Minnetonka vs Johnson thoughts

Ah the game of the night (and the end of a long day) is upon us as #1AAA Johnson takes #5AAAA Minnetonka. Minnetonka squeaking by in their 4 wins by an average of 5 points. Johnson playing in a brutal bracket after a brutal schedule in Sioux City and Milwaukee over the last week where they went 1-2.

Michael Talley off to a quick start in this one as he gets 3 And 1 opportunities in the 1st 8 minutes. Kyle Risinger with a couple of early buckets in this one as points are coming easy. Demitri Conwell puts back a rebound and Lamar Anderson gets a dunk and Johnson is out to a 24-13 at the midway point of the 1st half. Nick Latzke knocks down a three and Cole Stefan gets a layin then a steal +1 . Talley again to the rack and its 28-21 Johnson at 7:45. Latzke with 6 more in an 11-0 Minnetonka run and the Skippers lead 32-28 at 4:40. Conwell gets a drive for 2 to break a 4 minute drought for Johnson. 40-38 Johnson in a fun 1st half. Stefan with 16 in the 1st half, but only 1 triple. Michael Talley with 12 for Johnson.

The teams struggle back and forth to start the half. Estan Tyler then makes a 3 and Talley gets a steal that results in a Dion Suggs layin. 51-45 Johnson 3 minutes into the 2nd half. Stefan with 5 in a row to keep the Skippers close. Johnson's Lamar Anderson with a monster throwdown sprinting down the lane on an inbound to tie it at 58 with 12 minutes left. Suggs with another layin and we're tied at 60 with 11 minutes left. The next 3:15 sees a 10-2 Johnson run with Conwell getting 4 of the points. 70-62 Governors with 7:45 left. This was the same time in the 1st half where we saw a Tonka run and it happens again. Nelson with 2 straight hoops and Latzke then with 2 straight triples and Nelson concludes the run with 2 free throws. The 12-0 Skippers run gives them a 74-70 lead with 3:30 left. Talley adds another And 1 opportunity to his tally to cut the lead to 1. Talley then finds Anderson for a jumper and Johnson leads 75-74 with 3 minutes left. Latzke with a circus make but he misses the free throw a 2:46. Stefan gambles for a steal and Suggs makes him pay by knocking down the open shot. Risinger puts back a miss for a 78-77 Tonka lead. Conwell 2 and the foul. The FT is good and Johnson back on top 80-78 with 1:42 left. Suggs baseline for a layup at 1:20 and its 82-78 Governors. Stefan immediately makes 2 FTs and its 82-80 with 1:15 left. Johnson uses 2 time outs to avoid turnovers. After all of this, Max Rosenbloom misses the front end with 37.3 to play. Stefan hangs and banks with 17 seconds left. Johnson goes without a timeout. Suggs can't create anything which forces Estan Tyler to throw up a 30 footer at the horn. No good and we go to OT tied at 82.

In the OT, Tyler starts the scoring with a free throw. Conwell with a tough hoop on the right block with 1:50 left makes it 85-82 Johnson. Conwell with 2 FTs at 1:28 and its 87-82. Risinger with a turnover after Taylor Nelson lost it on the previous possession. Conwell makes a bad play by charging at 1:04 going to the rim and Tonka has it back. But Tonka turns it over again. Suggs makes 2 FTs, Conwell makes 2 and that seals it. Johnson wins 93-88 in overtime.

For Minnetonka, they fall to 4-2. Cole Stefan with 32 in the loss with 3 triples. Nick Latzke huge with 22 points and 5 triples in addition to the circus make he had. Minnetonka will face Mounds View on Monday afternoon in the 2:45 game. With Minnetonka being a team that likes to play dribble drive motion, that's a very bad matchup for Mounds View. I was surprised that Tonka wasn't a deeper team as they only played 7 guys.

Johnson with another big overtime win (see also the Washburn double OT win). Michael Talley with 19, Demetri Conwell with 21. Johnson now has a very interesting matchup against Eden Prairie in the late game on Monday night. Johnson pounded the glass and that was a major factor in getting the win. They run a ton of people at you so you have to beat their pressure D. If they aren't making shots and not turning you over, their best offense is often the offensive glass.