Day 2 of the 2009 Tartan Tournament

Prologue
A cameo in the far east metro as I venture out to Tartan for day 2 of their holiday tournament.  Another quality night at the concession stand with The Czar's Trifecta (that's Popcorn, Pizza and Pepsi).  But this year they didn't have the outstanding chocolate chip cookies.  Those were always a highlight.  But the Pizza definitely made up for it.

Game 1: Park (1-6) vs Eau Claire Regis (4-2)
After a tough blowout to Fall Creek last week in a huge AA game in Wisconsin, Regis had a 1 point loss to Spring Lake Park yesterday where their head coach got 3 technicals.  He was in the stands for this one.  14-2 Regis before the 2nd Park FG comes at the 6:20 mark of the first half.  In the Murphy's Law moment of the day, right at the end of the half Park rebounds a miss, coach says to hold it and it gets stripped and Regis puts home at the horn.  28-11 Regis at the half.  Second half isn't relevant.  54-27 Ramblers win.  Adam Ganske all 12 of his points in the first half.  Connor Miller with 10 and playing the point so his standout shooting that you see with the Wisconsin Playmakers during the summer didn't get to come out.  Craig Brown 6 points for Park.

Game 2: Rogers (3-5) vs St. Croix Lutheran (0-4)
A pair of SCL free throws cut the Rogers lead to 15-11 with 9:11 left in the first half.  Then an 18-0 run over the next 5 minutes puts this one away.  Lefty guard Trevor Morlock with 12 of the 1st 14 points of that run.  Lead is 24 at the half as the Crusaders only make 1 field goal in the last 9:40 of the half.  Second half is a wash.  Rogers wins 73-43.  Funny moment late in this one as a player retrieved a ball that had rolled off the court and threw it to the wrong official who wasn't paying attention.  Fortunately the player had bad aim and the official didn't get hit.  Nice of the refs to have a good laugh at that.  Morlock leads the way with 20 points and I had 10 rebounds on my sheet for him.  Rogers has a pair of young bigs who played on the circuit last summer (Turnquist and Schreiber), but I like what 6'6 junior post Rory Donavon gave the Royals inside.  Cameron Cummings 17 points in the loss for St Croix Lutheran. 14 of those in the 2nd half.

Game 3: Elk River (5-0) vs Spring Lake Park (4-3)
Spring Lake Park ahead early in this one but Elijah Sabah picks up a 2nd foul at the 13:41 mark.  Add in the spark from the 2nd 5 of Elk River.  20-14 Spring Lake Park when Sabah returns at the 8:26 mark.  Then a 9-2 Elk River run culminated by Sabah's 3rd foul at the 6:15 mark.  Forward Ben Erickson with the last 5 points in that run for 23-22 Elks lead.  Trading baskets the rest of the half for a 30-29 Elk River lead at halftime.

Second half is all Elk River.  A Derek Dahl triple for SLP makes the score 34-32 Elk River at the 16:20.  After a Elks hoop, SLP coach Guzy gets a cheap technical and it ends up with Elk River having the momentum.  Erickson with bookend 3s for a 44-34 Elk River lead at 13:30 with Sabah on the bench thanks to his 4th foul via a charge.  Will Iverson with a layup that concludes a 19-5 Elks run over 5 minutes.  53-37 Elk River with 11:11 to play.  Kwamaine Fitzpatrick tries to keep the Panthers close as he scores 5 in a row.  Maybe this is SLP's run.  Then again, no.  Taylor Berger for 3 and then a 3 point play to push the lead to 17 and this one is over.  76-57 Elk River wins.  Ben Erickson with 18 points to lead Elk River.  Travis Johnson with 15 for Spring Lake Park.  Elijah Sabah fouls out with 2 points on 1-8 shooting.   Elk River plays 10 guys, 5 in and 5 out.  They've got length, depth and size.  Don't let the schedule fool you, the Elks are a team that can play.


Game 4: Prior Lake (1-7) at Tartan (4-1)
A mismatch on paper but Prior Lake only lost at Eden Prairie by 1 point a week ago.  It looks like it right away as Tartan scores the 1st 8 points in 3 minutes and Prior Lake center Jake Bolks has 2 fouls. Then Prior Lake goes 2-3 zone and we all get transported to Mars.  The Lakers go on an 11-0 run over the next 3:30 to force a Tartan timeout.  Then a Kyle Repinski putback 30 seconds later and coach Klingsporn takes another timeout and he is hot.  Travis Diedrich backdoor for 2, then another bucket at 4:20 and Prior Lake is up 21-14 (21-6 run over 11 minutes).  Finally Tim Lubke makes a 3 and that's the last points of the half.  21-17 Lakers at the break in a shocker.  Tartan can't buy a shot vs the zone.

Jack Harrison goes glass, Bolks from the post and 2 free throws, Replinski high off glass and Diedrich with 2 more in a 10-3 Prior Lake start to the half.  31-20 Prior Lake with 14:45 left.  WOW!  Tartan right back with 7 in a row thanks to cranked up man defense that Prior Lake couldn't handle.  Prior Lake not laying down as Bolks scores back to back hoops to push the lead back to 8, 35-27, with 11:25 left.  Then a Tartan goes on a 10-0 run to take the lead 37-35 with 8:35 left.  Bolks with 2 free throws with 7:41 left, 37 all.  43-39 Tartan with 4 minutes left.  Then Drew Preiner with an offensive board and nice spin for 2 at 3:05.  Luke Preiner adds a pair of free throws at 2:36 as Bolks fouls out.  47-39 Tartan.  Mitch Hopkins with a 3 point play at 2:23 for the 1st Prior Lake field goal by anyone besides Bolks in over 12 minutes.  That cuts the lead to 5 but its out of reach.  Tartan comes from behind for the 53-47 win.  Drew Preiner leads the way with 13 points and 9 rebounds.  Tim Lubke 2-11 shooting but 4 late free throws put the game away.  He finishes with 10 points.  Jake Bolks leads Prior Lake with 13 points.

The Elk River vs Tartan championship game should be outstanding