Minnesota Magic Super Regional

April 25-27

Bloomington Jefferson High School
Bloomington, MN

Xplosion upsets Comets Elite 68-49 and fall in the Semi's by 8

The Minnesota Magic hosted the annual AAU Super Regional in Bloomington, Minnesota. This event boasts teams from all around the state and a few from outstate looking for a berth to the AAU Nationals in Orlando, Florida. Only the top 4 qualify.

The tournament is set up with pool play starting on Saturday. With 16 teams in the tournament, 4 pools are set up with 4 teams in each. Minnesota Xplosion played in a pool with TNL, Minnesota Magic-Blake and Minnesota Fury-North. Top 2 teams from each pool (total of 8) advance to the championship bracket to battle it out.

First up for the Minnesota Xplosion was Magic-Blake. A slow moving game to start dominated by outside shooting. Jordan Reibling dropped 10 points in the first half and Xplosion took a 29-24 lead into halftime. Second half adjustments were made on the defensive side of the ball and Xplosion roared out of the gate. Brent Walker dropped 3 quick three pointers while team defense (45 team rebounds) kept Magic scoreless for over 7 minutes. An all around offensive game both outside and inside the paint secured the victory, 73-41. Jordan Reibling finished with 19 points, Anthony Webber had his first double double of the season with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 7 blocked shots. Brent Walker dropped 11 points with 5 assists and Josh Pella crashed the boards for a total of 14.

Next pool play game was TNL Express. Always good games purely because of the rivalry as many of the players are good friends and have played alot of ball together over the years. At the top of Xplosion's scout report, Jauson Sewer. Minnesota Xplosion knew if they were going to win this game, they would have to stop #24. First half was tight as Dillon Hager kept the "X" in the game with 2 from beyond the arc. TNL was able to shut down Jordan Reibling as he went 1-7 beyond the arc. Jauson Sewer proved he is one of the premier guards in the class of 2010 by doing it all, hitting 5 3's in the first half alone, setting up teammates with easy looks and giving TNL a 40-31 lead. Second half continued much the same with Xplosion not able to find any consistency inside or outside. Dillon Hager and Jordan Reibling both hit a pair of 3 balls but TNL always had an answer closing the game out giving Xplosion a 62-72 loss and a 1-1 record in pool play.

Final pool play game against Minnesota Fury-North to cap a long day in the gym. Xplosion comes out knowing winner of the game will take 2nd in the pool and advance to Championship bracket play Sunday. Losing the game not an option. Running the court, slashing to the basket and dropping outside shots from everywhere, Xplosion leads 16-1. Brent Walker and Michael Rovansek both have 8 points in the half. Fury picks up their defense and slowly chips away at the lead. Halftime score 36-31 Xplosion. With the nice comeback to close the 2nd half, Fury continues to have the momentum and tightens up the defense. Keeping Xplosion above water in the half was Eric Sandstad on the boards, 10 total, 7 on the offensive end of the court. Josh Pella worked hard in the paint getting to the line and Brent Walker continued to hit the outside shot, 7 more points. With time running out, Fury is able to tie the game with a free throw and send the deciding game into overtime. A very tough battle continued with both teams getting to the line. Brent Walker had a bucket and free throw, Eric Sandstad with a bucket and Josh Pella added 2 free throws allowing Xplosion to escape with a 61-60 win. Brent Walker finished high scorer with 18 points. Josh Pella had 11 point, 7 rebounds. Michael Rovansek and Anthony Webber contributed 9 each.

Championship bracket was set and the Sunday morning game at 8:45a would come very quickly considering the final game on Saturday night didn't finish till 9:30p. Comets Elite, a team many picked to contend for the championship, would be the team standing between Minnesota Xplosion and a National's berth. Knowing Comets Elite have many weapons inside and out, defense would have to win the game. Xplosion pushed the ball up the floor and was able to make it happen from all spots on the floor. Josh Pella hit a 3 ball and posted up for 6 more in the first half. With the rest of the scoring coming from everyone else, defense was the key and it showed. Comets could not get a good open look at the basket and Xplosion held a 24-17 lead at halftime. The second half effort would need to be even better then the first if Xplosion would want to hold off the heavily favored Comets. Defense worked hard and offense was flowing. Josh Pella had 2 dunks, a tip slam that raised the roof in the gym and another on a break away that really got the adrenaline flowing. Jordan Reibling dropped 2 from behind the arc mixed in with 3 other jumpers giving him 13 points in the half. Comets could never get a run started and Xplosion coasted to a 68-49 win, upsetting a favorite and sending them to Disney World in July. Josh Pella had 21 points, 8 rebounds, 6 steals, 4 assists, 2 blocks and 0 turnovers, just missing what would have been his 3rd double double on the season. Jordan Reibling dumped in 17 points, 3 steals while Dillon Hager, Rick Starck and Anthony Webber contributed 6.

The semi-final game would be MN Magic-Phillips. Again, not much of a scouting report available. The fact that they won their pool (3-0) and had advanced to the semi game was enough to not take them lightly. A win in the game could possibly set up a championship game with TNL Express, the only Xplosion loss on the weekend. The "X" shooting did not start off well but rebounding, put-backs and an inside game kept Xplosion up. Josh Pella worked the paint for 9 1st half points. Michael Rovansek also got to the basket and had 9 in the half. Xplosion kept the lead the entire first half and lead 34-28. Xplosion shooting picked up right where it left off in the first half, non-existent. Eric Sandstad tried to fill the scoring void by making moves down low and contributing 5 second half points. Josh Pella also gave it his all trying to hold off the Magic run putting up 6 in the half and pulling down rebounds. In the end, Magic squeaked out the victory 65-57 and sent the Xplosion home. Josh Pella had 15 points, 10 rebounds which gives him his 3rd double double of the season. Jordan Reibling finished with 14 and Michael Rovansek 11. Blair Dittrich handed off 5 assists with 3 rebounds.

Next up is the Jayhawk Invitational at the University of Kansas, May 2-4.