WEEKLY ROUNDUP *Columbia Heights ends DeLaSalle dynasty *Tre Jones is Mr. BB *All-tournament teams SUMMER CAMPS DIRECTORY PAGES 20-21 Volume 24 Issue No. 18 March 30 2017-2018 Boys champs: Cretin-DH, Delano, Minnehaha, RTR Clockwise from top: Cretin- Derham Hall’s Daniel Oturu (with trophy), Jaeden King, Jacob Prince and Jaylen New- ton celebrate a last-second 4A victory: Delano’s Calvin Wishart soars for two of his 83 tournament points for the 3A champs, past Deundra Roberson of Columbia Heights; Min- nehaha Academy’s Ja- Vonni Bickham, Jalen Suggs and Prince Aligbe hug after repeating as 2A champs; Garrett Kern of 1A champ Russell-Tyler- Ruthton drives against North Woods’ Tate Olson Bruce Strand Minnesota Basketball News Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News March 30 Page 2 With last-second dunk, Cretin-DH dethrones Eagles By Bruce Strand er end of the court with his delirious slam dunk by the teammates, except star player in the that it wasn’t quite finalA second of play over. The officials — one of the most conferred and put a spectacular conclu- half-second on the sions any state final clock, enough for ever had. Jones to make sure his team went down That’s what delivered swinging. The Duke the state champion- recruit fired from ship to Cretin-Der- three-quarters the ham Hall, the state’s length of the court. best team all season, It had a chance, but in an epic battle with fell just short. defending champion Apple Valley. Oturu’s fourth dunk of the game placed But not before the him on an all-time last-second hero list of state tourna- Daniel Oturu nearly ment heroes who’ll got ejected at the end be remembered of the first half, and for decades. “I not before Apple Val- give all the glory ley’s peerless guard to God,” reflected Tre Jones delivered Daniel Oturu throws it down, off an alley-oop pass from the Gophers’ prized 35 points in gallant Ryan Larson, to beat Apple Valley 79-78. in-state recruit, not pursuit of his third Bruce Strand, Minnesota Basketball News one for expansive state title, and not be- analysts of his feats, fore the lead changed four times in the final minute of even this one. play, did the Raiders prevail 79-78 over the Eagles in this absolutely riveting Class 4A showdown. The point guard deserved high praise as well. “Ryan has the option, always, to lob that ball up or go get a la- “How about that game? Are you kidding me?” gushed yup or a jumper,” Kline said. “We’ve been doing that all Jerry Kline, the Raider coach. “What an emotional roll- year. It was outstanding execution with the amount of er coaster.” pressure on the line.” The Raiders, down by a point, inbounded on the other In the final seconds of the half, during heavy contact side of mid court with 5.5 seconds left. Jacob Prince’s under the basket, Oturu’s temper snapped. He grasped bounce pass was deflected by Zack Korba befor Chat- Jones and pushed the 6-2 guard out of bounds, draw- man secured the ball and raced upcourt. Hounded by ing a tech foul and leaving a cut on Jones shoulder that Jones, he bounce-passed to Larson, who, in one motion, had to be bandaged. The crowd gasped, then buzzed for lofted the ball to the perfect spot: the air space above several minutes while the referees conferred, checking the rim that’s owned by their 6-10 center. Oturu jack- with coaches, on whether any additional penalty should hammered the ball through the cords. be assessed. They decided on just a tech foul. The Gopher recruit then danced all the way to the oth- Cretin-Derham Hall: continued on Page 3 Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News March 30 Page 3 An epic 4A finale beginning to end Cretin-Derham Hall: continued from Page 2 Oturu generated 17 points, six rebounds, six blocks and five assists, while missing five minutes after he picked And as it turned out, all the incident cost the Raiders up his fourth foul. Jaeden King, junior guard (the oth- was one point, as Jones made one of two free shots, and ers are seniors), led with 19 points, including 3-for-6 on there was only 1.4 seconds left, although it also caused three’s and 4-for-4 at the line, after going scoreless the Oturu’s conspicuous omission from the all-tournament the first two games due to an ankle sprain. Prince sank team, as the MSHSL officials nixed him due to its 16 points (on 7-for-8 shooting), Chatman 14 and Larson sportsmanship clause. But the Raid- 11 along with seven assists. ers could certainly live with that. There were no questions about it Larson captured his second state in the post-game press conference, championship and second all-tour- an indication that the press who’ve nament honor, having helped Bra- covered Oturu though his career ham win Class 2A as a sophomore. felt this was an aberration. (Oturu did mention that Jones was “a close Both teams shot extremely well in a friend” when asked about Jones’ game close all the way. (Apple Val- performance.) ley led 41-40 at the half.) The Raid- ers were 29-for-51 (57 percent) on Of course, there was that fantastic field goals, 4-for-9 on three’s and ballgame to discuss, too. “It was 17-for-20 at the line. The Eagles two heavyweights going at it,” said were 32-for-57 (56 percent) on field Kline. “Tre, you can’t say enough Tre Jones sank 35 points and goals, 9-for-15 on three’s and 5-for- about him. Thirty-five points, he barely missed a 3rd state title. 6 at the line. There were only 46 re- willed them all the way.” Eagle Bruce Strand, Minnesota Basketball News bounds and each snagged 23. coach Zach Goring praised Oturu: “We did everyone we could to drag Jones shot 6-for-9 on three’s on the him away from the rim and he still had what, five blocks, way to his 35 points, along with five assists and six re- and altered a lot of shots.” bounds. Senior Luke Martens sank 17 points (7-for-9 field goals, 2-for-2 free throws). Korba, senior guard, Cretin Derham Hall finished 29-2 with its third state scored seven. Rolland and Logan Wangerin, both 6-8 title (in 11 state trips) and first since 1993 when Kline seniors, added six each. “We competed hard and we did himself was in the lineup. enough to win,” Goring said”, but they got that loose ball at the end, then threw it at the rim for Daniel.” Apple Valley finished 27-4. The Eagles were 115-12 in the four seasons with Jones at the point, with state titles Road to the finals in his freshman and junior years, each time upsetting No. 1 seed Champlin Park, and they came within a sec- Cretin-Derham Hall nipped Eden Prairie 60-56 in their ond of toppling another No. 1 seed. Marveled Goring: semifinal. The Eagles, down 58-56, had a chance to tie. “Thirty-two games every year, two championships, one but missed a shot with :02 left, Oturu rebounded, got second place, one third. I think they will go down as one fouled and both free shots. Oturu had 24 points and 12 of the best classes in state basketball history.” rebounds. Larson delivered 18 points and seven assists. In the first round, the Raiders stopped Wayzata 70-48 That rocking final minute began with Rolland Spencer’s with Oturu hitting 24 points and Sy Chatman 22. layup giving Apple Valley a 76-75 lead with :59 left. Larson knifed for a layup that put the Raiders back up Apple Valley trailed unseeded Forest Lake 45-35 before 77-76 with :34 left. With the clock dipping under 10 recovering to win 67-60 with Jones scoring 22 and Mar- seconds, Jones and Martens missed but Korba snagged tens 13. Manny Jingco hit 20 and Cooper Berg 18 for the second rebound and soared for a putback. That gave Forest Lake. In the semifinal vs. Lakeville North (they the Eagles a 78-77 lead with :06 left. “We all gave 100 had split two conference games) the Eagles won 58-45, percent,” Jones said. “We didn’t leave anything out led by Jones with 16, Zorba 12 points and Martens 11. there ... I’m extremely proud of all the guys.” North, never under 50 previously, shot just 1-for-17 on three-pointers. Tyler Wahl had 19 for the Panthers. Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News March 30 Page 4 Surprise champion Delano nips Columbia Heights for 3A title By Bruce Strand nce Calvin Wishart and the Delano Tigers got their foot in the door, there was no stoppingO them. The Tigers, finally freed from a power-packed section they could never win, and probably wouldn’t have won this year either, cruised through their new section to earn just the third state trip in their history. Delano still came into the big show barely noticed, except for the Mr. Basketball finalist leading them, because, with 11 losses, they were ranked 19th in Class 3A and unseeded in the tournament. But they won the whole thing, capped by a 64- 61 conquest of Columbia Heights in the finals. “I don’t think anyone else believed we could do this,” Wishart said, accurately, when it was all over.