Shakopee at Chanhassen Thoughts

Ethan Petrill

Prologue
Bonus basketball thanks to the late cancellation at the East Metro Showcase.  Its a cross-metro trip to the new Chanhassen high school as they host future conference rival Shakopee.  Big hanging scoreboard above center court, regular scoreboards low for the teams, but hard to see for many fans in the HUGE seating setup.  Much like Burnsville the seats just keep gradually going up up and away.  Big fan of the pizza meal after I missed out on the Taco in a Bag at Johnson.  A nice appearance from the Chanhassen pep band with the director playing bass guitar (quality) and a good rendition of Heart's old classic Barricuda.

Game Time
Dylan Ulferts with the 1st 6 Shakopee points of the game.  Kevin Jensen keep Chanhassen close with a putback, spin move for 2 and a pair of free throws after a steal.  Chance Panning with another Storm steal and Chanhassen is up 12-10 at the 10 minute mark.  Then Ulferts leads an 11-0 Shakopee run over 3 minutes with a putback, 2 freebies and a triple.  9-4 Storm over the last 7 minutes of the half as Shakopee can't pull away.  25-21 Shakopee at halftime.

Jason Perkins takes over to start the second half for Shakopee.  He scores the 1st 8 Sabers points of the half.  Joel Hergott then posts up for an And 1 to push the lead to 38-30 inside of 12 minutes and Chanhassen needs a timeout. A Chanhassen turnover results in a Ethan Petrill layup, then Perkins knocks down another jumper to push the lead to 12.  The Storm looming like a black cloud though.  Joey Stark with a 3 point play and 2 more to cut the lead to 7 with 6:45 remaining.  Teams trade hoops and another Stark bucket keeps the margin at 7, 47-40 Shakopee with 5:25 left.  Perkins with a jumper for 2 and Petrill runs out for a layup with 3:50 left.  Panning for 3 countered by an Ulferts layup off a blocked shot.  Perkins then with a nice reverse layup out of the post to push the lead to 12.  Joel Hergott takes on 2 pairs of free throws and a 3 point play in the last 1:34.  Shakopee wins 64-47.

For Chanhassen, they fall to 2-12 (0-10 league) and finish out the 1st rotation of Lake play by hosting Eden Prairie on Tuesday.  But they have bragging rights as they did win a close one at home vs East Ridge before Christmas.  Kevin Jensen leads the Storm with 16 points.  Chance Panning is a nice shooter and he finished with 10 points.  Joey Stark off the bench with 12 points.

For Shakopee, the Sabers are now 9-4 with 6 straight wins.  Dylan Ulferts 15 of his 17 points in the 1st half.  Jason Perkins 14 of his 16 points in the 2nd half.  Ethan Petrill with a season high 13 points.  Joel Hergott rounds out the big 4 with 14 points. Too much firepower in the paint for the Sabers.  I was surprised by how much 2-3 zone they played.

Ethan Petrill photo courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net