Minnesota high school basketball is getting better because the clock is ticking

Minnetonka trailed Hopkins by 27 points in the first half of a boys basketball game on Tuesday. That lead dwindled to one point with less than 10 seconds to play.

Not only did Minnetonka erase a deficit that looked insurmountable, the Skippers won without having to foul in the final seconds.

The likelihood of that exact scenario unfolding before this season would have been minuscule. It was further proof that the arrival of the 35-second shot clock has been a game-changer for the good in Minnesota basketball.

Everything about the high school game has improved. More scoring, better pace to games, less dilly-dallying with the ball, an increase in coaching strategy.

The pitch clock in Major League Baseball improved the product by whittling time off games. The shot clock has made basketball games more entertaining by improving the tempo and flow.

Cherry High boys coach Jordan Christianson was watching video of two future opponents from Wisconsin earlier this season. Those teams didn’t play under shot clock rules. Christianson was struck by what he saw.

“One team ran the flex [offense] for three minutes straight,” Christianson said.

I saw it frequently over nearly 25 years of watching high school basketball in this state. Teams would have possessions that lasted a minute to several minutes as they searched for a perfect shot, tried to lull the defense to sleep or attempted to shrink the game against a superior opponent. They ran their offense with no real urgency to score, which made for boring basketball.

That’s no longer an option.

“The shot clock forces coaches to make adjustments and players to make plays,” Minnetonka boys coach Bryce Tesdahl said. “That’s how basketball is supposed to be played.”

Tesdahl’s team provided a case study on the shot clock’s impact. Though not impossible, erasing a 27-point deficit would be a tall order without a shot clock.

Leading by 1, Hopkins inbounded the ball with 41 seconds remaining, meaning Minnetonka did not have to foul to get the ball back. Hopkins missed a shot with seven seconds left and Minnetonka raced for a winning layup with less than a second on the clock.

“The game is a lot different, late-game especially,” Wayzata boys coach Bryan Schnettler said.

Players have adjusted nicely. I’ve attended 15-20 games this season between boys and girls and probably can count on one hand the number of shot clock violations witnessed. Occasionally, a player heaves up a rushed shot to beat the buzzer, but that doesn’t happen enough to be considered a drawback.

The shot clock has had minimal effect because these teams already played fast. Minnetonka girls coach Brian Cosgriff said his team has had only a few violations. Park Center’s boys team recorded its first violation in its 19th game.

“In terms of being in a position where we felt rushed,” Park Center coach James Ware said, “that really hasn’t happened much.”

Park Center’s star guard Cash Chavis, headed to play at Washington next season, said he enjoys the shot clock, except for one minor gripe.

That’s true for everybody. Schnettler examined his team’s stats and found a negligible difference in points per possession allowed this season compared to previous years.

“There’s just more possessions in the game,” he said, which is why the defending state champions are allowing more points.

The shot clock invites new in-game strategy too. Coaches can look for two-for-one opportunities at the end of each half. Teams that are trailing know they will get more possessions to make defensive stops, rather than being forced to press or foul. That prevents games from turning into free-throw contests in the final minutes.

“It was a much-needed change,” Schnettler said. “And moving forward it’s just going to help kids continue to develop and get better.”

Minnesota high school basketball has gained national respect in the past two decades for its depth of talent and frequency in producing highly rated recruits. However, the state trailed others in implementing the shot clock.