Net Games: Edina at Park Center

Continuing the theme of addressing holiday basketball withdrawal, we once again rewind the clock. This time to the the adventure that was December 16th at Park Center with Edina visiting. With the Hornets off to a 5-0 start after I picked them last in the Classic Lake, I thought they'd be worth a look before a matchup of undefeateds vs Chaska in their holiday tournament on December 30th. On tape the building appears pretty empty and the Park Center band (always worth the listen) might be close to being a majority of the crowd.

Zach Matos with a nice foul line jumper and Edina is out to an early 8-3 lead. PC's 1 returning starter from last season, Voltaire Nalls, with a tough bucket and 1 and we're tied at 8. Matos picks up his 2nd foul and he's gone for the rest of the half. Justin Casey playing well inside for the Pirates. He makes 2 free throws to tie at 13 and he has 7 quick points. Ben Biewen with a triple from Will Deberg and then a bank but misses the free throw to reclaim a 18-17 lead for the Hornets. Deberg cold to start but he gets it going for the rest of the half. He knocks down a corner 3 off a skip pass, then a give and go cut for a layin. He finds Jim Hill for a jumper and then goes to the left hand for a layin. After Jim Hill knocks down a triple, Deberg finishes the half with 3 in a row from the great beyond. 39-26 Edina at halftime after a 12-2 run to end the half (all triples). Deberg was part of 21 of the last 26 Edina points of the half. Nothing forced either. Nalls with 12 for Park Center. Casey with 11 and he's on the glass too. Only 3 other points in the half for PC.

Deberg finding people early in the 2nd half too. Give and go on the semi-break with Biewen leads to 2 FTs. Deberg then finds Hill on an inbounds for a layup. Biewen then with 4 more points. Matos finishes the spurt with 2 FTs. 51-30 Hornets lead after a 12-4 run to start the half, 24-6 across halftime. PC gets the next 8 points to cut it to 51-38, but Matos and Hill with 4 more in a 11-2 Edina run to push the lead back to 21, 61-40. Nalls with 2 straight steals, 1 of which gave him a dunk and then a block late for PC highlights but the game is long over. 83-52 Edina wins.

For Park Center, Voltaire Nalls leads the way with 18 points. Justin Casey with 13, but a quiet 2nd half. Other than that, they have a hard time generating offense and they're not deep. They were able to get drives to the rim early, but Edina stopped that. Defensively they struggled against simple give and go or UCLA high post screen action. They open with St. Bernard's in the Catholic Spirit tournament Dec 29th.

For Edina, the concern with them coming into the season was the loss of inside players. Deberg and Biewen have been terrific this season. But Matos gives them a nice threat and 6'9 backup big Taylor Pagitt gave them nice bench minutes. They'll play plenty of people. Sophomore Brendan Canova looks like the point guard who will take over for Deberg next season with Stephen Asp and David Gschneider up front. They're very solid in their motion offense but due to a lack of athletes, you can beat them off the bounce.