Pump N Run Classic Notes - Sunday

The 2010 Pump N Run Spring Classic finished with a pair of exciting championship games. The Iowa Barnstormers were victorious 65-60 in double overtime over the MN Pump N Run in the 17s division while 43 Hoops defeated the MN Pump N Run 62-61 at the 16s level.

The Minnesota Pump N Run 17s jumped hard on the Barnstormers building an early 30 to 16 lead. Jonah Travis (DeLaSalle) started the game with a three-pointer and two driving buckets followed by several athletic scores from Roosevelt Scott (St. Paul Johnson) and Jordan Jackson (Henry Sibley). Scott nailed two more triples and Jackson was finishing fast break opportunities using his athletic ability to beat others down the floor and finish above the rim.

Defensively the Pump N Run started tough as well limiting the big three of Seth Tuttle, Jarrod Uthoff, and Josh Oglesby to a combined seven first half points. Pump N Run guard Kyle Noreen (Minnesota Transitions) deserves most of the credit for Oglesby going scoreless in the game's first 20 plus minutes. Joel Lindberg dropped in a triple at the first half buzzer giving the Pumps a 35-23 first half lead.

The Barnstormers turned around their game in half number two with Jarrod Uthoff pushing his play to a higher gear. Uthoff used that pretty outside shooting stroke with range to sink a couple shots, he beat his defender off the bounce twice to create scores for Tuttle, and Jarrod blocked a couple shots.Uthoff's second assist to Tuttle put the score at 38-32 and then a minute later Oglesby scored his first point of the game nailing a three-pointer to tie the score at 38. Oglesby didn't score all that much but his production was timely as he also tied the game at 45 with a trey and then he gave the team the lead with a pair of free throws that were the result of a Pump N Run player technical.

The end of games seems to be Jonah Travis time. Defenders may limit Travis for parts of game but because he's so strong Jonah simply wears defenders down and that's what happened at the end of regulation yesterday. Jonah attacked possession after possession getting to the foul line for score and making contested shots in the paint.

With the game tied at 52 overtime was needed to decide the game. After Shelby Moats (Waconia) went at Tuttle for two straight scores inside it looked like the Pumps game but a timely three from Kasey Semler tied things at 57 and a second overtime was needed. After the team scrapped their way though the session the Barnstormers held a three-point lead with just seconds to go. Noreen would get a look at a three and miss and the ball went the other way for a Kyle Nikkel lay-in sealing the deal for the Barnstormers. Iowa improved to 16-0 on the season winning their third tournament and this one happened in double overtime with a 65-60 victory.

The Minnesota Pump N Run survived a scare from Wear Out the Net yesterday in the semi-final round as Jonah Travis scored off a pick and roll with three seconds to go to win 67-66. Early in the game you just felt like the Pumps were going to run away.

Everybody on the team was scoring plus Jason Perkins (Shakopee) and Alex Richter (Lakeville South) were giving their squad a little extra. But Matt Hentges (Eagan) and Lucas Brown (Roseville) continued to fight. Hentges scored with three jumpers early and Brown had a jumper, an alley-oop lay-up finish, and a baseline dunk. Plus both of these guys really increased their efforts defensively.

With the Pumps up 28-24 it looked like Roosevelt Scott was going to get an easy lay-in but WOTN's Kyle Bauman (USC) smashed Scott's shot attempt off the glass in emphatic fashion. It was an eye-opening play and the block also gave the Nets momentum for a 10-0 spurt.

The Pumps clawed back behind inside buckets from Travis and Moats but each time they scored the Nets answered. Marcus Alipate (Bloomington Jefferson) went on a run of hitting three straight three-pointers plus he attacked the lane for both a score and an assist. His play kept the Nets up 48-38 until Roosevelt Scott brought the Pumps back. Roosevelt scored three or four possessions in a row using his athletic ability and the score was 51 to 48.

With the Pumps down three a seesaw battle played the clock out. Alipate with another three for WOTN but it's countered by a Roosevelt triple. Bauman scored followed by a Travis basket the other way. Bauman with five more points but the scores were countered by a Lindberg trey and a Moats three-pointer. Finally with 11 seconds to go and the Nets up 66 to 65 Travis caught rolling off a pick and there was nobody to stop him from producing the game winner.

Player Notes

The 43 Hoops 16s victory is another accomplishment in the growing resume of St. Paul Johnson shooting guard Marcus Marshall (St. Paul Johnson). Marshall's shooting streaks of making four or five in a row in basically the same number of possessions are becoming the stuff of legends but it's not like he's a streaky shooter. Marcus continues to shoot at a high percentage and he's doing it both as a catch and shoot guy as well as a player beating guys off the two or three bounce into a clear and pull-up. Let's not forget the game winning crossover pull-up into a three that won the game for 43 Hoops 59-56 over the Iowa Barnstormers.

There are solid shooters in Minnesota's 2012 class but I don't know if there is anybody that can shoot at a high level of consistency like Marcus when you look at both the catch and shoot category as well as knocking down shots after putting the ball on the deck. Marshall is looking like a definite top five 2012 prospect at this time.

What more can be said about super stock raiser Roosevelt Scott? We've covered his physical growth of length of strength. We talked about his athletic ability, his defense, and his effort level. There has been a concern about three point shooting percentage but in big games yesterday he came up big there too. At this point there isn't to much to doubt anywhere in his game.

The words toughness and intelligence describes WOTN players Al Erickson (Lakeville North), Vaughan Thada (Owatonna), and Matt Hentges. Erickson is especially heady on both ends of the floor and he backs down from nobody. Thada is a quality shooter and the growth in the perimeter game of Hentges from early winter is particularly impressive.

After having his hand in a cast Shelby Moats is coming back fairly strong. Some good posts challenged him this weekend and they had some success but Shelby countered all of them with big shots. His three against WOTN and his overtime scores against the Barnstormers were very important and clutch would be a good word to use.

Can you imagine Kyle Bauman playing at the 16s level? The 2012 big man is facing up to hit, smothering the glass, using a sweeping lefty hook to score, and rebounding against older posts. He would destroy against 16s.

Josh Oglesby had some trouble with good defenders in championship bracket play but when it was all said and done there were two things that were clear. One, his handling skills are at a very high level and two, he is the definition of a clutch shooter. Each time the Barnstormers made momentous shots it was Oglesby's scoring numbers increasing.

Marcus Alipate turned the corner on several quality defenders this weekend. Running the point for WOTN Marcus was able to get around guys on a regular basis getting some lay-ins as well as some gorgeous passes. If he can turn the corner on guys like we saw yesterday he's going to continue to get good college looks. Especially if he keeps shooting lights out from behind the arc.

Wes Washpun had a very good weekend and if the 6-foot-0 guard didn't play considerably well early in the championship game the Barnstormers may have had to big of a hole to climb out of. Watch for him this summer as I think his stock will raise with every tournament.

You can now put the label of "go to guy" on Jonah Travis if you haven't already done so. The strength and endurance of Jonah simply wears guys out down the stretch and that's why you see him go to the line time and time again. The only way to slow him down late is try and cage him with two 6-foot-8 guys like the Barnstormers did but not everybody has two 6-foot-8 kids to use and let's not forget that leaving the Pump N Run shooters wide open isn't a good idea either.

Lucas Brown has taken his game to another level. He has the size, the frame, the length, and the athletics but what about the defense and intensity? If you saw what he did this weekend there should be questions there no more. Brown rebounded like a beast and he defended impressively jumping passing lanes, sliding for strong help defense, and pressuring his man with suffocating success. He also had some high rising jams, Brown scored the game winner with five seconds left to be neat NESYB, and if he can take his shooting and/or ball handling skills into his shot from a good to great level the Brown family better get a bigger mailbox.

Jarrod Uthoff has all parts of the game that you would expect a high major 6-foot-8 post player to have. He rebounds, he contests, he scores inside, and Jarrod uses his length to defend well. In addition to that, Uthoff has a lot of shooting range, he's a great passer, and Uthoff has better ball-handling skills than one would expect. He struggled early in the championship game but come second half it was clear what all the fuss has been about.

Some 16 names to jot down are Duke Anywanu (Blaine), Shea Mandli (Eagan), Carnell Sheppard (Minneapolis South), Will Dunn (Benilde-St. Margaret's), and Sean Scott (Spring Lake Park). Most Minnesota basketball fans know about the point skills of Sheppard and the bounce as well as three point shooting of Sean Scott. But they solidified their place this weekend as strong 2012 players. Anywanu's bounce and defense make him a name to know and Mandli's use of his length to score around the cup will make him a threat for the next two years. Dunn was catching and sinking Friday night through Sunday afternoon.

Another top prospect that will be making college recruiting headlines is Sonjay Lumpkin (Benilde-St. Margaret's). Sonjay has now grown to 6-foot-5 and his wingspan has to be at least five inches longer than that. Lumpkin is also a significant athlete (his father is former Gopher and NFL safety Sean Lumpkin) and he has used all these tools to expand his game. Penetrating, shooting, rebounding, and defense, all of it was done at a high level this weekend. Take note colleges, and not just locals, this guy is going to buying the same mailbox the Brown family has to pick up.

Who was tearing it up at the 15s level? There are some good names especially Tartan's Darrion Strong. One of the top tandems was most definitely combo guard twin brother pair Michael Soukup and Steven Soukup. They play for Bound 4 Glory and they come from Danville High in Iowa.

Nimrod Hilliard has the rec specs, he has the trademark tail, and he's owner of some of some of the slipperiest handles in the Midwest. Playing with NESYB Hilliard was breaking down just about every defender in the event to attack the rim for points. Honestly there wasn't a guy we saw keep Hilliard in front of him.

Tre Burnette and the Wisconsin Stars were crushed by 40 some points by the host Pump N Run but he performed admirably scoring points one on one in numerous ways.

The media in attendance picked the official all-tournament team starting with MVP Jarrod Uthoff. The other members were Josh Oglesby, Jonah Travis, Roosevelt Scott, Nimrod Hilliard, Bryan Sprang, Marcus Alipate, and Marquealis Edwards.

Tomorrow Minnesota Preps will have an extended all-tournament team that was picked by the 17 and Under coaches as well as a 16 and under squad also picked by the coaches (although sorted into teams by Minnesota Preps).