Concordia Jamboree Thoughts

Here are my thoughts from the Concordia Jamboree.  15 minute halves, 1 free throw to score 2 on shooting fouls during running time.  Stop time for the last 2 minutes of each half

St. Agnes vs Richfield
St. Agnes is depleted with Antonio Hartfield-McGhee leaving for Roseville.  Richfield has no size whatsoever.  It was surprising to still see Matt Mullenbach as an assistant.  I thought after the Jim Dimick fiasco he would have left.  Richfield jumped out to a 12-0 lead and then 31-6 at the half.  This game definitely needed the scoreboard reset that we saw at Columbia Heights.  Richfield gave the bench plenty of time in the second half which cut the final score to 45-23.

Tartan vs Minnehaha
8-6 Tartan early then the fun begins.  Great press break gives Joel Awich a dunk on a 2 on 1 give and go.  Then pretty high-low passing against the 2-3 zone for another Awich dunk.  Much better zone offense tonight than I saw last season from the Titans.  That was the start of a 10-0 run.  Minnehaha with the last 5 of the half to close within 24-15 at the break.  They continue to pick apart the Minnehaha defense for a 50-27 win.  Minnehaha really down with nothing of note.  Drew Preiner really orchestrates things well for Tartan.  Ryan Burns effective with the big body inside and the quote of the night.  In the early game, there was a violation called for stepping on the end line when inbounding after a made basket.  Burns "Nobody calls that!".  Right on.  Darrion Strong played only the last 6:45 and struggled.

St. Anthony vs Simley
St. Anthony pulling out the old Johnny Orr Michigan offense.  Or if you prefer, Al McGuire's Humpty Dumpty look.  Simley with Shinoby Yang given the perpetual green light.  He scores 10 of the 18 Simley points for a 18-15 halftime lead.  He gets held down in the 2nd half as St. Anthony uses a 10-0 run to break the game open.  33-22 with 4:30 left and the Huskies win 36-29.  The non-conference schedule for Simley is pretty soft, but if Yang doesn't score they're in a world of trouble.

Hill-Murray vs St. Croix Lutheran
This one was at least close and it was back and forth the entire way.  21-18 St. Croix Lutheran at the half.  St. Croix with 1 of 2 freebies with 28 seconds left to cut the lead to 1 and after a missed front end by Hill-Murray with 18 seconds left they had a chance to win it.  But they turned it over with 5 seconds left and Hill-Murray hangs on 34-33.  Hill-Murray looks like they'll struggle against pressure as St. Croix's traps were effective.

Stillwater vs Concordia
Stillwater adjusting to a new 5 out system on the offensive end.  They had a 15-9 lead late in the 1st half before leading 15-13 at the break.  Concordia up 34-33 going to a late timeout then a 3 point play at 1:23 that is counted as 4 points on the board.. Stillwater then turns it over on back to back trips for layups.  That pushes the lead to 9 with 55 seconds left and seals the deal.  Concordia wins 44-37.  Cutler Finneman has grown and is a longer more athletic looking player than years past.