2010 Mpls Spring Jam Days 1 and 2

Some thoughts from the 1st 2 days of action at the 2010 Minneapolis Spring Jam

Wear Out The Net's 2nd team won both of their games that I saw.  They put away Team GetShook 55-44 Friday night.  After a quick 14-4 start vs Triple Threat on Saturday morning, WOTN couldn't put that game away until very late.  Timely 3 point shooting kept Triple Threat in the game.  34 all with 4 minutes left before a crazy 2 and a Triple Threat turnover leads to 2 FT for WOTN to put the Nets on top for good.  But Ryan Burns needed a late layup and Annandale star James Fort missed a short jumper with 25 seconds left.  49-44 WOTN wins.  No Mitch Wurm for Triple Threat in that one.  Joel Awich of Tartan showing explosion around the basket that I didn't remember.  Maybe a sleeper contributor in the middle for Tartan next year after a summer of tutoring from Mitch Ohnstad.

Magic Maroon playing with Johnny Jackson of Cooper.  They jumped all over Fury Blue 2 13-1 thanks to 7 quick points from Marcus Nolen and rolled to a 60-36 win. 

Magic Elite with only 5 kids took on Team GetShook.  Ethan Petrill with his 4th and 5th triples of the game in an 8-0 run to start the 2nd half.  35-21 Magic with 12 minutes left.  But with only 5 guys the Magic were out of gas the last quarter of the game.  4 triples including 2 from Shawn Bear bring GetShook all the way back to a 42 all tie with 5 minutes left.  Petrill with an assist, then a steal.  He pulls it back and a cold-hearted dagger of a contested 3 to push the lead to 5.  Robert Ndondo-Lay takes over late inside to finish it off.  He got fouled on a dunk late and came down really hard but he finished the game and should be OK.  With Mound-Westonka's Dan Flesher inside, Lay plays a ton away from the basket and showed he could handle a bit.  Petrill finishes with 6 triples and 27 points.  Lefty point guard Shawn Bear with 7 3s and 27 points to lead Team GetShook. 

And for you helpful parents out there, be careful.  Ethan Petrill's dad jumped in to help this week and ended up blowing out an achilles tendon.  Yikes.  Net Gain director Marquis Watts at the start of last season blows an achilles, now this.  What's the deal?

Magic Elite should have a bigger roster tomorrow (and maybe Zach Lofton too) not including the injured Chris Smith-Bond.  They'll need all those bodies for a possible 3 games in 6 hours against WOTN, Triple Threat and the championship game if they win those 2.

Finish of the day goes to the 16U game between Magic Elite-Tillman and Urban Stars.  The Stars beat the buzzer with a jumper for a 60-58 win in a game that was close the entire way.  Urban Stars feature St. Croix Lutheran guard Wesley Tucker. 

The other Magic Elite 16U team coached by Jeff Maxon is 3-0 going into Sunday.  They defeated EOTO Black 51-40 on Friday.  Then a pair of wins on Saturday defeating Fury Gold 43-29 and Magic Blue 72-62.  Heat Black stands between them and an undefeated pool at 10:10 Sunday.  Darius Wilkerson and Sam Meyer featured for the Heat.  Quick turnaround for the 16U Title game at 1:25 PM preceded by the 15U title game.