St. Thomas Academy, Ellsworth back to defend titles; Schilling chasing state's all-time scoring mark.
By Matt Krumrie
MaxPreps.com
STARTING FIVE
1. Defending Champs: Two defending state champs are back at the 2008 boys state basketball tournament, which runs Wednesday through Saturday at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis and Concordia University in St. Paul. St. Thomas Academy (AAA) and Ellsworth (A) are the lone teams back this year. Buffalo (AAAA) and Holy Family Catholic (AA) did not make the tournament this year. STA (22-6) opens play Thursday at Mariucci against Little Falls (14-14). Ellsworth (28-2) plays Granada-Huntley-East Chain (25-2) also Thursday at Mariucci Arena
2. Mariucci, not Williams?: The Minnesota boys basketball state tournament has been played at two primary locations over the years – at Target Center and Williams Arena, home of the Minnesota Golden Gophers on the campus of the University of Minnesota. Mariucci Arena, meanwhile, is the home to – Golden Gophers hockey? Because of a regional robotics conference at Williams Arena the only other feasible option was Mariucci. So, for the first time in the state basketball tournament some first round games will be played in a 10,000-seat arena known for hockey. After the first round all winners bracket games, however, will be played at the Target Center. Third-place games will be played on Saturday at Concordia University in St. Paul
3. Seeding: This is the first year the top four teams in AAAA and AAA were seeded, with opponents determined by a blind draw. How did it work? According to the Minnesota State High School League the head coaches of the all 16 schools logged onto a special page of the Web site and ranked teams one through seven. The highest and lowest teams were discarded, leaving five teams from which the top four were selected. The top seed in both classes, however, was no surprise: Minnetonka (AAAA) and Benilde-St. Margaret’s (AAA).
4. First-Timers: This is the first state tournament for Granada-Huntley-East Chain (25-2), the Class A Section 2 champs. The No. 3-ranked Mustangs are led by senior Dan Stensland and junior Tim Garry, both who averaged 14.3 points per game. The Mustangs shoot 53.1 percent from the field and average 70.3 points per game.
5. Como Park Unranked, Undaunted: Rankings don’t mean much to the Cougars of Como Park. In fact, they weren’t ranked in the final state poll. But led by Greg Morse (19.8 points per game), the Cougars still won 20 games this season (20-9) and will face top-ranked Benilde-St. Margaret’s (26-3) in an opening round game. Morse, a 6-5 forward who was the St. Paul City Conference’s leading passer in football last fall, has scored 1,178 points in his career. It is Como Park’s first trip to state since 2003.
THREE TO WATCH
1. Cody Schilling, Ellsworth: Schilling not only will try to lead Ellsworth to back-to-back titles, he will attempt to become the state’s all-time leading scorer in the process. He is 23 points away from breaking the state record, and could do it if he reaches his per game average of 27.9 points. Schilling also averages 9.5 rebounds per game.
2. Rochester Mayo: The Spartans (24-4) are making their first trip to state and finished the season ranked No. 4 in the final AP poll. Jordan Hicks (18.3 ppg) and Lucas Kuipers (18.2 ppg) were the leading scorers for Mayo this season.
3. Chisholm Bluestreaks: Chisholm, the Section 7 champs (24-6) is making its 17th state tournament appearance (four state titles, most recently 1991), and first since 1995. Taylor Skoglund leads the team with a 20.7 points per game, and also hauls down 9.8 rebounds per game.
TWO HOT TOO HANDLE
1. Cass Lake-Bena: The Panthers were runner-ups last year, losing to Ellsworth. They have three players on their team who have scored over 1,000 points in their career: Sophomore Martin Wind and seniors Joel Salscheider and Nate Salscheider. Wind averages 24.3 points per game.
2. Bloomington Kennedy: At 19-8 the Eagles will face No. 1 seed Minnetonka in a AAAA quarterfinal. Seniors Alfred Jaryan and Carlton Starr average 16.1 and 15.9 points per game to lead the team. Starr also leads the team with 8.9 rebounds per game.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
1977 – That was the year of the last state tournament appearance for Little Falls, who enters the state tournament with a 14-14 record. Junior Nick Erdrich is the team’s leading scorer with (16.7 ppg) while senior Ronnie Kornbaum averages 13.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
1,811 – Career point total of Montevideo senior Tyler Grey, who averages 19.1 points per game.
1,396 – Career point total for St. Bernard’s junior Jordair Jett.
108 – Steals this year by Burnsville’s Tarrell Clark, who holds the school record for most steals in a career. Clark also averages 23.2 points per game for the 20-9 Blaze. Burnsville plays Robbinsdale Cooper (22-7) Wednesday at the Target Center.
45 – All semifinal and final games will be broadcast on KSTC
32.9 – Combined scoring average of the Norman County East, Twin Valley (24-5) duo of David Varriano (17.4) and Tyler Bennefeld (15.5). Bennefeld leads the team in rebounding with 11.6 per game.
29.2 – Scoring average of Kevin Noreen of Minnesota Transitions, which leads all state tournament players.
28 – Wins Bertha-Hewitt (28-0) enters the state tournament with. Ranked No. 1 in Class A, senior John Hartung leads the team with an average of 15.1 point per game.
17 – Losses for Grand Rapids (13-17), who will play Willmar (23-5) in a quarterfinal game. Matt Sjostrand (12.7 ppg) and Jared Sutherland (10.3 ppg) lead Grand Rapids.
12 – Years of the 4-class state tournament. Previous years have consisted of two classes and for a brief while a one-class system was in place.
7.5 – Assists per game of Minneapolis Henry guard Mandela Jackson, who also averages 21.1 points per game.
4.3 – Blocks per game of New London-Spicer’s Wade Powers. The senior also averages 13 ppg for the Wildcats (30-1). Teammate Skylar Wachter leads the team in scoring with 13.7 points per game.
