Saturday Zig-zagging Across the Metro

Game 1: South at Como Park
South's junior post Alonzo Traylor goes off in another game where I saw him (read about his performance vs Central at Christmas here). He's a big part of an early 11-2 run that puts South up for good. 23 and 9 in the 1st half for him before Como Park goes box and 1 on him to start the 2nd half. Victor Easter steps up for South to start the second half. He starts the half with a 3 and then 7 in a row in the run that blows this one wide open. 41-30 Tigers at 15:33 before they go on a 22-3 run over 7:30. Many of those points with Traylor on the bench. South gets the game to the mercy rule before winning 75-42. Traylor with 27 and 12, Easter with 12 for South. Joe Conley 12 and 9 for the Cougars. Looks like Como Park has a date with Arlington in the 4 vs 5 game in section 3AAA. South could visit Armstrong in the 3 vs 6 game in section 6AAAA. More on the Falcons below.

Game 2: Washburn at Orono
A matchup in the very difficult section 6AAA here as the Millers visit the Spartans. Orono out to an early lead 14-8 in the 1st 5 minutes. Washburn then goes on a 23-3 run over the next 5 minutes. Jordan Osberg off the bench with 10 points in the run. Washburn leads 31-17 at the 7:25 mark. They extend the lead to 53-32 at the break and the game is at mercy rule left by the 11 minute mark. Washburn wins 87-49. Osberg finishes with 15 points. Jordan Smith finishes with 23 points for Orono. Orono loses only 2 seniors and both are replacable. The roster is loaded with sophomores and complemented by frosh Brady Wohler. Orono looks like they'll be the #6 seed in 6AAA. DLS and BSM both scouting before their night games. Mike Broghammer of Hopkins makes an appearance in the gym as well. Washburn looking more and more like the 5 very good losses won't cost them the #1 seed.

Game 3: Armstrong at Benilde-St. Margaret's
A very even 1st half as there's no lead bigger than 3. Fouls plague BSM as Myles Barnes sits the last 14 minutes and Darren Glover the last 8 with 2 fouls. 33 all at 13:30 before Andy Seidlitz gets hot. He has a personal 8-0 run over 1 minute to put Armstrong up for good. Frosh Isaiah Zierden with a nice give and go to cut the lead to 5 with 8:25 to play but the Red Knights get no closer. Ryan Virnig scores down low and Seidlitz buries another triple and the lead is back to 10 at 6:50. Armstrong makes their FTs down the stretch for a74-61 win. Based on record, BSM looks like the 5 seed but they have the 2nd best QRF in the section. A win over Cooper at the end of the year would be huge for seeding. DLS has a lower QRF but they have the head-head win. Tough seeding BSM, DLS, Delano and Waconia in the 2-5 slots. BSM will be very scary next year with 2 frosh and 2 sophs who saw varsity minutes tonight. Armstrong could make a strong case for the #3 seed in 6AAAA with a 2nd win over Minnetonka on Tuesday. The 3 seed keeps you out of a 2nd round game with Hopkins. Peter Crawford off the bench with 15 points and 3 blocks for BSM in about 17 minutes of action as he recovers from an injured foot. Damarius Cruz with 29 points on 12-20 shooting. Marquel Curtis with 13 points and 15 rebounds. Andy Seidlitz came off the bench with 4 triples and 16 points.