Day 1 of MN Basketball Tournament 22

Today I attended the start of the Boys High school basketball tournament here in MN. For most fans, it seemed to be an extremely enjoyable experience. So I'd like to share my experience and thoughts on the games. 

My day started with #1 Totino-Grace vs. Hermantown. Not much to say here, but the Eagles came to play. Not to take away from the Hawks, but there aren't too many teams in the midwest that match up well against TG when they're playing some of their best game. Which is what I saw today. They win 83-50.

Next up was #4 Mankato East vs. #5 Mound Westonka. This game was beyond entertaining. MW seemed to control the pace from the get-go. They played smart and controlled the paint throughout the first half. This was not the case for the second half, however. East picked up the intensity as soon as the break was over. With BJ Omot at the head of their full-court press, no pass was safe. All of a sudden the Cougars jumped to a small lead that would continue to grow as the game continued. They'd go on to win 68-55.

Third was #2 Princeton vs. Austin. I didn't really know what to expect from this game but was still pleasantly surprised. Austin got a few quick buckets and had a slight advantage. After some time the Tigers settled down and played their game and would have a 5 point lead at halftime. This momentum seemed to carry into the 2nd period. With a double-digit lead now I'm sure not too many viewers would expect the Packers to get back in this game. That was until in a blink of an eye the lead was cut to 3. Princeton called time and reset which is exactly what they needed. From there the Tigers would hold on and win 73-63.

Finally, class 3A's day ended with #3 De LaSalle vs. St. Cloud Tech. This game reminded me of two things. 1. How disciplined DLS is and 2. How athletic they are. These are two attributes that you don't see much of in high school basketball. They would use these perfected skills to seemingly control the game. The Islander's lead would fluctuate from 20+ to 8 in this game. But it never left. Even in Tech's moments of life they just couldn't get back into this one. DLS wins it and plays the #2 seeded Tigers Thursday.

Hope you enjoy this read! Bear with us as we are just getting started. More coverage to come!
Location: Williams Arena, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA

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