After family time, back to coaching - Townsquare...

WEEKLY ROUNDUP

*Coach back at helm*Top 20 teams each class*Midwest playoffs added

*Gopher men need to deliver*Cyclones raid MN again

Volume 23 Issue No. 2 December 9 2016-2017

After family time, back to coachingBy Bruce Strand

Jill Becken, who coached Centen-nial girls basketball to four state

trips in nine years before resigning to watch her three kids play, is back at the Cougars helm this season.

“I have missed the interaction with the young athletes on the basket-ball court,” reflected Becken, who had a 208-48 record with CHS and a state runner-up finish in 2009, af-ter coaching Forest Lake for eight years with a 115-70 record and one state trip. That’s 323 total wins (plus a 3-0 start this year) and five state trips in 17 seasons.

Becken had not intended to return when she stepped down in 2011, but “thought about it quite a bit” when the position opened up again. She decided: “I had enjoyed coach-ing and working for Mr. Hegseth in the past so I thought the time was right to jump back in.”

Brian Hegseth, activities director, said the school was “very pleased and surprised to have Jill interested in coming back.”

Greg Amundsen coached the Cou-gars the last five years and had four 20-win seasons, two state trips and a 98-44 overall record (14-13 last

year). He left to take a coaching job at Maranatha Christian. Previously, Amundsen is a coaching legend in North Dakota, with nine state cham-pionships at Mandan.

“Coach Amundson did a nice job with the program while I was away, and it is in excellent shape,” Becken noted. “The cupboard is definitely not bare, and my coaching staff and I are hoping we can continue the strong basketball tradition at CHS.”

Becken’s return to coaching coin-cides with her exit from teaching. A

math teacher for 31 years, she re-tired last spring.

After the Cougars (2-0) opened with a 79-32 win over Como Park at home — in which she was able to play all 15 girls and all of them scored — Becken reflected:

“It was sort of weird but also felt really good. There are so many les-sons in life through sports and it’s nice to work with these very fo-cused driven young ladies! I also had some family and friends in the gym so that made it special.”

A basketball family, the Beckens of Centennial: Emily, Kahla, Dan, Pete, and Jill, coaching again after 5 years to watch them.

Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News December 9

She was Jill Lewis when she played basketball and ten-nis at Willmar High School and basketball at Minne-sota-Morris. Her father, Mel Lewis, was football and basketball coach at Willmar Community College and basketball coach at Minnesota-Morris.

Her husband, Pete, also played basketball for Willmar and Minnesota-Morris. They have three very athletic children. She was able to watch her girls play tennis for strong Cougar teams but regretted missing most of their basketball games along with her sons.

“I took five years off for three important reasons: Dan, Kayla and Emily,” said Becken.

Emily was entering her senior year of college bas-ketball at Northern State in South Dakota, where she was a three-year starter at guard and scored over 1,000 points, after making all-conference twice at Centennial and the Pioneer Press all-metro defensive team.

Kayla, who scored 1,338 points for Centennial, 36 of them in the 2009 state tourney, was just entering North Dakota State, where she became a starting guard as a sophomore and junior before skipping her last season due to concussion issues.

Dan had two years left at Centennial at the time. Jill had seldom seen him play, as boys and girls games are usually on the same day. With her winters finally open, Becken was finally able to watch all three play as much as she wanted, journeying with Pete to Aberdeen and Fargo and other college towns for the girls while root-ing for the Cougar boys in Dan’s last two years.

Dan, a 6-foot-7 forward, has two seasons left at Wis-consin-Eau Claire, after transferring from Northern State. Eau Claire is a lot closer than Aberdeen.

“I think I can juggle coaching and watching our son play,” said Becken.

(Originally pinted in Quad Community Press)

Becken back at Centennial after 5 years as fan of her kids

Email Erik Olson at [email protected]


Pacesetter Youth Basketball Region Playoffs set for

Minnesota State Championships

MN BASKETBALL NEWS PREASON SUPER FIVE

Pacesetter Basketball has announced the regional play-off schedule for the 25th Annual Minnesota Youth Bas-ketball State Championships:

Region 1: Rochester, March 25-26Region 2: Mankato, April 22-23Region 3: Redwood Falls, March 25-26Region 4: Barnum/Willow River, April 8-9Region 5: St. Cloud, April 1-2Region 6: Moorhead, April 1-2Region 7: Hibbing/Grand Rapids, April 1-2Region 8: Bemidji, April 1-2

All Minnesota youth basketball school or community teams in grades 4-9 are eligible to play. Teams will play 3-4 games on one day. (See website for dates and grades playing.) Over 700 Minnesota teams partici-pated in 2016.

The region champions advance to the state champion-ship in Maple Grove in June. The top two teams from the Pacesetter Minnesota state championships are in-vited to play in the Pacesetter Great Four-State Cham-pionships in the Twin Cities in an 8-team tournament against the top two teams from Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

GIRLS

FIRST TEAMKiley Borowicz, senior, Roseau

Paige Bueckers, freshman HopkinsRae Johnson, senior, St. Michael-Albertville

Rachel Ranke, senior, EastviewKristin Scott, senior, Kasson-Mantorville

SECOND TEAMTemi Carda, senior, Lakeville NorthMikayla Hayes, senior, Park Center

Annika Jank, senior, EdinaSydney Lodermeier, junior, Goodhue

Chelsea Mason, senior, Mountain Iron-Buhl

BOYS

FIRST TEAMTre Jones, junior, Apple Valley

McKinley Wright, senior, Champlin ParkBrad Davison, senior, Maple Grove

Matthew Hurt, sophomore, Rochester JMTheo John, senior, Champlin Park

SECOND TEAMIshmael El-Amin, senior, Hopkins

Daniel Oturu, junior, Cretin-Derham HallGoanar Mar, senior, DeLaSalle

Jericho Sims, senior, Cristo Rey JesuitNathan Reuvers, senior, Lakeville NorthPacesetter Winter Classic

Youth Basketball Tournament set for St. Cloud March 4-5

The Pacesetter Winter Classic Youth Basketball Tour-nament has been set for Saturday and Sunday, March 4-5, at The College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph.

All teams will play 3-4 games in one day. Boys in grades 4, 6 and 8 and girls in grades 5 and 7 will play Saturday, March 4. Boys in grades 5 and 7, and girls in grades 4, 6 and 8 will play Sunday, March 5.

Further information and registration are available on-line at www.pacesettersports.net.


MBBN Top 20 boys MBBN Top 20 girlsCLASS 4A

1. Champlin Park 1-0 2. Lakeville North 1-0 3. Hopkins 2-0 4. Maple Grove 0-0 5. Cretin-Derham Hall 1-0 6. Apple Valley 1-0 7. Woodbury 1-0 8. Chaska 2-0 9. Osseo 0-010. Park Center 1-011. New Prague 2-012. Edina 0-113. Tartan 1-014. Eden Prairie 1-015. North St. Paul 1-016. Wayzata 1-017. St. Louis Park 1-118. Mounds View 0-119. Rochester JM 0-120. Lakeville South 0-1

CLASS 3A

1. DeLaSalle 2-0 2. Fergus Falls 1-0 3. Delano 2-0 4. Minneapolis Henry 1-0 5. Marshall 1-0 6. Austin 1-0 7. Mahtomedi 2-0 8. Big Lake 3-0 9. Orono 1-110. Alexandria 1-011. Northfield 2-012. Benilde-St. Marg. 1-013. Sauk Rapids-Rice 1-014. Waseca 2-015. Totino-Grace 1-016. Fridley 1-117. Rocori 1-118. Detroit Lakes 0-019. Simley 2-020. Grand Rapids 1-1

CLASS 2A

1. Caledonia 1-0 2. Minnehaha Acad. 1-1 3. Annandale 2-0 4. Jackson Co. Cent. 1-0 5. Esko 3-0 6. Crosby-Ironton 0-0 7. Eden Valley-Watk. 0-0 8. St. Cloud Cathedral 1-0 9. Perham 1-010. St. Charles 1-011. Brooklyn Center 2-012. Waterville-Elysian- Morristown 1-013. Melrose 1-014 Maple River 1-015. Jordan 1-016. NRHEG 2-017. Rochester Lourdes 0-018. N.London-Spicer 2-019. St. Croix Lutheran 0-120. Dilworth-Gln-Felt. 0-1

CLASS 1A

1. Minneapolis North 1-1 2. Red Lake 2-0 3. Cent.MN Christian 1-0 4. Browerville-Eagle Val-ley 2-0 5. Spring Grove 3-0 6. Lk. Park-Audubon 2-0 7. Goodhue 2-0 8. Nevis 2-0 9. Hillcrest Lutheran 0-010. Rushford-Peterson 0-011. Westbrook-WG 3-012. Mountain Lake 2-013. Springfield 1-114. Cass Lake-Bena 2-015. Cleveland 2-016. Waubun 2-017. Verndale 1-018. Mt. Iron-Buhl 1-019. MN Valley Luth. 3-020. North Woods 1-0

CLASS 4A

1. Hopkins 5-0 2. Eastview 3-0 3. Centennial 3-0 4. Elk River 2-0 5. Apple Valley 2-0 6. Wayzata 3-0 7. Edina 2-0 8. Cretin-Derhan Hall 4-0 9. Lakeville North 4-110. Roseville Area 3-011. East Ridge 2-112. Park Center 2-113. Andover 3-014. St. Michael-Albert. 2-215. Anoka 2-116. Rosemount 3-117. Lakeville South 2-018. White Bear Lake 2-219. Minnetonka 1-220. Rochester JM 3-0

CLASS 3A

1. Hutchinson 3-0 2. Holy Angels 2-0 3. Mahtomedi 2-0 4. Alexandria 2-1 5. Winona 1-1 6. Grand Rapids 3-0 7. Waseca 3-0 8. Orono 2-0 9. Zimmerman 2-010. Northfield 3-011. Chisago Lakes 2-012. Hermantown 3-113. Worthington 2-014. Byron 2-115. DeLaSalle 1-216. Kasson-Mantorville 1-317. Delano 3-018. Waconia 3-219. Sartell-St. Stephen 2-020. Thief River Falls 2-1

CLASS 2A

1. Watertown-Mayer 2-0 2. Roseau 2-0 3. Plainview-Elgin-Mill-ville 4-0 4. Sauk Centre 2-1 5. Minnehaha Acad. 2-1 6. Esko 3-0 7. New London-Spicer 3-0 8. Norwood-Y. Amer. 2-0 9. Annandale 2-010. Dilw.-Glyn.-Felt. 3-011. Pequot Lakes 1-012. St. Cloud Cathed. 3-013. Pipestone 1-014. Holy Family Cath. 3-115. Tracy-Milroy-Bala. 2-016. Osakis 2-017. Caledonia 2-018. Morris Area 3-019. Rush City 3-020. Rochester Lourdes 3-0

CLASS 1A

1. Mountain Iron-Buhl 3-0 2. Maranatha Christian 0-1 3. Goodhue 4-1 4. Wheaton-Hrm.-Nor. 3-0 5. Cromwell-Wright 3-0 6. SW MN Christian 3-0 7. Canby 3-0 8. Cedar Mt.-Comfrey 4-0 9. Mankato Loyola 4-010. Mayer Lutheran 3-111. Sleepy Eye 3-012. Lyle-Pacelli 2-013. Kimball 3-114. Lester Prairie-Winsted-Holy Trinity 2-115. EGF Sacred Heart 2-016. Stephen-Argyle 1-017. Ada-Borup 1-118. Parkers Prairie 2-019. Red Lake 2-020. Minneapolis North 2-2


By Jeff McCarronPacesetter Director

There is a tug-of-war on for basketball players.

This battle splits two ways: the groups that offer all-star team or club team tournaments and the groups that offer school team or community team tournaments.

At Pacesetter, we provide for the “hometown team” group, where youth basket-ball teams in grades 4-9 that are school-based or commu-nity-based now have a “Final Four-style” playoff system, the Pacesetter Great Four-State championships, that involve over 900 teams in four states: MN-IA-ND-SD.

Pacesetter Sports started this sys-tem in 2010 to give school teams an exciting playoff to match or surpass the lure of AAU teams traveling to tournaments around the country. All players playing in the Pacesetter Playoffs must either attend the same school or live in the same city, school district or tribal community. Smaller schools with under 400 enrollment in grades 9-12 may com-bine if the total enrollment when combined is 400 or less.

Teams begin with Region Playoffs in February-April in their own section of their state, seeking to advance to their state championships. The top two teams in their state tournaments then advance to the Pacesetter Great Four-State champi-on-ships in the Twin Cities. The Tar-get Center hosted the championships

from 2010-2016. Due to construction this summer, the championships are likely to be held at the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Last year Minnesota and North Dakota won four “Great State” titles, Iowa won three four-state titles and South Dakota won one four-state title. Here is the honor roll of the 2016 Great Four-State champions:

MINNESOTA7th Grade Boys – Stewartville9th Grade Boys – Perham8th Grade Girls – Eden Valley-Watkins9th Grade Girls – Mountain Iron-Buhl

NORTH DAKOTA4th Grade Girls – Bismarck Showtime6th Grade Girls – Central Cass7th Grade Girls – Dakota Thunder8th Grade Boys – St. John’s/Four Winds

IOWA4th Grade Boys – Pella5th Grade Girls – Xavier Catholic6th Grade Boys – Mason City

SOUTH DAKOTA5th Grade Boys – Sioux Falls Hurricanes

Fliers, further information and registration are avail-able at www.pacesettersports.net.

In following a tournament tradition, all teams play-ing in the Great Four-State tournament are invited to a large team meeting, which could be held in a Marriott or Radisson ballroom, a Timberwolves suite, or on the main Target Center floor the night before their event, and all players from every team are introduced in front of the hundreds of players, parents and coaches. Their teammates are their friends from their own community, and they will be playing together soon on the same high school team. Most of the parents have known every player from childhood.

The next day the players get to play together in front of all their fans on the Target Center floor, home of the NBA Timberwolves and the WNBA Lynx.

It doesn’t get any better than that.

The road to Minneapolis-St. Paul

Jeff McCarron

Perham and St. Charles players dueled in the Great Four State tourney in July.

Youth teams now have ‘Midwest Madness’ Playoffs


KristinScott

Rae Johnson

SeannaJohnson

TeeTeeSparks

Iowa St. nabs 2 more Minnesota gemsIowa State has once again raided its northern neigh-

bor, landing not one but two leading Gopher State college prospects on Nov. 9.

The Cyclones signed Kristin Scott, 6-foot-2 center for Kasson-Mantorville, and Rae Johnson, 5-foot-8 guard for St. Michael-Albertville.

"These are the two best players in Minnesota, and we're fortunate enough to have both in our program," coach Bill Fennelly told the Iowa State Daily. "Minnesota has been a great place for us to recruit in and has brought us some great players in the past couple of years."

Johnson and Scott are ranked as the top two overall prospects in Minnesota by Northstar Girls Hoops.

Scott entered her senior year with 1,622 points, making all-state as a sophomore and junior. She has a 65-inch wingspan and a sweet shot, hitting 67 percent of her shot and 40 percent on three’s in her career. She has played in two state tournaments.

Johnson averaged 16 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.6 steals as a junior. She has played in four state tournaments.

The Hawkeyes already have two Brooklyn Park natives who won three state championships each. Seanna John-son, senior guard from DeLaSalle, made all-Big Eight first team last year, averaging 17 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists. TeeTee Sparks of Hopkins, redshirt freshman guard who sat out most of last season with a knee in-jury, is starting this year, averaging 3.6 points and 5.1 rebounds for the Cylones. Johnson is delivering 15.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.

The first big score by Iowa State in Minnesota was Ro-seau guard Megan Taylor, who graduated as the state’s all-time scoring leader in 1997. Taylor, who picked ISU because they started recruiting her early while the Go-phers and others came calling later, is their No. 2 all-time scorer with 1,866 points, and one of only three Cyclone players to have their number retired.

Since then ISU has suited up Erica Haugen of Osseo, who averaged 6.3 points and 3.5 assists her senior year (2001); Megan Ronhovde of West Central Area, who logged 1,094 points and 710 rebounds for the Cyclones, graduating in 2007; Amanda Nisleit of Woodbury, a three-year starter who averaged 8.8 points and 5.4 re-bounds her last year (2009); and now Seanna Johnson and Starks, with Rae Johnson and Scott coming in.

Scott committed to ISU after watching them lose a heartbreaker to Oklahoma State in the NCAA tourna-ment in March, impressed by the crowd of 11,320 and the way they funneled the ball to their center, Bryanna Fernstrom, who had 23 points.

According to an article in the Ames Tribune, Scott ap-proached Fennelly shortly after the game to let him know she was coming. "He gave me the biggest hug and said, ‘Thank you so much,’" said Scott, whose suit-ors included Minnesota, Marquette and Nebraska.

Starks, rated first in the 2015 Minnesota graduating class by ProspectsNation.com, and wooed by the Go-phers, Iowa, Duke and Notre Dame, cited her good rela-tionship with the ISU coaching staff and with Johnson, an AAU teammate, for her decision. And now she’s de-lighted to be welcoming Scott, another AAU teammate, she told the Ames Tribune.

By the way, Minnesota got one back this year when Fernstrom, who averaged 10.5 points in the Big 12 last year, decided to play her last two years with the Go-phers. She will be eligible to play after fall semester.


By Bruce Strand

The smoothness of Grand Rapids guard Heaven Ham-ling was described this way by Duluth News-Tribune

writer Louie St. George: “When Hamling dribbles, the ball appears to be an extension of her hand. She doesn’t direct it so much as she yo-yos it, coercing it to do things that foster double-takes and flustered defenders. The ball might go through her legs one moment and around her back the next.” Hamling entered her junior season with 1,457 points after averaging 21.9 last year, shooting 43 percent on three’s. The Thunderhawks fell one game short of state last March and are ranked No. 8 this year.

* * *The Hopkins girls, top-ranked in 4A, overwhelmed Kas-son-Mantorville, ranked No. 6 in Class 3A, by 78-30 at the Breakdown Tip Off Classic in Hopkins on Saturday. The Royals (4-0) were led by freshman guard Paige Buckers with 27 points, 21 in the first half. They limited KM all-state center Kristin Scott to 12 points.

* * *Lake Park-Audubon’s 6-foot-10 center Jesse Bergh tal-lied 24 points as the Raiders beat Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 50-38 in a season-opening duel of defending sec-tion champions. Ethan Edeen led DGF with 18 points.

* * *Pine Island’s Broc Finstuen had a banner junior year av-eraging 19.9 points, 10.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists, while his team had a so-so 14-13 season. Leading a roster with 12 seniors, he is hungry for team success. “I can’t stand losing. Working hard in practice means success on the court. That’s what drives me right now,” the 6-foot-4 star told the Rochester Post-Bulletin. Coach Jim McNamara praised his “pretty complete game” of passing, seeing the floor, scoring and attacking offensive boards. Fin-stuen said he has taken on more of a leadership role as a senior to show that hard work pays off.

* * *East Ridge, ranked No. 6 in Class 4A girls, edged No. 3 Park Center 55-51 at the Breakdown Tip-Off Clas-sic with Mariah Sexe sinking 15 points and passing the 1,000 marker. Nicole Tomes added 12. Sommer Blake-more scored 12 and Mikayla Hayes 10 for the Pirates.

* * *Tre Jones had a triple-double in leading Apple Valley to an 84-70 win over Minneapolis North in the Breakdown Sports Tip Off Classic. The junior point guard tallied 29

Around the state: a heavenly guardpoints, 13 rebounds and 11 assists —and also blocked six shots — for the Eagles, ranked No. 7 in Class 4A. Isaac Johnson scored 21 and Jaquan Sanders-Smith 20 for North, top-ranked in Class 1A.

* * *Consolation rounds for state tournaments have been added, on a two-year trial basis, the MSHSL an-nounced. That means the quarterfinal losers will get to play one or two more games, as they did for decades in the old one-class and two-class systems. Consolation games will be played at Concordia (St. Paul).

* * *The Duluth News-Tribune has two Chelsea’s on its list of five Girls to Watch: Chelsea Mason, Mountain Iron-Buhl senior, who has 2,322 points, and Chelsea Swatek, Cromwell senior, who averaged 20 points last year, hitting 99 three’s. Others are Hermantown senior Jordyn Thomas, Esko senior Ava Gonsorowski, and Grand Rapids junior Heaven Hamling.

* * *After the Waseca boys of the Big South beat Manka-to East of the Big Nine 89-59 in the opener for each, coach Seth Anderson told the Mankato Free Press it re-minded him of the Big Ten vs. ACC challenges. “East is a really good team, and if we played again tomorrow, they could easily beat us by 30,” Anderson comment-ed. “Our shots went in, they’re shots didn’t. That was the difference.” Kaleb Nelson hit 29 points and Malik Willingham 22 for the Bluejays, while Alex Turner had 21 and Damani Hayes 18 for the Cougars.

* * *New Ulm’s guard tandem of senior Meleah Reinhart and sophomore Joey Batt can “cause a lot of havoc in the back court,” their coach Dan Reinhart told the New Ulm Journal after the Eagles thumped Blue Earth Area 73-48. Reinhard poured in 35 points and Batt 22 as the Eagles (2-0) avenged two close loss to the Bucs last season. “They’re quick, they get in passing lanes, they get out and run, they get a lot of points just on layups.”

* * *Mountain Iron-Buhl, a state tournament regular but not yet a champion, served notice they are ready to chal-lenge for the crown by humbling defending state cham-pion and top-ranked Goodhue 78-34 at the Breakdown Tip-Off Classic. The Rangers sank 15 three-pointers in the rout that was led by Chelsea Mason with 26 points and Mary Burke with 17.


The 2017 Pacesetter Winter Classic Basketball tournament will be held at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, MN.

These tournaments are open to all boys’ and girls’ teams in grades 4-5-6-7-8. All players must either be enrolled in the same school system or live or attend school in the same city, the same school district or the same tribal community.

Each date is limited in the number of teams that can be a accepted. These are ONE-day tournaments. All teams will play 3-4 games.

Championship teams will receive a team plaque, and top finishers will receive individual medals with neck ribbons.

2017 Winter ClassicMarch 4 - 5Circle gender: Boys or GirlsCircle grade: 4 5 6 7 8

Team Entry FormQuestions?

[email protected]

Team rating: (confidential)

Strong Good

Fair Weak

School Team Color (needed if two teams from same school enter)

Team Contact Email address (required - confirmation will be sent via email)

Cell # Alternate #

Mailing Address (Street) (City) (State) (Zip)

Alternate Contact Cell # Make check payable to Pacesetter and send with form to Pacesetter, PO Box 222, Paynesville, MN 56362

Up to Dec 30 $150/team per tournament • After Dec. 30 $160/team per tournamentRegistration also available online at www.pacesettersports.net

Registration also available online at www.pacesettersports.net • Follow us on Facebook: Pacesetter Basketball

$10 discount if registered

by Dec. 30

Saturday, Mar. 4Boys Grades 4, 6, 8 & Girls Grades 5, 7

College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph

Sunday, Mar. 5Boys Grades 5, 7 & Girls Grades 4, 6, 8

College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph

$150/entry if postmarked by December 30, 2016. $160/team if postmarked after December 30.

Limit of 16 teams per grade/gender • Register by Feb. 24


“Hometown Team” guideline:All players on a team must either be enrolled in the same

school system or live in the same city, the same school district or the same tribal community. Smaller schools may combine to form one team if the combined enrollment of their high schools

for grades 9-12 is 400 or fewer. Schools that combine should be from the same area.

See further information at www.pacesettersports.net

Region Champions invited to the MN State Championship. Teams with one loss invited to the MIT.

Top two teams at STATE advance to the Great Four-State tournament.

The Minnesota state champion and

runner-up in each grade are invited to

the Great Four-State Championship in the Twin Cities.

(MN, IA, ND, SD)

Region 1 Site Date 4G, 6G, 8G, 5B, 7B, 9B RCTC - Rochester March 25 5G, 7G, 9G, 4B, 6B, 8B RCTC - Rochester March 26Region 2 Site Date 4G, 6G, 8G, 5B, 7B, 9B MN State-Mankato April 22 5G, 7G, 9G, 4B, 6B, 8B MN State-Mankato April 23Region 3 Site Date 5G, 7G, 9G, 4B, 6B, 8B Redwood Falls March 25 4G, 6G, 8G, 5B, 7B, 9B Redwood Falls March 26Region 4 Site Date 5B, 7B, 9B Willow River April 8 4G, 6G, 8G Barnum April 8 4B, 6B, 8B Willow River April 9 5G, 7G, 9G Barnum April 9Region 5 Site Date 5G, 7G, 9G, 4B, 6B, 8B SCSU-St. Cloud April 1 4G, 6G, 8G, 5B, 7B, 9B SCSU-St. Cloud April 2Region 6 Site Date 4G, 6G, 8G, 5B, 7B, 9B Moorhead April 1 5G, 7G, 9G, 4B, 6B, 8B Moorhead April 2Region 7 Site Date 5G, 8B Hibbing April 1 8G, 5B Hibbing April 2 7G, 9G, 4B, 6B Grand Rapids April 1 4G, 6G, 7B, 9B Grand Rapids April 2Region 8 Site Date 4G, 6G, 8G, 5B, 7B, 9B Bemidji April 1 5G, 7G, 9G, 4B, 6B, 8B Bemidji April 2Minnesota State Championships • Maple Grove Date 4G, 6G, 5B, 8B MIT - MN Invitational June 10 4G, 6G, 5B, 8B State Championship June 11 5G, 8G, 4B, 6B MIT - MN Invitational June 17 5G, 8G, 4B, 6B State Championship June 18 7G, 9G, 7B, 9B MIT - MN Invitational June 24 7G, 9G, 7B, 9B State Championship June 25

Send check with this entry form to: PACESETTER, PO BOX 222, PAYNESVILLE, MN 56362Registration also available online at www.pacesettersports.net

If registered by Dec. 30: $165/teamStarting Dec. 31: $175/team3-4 game guarantee

All players are from one school district. School district

Combined team. List all school districts

(See back for details)

Site Grade Circle Boys or Girls Circle Rating: Strong - Good - Fair - Weak

Team Contact Person Team Color

Cell # Alt#

Mailing Address

Email address

Alternate Contact Person Cell #

Team Entry Form - Pacesetter Minnesota Regional Tournament

FREE Timberwolves

Tickets (2017-2018 season)

All players will receive a free ticket offer!

25th AnnualQuestions? Call Pacesetter at 320-243-7460 or

email: [email protected] • www.pacesettersports.netFollow our Facebook page: Pacesetter Basketball

(needed if two teams from same school register)

(Street) (City) (State) (Zip)

(Email address required - Confirmation will be sent via email - Please write legibly)

7th Boys Stewartville 9th Boys Perham

8th Girls Eden Valley-Watkins9th Girls Mt. Iron-Buhl

Regional Playoffs ScheduleAll grades refer to the 2016-2017 school year.

Teams may register for more than one region. See back for details.

Minnesota’s Great Four-State Champions – 2016

2017

Over 700 teams in 2016!


By Terry Kunze

With sagging attendance and waning enthusiasm, the Minnesota Gophers and coach Rick Pitino

have a lot to prove to the remaining hard-core fan base.

Coming off a horrendous eight-win season, the ques-tion remains whether early victories mean that they will be competitive in the tough Big Ten conference.

Once the Big Ten starts, scouting preparations become very important. Big Ten oppo-nents know the strengths and weaknesses of all the teams, and usually scores go down in these games. Scoring against a Geor-gia Southern is not as easy as in the Big Ten encounter.

Early success will be the key factor to bring back the fans.

Here are my ideas about this club. First of all, they are much improved over last year’s team. In Nate Mason, 6-foot-2 junior guard, and Jordon Murphy, 6-foot-6 sophomore for-ward, they return two solid Big Ten players. Mason will score and Murphy (if he can stay on the floor) will be a beast on the glass and gives them a solid low box score that causes matchup problems for opponents.

When you add Dupree McBrayer, 6-foot-5 sophomore guard, the back court is solid. Finding a third guard, especially at the point, will be a challenge.

Newcomers Amir Coffey, 6-foot-8 freshman wing, and Reggie Lynch, 6-foot-10 junior center, make the start-ing lineup quite imposing on paper. In Coffey they have a long, athletic wing, great in transition and is a great wing runner on the break. With point guard passing skills, he gives them a great defender complementing Mason and McBrayer. Lynch allows the Gophers to get mismatches for Jordon. Last year the post took Jordon on the block because he was the best low box scorer. Now with Lynch, although not a scorer, the “big” will have to match up with him instead of Murphy.

Off the bench you have Akeem Spriggs, 6-foot-4 senior guard, transferring from the U of M Milwaukee, a good (if streaky) three-point shooter. He is strong and will give them a veteran presence. Another rotation player

will be Eric Curry, 6-foot-9 freshman from Memphis, who has good skills and will only get better as the sea-son progresses.

They are, in my mind, a seven-deep team. Bakary Konate, 6-foot-11 junior, and Amad Gilbert, 6-foot-6 soph, will have to step up their game to get in the mix.

One of the Gophers’ strengths will be rebounding. Lynch and Murphy are monsters inside and love to at-tack the glass. Both players, however, have a tendency to pick up foolish fouls which can hurt them down the stretch. Coffey and McBrayer are long and will be ca-pable defensive rebounders.

Coffey is a key piece because he gives them size at the small forward and is a very good defender which al-lows coach Pitino to extend the defense or press if he wants. They will get some easy baskets, which was not the case last season. With good ball movement, this team is capable of getting to the rim and must shoot a good percentage from the foul line.

One weakness might be perimeter shooting. Mason is the best shooter, McBrayer has improved his perimeter game and Spriggs can get on a roll. Coffey is not a good shooter but can create for others and is a gifted passer. It will be interesting to see how Big Ten teams play him. He is most effective on the broken floor. Lynch can score inside some posts, but is not a prolific scorer. Murphy, although under-sized, will get his stick-backs and post-up buckets, especially with Lynch on the floor. Curry will complement them when on the floor and will become more effective as he gets more minutes. Konate will defend, hopefully without fouling, but will not contribute much on the offensive end.

Mason must provide leadership because this team must learn how to win again. Even with improved defense and rebounding, wins and losses might depend on de-cision-making down the stretch in close games. Teams learn how to win and they could surprise if they do not beat themselves.

This is an important season because it could lead to a new era of Gopher basketball. It would be a disaster to live through another year like last year. With some success this season, and with solid recruits for next year, this season could put them over the hump. I do not think we should judge them, but instead give them the opportunity to show us which direction they will go. Let’s all hope that that direction is up.

A ‘Show Me’ Season for Gophers

Terry Kunze

After family time, back to coaching - Townsquare...

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