' Player of the Year. Rosenbloom also lists St. Thomas as one of his college favorites -

Favorite class: Business management

GPA: 3.9, ranks No. 21 in his senior class

College choices: St. Thomas, Bemidji State, Minnesota, Missouri-Kansas City

College major: Business administration