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Moats leads Waconia over Skippers

Waconia defeated second ranked Minnetonka last night 86-80 behind 22 points and eight rebounds from junior standout Shelby Moats. With three of the four Minnetonka seniors sitting out Moats was the star on the floor and he didn't disappoint showing his low post and perimeter game. Also impressive was Wildcat senior Danny Fischbach who scored 20 points while filing in at the point.
At 6-foot-8 and with offers from Utah, UW-Green Bay, and UW-Milwaukee Moats will be listed as the second ranked prospect in Minnesota when the new 2011 ranking comes out in the very near future. College coaches will follow his progress closely and we at Minnesota Preps will follow him close as well. Below is a score by score look at Shelby from last night.
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Two Points - After not touching the ball on the first couple possessions Shelby ran the floor in transition ahead of the defense to catch in the lane. Moats caught deep inside but he put the ball on the floor and backed into the defense creating room for him to go up and make a lay-in.
Four Points - Again running the floor Moats caught the ball on a two on one break, moved the ball to his outside hand, and finished with his right while on the move.
Seven Points - Tonka went on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 13 but Shelby stopped it catching a ball reversal and hitting a three from the right wing in rhythm.
Nine Points - After missing a step back three and being swatted by Andrew Turnbald Shelby asked for the ball on the mid-block where he had fought for and gained good low post position. He received and turned strong over his right shoulder while the defender took the contact and went to the deck trying to draw a charge. With no call given Shelby dropped a mid-lane left-handed baby hook through the hoop.
Twelve Points - Shelby hit a three with a 6-foot-4 defender's reach right in his face.
Fourteen Points - Another long contested jumper made although Shelby's toes were just inside the arc. Moats hit the shot from the top of the key and it was contested as well.
Sixteen Points - Again in transition the ball is thrown ahead to Shelby on the move and the big man comfortably catches and scores on the break.
Eighteen Points - Moats caught an entry while in low block position. After catching Moats put the ball on the floor and backed down a defender, turned, and scored. Simple back down power move for two. Shelby had three fouls going into the halftime break, which was soon after this score.
Twenty Points - Twenty seconds into the second half Shelby picked up an offensive foul. With it being his fourth Moats went right to the bench. He came back in after six minutes of sitting and scored right away. It was a post up on the left block where Shelby fought for position and worked the defender to his hip on the topside. Moats than extended his leg into the defender and produced a right handed target on the opposite side of his body. His teammate gave him a nice entry and when Shelby caught he was in great position to catch and score keeping the ball high and finishing at the rim. It was a perfect post seal.
Twenty-Two Points - Moats goes two for two from the foul line.
Moats finished the contest scoring on nine of 14 shot attempts plus he made both free throws. Shelby also had the eight boards and a big block late. He played 28 of the 36 minutes last night.
Game Notes
• Minnetonka has only four seniors on their roster and three of them were on the bench in street clothes. Top five senior Minnesota prospect Cole Stefan, top 20 prospect Tor Anderson, and top 50 prospect Leonard Glass were all out of action.
• Players who have definitely added to their repertoires are Waconia's Danny Fischbach and Tonka's Nick Latzke. Fischbach has the reputation as a slasher and Latzke as a three-point threat but these two are more than that.
• At 6-foot-3 Fischbach gets off the floor very well to make plays at the rim. As a finisher he's tough. But even more impressive may be the first step off his dribble attack, which is what clears him from defenders. Danny also showed a three-point stroke last night making two shots from beyond the arc and more importantly he stepped up to handle the point after his team turned the ball over often at the start. His 20 points came from his jumper, his basket attack, and the foul line plus Danny did a great job taking care of the basketball.
• Latzke first made name for himself at Minnetonka knocking down triples from all over as a ninth grader. Nick has a pure three-point stroke and the 6-foot-5 small forward made four triples last night including one from beyond NBA range. But he also has a slashing game that has been opening eyes. Latzke has developed his basket attack where he's able to go by defenders and finish over the top. The biggest example of growth in this area last night was a ball reversal where Nick caught and was wide open on the left wing. Instead of shooting the trey he saw a lane and attacked it finishing with a finger roll at the rim. He also has a knack for scoring putbacks and Latzke is a player with great body control. Nick had a game high 28 points.
Chad Howard was the lone senior on the floor for Tonka. He had several steals of Waconia point guards to start the game and his energy helped ignite the Skippers on a couple runs. At 5-foot-9 and quite skilled Howard penetrated through the defense and made some acrobatic points finishing with a touch over bigger players. He finished with 18 points but fouled out.
• Howard went on his own 6-0 run early in the game as he recorded back to back to back steals tying the game at 13. Problem was Waconia hit three pointers on the next three possessions (senior Ben Kortuem had two) highlighting an 11-0 Wildcat run.
• Waconia runs with an eight-man rotation. Three of the players are seniors, three are juniors, and they have a couple promising underclassmen. Sophomore Alex Schmitt is a very sound shooter at 5-foot-9 and freshman Wylie Ferron has very good length at 6-foot-4 and a nice shooting stroke with range. Schmitt finished the game with seven points while Ferron had six.
• In double figures for Tonka was Latzke with 28, Howard with 18, and junior forward Blake Nelson worked around the rim to get 16 points.
• In a weird scoring situation, whoever reported the Minnetonka numbers only gave media 78 of their 80 points. And I actually kept track of everyone's scoring for once and had the team for 79 points. On the scoreboard they had 80 points. Go figure.
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