Two ranked opponents squared off at the Eden Prairie Holiday Tournament Friday night, both featuring offensive titans who put on a show. Chaska, ranked No. 9 in Class 4A by Minnesota Basketball News, beat No. 10-4A Edina 72-67, and Chaska’s Cole Nicholson outscored Edina’s Jacob Hutson 31-29.

Nicholson, who’s listed at 6-foot-6, is an offensive Swiss army knife with great footwork in the post; he’s an elite finisher who can create his own shot off the dribble — and he has a smooth jumper that he can hit anywhere within 25 feet of the basket. Hutson, listed at 6-9, is an offensive barbarian. Once he gets position in the post, his first move is always to move towards the basket, whether that’s past a defender or through him.

The duo made for an exciting matchup, and each coach adjusted to the other team’s most potent weapon. Nicholson, who came into Friday averaging 19.2 points per game, scored 18 points in the first half with Hutson guarding him. He used his quickness and ball-handling skills to his advantage, often scoring after getting past Hutson and before a help defender could stop him from getting to the rim.  

“He’s inside-out; it’s the toughest matchup we see in high school where a kid was that dominate inside and finishes that well around the rim and has the ability to shoot 3s as well,” Edina coach Joe Burger said of Nicholson.

Nicholson’s play forced Burger to make a change at halftime. Zach Kloos, listed at 6-2, started guarding Nicholson, and he did everything within his ability to prevent Nicholson from getting touches. Anytime Nicholson went to the post, Kloos fought for position and tried to deny entry passes. The adjustment worked for a while, but Nicholson eventually got his. He finished with a game-high 31 points and added a team-high seven rebounds.

“It didn’t really matter to me,” Nicholson said when asked about which defensive matchup was tougher for him. He added that both matchups were tough to score on, but there wasn’t much that looked tough for him in this game.

Chaska coach Dana Kallman had nothing but good things to say about his leading scorer after the game.

“He can score in the post, he can score on the perimeter, he can handle it, he runs the point for us sometimes and he’s one of the most unselfish kids I’ve ever coached,” Kallman said.

He was complimentary of Nicholson’s efficiency, showcased by Nicholson scoring 31 points on 17 shots.

“That’s just what he does. There’s a lot of guys that can score 30 points on 30 shots, but 17 shots is pretty efficient,” he said.

Hutson had the inverse of Nicholson’s game, as he was held to nine first-half points. Nicholson guarded him one-on-one, but the Hawks always had another defender come to double team once he had the ball in the post. In the second half, the defensive strategy remained the same, but Hutson did a better job of fighting through contact and also finding open teammates. He scored 20 points in the second half to finish with a team-high 29. A little less than half of his points came from the free-throw line (13) as he was constantly being fouled, and he finished through the contact on multiple occasions.

“That’s the next step to his game that he’s taken his junior year now is finishing though contact and knowing that he’s got two-three bodies on him at all times, and he did a great job with that tonight,” Burger said of Hutson’s performance.

The Hornets knew the Hawks would be a tough opponent, but this matchup became even more difficult when leading scorer Jack Middleton went down with an injury in practice on Tuesday. Burger credited his team for bouncing back tonight after the 17-point loss to Shakopee on Thursday, and for also coming back from the nine-point halftime deficit and staying in this game.

The Hawks were bouncing back from a loss as well, a 61-60 loss to Eden Prairie on Thursday. The Hawks came out and pressed the Hornets early in this game, despite not being a pressing team. Kallman said he did this to “get some energy going right at the start of the game.” It worked well for the Hawks and they were able to take an early lead and come away with a win against a ranked opponent.