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Champlin Park defeats DeLaSalle in tilt between two of state's top-ranked teams

By Ben Farber, SportsEngine, 02/23/17, 7:15AM CST

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McKinley Wright had a career-high 46 points to lead the No. 1-4A Rebels past the No. 1-3A Islanders.



Champlin Park senior McKinley Wright takes the jumper for two of his 46 points against DeLaSalle. Wright led the Rebels to a 87-77 victory over the visiting Islanders on Thursday night. Photo by Jeff Lawler, SportsEngine



Champlin Park just keeps winning basketball games. The Rebels, ranked No. 1 in Class 4A by Minnesota Basketball News, knocked off No. 1-3A DeLaSalle on Thursday by a final count of 87-77.

McKinley Wright, who will be a Dayton Flyer a year from now, had a game for the ages. With Minnesota Gophers’ Head Coach Richard Pitino in attendance, the senior guard put up a career-high 46 points—26 in the first half and 20 in the second--including a stretch in the first half in which he scored nine points in under a minute.

Wright left his previous mark of 34 points in the dust midway through the second half. As if the scoring wasn’t enough, Wright also grabbed 11 rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive glass.

Wright’s head coach Mark Tuchscherer spoke glowingly of his four-year guard after the game.

“He’s an outstanding player,” said Tuchscherer. “He’s the type of guy who, his whole career since ninth grade, he’s been unselfish. He’s capable of scoring and does score but he’s always been a player who will get his teammates involved more. He’s one of the best assist guys but tonight he put the team on his shoulders offensively and had to score a little bit more. I guess when you’re feeling it, you’re feeling it.”

Wright’s 46 points came in the flow of the game. He took good shots and was eager to find open teammates for better looks. Despite the career night, Wright was deferential. “It feels great,” he said. “I didn’t really pay attention to the points that much. I was worried about coming out with the win and we did that.”

Wright’s Marquette-bound teammate, 6-foot-9 forward Theo John, turned in a stellar game of his own by scoring eight points, grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking a pair of shots.

The game’s signature moment occurred with 11 minutes to play in the first half. With Wright handling the ball on the left elbow, John sealed his defender and streaked toward the hoop. Wright threw the lob and John caught the pass above the rim and threw it down to score his 1,000th career point. For John, receiving the momentous assist from Wright felt poetic.

“He’s my brother,” said John. “We’ve been through it all since freshman year and for him to have the assist is pretty cool.”

Despite the big win, Champlin Park started sluggishly, even trailing 21-16 at one point. However, once the Rebels took the lead, they never gave it back and they swung the momentum permanently with the Wright-to-John alley-oop.

“That’s happened so many times at Champlin Park the last few years,” said Tuchscherer. “They’re so good at it. They have that connection—they just make eyes. There’s no set play there, they just know how to find each other.”

With the win, Champlin Park improves their record to a sterling 23-0 on the season. They have three games remaining in their regular season schedule.

Wright said that a healthy fear of the opponent pushed Champlin Park to raise the quality of their play. DeLaSalle (20-3, 11-0) came into the game on a 15-game winning streak and hadn’t lost in 2017.

“We just needed to come in here and win. We know how good of a team they are. They’ve won five state championships in a row in their class and our coach knew it and asked for everything we’ve got. Our team knew it would take everything we had. We came out and gave it everything we got.”

Champlin Park (23-0, 16-0) held Goanar Mar to 16 points and nine rebounds. The triumverate of John, Marcus Hill, and D.J. Hunter were tasked with keeping the George Mason commit as quiet as possible.

“We switched guys on him the second half. We had Theo John in foul trouble in the second half so that limited his time. We had guys—Marcus Hill, D.J. Hunter—that stepped up and limited him. Big games, big players come out to play. He still played well—he had 16—but our boys really stepped up and played good basketball tonight,” said Coach Tuchscherer.

Champlin Park will look to keep the good times rolling against Spring Lake Park tomorrow night. DeLaSalle, meanwhile, has more than a week off. The Islanders will conclude their season on March 3 against Eden Prairie.  


Champlin Park senior Theo John throws down a dunk in the first half against DeLaSalle. John eclipsed the 1,000 career point mark in the victory. Photo by Jeff Lawler, SportsEngine

First Report

In a battle of the state’s top-ranked programs, Champlin Park, ranked No. 1 in Class 4A by Minnesota Basketball News, defeated No. 1-3A DeLaSalle 87-77 to remain undefeated on Thursday night in Champlin.

Dayton-bound senior McKinley Wright scored a career-high 46 points in the win. More impressively, he amassed such a high total while only made one three-pointer.

Theo John, a Marquette commit, recorded his 1,000th career point for the Rebels midway through the game’s first half on an alley-oop lob from Wright. 

Champlin Park (23-0, 16-0) trailed early, falling behind DeLaSalle (20-3, 11-0) 21-16 midway through the first half. But once the Rebels grabbed the lead, they never relinquished it.

Wright’s heroic performance solidified his case as a strong candidate for MN Mr. Basketball. Both Wright and John were named to the 10-player pool of finalists for the award, along with DeLaSalle’s Goanar Mar.

Mar finished with 16 points in Thursday’s contest.

Junior guard Gabe Kalscheur led the Islanders in scoring with 22 points and Christian Dickson added 18. 

The Rebels play again tomorrow night when they travel to Spring Lake Park. DeLaSalle, meanwhile, will lay off until finishing up the regular season next Friday. 


DeLaSalle junior Gabe Kalscheur puts back the offensive rebound against Champlin Park Thursday night. Kalscheur scored 22 points for the Islanders in the loss. Photo by Jeff Lawler, SportsEngine


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