Prologue
A late opening of the concession stand but the standard fare available. But no root beer tonight means I fall back to Fruit Punch Powerade for the first time this season. Interesting matchup of Pump N Run teammates Alex Richter and Eric Robertson. Lots of Lake Conference coaches in attendance tonight scouting along with a couple of others.
Game Time
Maybe the matchup won't be so interesting as Lakeville South is out quickly. Spencer Pankonin for 2 and then 2 more and then he runs out for a thunderous 2 handed dunk. Alex Richter scores on a turnover and then adds 2 free throws after a Wayzata timeout. 15-3 Lakeville South just over 6 minutes into the game. Wayzata with no answer for the Lakeville South 1-2-2 zone and trap. Max Clausen for 3 and then a bucket for Wayzata to cut the lead to 15-10. Jon Christensen and Pankonin with post hoops before Eric Robertson posterizes a Cougar defender for the only Trojan highlight. That dunk is the only hoop for the Trojans in a 17-2 Lakeville South run as they went back to the 1-2-2 after playing some man out of the previous timeout. 32-12 Cougars with 4:15 left in the half. In a microcosm of the half, South holds for 1 shot and Riley West kicks back to Pankonin for a pure 3. 41-20 Cougars at the half. Wayzata never threatens in the 2nd half. No bench points from either team until under 6 minutes left when the Cougar starters had hit the showers. 68-55 Lakeville South wins but it wasn't nearly that close.
For Wayzata, Eric Robertson 15 of his 21 points in the 2nd half. 6-13 shooting with 3 triples and the big dunk. Chris Kroeten with a very rough night shooting as I had him 1-9. Eric's younger brother Zach is a freshman and was the 1st guy off the bench for the Trojans. A big sign that its a very thin rotation for the Trojans. They fall to 5-5 and have a tough one at St. Paul Central on Friday (though they won there 2 years ago on an amazing buzzer beater in a game I saw)
For Lakeville South, they improve to 6-4 with their 4th straight win and 6 out of 7 including home wins over Rosemount (my next game) and Eagan. Looks like they may be starting to put together after a tough start. Interesting that Jake Wensmann didn't see any time tonight. Jon Christensen with 15 points out of that spot though in a productive performance. Riley West solid at the point. Only 1 point from the bench in the entire game and that included the last 7 minutes when the starters were done. That's why the final score tightened to 13. But I'll blame that on running The World's Worst Offense (the flex) down the stretch. Alex Richter with 21 points on 8-15 shooting. Great night for Spencer Pankonin with 18 points as he scored in the post, had the big dunk and knocked down a couple of triples. He's got a body that can be built and a soft touch. Definitely one to keep an eye on. The Cougars have a pair of tough Lake games the rest of the week as they travel to Bloomington Jefferson and then host Eastview on Friday. A pair of wins would be big to keep the Cougars in the Lake Conference race.
Riley West photo courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net
.jpg)
pnr teamates kreuser and robertson game on the 19th
ReplyDeleteThat one should be interesting.
ReplyDeleteI found out Wensmann was out with a bum ankle. That explains why he didn't play.
Pankonin looks to have some serious upside... I wouldn't be surprised if he goes D1 because of the potential to dominate.
ReplyDeleteThe more I watch this Lakeville South team, the more I think they should be able to dominate. The problem is the coach,Sheehan. He is not taking advantage of the talent he has. Most of these guys have been playing together for 6 plus years, and he bogs them down with a million new plays. If he just let them play the way they have been their whole lives, they would be much more successful. That being said, they are still very good.
ReplyDelete