In a thrilling basketball matchup at Wayzata High School on Friday night, the #2 ranked Wayzata Trojans Boys Basketball Team (15-1) secured a solid 92-80 win against a very good #8 ranked Minneapolis Washburn (14-2) team.
Washburn, determined to capitalize on Wayzata’s recent upset loss to Hopkins, started the game by jumping out to an early lead on offense and forcing Trojan turnovers on defense.
The game plan for Washburn was to slow the Trojans by doubling Jackson McAndrew in the paint as much as possible; however it simply didn’t stop the Creighton recruit.
McAndrews, a 6’9″ senior and Christian Wiggins, a 6’4″ sophomore guard played pivotal roles in the win tonight, as did all the Trojan players.
During the second half, McAndrews achieved a career milestone by scoring his 1,000th point on a deep three-pointer from the wing.
This noteworthy moment originated from a Wiggins shot block off the glass, part of a crucial 7-point swing for Wayzata during the contest.
Head Coach Bryan Schnettler talked about the accomplishment after the game, “Jackson has worked very hard to become the player that he is. It is really cool to see how excited his teammates and our community were about him scoring his 1,000th point. We can’t wait to see him finish his senior year in a big way.”
Wiggins kept Wayzata in the game in the first half seemingly single handedly by contributing from the three-point line, the free-throw line, and through relentless hustle plays including tips, steals, blocks, and more.
In the second half, one of several steals by Wiggins occurred at 11:57, leading to a foul and additional made free throws extending Wayzata’s lead to 59-54.
Schnettler also talked about Wiggins after the game, “Christian continues to get better everyday. We love how hard he works!”
As indicated, Washburn was scrappy and anytime Wayzata would build a lead of 8, 10, or 12 points throughout the game, Washburn consistently fought back, narrowing the gap to four or six points whether it was a Cooper Carlson 3-pointer or Kyle Jorengsen hitting clutch free throws.
Many of the other Trojans added key minutes and buckets.
Drew Nepstad made a significant impact with a deep three-pointer and a skillful finger-tip roll midway through the second half.
Wyatt McBeth contributed with hustle plays and key buckets throughout the game as well.
Evan Johnson showcased his shooting prowess with consecutive three-pointers from different corners of the floor, expanding Wayzata’s lead to 72-60 with 7:23 remaining in the second half.
At the end, the Trojans were able to pull away by breaking the Miller press utilizing tactics like this give and go between Wyatt McBeth and McAndrew:
Coach Schnettler offered his praise after the game and challenged his team to be even better, “When we moved the ball on O and made the extra pass we looked good on offense tonight. We have a very talented group and if we can continue to be willing to give up good shots for great shots we will get even better.”
He also indicated there were times he’d like to see more on the defensive end of the floor, “We need to be more consistent with our defense, we had too many lapses tonight and good teams like Washburn make you pay for that.”
McAndrew finished with 31, Wiggns had 25, Isaac Olmstead had 8, Wyatt McBeth and Drew Nepstad each had 7, Evan Johnson had 6, and Brayden Sandmann & Michael Saphir each finished with 2 points.
Leaders for Washburn included Cooper Carlson with 23, Kyle Jorgensen with 19, Charlie Gustafson with 16, and Blake Bergren with 14.
The Trojans host STMA (8-8) on Tuesday at WHS, and Washburn travels to Minneapolis Edison (3-13) Monday evening.
