Osseo at Sibley Thoughts

Maurice Hernandez

I'm not the biggest fan of seeing a team twice in a row, but tonight's game of #8 Osseo at #2 Sibley makes it all worthwhile. Gotta love the Taco in a Bag, $3, but worth every penny and a nice variety for the Czar's ever expanding waist line. I must confess I did have it with the works (sour cream and salsa included, yum!). Note to self, must re-measure to see if I still have more height than depth. If you're familiar with the little game called Lightning (line of players at FT line, 2 balls, you have to put your ball thru the basket before the person behind you does or you're out, last one standing wins), a great one tonight at the half. Mike Bruesewitz's dad was the emcee with students from Osseo and Sibley participating. Big cheers from the Sibley students section when someone from Osseo was eliminated. One of the female members of the Sibley section went on to win. We even had a Rene Pulley sighting as he came in for the 2nd half. To the real game at hand.

Osseo's Jayvin Reynolds gets the assignment on Mike Bruesewitz and Bruesewitz gets the task of guarding Sam Dower. After Dower starts the game with a jumper, Bruesewitz with a post up for 2, Maurice Hernandez with a triple, Chris Halvorsen with 2 free throws and Hernandez gets 2 FTs for Dower's 2nd foul and to the bench he goes. 10-2 Sibley at 14:08 for a 10-o Warriors run. Dower with 3 of the 4 Osseo turnovers during the spurt and the Orioles couldn't buy a call either. Reynolds picks up his 2nd at 10:20 on a charge and back comes Dower. He gets a dunk off a Sibley turnover and the Sibley lead is cut to 12-9 at 9:47. Bru drives by Dower for 2, gets a tip in with another Hernandez 3 to push the lead right back to 10. Dower with a dunk and then he gets a rebound and runs the floor for the bucket +1 reward (always reward the big guy for running the floor). Bruesewitz again before Osseo's Aaron Anderson gets hot along with Sibley turnovers. Anderson hits back to back 3s then a floater via a steal to cut it to 23-22 Sibley. Mike Rostampour (Psycho to the Sibley students, love that), with a putback and the foul for a free throw. Technical on the Osseo bench at 5:05 gives Sibley the ball back for a Halvorsen assist to Francis Bungue. 29-22 Sibley at 4:15. Another Hernandez triple makes with 32-24 Sibley at 3:30. Osseo gets 6 of the next 7 to cut the lead to 3 but off a scramble Bungue nails a three at the 1st half buzzer and Sibley leads 36-30 at the break. On my highly unofficial stat sheet ,Dower 11 and 4, Aaron Anderson 11 for Osseo. Hernandez 3 triples and 12 points, Bruesewitz with 8 and 3 for Sibley.

Bruesewitz comes out on fire in the 2nd half. A drive for a bucket, an offensive rebound for 2, a jumper over Dower, a swat that stops a Osseo possession. Halvorsen converts a tough layin 8-1 Sibley run. Timeout Orioles at 15:12 44-31 Sibley leads. Bruesewitz again on the offensive glass for 2 and another swat. Then a handoff on an inbound to Hernandez who makes the defender look silly and knocks down a cold blooded 3 (4th triple of the night) and the lead is 48-31 Sibley. 12-1 run over the 1st 5 minutes of the 2nd half led by Bruesewitz. Unlike other games you'll see, Osseo isn't done yet. Bobby Fischer breaks the run with a 3, Anderson with 2 FTs, Dower an offensive rebound of his own for 2 free throws. Bruesewitz then called for a goal tend (close call but the right one it appears) and then a miss and Osseo's Joey Sonnenfeld makes on the other end over Halvorsen. 11-0 run for Osseo over 3 minutes, timeout Sibley at 9:40 48-42 they lead. Bruesewitz still getting it done with a tip in to break the run. DJ Phillips then misses 2 FT that would have cut it to 6. Halvorsen with 2 on the other end. Dower misses 2 FTs of his own. Rostampour dunks 2 minutes later to push the lead to 12 and Osseo doesn't threaten again. Hernandez with his final 3 of the night at 3:45 keeps the lead at 13. Bruesewitz handling the ball vs Osseo pressure too. Final Score 64-51 Sibley wins. To the highly unofficial stat sheet.

For Osseo, Aaron Anderson with 13 points. Sam Dower with 22 and 11 and at least 4 turnovers. He really didn't do much inside though from a post up point of view. His buckets were in transition or off the offensive glass. Great hands though and can really run the floor. After a hot 1st half, Anderson with only 2 free throws in the 2nd half. Kyle Mason with only 1 of 2 FTs on the night. He has to be a scoring threat for them in big games.

For Sibley, Bruesewitz 21 and 7 with 4 blks (not counting the goaltending call, all blks in the 2nd half). 5 triples and 19 points for Maurice Hernandez. He made all his open looks. Mike Rostampour with his required 4 fouls but in reserve minutes I had him for 8 pts and 10 rebounds along with a big time block late. He's such a relentless rebounder and such an effort player. Great motor.

(Czar's note 12/10/08, wow was I off, 16 rebs is being reported, I'm usually within 1 or 2, this one surprised me

12/11/08, now that I've seen a highly respected Gopher Hole reader say he had Bruesewitz for 8 rebounds, I'm calling shenanigans on the StarTrib report.)

X and O of the Day
Osseo on the inbounds in the subject of today's X and O segment. They'll have Dower set an interior screen right in the middle of the lane. His defender plays toward the baseline as that's where the ball is. As that happens, they'll throw the ball out high and Dower will turn and look for the ball posted in front of the rim with the guy on his back. Simple and effective.