Where are the baskets at Benilde

The nightcap of this quiet Saturday takes me to the Haben Center for my 1st look at Benilde-St. Margaret's this season. No Peter Crawford for the Red Knights as he's out with a injured foot. Not the guy you want out of the lineup when you're playing De La Salle. Sean Kruger from the MN Select and Tri-Metro coaches Lance Johnson and Eric Schutte looking on. Former Minneapolis North coach Brent McNeal watching his son light up the JV game. And...Rene Pulley.

An interesting matchup of sophomore post players as BSM's Myles Barnes and DLS's Jonah Travis get the assignments on each other. Barnes with a couple of early post buckets against Travis. Nice job for the lefty going baseline from the right block. 6-4 BSM with 13:05 left and this pace has DLS written all over it. Darren Glover backdoors and then fakes out Jalen Jaspers for a couple of hoops. 10-8 BSM at 8:54. DLS with the next 6 over 3:30 as AJ Barker gets a couple of hoops. 14-10 DLS. Freshman Isaiah Zierden (Lynx Coach and Gophers radio analyst Don Zierden's son) with a jumper to cut it to 16-14 DLS with 2:20 remaining in the half. Jalen Jaspers with a 3 point play and its 21-16 DLS at the break.

1 minute into the 2nd half, Coke has removed rust from a car battery terminal and destroyed my teeth. 2 minutes into the 2nd half, I get fillings for those teeth. 15:29 Jaspers with a nice curl and that gets him 2 FTs. 23-16 DLS. 3 minutes into the half, I get a root canal. 4 minutes into the half, I get the teeth pulled. 5 minutes into the half, Gone with the Wind has finished. 6 minutes into the half, nuclear fusion is contained. 7 minutes into the half, paint dries and grass grows. At 10:32, we finally get a field goal as Barker gets a layin. Glover counters at 10:15 for the 1st BSM points in the half. Across halftime, that's a scoreless drought of 9:15. Barker again and Glover counters again, this time with a 3. 27-21 DLS with 9:40 left. Jaspers with 2 FTs and a layup to push the lead to 10 and BSM needs time. 31-21 Islanders with 9 minutes left. Jonah Travis with 2 FTs and then a Jaspers 3 with 4:30 left makes it 38-23 DLS and this one is over as they lead is equivalent to 50 with the way DLS plays D and the cold shooting that BSM is going thru at the moment. 44-29 De La Salle wins.

For Benilde-St. Margaret's, Darren Glover with 13 points to lead the Red Knights. 13 2nd half points makes it hard to win. Isaiah Zierden getting big PG minutes as a frosh, he'll be very good. Evan Battle getting varsity minutes as a sophomore. Kyle Washington is another freshman to watch along with Will Dunn in a loaded BSM freshman class.

For DLS, Jalen Jaspers held to 4-13 shooting, but he leads the way with 16 points. Defensively, Darren Glover did most of what he wanted and he caught Jaspers leaning on at least 2 occassions. AJ Barker with 14 points and 9 rebounds. Jonah Travis with 4 points and I had him for 13 rebounds but he struggled guarding Barnes.