Sibley rolls in 09-10 Opener

Prologue
Back to Minnesota to start my local season once and for all.  SPA came in off a 3 point loss to Fridley last Friday while this was Sibley's opener.  SPA without post Gabe Mast who decided to focus on football and baseball.  Sibley with their star bigs nicked up as Mike Rostampour has a sore ankle and Jake Kreuser's knee may not be 100% all season.  Not to mention, he sliced up his non-shooting hand.  For food, we have the always appetizing Taco in a Bag, though everything on it didn't include sour cream which was a slight disappointment and the doritos weren't mashed enough.  But enough critiques of food.  To the game

Game Time
SPA star forward Evan McMillan out of the gates with a putback for the first bucket of the game.  SPA point guard Santano Rosario counters a Jimmy Ryan 3 and a Rostampour FT to tie the game at 4 at the 16:20 mark.  Then Sibley takes over inside.  Rostampour with a putback, then 2 more.  Jake Goldberg inside for 2.  Then a big Rostampour block leads to a Dante Grant 3.  Timeout SPA.  But the bleeding isn't stopped.  Rostampour for 2 in a nice high/low set and Ryan with back to back triples.  20-0 run over 8 minutes and Sibley leads 24-4 just outside of the 8 minute mark.  The lead gets to 25 before SPA closes to 38-16 at the half.

In the second half, Bobby Wills off the Sibley bench.  While he's known for his defense, he converts a turnover into a layup and then makes a triple.  Jake Kreuser adds his only points of the night with a jumper from the left baseline.  Freshman sniper Adam Huessner in the game as Sibley starts to use the rest of the bench.  He nails a triple to push the lead to 32, 57-25 at the 10:50 mark.  JVs take the game most of the rest of the way.  Sibley wins 66-48.

For St Paul Academy, David McVeety leads the way with 4 triples for 14 points.  Santano Rosario with 13 points.  Evan McMillan held to 11 points and 6 boards on 4-13 shooting.  He got in early foul trouble against Rostampour in the first half as SPA just didn't have other options to use inside.  SPA tried man and 2-3 zone to slow down the Warriors but the size was just too much.  It doesn't get any easier for the Spartans as they travel to #5A Maranatha tomorrow.

For Sibley, Mike Rostampour was dominant inside and only had 1 foul on my sheet.  He finishes with 18 and 9 on 8-13 shooting.  Jimmy Ryan with 12 points via 4 of Sibley's 9 makes from deep.  Jake Kreuser quiet on offense with only 2 points but 7 rebounds and 4 blocks and he was a presence in the lane.  Sibley getting inside looks, mainly for Rostampour with good high/low and duck-in action.  Jordan Jackson was a total non-factor with 4 points on 2-5 shooting.  Sibley's next game is against Cloquet in the Breakdown Tipoff Classic on Saturday at Minnetonka.

The Future
Players to watch in years to come include SPA frosh PG Spencer Egly.  He's a backup now, but will take over for Rosario next year.  For Sibley, they have a pair of noteworthy freshmen.  Nick Goldberg (Little Goldy according to the Sibley students, he's Jake's brother).  More athletic and skilled than Jake, but not as strong and needs work on his perimeter game.  And we already mentioned Adam Heussner, who's a valuable zone buster right now and saw major time with the Warriors during fall play.