Storrusten outplays Jett for 2009 AA Title

To the AA final, Jordair Jett and Tydan Storrusten. Great matchup of point guards. And Jett may end up guarding Eric Shulstad on the other end. Does anyone else play point guard on 1 end and defend centers on the other? St. Bernard's definitely has some very good options for defending Storrusten. Should be very interesting.

SB 0-7 at the 14:40 TV timeout and down 6-2 with 3 turnovers. They don't find Jan-Erik Linberg and they're down 9-2 after his 2nd 3. Jett blows past Storrusten but charges for his 2nd foul with 13:33 left in the half and he'll sit with the Bulldogs down 9-4. Lindberg 2-4 for 7 points, rest of the team is 1-7 with SB 1-9. Storrusten with a triple. 12-8 Pelican outside of 12 minutes. Shane Taylor with a scoop for 2 and despite being majorly outplayed, SB is only down 12-10 as we go to the media timeout at 10:34. SB 3-12 with 6 turnovers so far. Pelican Rapids is only 4-14 (that's with 2-5 from Lindberg who's getting way too many good looks).

Mike Weah to Brian Sandifer for a layup and we're tied at 14 with 9:24 left in the half. Weah has been absolutely outstanding this entire state tournament. Lindberg for 3 from straight away, grrr!. 17-14 Pelican at the 8:24 mark. Storrusten fouled at 7:58 and his 2 free throws push the lead back to 5, 19-14. Another SB turnover and thankfully Lindberg misses the triple. Sandifer with a triple at 6:40 to get SB some offense. Storrusten floats for 2 and SB turns it over for a Storrusten to Matt Skow-Anderson layup. 23-17 Pelican as we go to a TV timeout at 5:53. SB 6-16 with 10 turnovers.

Jett back in the game as the Bulldogs need offense but he misses a lefty layin on a baseline drive. Jett then loses Lindberg who buries another triple to push the lead to 9. Trent Davis with a layup that rolls off. Storrusten floats for 2 more at 4:15 and its 28-17 Pelican Rapids. TV timeout with exactly 4 minutes left and Bernard's really needs it. 2 turnovers and 2 missed layups in the last 1:53.

Shulstad with a miss on the post and Duncan runs out for a layup. After a Lindberg misses, Duncan does it again to cut the lead to 7 outside the 3 minute mark. Duncan on the run again, great block though and Lindberg finds Brian Guler for a layup. Duncan again inside, Skow-Anderson with another great block and Guler converts it on the other end. WOW. 32-23 Pelican at 1:50. Jett short and SB fouls on the rebound. Coach Cassidy with a look of despair. Jett out at 1:05 to save the fouls. 32-23 Pelican Rapids at the half and they've totally outplayed the Bulldogs. St. Bernard's 9-26 shooting with 13 turnovers. Jordair Jett 0-4 and no points. Averey Duncan with 8 points on 3-6 (30% for the rest of the team). Pelican Rapids only 12-31 shooting but 5-12 from deep. Tydan Storrusten 4-10 for 11 points. Jan-Erik Lindberg 4-9 (8 of those from 3) for 13 points.

My Class AA all-tournament ballot

Nash Faulk and Jeff Hammer from Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted.
Clay and Cole Olstad from Plainview-Elgin-Millvile.
Jordair Jett, Averey Duncan and Mike Weah from St. Bernard's
Tydan Storrusten, Eric Shulstad and Jan-Erik Lindberg from Pelican Rapids.

Jett drives and scores with the lefty bank right away. Shulstad with a cut to the elbow and he buries the jumper as no one found him. Interesting that Jett has the assignment guarding Storrusten to start the half. Storrusten head fakes Jett for a short jumper. That's something the Bulldogs have struggled with all season. Duncan now on Lindberg which is another strange matchup. Why waste your top defender on a stand-still shooter? Good timeout by the Bulldogs at 15:05 down 36-25. Jett from the left elbow, drives, spins, hangs and scores. We go to the 14:40 TV timeout 38-27 Pelican Rapids leads.

Jett back to back misses and he's now 2-9. Jett taken out on a screen and Storrusten spins on Sandifer for 2 FTs at 13:49. 1 of the 2 is good for a 39-27 Pelican Rapids lead. Jett goes up and snares a Sandifer miss and puts it back. Timeout St. Bernard's at 12:54 down 39-29. 12-35 shooting for the Bulldogs as they still can't find the range. Storrusten again gets the switch to Sandifer and finishes to push the lead to 12. Trent Davis slashes and gets the 3 point play at 12:33. Matt Haugen over Sandifer for 2 more 43-32 Pelican rapids. Shulstad posts Duncan and hits the jump hook. 45-32 Vikings outside of 11 minutes remaining. Mike Weah finally into the game at 10:36, for as well as he's played, very surprising that he didn't get in til now. Jett misses a 3 but Shane Taylor pushes back to cut the lead to 9. Jett gambles and Storrusten makes him pay with a short jumper. Duncan with another Bulldogs putback. 47-38 Pelican with 9:30 left. Weah leaves a triple short and Storrusten pulls up for 3. Timeout St. Bernard's and the Pelican Rapids crowd erupts. 52-38 Vikings lead. Pelican Rapids 8-13 shooting this half.

Jett drives and goes back rim and then he reaches in on the rebound for his 4th foul with 8:31 left. Jett picks Storrusten's pocket and goes the distance. After Storrusten misses the front end of the bonus, Duncan misses a layup. That kind of day for the Bulldogs. Jett with 2 free throws that both miss short. Storrusten to the rim for another layup, then a turnover and Guler straight to the rim as Jett has to let him go. 56-40 Pelican with 7 to play. Jett with 2 free throws as we go to the 6:55 media timeout. 56-42 Pelican Rapids leads.

Interesting that Jett is on the bench out of the timeout. He comes back with 6:29 left. Jett short again but Weah puts it back. Lindberg with a nice step back on Duncan. 62-44 Pelican Rapids with 6 minutes left. Jett with a pair of FTs and then Duncan steals the inbounds and puts it in to cut the deficit to 63-50. Storrusten gives and goes on a sideline out of bounds and gets the 3 point play. Nice heady play. Hands down the MVP of the AA tournament (yes I said that). 67-50 Pelican Rapids with 4:53 left. Lindberg with a layup as Pelican picks apart the press. 70-56 Pelican Rapids at the last TV timeout with 3:55 to play.

How many shots short did Jett miss? After a Duncan putback, Storrusten touchdown to Skow-Anderson for a layup. The only drama is if Storrusten will end up with a triple-double. Storrusten to the rim for a layup at 1:14 and Pelican empties the bench. Pelican Rapids wins the state title 80-68 and it wasn't that close. Pelican Rapids played with better discipline and was far more sound on defense. Not a good performance at all for the Bulldogs.

Jordair Jett ends his career with 20 points and 8 rebounds but only 7-23 from the floor. Only 2 assists which is a big number for him. Low assists means he's playing 1 on 1. Averey Duncan finishes with 14 points and 12 rebounds and a handful of steals. Trent Davis 2-13 shooting. Overall St. Bernard's finished 1-17 from the 3 point line and 27-70 from the floor. Pelican Rapids shot 16-26 in the 2nd half against very porous Bulldogs defense. Tydan Storrusten finishes with 34 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Jan-Erik Lindberg with 18 points and 5 rebounds. Eric Shulstad with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

The AA All-Tournament Team is the 10 guys I voted for above.