Armstrong at Henry observations

I get to Henry in time to see the last 9+ minutes of the MTS/Henry girls game. This is a 50 pt game yet Henry is letting the ball roll in to keep the clock from running and 2 players who have over 20 and 30 points respectively are still in the game. Not to mention taking the full 20 seconds to replace a fouled out player with 2 seconds left. I was not happy with that lack of sportsmanship at all. Final score was 81-34 Henry so all of this was totally uncalled for.

As to the boys game, no Jordan Hughes in the starting lineup. Neither team can break away as the largest lead of the first half is 5 points. Louis Cox is running the point in Hughes' place and gets 5 in a row to make it 15-13 Henry at 12:15. Mandela Jackson takes over with 11 straight Henry points, 6 of which are in a 8-0 Henry run that gives them a 27-23 lead at 6:11. His streak ends with Henry leading 32-27. The teams go the break with Henry leading 38-33. Jackson on fire with 17 to lead everybody. Cox with 9 and Jerome Vaughn with 6. JD Robinson with 8 points but he sits out a good part of the end of the half with 2 fouls. Damarius Cruz with 7. Ted Vogt with 4.

Interesting incident during halftime. Henry AD Dave Wicker comes out and restrings the net on what will be the Henry basket for the 2nd half. Coach Miller of Armstrong comes out of the locker room and sees this and is not at all happy. Him and Henry coach Jerry Williams Jr exchange a few words with an official stepping in and then as the half starts Miller gets in a couple words for Wicker.

Jordan Hughes is actually playing, he comes out for the 2nd half for Cox after not playing the 1st half. Hughes gets a 2 to make it 42-33 but Preston McCourt gets 5 points in a Armstrong run that ties it at 42 with 15:15 left. An 8-0 Henry run makes it 50-42 inside 13 minutes. With 11:03 left, Jackson gets his 4th foul on a dumb technical and has to sit. JD Robinson hits the 2 technical FTs but Armstrong turns it over on the possession so its still 53-48 Henry. Robinson then picks up his 4th with 10:33 to go and he too has to sit. Henry extends the lead to 58-50 before another McCourt 3 makes it 58-55 wiht 6:40 to go. Robinson returns with 4:52 left and Cruz gets a bucket to pull Armstrong within 4 with 4:32 left. Jackson is back at 3:48.

McCourt gets a steal but takes a questionable quick shot with numbers that could have pulled Armstrong to 2. Hughes comes right back and gets a 2 to push the lead back to 6, but Cruz gets a steal and 2 to make it 63-59 at 3 minutes. Jerome Vaughn continues a big 2nd half with a clutch 3 point play that makes it 66-59 Henry with 2:40 left. Cruz misses the front end of the bonus but they get the rebound and a Wes Hoefer 3 to pull to within 4. Vaughn makes 1 of 2 FTs but Jackson puts back the miss to extend the lead back to 7. Robinson gets a bucket to make it 69-64 at 1:42. Henry turns the ball over and Cruz hits a 3 with 1:16 left. Hughes hits 2 FTs at 1:04 to push the lead back to 4. Armstrong throws a dangerous full court pass to turn the ball over after the free throws. Evan Gray appears to bail them out with a bad shot from the corner but Robinson gets called for his 5th foul on the rebound with 51.1 left. Hoefer gets a layup at 45.2 after a Vaughn FT and its 72-69 Henry. Jackson misses 2 FTs with 41.8 left and Cruz hits a 3 to tie it at 72 with 23 seconds left. No timeout Henry just goes. Jackson dribbles out the clock near the timeline and then goes right and down the lane to find Vaughn along the right baseline for a layup with 2.4 to go. Armstrong's full court pass is knocked away and Henry hangs on for a 74-72 win.

Mandela Jackson finishes with 20 despite the strong 1st half, but he made the clutch play at the end. Jerome Vaughn comes up big with 21 points, 15 in the 2nd half where he was too much inside. Jordan Hughes with 11 in his 1 half of playing time. Louis Cox finishes with 12. This win is a nice boost for them in the race for the #1 seed in section 3AAA. They have a big city game at Washburn on Thursday.

For Armstrong, Damarius Cruz with 25. JD Robinson with 14 despite the foul trouble. The Falcons fall to 11-8 and the schedule still has home and home matchups with Wayzata and Hopkins, Lakeville N and a trip to Minnetonka. The other remaining game is a trip to Edina which is no cupcake. With their strength of schedule, they should be able to keep the 4 seed in section 6AAAA.