Waconia at STMA Thoughts

A quiet Monday in the immediate metro area so I make another trip to the western fringes for Waconia at St. Michael-Albertville. No surprise to see John Moore (BSM), Dave Thorson (DLS) and Reggie Perkins (Washburn) all in the building watching this one.

The teams trade a pair of hoops in the 1st 3 minutes. Then Shelby Moats starts a 7-0 Waconia run with a strong 3 point play inside. Waconia with a fast break for a hoop, wow since when do they run? Moats gets a kick back and sticks his 2nd 17 footer of the night. 11-4 Waconia at 13:26 and Moats is 3 for 3 for 7 quick points. But Waconia struggles for only 1 point over the next 4:25 due to turnovers. The Knights counter with 12 points of their own for a 16-12 lead with 9:01 left in the half. Moats with another 3 point play. STMA point guard Jason Dehmer then picks up 2 quick fouls and he's gone to the bench with 3 fouls at 6:24. That 3rd foul was on a moving screen too. Kevin Nelson with a triple to clear the 1000 career points mark and that pulls STMA with 21-19 at the 2:30 mark. But that's the only Knights field goal in the last 9 minutes as Waconia outscores them 17-3 during that time. Waconia with a pair of 3s and a Moats jumper for an 8-0 run to end the half. 29-19 Wildcats at the break. Moats with 14 and 3 on 6-8 shooting. Nelson with 6 on a pair of 3s. Waconia cut out the turnovers in the last 9 minutes and finished with 9 for the half.

Brian Anderson with 6 quick points to start the half for STMA. That brings the Knights within 6, 33-27, with 14:25 left. They'll get no closer. Moats with a drive for 2 at 9:29 forces a STMA timeout. 42-32 Waconia. The teams trade buckets the rest of the way before Ben Kortuem buries a 3 with 90 seconds left for an 11 point lead. That's the final dagger as Waconia wins 52-42.

For STMA, Kevin Nelson with 13 points as he passed the 1000 career points mark (1009 total now). He's the 8th player in STMA history to reach that milestone. They do a nice job with their power motion of being patient. Disappointing that there was no Joe Carpenter as I wanted to see his progress this season after seeing him last year.

For Waconia, Shelby Moats leads the way with 19 and 6 on 8-10 shooting on my sheet. Danny Fischbach with 14 points and he had a clutch 3 in the 1st half and 3 late baskets when the teams were trading hoops before the dagger triple by Ben Kortuem. This is a young squad with sophs B. Kortuem and Bronson Sheff returning next year at the guard spots, junior Fischbach as a wing and stud soph Moats in the middle. They will be a favorite in the Wright County again next year. They were more effective with their flex/dive offense than their 4 out-1 in. I won't use the term motion as they were very stagnant in that 4 out. On defense, tough man with plenty of 2-3 thrown in. They'll also do a little run and jump.