The BREAKDOWN
posted 06-29-2009
The Breakdown Summer Showcase is held in Rogers twice during the year because of the outstanding facilities and location. This year the demand for teams was so big that one community could not hold everyone for one day and the towns of St. Michael and Albertville were called upon for help. In all nine divisions were put together this weekend so junior varsity and varsity teams could get time on the floor.
Four of the divisions were played at Rogers High School and Sebeka, Irondale, Pequot Lakes, and Champlin Park won them. Sebeka won using their experience as they bring back all but two points per game from last year’s team. Irondale used an Iron Five for much of the tournament but still beat some good big school teams including Maple Grove for the early session title. Pequot Lakes used their combination of size, strength, and depth to defeat several big school teams including Anoka for their division championship. In the top division at the event Champlin Park defeated Forest Lake, Buffalo, and Tartan (41-37) in a five hour span to take home the championship t-shirts.
There were several impressive player performances throughout the day. Some stars shined brighter than before, some players look like they have turned the corner, and this weekend a couple new stars may have been noticed for the state to see.
THE STARS SHINE
The St. Cloud Tech Tigers took the floor with a new group but there was one fresh face. Alex Hanks led his team to two victories this weekend and even though the workload was much more than what Alex had to do this past season the results were still overly positive. Alex made some threes and he did a nice job of breaking opponents down off the dribble either scoring at the rim, getting to the foul line, or creating for others. Hanks has been given a much bigger creation role and after the first weekend of play he looks to have passed the first test with two thumbs up.
Sebeka 6-foot-4 forward Joey Cuperus was a standout as usual finishing in the paint, grabbing boards, and being a defensive presence. Joey also hit a three a couple times this weekend. In the title game against Hutchinson Joey dominated as Sebeka built a near 20-point lead. Hutch came back but there was too much Joey and Sebeka finished the day undefeated with a 56-52 win.
Forest Lakes’s Zach Riedeman was the highlight dunker at Rogers High School. He posterized somebody in the Champlin Park game plus had several other jams in transition. Riedeman scored 17.3 a game last year and can do more than dunk but his jams were the part of his game on display yesterday.
Jasper Duberry was a steady force Sunday running the show and keeping the ball in the hands of the Rebel playmakers. Jasper made teardrops in transition for scores and his passing in the lane was an important factor as Champlin Park beat Tartan for the top division championship. I also thought Jasper was better with his on ball defensive pressure yesterday than he has been in the past. 
While Aaron Anderson may be one of the more explosive shooters out there he used his dribble attack in transition and in the halfcourt set to score yesterday against St. Cloud Apollo and Tartan. Anderson used his quickness to create space and his mobility to finish in the lane over bigger players. This type of ability combined with his shot has impressed schools as Aaron recently picked up offers from North Dakota and UM-Crookston.
TOP PERFORMANCES
In the STMA game against Fridley a three point shot was made with seconds to go to tie things up at 47. But at the buzzer a driving pull-up score was made by Tiger senior to be Devin Hemmerich who justifiably was excited and ran to the corner mobbed by his teammates.
In addition to Cuperus, Sebeka’s John Clark (who averaged 13.8 points and 7.4 rebounds as a sophomore last year) was also an active force all over the floor. In many ways Clark is similar to Cuperus but he shoots the ball a little more crisp and more consistently.
Maranatha Christian Academy was up here this weekend and all I keep hearing about is this dunk that Josh Hanson had on Zach Vraa recently. Hanson scored 15.2 last year as a junior and a big senior year should follow.
Mankato East big Sami Onsomu is a raw prospect at 6-foot-6 but he has a very good frame and he moves all right. Sami’s offensive moves are coming along and he’ capable of scoring from 12 feet and in in several ways. He just has to become more consistent with it. Overall Sami is an interesting prospect who should have a strong year in the Big Nine.
Best offensive rebounder at the event? Forest Lake’s Doug Sewell and it wasn’t close. Sewell is a warrior on the glass who just finds his way to loose caroms. It seemed every time I walked by one of his games Doug was either grabbing o-boards or at the foul line.
What about Kyle Zimmerman of Champlin Park? Yes Kyle is right there with Sewell although Doug got the better of the match-up when Forest Lake came back, but Champlin still won. Then CP went on to beat Tartan who didn’t have an answer for Kyle’s crafty play in the paint in the second half of the title game.
Tartan wings Troy Klingsporn and Tim Lubke each had some memorable performances yesterday. Lubke knocked down four triples and scored 18 points in the Titan win over Osseo in front of coaches from Southwest State, St. John’s, UW-Eau Claire, and St. Cloud State. Those coaches were also on hand to check out Manani Beavers of Tartan as well as Aaron Anderson from Osseo.
Klingsporn scored 17 points in the loss to Champlin Park. Troy nailed two deep three-point attempts, he scored in transition raising over traffic, the 6-foot-3 Klingsporn scored strong in the paint in the halfcourt set, and he made his free tosses.
Hassan Abdulkadir of St. Cloud Apollo made a game winning three-pointer as Apollo beat Forest Lake yesterday. After losing initially to Osseo, Apollo came back to defeat Fargo South and Forest Lake winning two of three.
One of the toughest players at the event was Ben Figini. As a sophomore Ben scored 12.7 a game and college coaches say that the thing he is missing is a jumper. Guess what? At one point I watched Ben for about five minutes and he nailed a three, a jumper, and two free throws in that quick time span. Moments later I later I peeked back around a corner to see Figini bump an opposing big to the floor, grab the board, score, and look down at the player like he should not have entered Ben’s domain.
Irondale may not have the most talent when they take the floor but nobody outworks this team. Yesterday Irondale assistant coach Joel Andrychowicz and five Irondale players (for part of the day) traveled north to the showcase and beat Cambridge-Isanti, Sauk Rapids-Rice, and a Maple Grove team that had 12 players who were bigger, stronger, and in cases faster but Irondale outworked them. Down the stretch Irondale guard Danny Blumberg put Maple Grove away with several key free throws as well as some important decisions with the ball in his hands as the Knights went on to win 58-54.
BIG LAKE READY TO BREAK OUT?
Are people out there looking for a sleeper point guard? I think we have found one and his name is Michael Stephens from Big Lake. The left-handed 5-foot-10 Stephens scored five points a game last year for the Hornets as a sophomore but if he plays his junior year like he did this past weekend at the Breakdown Summer Showcase big things should be expected. Against Sebeka there was no stopping Stephens from getting past the first line of defense and into the lane for production. He was able to hang in the air to complete penetrating plays while being fouled and Stephens showed some range making two long jumpers including one trey. Stephens also sat down and was a pest defensively from baseline to baseline.
Big Lake has another couple interesting players in 6-foot-1 shooting guard Chaz Miller and 6-foot-8 big man Tyler Hansen. Both will be seniors next year and both have some ability/potential. The Mississippi 8 is a tough league and the Hornets only won four games in it last year but with Stephens, Miller, and Hansen returning they should be better. That 9-17 overall record should be better too. And we didn’t even mention juniors to be Anthony Saavedra and Micah Sickman who were the 3rd and 4th leading scorers on last year’s team and the top returning scorers for this year’s bunch.
Big Lake had very strong wins over Albany (with Zach Noreen) and Virginia this weekend earning 3rd place. Their lone loss was to Sebeka by seven points.
DRASTIC IMPROVEMENT
This past year I was able to see a couple Delano games and in those contests 6-foot-7 sophomore Mike Yahnke was pretty much ineffective. My oh my has there ever been some work put in by Yahnke as he is easily the most improved player that I have seen over the past couple months.
Sunday I was able to see Mike play two full games against Mankato East and Jamestown (ND). The level of footwork, shooting touch, moves and counter moves, and physical play in Yahnke’s game is increased several levels. Against East big Sami Onsomu, Yahnke scored several times including drop step scores, jump hooks, a face-up jumper, and an elbow jumper. Then against Jamestown the 6-foot-7 Delano banger dominated the game with his scoring and rebounding. At one point he scored four straight field goals including a play where he ran the floor and was rewarded in transition.
Mike has gone from a player that looked very raw to a certain scholarship prospect level player with good footwork. His offensive repertoire is much expanded and he’s learned not only moves and a touch but also counter moves where he finishes with that touch.
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