The most casual of high school basketball fans in Minnesota know about Matthew Hurt. Rochester John Marshall's 6-foot-9 senior leads the state in scoring at 36.1 points per game and is weighing college offers from the likes of Minnesota, North Carolina, Kentucky and others.
But across town, Rochester Mayo boasts a lesser known but perhaps even more potent scoring machine. Brothers Gabe and Mason Madsen, both junior guards, combine to average more than 47 points a game and form perhaps the state's best scoring duo.
Although neither team appears in the state rankings by Minnesota Basketball News from Jan. 16, having three standout players on the same court Tuesday at John Marshall in a scramble for positioning near the top of the Big 9 Conference standings makes this tilt worthy of being our Top Game of the Week.
Hurt is John Marshall's first and primary offensive weapon — and that isn't just scoring. He leads the Rockets in rebounding (11.5 per game), assists (4.4 per game), steals (2.6 per game) and blocked shots (2.0 per game). Lincoln Meister, a junior forward, averages 11.1 points per game.
The Rockets (8-5, 6-3) have rebounded from a 1-4 start to the season and have an opportunity to grab a share of third place in the conference standings with Mayo (8-4, 7-2), as both teams trail Mankato East and Austin. But to extend their winning streak to five games, the Rockets will have to keep Mayo's Madsen brothers in check. And that won't be easy.
Gabe boasts the state's 10th-best scoring average at 26.1 ppg. Mason, meanwhile, averages 21.2 ppg. The brothers give coach Luke Madsen, their father, plenty of offensive options.