Apple Valley's Brock Bertram

DeLaSalle chose to defend Brock Bertram by fronting the Apple Valley 7-foot junior center.

It did not work.

"They were fronting me the whole game," Bertram said. "So, I know how I get my offensive work in is by working the offensive glass."

Bertram used second-chance tip ins and putbacks to score 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting and help the Eagles defeat DeLaSalle 83-69 in front of a packed Minnetonka High School gym on Saturday night at the Breakdown Sports Tip Off Classic.

"Brock's been like that for going on three years now," Apple Valley coach Zach Goring said. "We know what we're going to get out of him. He competes like crazy, boards well and he's good from the (free-throw) line."

Sophomore guard Gary Trent Jr. was the main cog in the Eagles’ offense, hitting 5 of 6 three-point shots and finishing with 31 points as Apple Valley improved to 6-0 and showed why it’s the top team in Minnesota Basketball News’ Class 4A rankings.

"(The atmosphere) was fun, really fun," Bertram said. "High intensity, playing hard every play, can't take a play off because you don't want to let your team down. It was a really good win."

The Eagles have had a few quality wins this season - Saturday night's victory over No. 1-3A DeLaSalle and a 106-82 win over No. 5-4A Minnetonka on Nov. 29 - due in large part to a high-flying offense that averages 90.3 points per game and features four starters averaging double figures in points. Bertram averages 15.3 ppg and is behind Trent Jr. (24.3 ppg) and junior guard Jordan Bolton (15.7 ppg). Junior forward Cameron Kirksey rounds out the group averaging 12.5 ppg.

"We're a complete team," Goring said. "Even when we go to our bench, we don't drop off at all. Just a quality group that plays well together."

That was evident against DeLaSalle, as Apple Valley shot 51 percent from the field despite facing an intense Islanders’ defense.

The Eagles have been inconsistent from the free-throw line this season, making only 50 percent on some night, Goring said. But Apple Valley was nearly perfect from the free-throw line against DeLaSalle, going 21-for-22 and contributing to a 14-point victory over the Islanders.

The Eagles, however, are not content with impressive regular-season wins. They've got bigger aspirations.

"We're going to try and keep getting better," Goring said. "We left something on the table last year and we want to erase that, and these kids have bought in and want to win big and that's our goal."


DeLaSalle's Sacar Anim scored 35 points in their loss to Apple Valley. Photo by Brian W Nelson - click to view full size image

First Report

Apple Valley continued its roll, downing DeLaSalle 83-69 in front of a packed gym at Minnetonka High School in the marquee matchup at the Breakdown Sports Tip Off Classic on Saturday night.

Sophomore guard Gary Trent Jr. scored 31 points, hitting 5 of 6 three-pointers to keep the Eagles, ranked No.1 in Class 4A by Minnesota Basketball News, undefeated at 6-0 on the season.

Apple Valley 7-foot junior center Brock Bertram finished with 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting.

It was an very efficient night for the Eagles on offense, including at the free-throw line where they made 21 of 22.

The Islanders, ranked No.1 in Class 3A, fell to 1-2 despite a season-high 35 points from senior forward Sacar Anim.

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