Tubby Team Camp Weekend Notes

If you were expecting a lull at Eden Prairie after a second place finish at state and losing eight players from their nine man rotation think again. This weekend Eden Prairie showed that talent is still in abundance as they won the Tubby Team Camp Championship with talented players producing from three different age groups.

The Eagles got contributions from several players as their team balance was outstanding. Athletic Andre Wallace and steady guard Jaron Johnson from the 2014 class combined with the skill of Grant Schaeffer and the toughness of Jack Cottrell to give Eden Prairie regular production. Also, senior to be Sander Mohn joined his teammates for bracket play brining experience and size to the wing. The combination of these players and several others brought the Eagles a weekend championship that should help boost them into the next era of EP basketball.

Apple Valley could also walk out of Williams Arena with a smile as they took second place despite not having all world point guard Tyus Jones all weekend. The Eagles started camp with two buzzer beating pool play victories as Dustin Fronk used his range to win the games in dramatic fashion.

The Eagles lost a pool play game to Minnetonka 56-29 but bounced back in the semi-final round to beat the Skippers by 14 points. In that game guard Harry Sonie got to the paint whenever he wanted and showed an eye-opening pull-up game that was made with consistency. The speedy Sonie also hit some deadly treys and overall he needs to be included when people talk about some of the better players in the 2013 class as Harry is showing this off-season he belongs.

Six-foot-3 2014 forward Dennis Austin also had his way with Minnetonka working the lower right block with dominance. Austin scored in whatever fashion he wanted taking defenders off the dribble, banging into them to score, and making an array of jumpers that including fall-aways and face-ups.

The Skippers had no reason to hang their heads though as they picked up weekend wins over Owatonna, Apple Valley, Prior Lake, Glenville-Emmons, Totino-Grace, and Holy Angles. This is after winning only four games this past winter. The scoring combination of Tommy McDermott and Latrell Love was at times unstoppable.

Few at the event could keep McDermott in front of them so Tommy hit his deadly pull-up plus kissed several shots off the glass going at the rim. Love used his soft touch and slippery post moves to dominate several games including the contest against the huge frontline of Prior Lake. With Andrew Turnblad and Danny Burger defending at an experienced high level plus Brendan Taylor and Andrew Grosz scoring consistently off the bench the Skippers had a great weekend.

Also having a great weekend was Prior Lake who was the other semi-finalist (they lost to EP in overtime). Playmaking guard Jon Sobaski definitely made a name for himself as there really wasn't at team at the event who could stop the skilled guard from producing numbers. Sobaski is a profound shooter but his game is more than that as he can be labeled in the playmaker category as well. Plus he was big in the clutch as his runner at the buzzer beat Benilde-St. Margaret's 48-46. Prior Lake won their pool with wins over Benilde-St. Margaret's, Clovis High out of Fresno (who they also beat in the quarterfinals), and Robbinsdale Cooper.

For those in the North Suburban Conference Minnesota Preps sends a good luck wish to all who will be trying to stop 6-foot-9 Nick Carr this winter. Carr is a monster who gets low post position where he wants but he also has a very soft touch and good hands. This allows him to catch lobs, turn, and finish with great accuracy and contact does not bother him until he starts to get tired. Everybody talks with Carr about football but Nick has a great feel for the game of basketball and has been well coached at Totino-Grace. The Eagle staff is highly regarded and because of that Carr is going to be a big numbers scoring weapon in the winter.

Speaking of size, MACCRAY is going to continue their southwest Minnesota excellence. They are a big class A team with experience in Riley Aeikens, talented youth in 2014 6-foot-7 Carter Asche, and many players between them like Brady Boike and Taylor Thissen. Aeikens is a long armed 6-foot-4 shooter who was challenging Blake Hoffarber records for three point makes in a Williams Arena game just about every time he took the court. Aeikens looks ready to follow in the footsteps of Seth Hinrichs and Shaun Condon in leading MACCRAY while Asche seems to be the next in waiting.

Perham won the state title in 2011 and they are going to be feared again in 2011-12. With 6-foot-6 agile big man Mark Schumacher and athletic guard Jordan Bruhn this team returns the backbone of their title squad and they look primed for another run. Schumacher really had high school players and coaches talking because he finished at such high percentage despite defenders contesting shots. Schumacher was making reverse lay-ups, extending back at awkward angles to finish, and he rebounded at a double figure clip.

Then there was Bruhn who couldn't be stopped from getting to the paint. Many will say the word "competition" when hearing that but Bruhn's strong and athletic frame was getting middle on Holy Angles and Robbinsdale Cooper guards on a regular basis. The 6-foot-2 Bruhn is going to have a huge senior year with Schumacher plus fourth leading scorer Jordan Cresap and fifth leading scorer Sam Stratton also return from the state title squad. The only players Perham loses are second leading scorer Nick Tobkin and junior Zach Gabbard who was recently told he won't be able to play basketball again.

Next year could be a big one for the Academy of Holy Angles. Sophomore to be Jordan Dembley is one of the smoothest lead guards in the state of Minnesota and his crafty ability to produce in both the halfcourt setting and the transition game should put college coaches on notice. Dembley returns along with Parker Bredow to give the Stars a tough backcourt and in the frontcourt they have a nice junior shooter in Danny Sullivan and then an interesting 6-foot-8 big in Mike Hudson. Hudson has a strong physique plus his midrange shot is fair as he hit three jumpers on the baseline against Minnetonka.

And as a final note people should start taking more notice of 5-foot-11 Minnehaha Academy guard Gerald McCarver. After scoring 19 points a game as a sophomore last winter McCarver looks ready for bigger things as an upper classmen.