GREAT PLAINS ALLIANCE THURSDAY NIGHT ACTION

Minnesota Select AAU boys’ basketball club hosted a tournament in St. Cloud through the weekend of June 25-27.

SCHOOLERS DAILY VS. MINNESOTA HEAT WAYZATA

Schoolers Daily and Heat Wayzata squared off in a game. Wayzata looked to push the ball down the floor and score baskets in transition. They were able to pass the ball around the 3-point line as well as attack the basket.

Wayzata used mostly zone defense in the first half. That made Schoolers Daily have to take deep 3-point shots.

The score went back and forth throughout the first half.

Wayzata was able to step up and knock down 3-point baskets. No one for Wayzata was afraid to shoot the ball.

Schoolers Daily called a timeout with 7:45 left in the first half. The score was Wayzata 16, Schoolers Daily 9.

Both teams dove on the floor after loose balls and they both went after rebounds. There were many jump balls.

The score went back and forth late in the first half.  

At halftime the score was Wayzata 29, Schoolers Daily 23.

As the second half got underway Wayzata continued to push the ball down the floor and score baskets in transition.

Wayzata was a little quicker than the Schoolers Daily were. They beat them down the floor and were able to get more rebounds and shots.

Wayzata came up with fast break layups off of steals. Schoolers Daily didn’t back down. They kept attacking the basket and making layups.

Wayzata passed the ball around the 3-point line as they looked to take time off the clock with 10 minutes left in the second half.

Schoolers Daily found their shooting rhythm in the second half. They were hitting shots that they weren’t hitting in the first half.

The score went back and forth late in the second half. Both teams attacked the basket well and played tough defense.

Wayzata was able to hit shots late in the game. Wayzata came away with the 66-58 victory over Schoolers Daily.

These tournaments gives me a chance to see different players and coaches both high school and college coaches. 

BEN JACOBSON'S BASKETBALL TEAM CAMP

Over the weekend of June 13-14 2015 AAU and high school boys’ basketball teams from multiple states converged on the campus of University of Northern Iowa for a team camp.

Ben Jacobson is the head basketball coach at the University of Northern Iowa. According to the benjacobsonbasketballcamps.com web site, “The Team Camp format gives optimal summer development time to teams and their coaches in a highly competitive atmosphere. The 2015 team camps are for high school-age teams only. We invite school teams, all-star teams, or any other teams within these grade brackets. Each team is guaranteed six games with each game consisting of four, eight-minute quarters with stopped time. Teams are pooled according to strength with separate Varsity, JV, Fresh/Soph and 9th Grade divisions. Instruction and on-court demonstrations will be included for the campers and coaches.”

The teams that attended the camp were, “Crestwood-V Crestwood-JV, South St. Paul-V ADM-V, Montezuma-V, Newton-V, Newton-JV, Maple Grove-V, Wayzata-V, Tipton-V, Dike New Hartford-V Dike New Hartford-FR/SO Caledonia-V, Cedar Rapids Xavier-V, Newman Central Catholic-V, Newman Central Catholic-FR/SO Grant-V, Grant-FR/SO Grant-JV, St. Paul Johnson-V, Armstrong-V, Armstrong-JV, Linn Mar-FR, Charles City-V, Union La Porte City-V,Linn Mar-V, Linn Mar-SO, Dubuque Hempstead-V, St. Thomas Academy-FR, Naperville Central-V, Dixon-V, English Valleys-V, Lewiston-Altura-V, Dubuque Hempstead-JV, Iowa City West-V, Iowa City High-V, Tartan-V, Carmel Catholic-V, Carmel Catholic-JV, Howard Pulley-Wade/Robinson, Howard Pulley-Washington/Shelton, Howard Pulley-Walker/Braziel Howard Pulley-Maxey, Howard Pulley-Taylor.”

 A lot of teams in the gym played a lot of games over two days. I thought that the event was well ran. It gave teams a chance to play against top level athletes. It gave fans a chance to watch teams from different levels and different states to see different teams.

In Minnesota there are rules and regulations regarding when high school coaches can coach their own kids. This was part of the open period for high school coaches.