By Matt Krumrie
MaxPreps.com
Starting Five
1. Mr. Basketball: The 15 finalists for the 2009 Mr. Basketball Minnesota award have been announced. They include four players from the state’s top team – Hopkins (Mike Broghammer, Trent Lockett, Royce White, Raymond Cowles). Henry Sibley, widely considered the state’s second best team, has two candidates – Chris Halvorsen and Mike Bruesewitz. The other finalists are: Mike Felt, Redwood Valley; Mike Muscala, Roseville; Josh Figini, Chisago Lakes; Rodney Williams, Cooper; Sam Dower, Osseo; Tydan Storrusten, Pelican Rapids; Nate Wolters, St. Cloud Tech; Marc Sonnen, Tartan; and Jordair Jett, St. Bernard’s.
2. Hopkins Hits 100: It was the biggest game of the year – for Robbinsdale Cooper that is. And just another win for Hopkins, the state’s top-ranked team who improved to 14-0 with the 100-78 win over 13-1 Cooper Tuesday. The stars all came through in this one. Rodney Williams, the high-flying, 6-foot-7 Minnesota recruit, scored 21 points to lead Cooper. Trent Lockett, an Arizona State recruit, scored 23 points to lead all scorers. Minnesota recruit Rodney White scored 21 for Hopkins, and Notre Dame recruit Mike Broghammer added 15 for Ken Novak’s powerhouse.
3. North Defeats South: Minneapolis North squeaked out a tough 57-56 win over Minneapolis South in a battle of Minneapolis City Conference rivals this week. Leading the way for North was Ariel Deloney, who scored 13 points. Pengi Mboma scored 12 points and Malik El-Amin scored 10 in the win. Carnell Shepard scored 19 points and Will Ferguson 10 for South in the loss.
4. Another Notch for North: Lakeville North entered the 4A rankings this week, ranked No. 10 in the state with a 15-3 record. North, which avenged an earlier loss to Lake Conference foe Bloomington Jefferson with a win Tuesday, is led by a balanced attack featuring leading scorer Tyler Swanson (14.7 points per game), Dajon Newell (11.3), Dave Berthene (10), Cliff Johnson (9.9) and Chris Orgas (8.5), among others.
5. Fridley in Top 10: At 11-5, Fridley has a solid, but not outstanding record. Still, the Tigers are ranked No. 7 in the state in 3A and hope to rebound from their biggest loss of the season Tuesday (72-52 to Spring Lake Park) in a game against Irondale Friday. Isaiah Thomas leads the Tigers in scoring at 23.5 points per game, while Evan Sjodin is averaging 11.5 per game. Elijah Anwey averages 9.8 points per game and Thad Picott 9.5.
Three to Watch
1. Sauk Rapids: SR got back to .500 in the conference and improved to 9-8 overall with a 73-62 win over Alexandria this week. Jordan Christianson led the way with 20 points, seven rebounds and two steals, while Chris Wichterman had 13 points, David Kroger 11, Tyler Stein 9 and Cody Meyer 8.
2. Yuriv Malashenko, Jordan: The Jordan big man is averaging 13.7 points per game, but even more impressive is his rebounding totals. He has 258 rebounds in 16 games, an average of over 16 per game, second in the state.
3. Kyle Noreen, Minnesota Transitions: Big brother Kevin Noreen leads the state in scoring at 33.3 points per game. But Kyle leads the state in steals with 97 – an average of over six per game for a team that is 14-2 on the season. He also is third in the state in assists with 109.
Two Hot Too Handle
1. Erie, Erie, Step Right Up: Blayne and Ashton Erie were double trouble in Goodhue’s 69-41 win over Randolph Thursday. Blayne had 24 points and 8 rebounds, while Ashton had 21 points and 9 rebounds in the win.
2. Chad Calcaterra, Cloquet: The Lumberjack junior is 15th in the state in scoring, averaging 24.1 points per game, and making 58.4 percent of his field goal attempts. Cloquet is 8-0 and in first place in the Lake Superior Conference, and 10-8 overall.
Inside the Numbers
2,400 – Fans who packed the Cooper High School gym Tuesday to watch Hopkins defeat Cooper 100-78 in a battle of unbeaten teams.
103 – Assists this season from St. Michael-Albertville’s Jason Dehmer. He is one of four players in the state with over 100 assists heading into action Friday.
20.1 – Per game scoring average of Connor O’Brien of New Prague.
5 – Players who have signed with Division I schools in that Hopkins vs. Cooper game. Four were from Hopkins, one from Cooper. (All players listed above in Mr. Basketball finalist list)
