Duluth East at Maple Grove Thoughts

Big Osseo vs Maple Grove hockey game going on tonight so a smallish crowd on hand. But I had a chance to have a nice visit with some of the young Maple Grove players tonight. Always fun to chat with the kids. A couple of interesting X and O notes from the JV game. Nice 2-3 press break (I think this was MG's break) and Duluth East placing 2 players on the other end of the court in the corners when the opponent was shooting free throws. Duluth East (V or JV I don't remember) also ran a nice set where they had 2 guys going off back screens for layups on an underneath out of bounds. A nice way to end the night as after the game was over the PA played "Closing Time" by Semisonic. How appropriate.

Josh Pedretti starts the scoring (3 minutes in) with 2 and the foul for Maple Grove. He then catches a ball going out of bounds and drills East's Matt Florestano with it (maybe a little low if you know what I mean). A discussion ensues and we have double Ts. Alex Geisenhoff with a couple of buckets before 2010 East star guard Dyami Starks gets a 3 point play at 10:19 for a 11-3 Maple Grove lead. Tyler Catania then knocks down a 3 and gets a steal for 2 and Marcus Murtha and Brett Torance add buckets for a 20-3 Crimson lead at 7:55. Funny that the MG kids said they start slow. Starks then sits (2-3 turnovers) and you wonder where the offense is going to come from for Duluth East The answer is Johnny Woodard. He knocks down a couple of triples and makes a nice backcut for a layup and its 24-14 Crimson at 3:35. Ian Nelson with a couple of buckets for East to cut the lead to 7. Woodard then banks home an NBA 3 and banks a foul line jumper at the end of the half. Maple Grove leads 29-25 at the break. Woodard with 13 points in the last 5:35 of the half. Josh Pedretti with 8 points for Maple Grove. Duluth East was a -17 with Starks and +13 without him. 3 points, 2-3 turnovers on 1-2 shooting.

Duluth East comes out for the 2nd half and Starks is on the bench. Geisenhoff with a layin, Pedretti with a dunk, Geisenhoff with a triple and then 2 and the foul (missed the FT) all off of 5 straight Greyhounds turnovers. 38-26 Crimson at 15:11. 40-29 Maple Grove at 14:32 when Starks enters for the half and has a couple of quick misses. Woodard with a couple of more 3s. 45-35 Maple Grove at 11:20. Maple Grove then goes on a 20-6 run over the next 5:20 before Starks leaves for the night. 71-47 Maple Grove wins.

For Duluth East, Dyami Starks with 6 points on 1-6 shooting, 3-5 turnovers. Nice job by the Maple Grove guards on him. The +- stat isn't totally relevant here but the Greyhounds by my math were -30 with Starks, +6 without him. Their offense had a different feel to it when he was in vs when he wasn't. Johnny Woodard with 22 on 5 triples. Duluth East is now 8-7 with a Grand Rapids on Friday.

For Maple Grove, Josh Pedretti with 20 and 8. Alex Geisenhoff with 16 and nice defense. They're 7-4 with 3 losses to Wayzata, Sibley and Johnson by 24 points. Nobody spectacular but they're solid across the board.