When we made the trip to Totino-Grace High School on Jan. 2 to watch the Eagles play host to East Ridge, we expected a tight contest between two top-10 high school boys basketball teams in the state.

That is exactly what we got.

But what we did not expect was to see one of the best individual scoring performances we’ve ever witnessed in our four years of covering Minnesota high school basketball.

For Gophers basketball fans, Friday night provided a great glimpse into the future of the point guard position in Dinkytown.

East Ridge’s Cedric Tomes started the game by scoring in all kinds of ways. He scored 25 first-half points, highlighted by a NBA-range hesitation pull-up jumper that had the crowd in disbelief.

Tomes’ combination of ballhandling, change of pace and effortless shooting mechanics make him one of the toughest covers in high school basketball.

Totino-Grace made a strong push in the second half led by Tian Chatman, who finished with 17 points, but a couple of big assists from Tomes to Joe Lammer helped East Ridge pull away and win 86-79.

Tomes finished with 50 points, an East Ridge single-game scoring record.

The Strictly x Strib Varsity Tour continues to provide epic performances and matchups. Stay tuned for our coverage of Wayzata boys basketball at Maple Grove on Jan. 13.

Strictly x Strib Varsity

The story and video here are part of a new partnership between Strictly Bball and the Minnesota Star Tribune’s Strib Varsity brand. Learn more about this partnership here.