WEEKLY ROUNDUP *Hooker shines in college *Top 20 teams each class *Midwest playoffs added *Park Christian pulls upset *North outruns Red Lake Volume 23 Issue No. 5 December 30 2016-2017 Hooker is hero at UND, too By Bruce Strand Quenton Hooker, the Mr. Basketball who led Park Center to the state finals in 2013, has made a huge impact on and off the court at University of North Dakota. The 6-foot senior guard was described as one of the most talented and endearing players in program history in a recent Grand Forks Herald feature. Hooker, team captain the past two years, was the pre-season pick as Big Sky Conference MVP, after knocking down 21.4 points per game as a junior, and earning a Lou Henson Mid-Major All-American award. He was the first UND player to exceed 20 ppg since they joined the Division I ranks in 2008. His 38-point game against Portland State last year is also a UND record for D-1 play. Hooker is a favorite of both young and old fans for his performance on court and engaging personality off the court, the Herald article by Chris Murphy reports. UND coach Brian Jones said: He s the Pied Piper. People want to follow him because of his infectious personality. He s an ambassador not only for the athletic department, but also for Quinton Hooker, Mr. Basketball for Park Center, mid-major All-American for North Dakota this university. Hooker is averaging 17.2 points and 4.2 rebounds this season for the Fighting Hawks (5-5). He had 18 points against Iowa in an 84-73 loss at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Dec. 20, a game probably attended by his brother Amani, a freshman defensive back for the Iowa football team. Carson Shanks, a UND center from Prior Lake, recalled his first meeting with his future UND teammate at an AAU camp in sixth grade. The kids marveled that Quinton could make the behind-the-back pass, and the first one he made to Shanks hit him square in the forehead, he said. Hooker averaged 26 points as a junior and 23 as a senior at Park Center and passed the 2,000 marker, rare for a Class 4A player, in a glittering career ending with the 2013 state finals loss to Apple Valley. As a six-foot guard, often overshadowed by Apple Valley s brilliant point guard Tyus Jones on their AAU team, he was a bit under the radar as a college recruit despite the Mr. Basketball honor. He got some belated attention from bigger programs but was happy to honor his commitment to UND. There was no red-shirt season for Hooker, as Jones regarded him as college-ready, especially with his powerful build. Hooker helped them reach the Big Sky tournament finals his first year. They lost to Weber State. UND is still looking for a Big Sky title and Hooker states his prime goal to be making the NCAA tournament. A social sciences major, he told the Herald that he d like to be a high school teacher and coach. There may be pro basketball opportunities in Europe first.
Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News December 30 Page 2 Park Christian (3-5) savors upset of LPA Unheralded Park Christian, with a 2-5 record, hosted undefeated, No. 5 ranked Lake Park-Audubon on Tuesday and pulled off a 75-74 upset in Moorhead despite being unable to contain LPA s daunting 6-foot- 10 center and despite losing their own star on fouls. Brock Aamodt delivered the game-winning shot, a 3-pointer with eight seconds left. It was a really fun game. Packed gym. Everything a high school game should be, said Josh Lee, Park Christian coach. It was a battle all night long. Jared Motschbacher and Darien Bogenrief shared the task of guarding Bergh. We were able to wear him down, so he got tired as the game went on, both offensively and defensively, said Lee. Park had good outside shooting mixed with slashing to the rim through the Raiders 1-3-1 defense. We had some shots blocked but also got Bergh in some foul trouble, Lee said. After Aamot s 3-pointer gave Park the lead, Hall drove the length of the court to try win it for LPA but missed a contested layup and Bogenreif snagged the back-side rebound for Park. Park Christian junior guard Steele Stenske scored the Falcons first 12 points and finished with 31, but was gone with five minutes left. Ryan Kerr, replacing him, nailed two long 3-pointers late in the game. Jesse Bergh poured in 41 points for LPA (6-1) and went over the 1,000-point mark as did teammate Mitch Hall, but the win eluded them. Steele faced a diamond-and-one but shot 14-for-15 from the field. He has been torrid lately, scoring 29 against Ada-Borup in a 75-66 loss, and 40 against Richland (N.D.) in a 63-54 win. LPA coach Kyle Haberman said, Jesse had 41 but Park continued to hit deep shots late. We played OK; we just didn't finish. They always hit big shots they needed It certainly was a fun game to be a part of. Email Erik Olson at olsons1120@comcast.net
Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News December 30 Page 3
Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News December 30 Page 4 The road to Minneapolis-St. Paul By Jeff McCarron Pacesetter Director Youth teams now have Midwest Madness Playoffs There is a tug-of-war on for basketball players. This battle splits two ways: the groups that offer allstar 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 basketball teams in grades 4-9 that are schoolbased or community-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 system 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 combine 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 champion-ships in the Twin Cities. The Target Center hosted the championships from 2010-2016. Due to construction this summer, the championships are likely to be held at the Xcel 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: MINNESOTA 7th Grade Boys Stewartville 9th Grade Boys Perham 8th Grade Girls Eden Valley-Watkins 9th Grade Girls Mountain Iron-Buhl NORTH DAKOTA 4th Grade Girls Bismarck Showtime 6th Grade Girls Central Cass 7th Grade Girls Dakota Thunder 8th Grade Boys St. John s/four Winds IOWA 4th Grade Boys Pella 5th Grade Girls Xavier Catholic 6th Grade Boys Mason City SOUTH DAKOTA 5th Grade Boys Sioux Falls Hurricanes Fliers, further information and registration are available at www.pacesettersports.net. In following a tournament tradition, all teams playing 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. Ben Trenary of Stewartville s 7th-grade 2016 Great Four-State champs drives at Target Center. 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.
Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News December 30 Page 5 Pacesetter! CHAMPIONSHIP Basketball & Volleyball Camps Serving Hometown Teams since 1980 Camps that come to YOUR school! Comments from Host Coaches - 2016 camps Great balance between skill work and compettitive games to keep kids engaged. Great camp, great competition, reasonably priced, can t wait till next year. Our campers were met with an enthusiastic and knowledgeable coach who desired to see each player improve their skills. Our director was amazing! He really worked with the girls well both as a team and individually. I was very excited and pleased to see the results from camp. I saw growth in every player... He helped me with my coaching questions. I was able to talk strategy with him and he gave me some drills and skills to address. I would love to host again... The Pacesetter Championship Formula 1) TOP COACHES - Master Teachers, Championship Coaches, Best Young Coaches 2) STRONG FUNDAMENTAL TEACHING - Through 37 years Pacesetter has fine-tuned it s program to provide players with the most important skills for game success at every age. 3) LOW COSTS - Most programs range from $50-$95 4) LOW RATIOS - Averages: 10-1 player/coach Select one of the most popular options or create your own... using the following hours and fees. SESSION LENGTH 3-DAY CAMP 4-DAY CAMP 1.5 HOURS $50/player $65/player 2 HOURS $60/player $75/player 2.5 HOURS $70/player $85/player 3 HOURS $80/player $95/player 4 HOURS $90/player $115/player 6 HOURS $120/player $150/player Sign up soon! - Only 5 schools will be scheduled for each week! Approximately $6-10/hour per player To Become a CHAMPION... Coaches: Book your camp today! Download camp brochure at www.pacesettersports.net Email Tracey: info@pacesetternet.com or call 320-243-7460...Learn from a CHAMPION
Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News December 30 Page 6 Northfield girls defense daunting By Bruce Strand Northfield s girls team is 6-0 and playing shut-down defense, allowing only 35 points per game and holding two teams under 20: Albert Lea (53-17) and Faribault (51-19). The Raiders pummeled Mankato West 61-45 recently with Grace Touchette and Katylyn Kidd sinking 16 points each and Vanessa Dimick 11. Defensively, we are getting better at rebounding and pushing in transition, coach Tony Mathison told the Northfield News. The most encouraging outcome from tonight is we played with focus and intensity, which is a direct result of our last couple practices. Noah Slagter sank 33 points and the Willmar Cardinals handed Central Minnesota Christian its first loss 63-54 on Tuesday night. CMCS is located in Prinsburg, Willmar s little Kandiyohi County neighbor. The Bluejays were 5-0 and ranked No. 3 in Class 1A, after two straight third-place finishes in the state tournament. Willmar (5-3) fell behind 10-0 but coach Matt Williams didn t call a timeout. He wanted to see how we reacted," Slagter told the West Central Tribune. "We reacted perfectly. We kept our heads up, we didn't worry about it. We worked hard on the boards, the shots fell and we kept playing hard." Ethan Brouwer had 16 points and eight rebounds for CMCS, and Matthew Van Eps 14 and Austin Marcus 14 points each. Alexandria basketball standout and college quarterback prospect Jaran Roste had decided to cast his lot with the Gopher football team, who have recruited him as a preferred walk-on, the Echo Press reported. Roste and other recruits closely followed the recent tribulation at the U over the a sexual assault accusation that led several player suspensions, and the threat (since withdrawn) by players to boycott their bowl game over the university s handling of the issue. Roste told his hometown paper: "They have a strong program. They've stayed away from this kind of stuff. It's unfortunate that it happened now, but I don't think it affected my decision too much. The Osakis girls take a 7-0 record into the break an 88-70 win over Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa with junior guard Lauren Savage providing 28 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals. The Silverstreaks shot a blazing 11-for-22 on three s. (Osakis Review) Wheaton-Herman-Norcross, ranked No. 4 in Class 1A, prevailed 67-60 over Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, ranked 10th in 2A, to remain unbeaten at 5-0. Emma Schmidt led with 21 points, 12 rebounds and five steals. Hannah Gail notched 13 points and 10 rebounds. Mara Quam, senior three-sport star at Kenyon-Wanamingo (5-1), put on a show last Friday at Mayo Civic Auditorium, pouring in 41 points in an 89-66 win over Winona Cotter (5-4). The 5-foot-7 guard sank 15 of 19 shots drives, breakaway layups, mid-range jumpers, and two 3-pointers while notching five assists, five rebounds and four steals. Cotter coach Pat Bowlin commented to the Rochester Post-Bulletin. That was the first time I'd ever seen Quam play. And my hope is that it's the last time I see her play at least against us. She's just really, really good." Megan From added 15 points on five 3-pointers and Savannah Bless 14. The Canby Lancers, who ve never gone to state in girls basketball, are off to a 7-0 start and ranked No. 6 in Class 1A, after beating Windom 88-62 with Sydney Sisk netting 18 points, Natalie Dinius 16, Sarah Hansen 11 and Morgan Viesmann 10. Nicollet s Natasha Young nabbed her 1,000th career rebound as the Raiders (4-3) cruised to a 62-31 win over Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton 62-31 in which she generated 21 points and 19 rebounds. Lake City girls trailed Lewiston-Altura by 16 points at halftime but won 76-56, despite losing star player Daynalyn Jostock with nine minutes left in the half when two other players fell across her legs on the floor. Allison Kubista scored 20 of her 23 points in the second half, including four 3-pointers. Ava Wallerich provided spark with back-to-back steals leading to layups.
Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News 2017 Regional Playoffs Schedule All grades refer to the 2016-2017 school year. Teams may register for more than one region. See back for details. Region 1 Region 2 s Over 700 team in 2016! 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. Minnesota s Great Four-State Champions 2016 7th Boys Stewartville 9th Boys Perham 9th Girls Mt. Iron-Buhl 8th Girls Eden Valley-Watkins 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 RCTC - Rochester RCTC - Rochester MN State-Mankato MN State-Mankato Region 4 5B, 7B, 9B 4G, 6G, 8G 4B, 6B, 8B 5G, 7G, 9G Region 5 Region 6 Region 7 5G, 8B 8G, 5B 7G, 9G, 4B, 6B 4G, 6G, 7B, 9B Region 8 Willow River Barnum Willow River Barnum SCSU-St. Cloud SCSU-St. Cloud Moorhead Moorhead Hibbing Hibbing Grand Rapids Grand Rapids Bemidji Bemidji If registered by Dec. 30: $165/team Starting Dec. 31: $175/team 3-4 game guarantee Combined team. List all school districts (See back for details) Circle Boys or Girls Circle Rating: Strong - Good - Fair - Weak Team Contact Person Team Color Cell # Mailing Address Email address Alternate Contact Person Alt# (Street) March 25 March 26 April 8 April 8 April 9 April 9 Minnesota State Championships Maple Grove 4G, 6G, 5B, 8B MIT - MN Invitational 4G, 6G, 5B, 8B State Championship 5G, 8G, 4B, 6B MIT - MN Invitational 5G, 8G, 4B, 6B State Championship 7G, 9G, 7B, 9B MIT - MN Invitational 7G, 9G, 7B, 9B State Championship All players are from one school district. School district Grade March 25 March 26 2 3 Region 3 Redwood Falls Redwood Falls Team Entry Form - Pacesetter Minnesota Regional Tournament Page 7 Questions? Call Pacesetter at 320-243-7460 or email: info@pacesetternet.com www.pacesettersports.net Follow our Facebook page: Pacesetter Basketball n A n u al 5 2 th December 30 (City) (needed if two teams from same school register) (State) (Zip) (Email address required - Confirmation will be sent via email - Please write legibly) Cell # Send check with this entry form to: PACESETTER, PO BOX 222, PAYNESVILLE, MN 56362 Registration also available online at www.pacesettersports.net June 10 June 11 June 17 June 18 June 24 June 25 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) FREE Timberwolves Tickets (2017-2018 season) All players will receive a free ticket offer!
Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News December 30 Page 8 MBBN Top 20 boys MBBN Top 20 girls CLASS 4A CLASS 2A CLASS 4A CLASS 2A 1. Champlin Park 5-0 2. Apple Valley 5-1 3. Lakeville North 4-1 4. Park Center 6-0 5. Edina 4-1 6. Hopkins 5-1 7. Maple Grove 3-1 8. Chaska 3-3 9. Cretin-Der. Hall 2-3 10. Rosemount 6-0 11. Woodbury 3-2 12. New Prague 6-0 13. East Ridge 4-1 14. Osseo 5-1 15. Tartan 5-0 16. Wayzata 4-0 17. Eden Prairie 4-3 18. North St. Paul 4-3 19. Prior Lake 3-1 20. Bloom. Jefferson 4-1 1. Caledonia 5-0 2. Minnehaha Acad. 2-3 3. Annandale 5-0 4. St. Cloud Cath. 7-0 5. Jackson Co. Cent. 2-1 6. Esko 6-1 7. Crosby-Ironton 7-0 8. Eden Valley-Watk. 3-0 9. Watertown-Mayer 5-0 10. Brooklyn Center 5-1 11. W-E-M 4-1 12. Melrose 6-0 13. Jordan 6-0 14. NRHEG 6-0 15. St. Croix Lutheran 4-3 16. Sauk Centre 6-1 17. Lake City 6-0 18. Virginia 9-0 19. Rochester Lourdes 3-0 20. Deer River 5-3 1. Hopkins 9-0 2. Eastview 6-0 3. Centennial 8-0 4. Elk River 7-0 5. East Ridge 6-2 6. Apple Valley 6-1 7. Lakeville North 6-2 8. Edina 6-2 9. Park Center 5-2 10. Cretin-Derh.Hall 6-1 11. Wayzata 6-1 12. Roseville Area 6-1 13. Andover 5-1 14. St. Michael-Albert. 4-2 15. Woodbury 3-1 16. Prior Lake 4-1 17. Forest Lake 5-1 18. Robins. Cooper 7-0 19. Rochester Mayo 5-1 20. Champlin Park 5-3 1. Roseau 9-0 2. P-E-M 7-0 3. Sauk Centre 6-1 4. Minnehaha Acad. 5-1 5. Norwood-Y. Amer. 7-0 6. Watertown-Mayer 6-1 7. N. London-Spicer 5-1 8. Esko 6-1. 9. Pequot Lakes 5-0 10. Annandale 6-1 11. Pipestone 6-0 12. Osakis 7-0 13. Rush City 7-0 14. SW Christian 5-0 15. Kenyon-Wanam.5-1 16. Eden Valley-Watk. 5-1 17. Hayfield 6-1 18. Two Harbors 7-0 19. St. Peter 5-1 20. Holy Family 5-2 CLASS 3A CLASS 1A CLASS 3A CLASS 1A 1. DeLaSalle 5-1 2. Delano 6-0 3. Totino-Grace 5-0 4. Orono 5-1 5. Marshall 5-1 6. Fergus Falls 5-1 7. Austin 4-0 8. Mahtomedi 6-0 9. Big Lake 5-0 10. Alexandria 4-0 11. Waseca 7-0 12. Faribault 3-1 13. Minneapolis Henry 5-2 14. Benilde-St. Marg. 4-3 15. St. Thomas Acad. 5-2 16. Northfield 4-1 17. Fridley 5-2 18. Bemidji 4-0 19. Willmar 5-3 20. Sauk Rapids-Rice 3-3 1. Minneapolis North 5-1 2. Red Lake 7-0 3. Cen. MN Christian 5-1 4. Goodhue 7-0 5. Cass Lake-Bena 7-2 6. Heritage Christian 5-0 7. Hillcrest Lutheran 4-0 8. Mountain Lake 7-0 9. Nevis 5-1 10. Springfield 5-1 11. Lk. Park-Audubon 6-1 12. Spring Grove 6-1 13. Browerville-E.Vall. 3-2 14. Cleveland 5-0 15. Ada-Borup 6-0 16. Parkers Prairie 4-1 17. Mt. Iron-Buhl 3-1 18. MN Valley Luth. 6-1 19. North Woods 3-0 20. Red Rock Central 5-0 1. Holy Angels 8-0 2. Alexandria 7-1 3. Winona 6-1 4. Orono 8-0 5. Grand Rapids 8-1 6. Mahtomedi 4-1 7. Northfield 6-0 8. Hutchinson 4-3 9. St. Anthony Vill. 7-1 10. New Ulm 8-0 11. Chisago Lakes 3-1 12. Zimmerman 6-1 13. Waseca 7-1 14. Hermantown 6-2 15. Kasson-Mantorville 5-3 16. Byron 5-2 17. Thief River Falls 5-2 18. Delano 5-2 19. Hill-Murray 2-3 20. Sartell-St. Stephen 5-3 1. Mntn. Iron-Buhl 7-0 2. Maranatha Christian 1-3 3. Goodhue 8-2 4. Wheaton-Hrm.-Nor. 7-0 5. Cromwell-Wright 8-0 6. SW MN Christian 7-0 7. Canby 8-0 8. Cedar Mt.-Comf. 8-0 9. Mankato Loyola 7-1 10. Sleepy Eye 6-1 11. Lyle-Pacelli 6-1 12. Kimball 7-1 13. Stephen-Argyle 8-0 14. Ada-Borup 5-1 15. Heritage Christian 6-0 16. Parkers Prairie 6-0 17. New York Mills 8-0 18. Mayer Lutheran 8-2 19, Bigfork 8-0 20. Red Lake Falls 8-0
Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News December 30 Page 9 Two cultures, one passion: basketball at full throttle By Bruce Strand In a meeting of two distinct cultures, Red Lake journeyed to Minneapolis North on Dec. 28 for a game that showed two things The Res and The Hood have in common: love of basketball and no patience whatsoever. Going full throttle, taking risks, ball movement like a pinball machine, in-your-face defense, soaring drives, that s how hoops are played in both realms. North s JaQuan Sanders- Smith steals and scores. North, the top-ranked, defending Class 1A champion, pulled away from No. 2 ranked Red Lake in the second half and won 78-70, in the first regular-season meeting of the frequent state qualifiers. Photos by Bruce Strand Red Lake had dozens of fans on hand with a lot to cheer about during the first half anyway when the Warriors stuck with the Polars. North, delighting its boisterous neighborhood gallery, led 41-35 at the half and were up by 20 in the second half. North which invited Red Lake to its four-team holiday tournament after defeating the Warriors 82-61 in the state semifinals last year shot 50 percent (29-for-58), mostly by getting to the hoop as they were just 1-for-7 on three s. Isaac Johnson hit 21 points, Odell Wilson III had 19, Jaquan Sanders-Smith had 12 and Marquis Holloman added 10. Johnson, 6-foot-5 senior wing, guarded Red Lake s star, 6-foot-5 guard Rob McClain, and won that duel, with McLain limited to 9 points. In the state meeting last year, McClain scored 33 points and Johnson 29. Red Lake s hard-working guards led the way as Jamie Cook nailed 23 points and Kendall Whitefeather 13. Cook and McClain are both averaging about 19 points. Isaac Johnson lays in two of his 21 for North. Red Lake is hoping to change one fact about state prep basketball: no predominantly Native American school has won a state championship. One that almost did was Cass Lake-Bena, losing in the 1A finals in 2007 to Ellsworth 74-73. Red Lake Red Lake s Rob McClain draws a foul from Odell Wilson III. has the most state trips among the reservation schools, eight. Cass Lake-Bena has six and Fond du Lac Ojibway two. CLB is ranked No. 5 this year with an 8-2 record, both losses to Red Lake. This was the first loss for Red Lake (9-1), which edged Michelle Clark of Chicago 80-79 the night before at North. North (7-1) has lost only to Apple Valley,.