Undoubtedly many of the Cherry fans who came down to the Twin Cities to watch their team manhandle Minneapolis North 85-66 stayed a little longer to watch favorite son Isaac Asuma play for the Minnesota Gophers against #15 rated Oregon. Well, lo and behold, the Gophers won an amazing 3rd straight game and their 2nd against a rated opponent, 77-69 over the Ducks. But, the fact is that Asuma had a tough night of it against the Ducks, scoring 0 points, in fact taking 0 shots. He made 1-of-2 FT, had 2 rebounds and 2 turnovers, one that could have been crucial coming at 1:33 with the Gophers up 70-68.
Still, the point is to ask, how does Cherry’s 2025 team, without Isaac Asuma, stack up against the 2024 team with Isaac Asuma, a team that won 3 state tournament games by an average of almost 30 ppg. Well, no, that that’s not really the point, either. The point, really, is, can Cherry repeat as state Class A champion, and the answer to that question is, you’re darn right they can. They’ve already beaten the #2, #3 and #10 teams in Class A plus Class AA Esko. Still, today’s game against Minneapolis North figured to be a marker of some significance. North came in at 9-6 but ranked #9 in Class AA by the QRF. Cherry has just one significant game left vs. 12-1 #6 ranked Red Lake County, a game that they’ll play on February 14 at Bemidji State.
In any event, last year Cherry went 9-0 against Class AA and AAA opponents, winning by an average score of 89-59. This year Cherry is now 6-0 against AA and AAA opponents with an average margin of 83-61. So, on that basis, at least, you might say that Cherry’s not quite as good as last year. Still, Cherry’s win over Minneapolis North revealed them to be pretty much the same team as last year in the sense that they continue to play with a lot of pace, faster than almost anybody in A or AA, and more like an elite AAAA team. Are they playing with the same precision as a year ago? I don’t know but the evidence from the North game is, no, they’re not. Frankly, they were a little bit sloppy, a bit careless in committing 22 turnovers. That probably won’t hurt them in a Class A matchup, but if there was a tournament of champions, if they were going to face off against Hopkins or Wayzata or Benilde or Orono, 22 turnovers might be the kiss of death.
On the other hand, according to my unofficial stats, they made 31-of-49 FG or 63%, and 8-of-17 3s or 47%. You can beat a lot of people shooting 63 and 47%. They also outrebounded North 42-28, and had 13 assists to just 3 assists for the one-on-one oriented North offense.
Individually, Noah Sundquist has increased his scoring from 15 ppg last year to 21 this year. Isaiah Asuma has increased his scoring from 12 ppg last year to 21 this year. Noah Asuma has increased from 13 to 14. Carson Brown has increased from 12 to 14. Of course, at the 5th spot, where you had Isaac Asuma and his 18 ppg, you’ve now got Ayden Cappo at 5. The starting 5 is averaging 75 points versus 70 points a year ago.
In any event, North stayed “close” to Cherry, well, you know, depending on your definition of close, but here I’m willing to say it was “close,” you know, with “air quotes,” through 21-13 at 9 minutes. Cherry then slowly pulled away to a 45-27 halftime lead by making 18-of-27 FG (67%) to North’s 11-of-36. North got off more shots thanks to improbably winning both the turnover battle and getting extra offensive boards. But, of course, you’re not going to get a lot of offensive boards when you’re shooting 67%. Meanwhile, Cherry’s defense was not so wonderful. Rather, it was North’s shot selection that left something to be desired. North is plenty athletic but their teamwork was non-existent as evidenced by those 3 assists.
So, in the, well, in the near-end, not the end-end, but near the end, Cherry led 79-48 at the 5 minute mark. North outscored Cherry 18-6 after that. If Cherry had won the final 5 minutes 18-6 the final score would have been 97-54 and that would have been more indicative of the difference between these 2 teams. There’s no box score as of yet for this game on the Hub so here are some highlights from my unofficial stats.
Noah Sundquist led Cherry with 26 points on a ridiculous 11-of-15 shooting. Carson Brown added 21 on just 3-of-9 FG, but he made 13-of-13 FT. And, Isaiah Asuma added 19 on 10-of-14 shooting. Brown had 12 rebounds and 5 assists, and Isaiah 9 rebounds. For North, junior guards JMarion Sanders and Marcus Marshall, Jr., combined for 25 points as Sanders shot 6-for-12 but Marshall just 5-for-21. For Cherry, it was their 2nd and final Twin Cities appearance prior to the state tournament, and there is no reason whatsoever that they won’t be a prohibitive fave in Class A again.