Mahtomedi at Harding Thoughts

This Saturday of week 11 of the 08-09 season takes me back to the east side of St. Paul for Mahtomedi's trip to Harding. No atmosphere here whatsoever.

Harding ice cold early as it takes the Knights 4:15 to make a shot from the field. Mahtomedi hot on the other end as they run the lead to 16-3 at 12:05. Mike Hagen then with productive minutes off the bench as he gets 7 straight Mahtomedi points. Harding timeout at 9:23 down 23-7 and they switch to 2-3 zone. Jon Krebs with 6 points with a dunk included to stretch the lead to 33-9 Zephyrs with 5:30 left in the half. But Harding wakes up slighty as Ernest Mang knocks down a couple of 3s and Andre Creighton also adds a triple. 40-23 Mahtomedi at half. Krebs 14 points on 7 of 9 shooting.

5 in a row for Harding to cut the lead to 12 to start the half. Hagen with a nice drive against the 2-3 zone to push the lead back to 16, 47-31 at 12:32. Then Harding goes on a 13-4 run over 3:30. Ernest Mang with a triple in the run and then a putback to conclude it. 51-44 Mahtomedi with 9:05 left and somehow this game is now competitive. But Harding only makes 2 field goals the rest of the way (1 was off an inbounds play). Mahtomedi spreads the floor to make life difficult for the Knights. Interestingly enough, Harding empties the bench at 2:06 with the deficit only at 13. That's something you never see here. Mahtomedi goes on to win 68-50.

For Harding, they fall to 2-17 (and both wins are over bad teams). With their top 2 players, Ernest Mang and Andre Creighton, seniors and nothing of note at the JV level, looks like the future isn't that bright for the Knights. Creighton with 18 points and 5 rebounds. Mang with 13 points and 7 rebounds. Harding probably looking at the #8 seed with a 1st round meeting at Johnson.

For Mahtomedi, they improve to 14-6 and have a hold on the #2 seed in the same weak section 3AAA. Interesting that they decided to show some 1-3-1 today. Jon Krebs 9-13 for 19 points and 5 rebounds. Mike Hagen with 9 points and 7 boards in a nice day off the Zephyr bench. The one returning player of note next year, lefty Bobby Sherwood, with 13 points and 7 boards from the point guard spot.