Above The Rim basketball tournament preview

This Friday and Saturday the Royals play in an invitational tournament at Minneapolis North. They play two teams from Chicago, Orr Academy and Michele Clark Prep.

Orr Academy has one the last two Illinois State 2A Championships and the feature of the Fox Sports Documentary, “Shots in the Dark.” The documentary highlighted the the gun violence around the school and players who have lost family to gun violence.

Michele Clark Prep is 7-1 this season and will play one game before they take on St. Paul Harding in the Above the Rim Invitational.

The Royals are looking for their sixth straight win and their second straight win against out of state competition. They are coming off a win against Madison La Follette of Madison, Wis.

The Royals top scorers five games into the season are senior forward Zeke Nnaji with 24.4 points per game, and junior guard Kerwin Walton with 16.8 points per game and missed the first game because of a concussion.

Other Minnesota teams playing are the host Minneapolis North, Burnsville and St. Paul Harding. Burnsville will play both Minneapolis North and St. Paul Harding.

This continues our streak of playing weekend tournament or invitational games. Next week the Royals will be playing in the Augsburg Tournament, which we’ve played in for the last few years.