Handy Manny

Summit View at Camp Ernst 7th - Camp Ernst by 10 or so. 8th - Camp Ernst by 5.

Conner at Camp Ernst. 6th - Conner by a lot. 8th - Camp Ernst by a lot. 7th was played at Conner.

Camp Ernst at Gray 7th. grade - Gray by a couple 8th. Grade - Gray by 1

Ballyshannon at Camp Ernst 7th - Camp Ernst over Ballyshannon by 20+ 8th - Ballyshannon over Camp Ernst by 3.

Camp Ernst at IHM 7th - Camp Ernst by close to 20 8th - IHM over Camp Ernst

Camp Ernst at Ockerman 7th - Camp Ernst by 20 8th - Ockerman by 13.

Grant County at Camp Ernst. 8th - Camp Ernst by 18 or 19.

I believe there is a Krohman playing up at SK. Would be an 8th grader at Twenhoffel.

St. Pius at Camp Ernst 7th - Camp Ernst by a lot. 8th - St. Pius 45 - 30.

Camp Ernst at St. Pius 7th - Camp Ernst in a close one. 8th - St. Pius by a lot.

Gray at Camp Ernst 8th - Camp Ernst by 7.

Camp Ernst at Ballyshannon 7th - Camp Ernst win big 8th - Camp Ernst by 1

IHM at Camp Ernst. 8th grade Camp Ernst wins in a close game by 6. They improve to 7-1 on the season.

Ockerman at Camp Ernst 8th grade Camp Ernst win 26 - 25. Ockerman was at the line with no time left shooting 2 for the tie. They hit the first and after a timeout missed the second. Crazy finish. There was a lot of talent in this game.

Camp Ernst at Grant County 7th - Camp Ernst by 6 or 7 in hard fought game. 8th - Camp Ernst by a lot. Grant's 8th was led in scoring by one of the 7th grader's playing up.

It sounds like the 8th grade boys this year has a lot of parity.

Is the injured Highlands player back? I saw he was in a boot a week or so ago.

Camp Ernst at Woodland 6th - Woodland 7th - Camp Ernst by 20 8th - Woodland by 9. Woodland 8th remains undefeated at 5-0. Camp Ernst 8th falls to 4-1.

Camp Ernst 8th. over Conner by 4 or 5 in hard fought game. Camp Ernst improves to 4-0 on the season.

That was a crazy finish. Props to the player who made four straight free throws. Given the momentum shift, I was sure Highlands would pull that out.

Camp Ernst at Turkeyfoot 7th grade - Turkeyfoot in OT by 5 8th grade - Camp Ernst by around 20.

Camp Ernst 8th over Twenhoffel 61-36.

Yes. Boys. Sorry about that. St. Pius will be tough as always. Ockerman added some depth getting 2 transfers that are both starting for them. I had heard that the 2 bigs for Highlands were possibly playing freshman. I cannot confirm if this is true or not.

A lot of teams had scrimmages this past weekend. The season starts in a week. Who are the top teams and players this year. I was able to see a few 8th grade teams and Ockerman is absolutely loaded. They are my early pick to win it all this year.

The AAU state tournament has been down the last few years at the 8th grade and below levels. This is a shame because it was always a very fun and exciting weekend that teams used to look forward too. I firmly believe this is due to the new AAU rules and the addition of age based and grade based divisions. It waters down the entries. I am a big supporter of age based at the younger levels. Not that I agree with the 9/1 date specifically , but I do prefer apples to apples until high school. That being said, you have these teams that are built to participate on all of the circuits where some, not all, but some do allow for players to be a great deal older and do not qualify to play aau certified events. You will still have your elite players not attending, but I think if the rules were adjusted some you could get a much better draw of teams. You should notice that once the high school aau events begin, a lot of the better teams will show up. Even in a watered down tournament, there were still some very good teams at the state tournament this past weekend and some very good games were played. I think teams are really missing out on a great experience by not attending.