Photo by Paul Trende
It happens very infrequently that a team plays three ranked foes in a week, nonetheless beats all three. Brad King’s Caledonia boys basketball (#2 in AA, 13-0) had a really good week. It started with a conference battle of TRC division leading undefeateds with Plainview-Elgin-Millville (#8 in AA, 14-0). The Bulldogs came out inspired, things revolving around 6’5” center Aeron Stevens. The junior scored seven early points, grabbed some rebounds, and altered multiple interior Warrior shots. PEM led 18-11 midway through the first half. But from that point on, Caledonia’s relentless defensive pressure and athleticism took over. The Warriors would lead by halftime, 29-24. In the second half, Cal super-athlete Eli King lurked and loomed, deflecting and/or stealing a litany of Bulldog passes and dribbles. The Warriors started the half six of seven shooting. The six-point lead ballooned to 12 (41-19). It swelled to 21 (52-31) when Cal hit 12 of 14 shots. By the time Lewis Doyle scored (less then 6:00), the lead was 26 (64-38). Brad King’s Warriors had hit 16 of 23 shots to start the stanza! Most were transition layups or King dunks. Caledonia handily prevailed, 71-43. The 6’3” senior King was the catalyst (game-high 20 pts, 8 stls). Seven steals were after halftime. Ja’Shon Simpson (17 pts, 7 rebs, 4 stls) and Jackson Koepke (14 pts, 7 rebs) were big help. Chris Peiper added 6 (pts) and 6 (rebs) while covering Stevens in the second half. Connor McGuire (13 pts, 5 rebs) and Stevens (11 pts, 10 rebs) led the Bulldogs. PEM had 31 turnovers, Caledonia 12. Caledonia then handled #8 in A Rushford-Peterson (6-2, 10-3) in a rivalry TRC-East game. The lead was 24-20 at half, but the Warriors pulled away for a 60-49 win. King (20 pts), Koepke (12 pts), and Austin Meyer (11 pts) hit double figures. Thane Meiners (8 pts) and Simpson (7 pts) helped. R-P was led by Malachi Bunke (18 pts, 3-10 threes, 4 asts) and Dawson Bunke (13 pts, 3-6 threes, 4-4 FTs, 5 rebs). Grady Hengel and Andrew Hoiness added eight points. The Trojans hit 10 of 26 threes (39%) and 9 of 11 free throws (82%). Leading scorer Justin Ruberg was held in check (2 pts, 9 rebs) though. Caledonia (15-0) then took on Class AAA #1 Totino Grace (10-3). The Eagles came out, hit seven first half threes, and built a 50-30 halftime lead. Caledonia, lights out at putting teams away after halftime, had to majorly come back. Scoring the first eight points of the stanza helped (down 50-37). More critically, TG had a 14-possession span where they scored two points with 10 turnovers. Caledonia ran 16-2. A King three put the Warriors up 64-62 with plenty on the clock (3:49)! A pair of King break-away dunks and two Meiners driving layups preceded the shot, an eight-points-in-four-possessions span. But TG’s Taison Chatman notched a three-point-play to put the Eagles ahead 67-66 (0:45.8). After a Warrior shot was blocked and TG missed the front end of a one-and-one, King drilled a fadeaway 16-footer over 6’7” Demarion Watson to put Cal ahead 68-67 (0:14). The Eagles then missed an open three and narrowly missed a put-back back at the buzzer. Coming back from down 20, team Cal prevailed 68-67! King led the way (21 pts, 10 rebs, 6 asts, 3 stls). Koepke (13 pts, 3-11 threes, 5 rebs, 4 asts) and Meiners (11 pts, 5-6 FGs) made double figures. Six of seven Warriors to play scored at least seven. Simpson (8 pts), Peiper (8 pts, 6 rebs), and Doyle (7 pts) chipped in buckets. TG had 15 second half turnovers and scored seven points their final 21 possessions. Each team was 28 of 63 shooting (44%). Watson (20 pts, 4-7 threes), Chatman (13 pts), Patrick Bath (11 pts, 10 rebs), and Tommy Humphries (10 pts, 6 asts, 4 stls) led the Eagles. Ahjany Lee added 8 (pts) and 11 (rebs). All five are between 6’4” and 6’9”. Caledonia (8-0, 16-0) sits atop the TRC-East, as La Crescent/Hokah (6-1, 12-3) fell to PEM 68-42 in conference play.