It's opening night at Prairie Seeds Academy as the Lycans hosted St. Paul Prep. Very interesting sidelight to this one as the season isn't supposed to open until Thursday night yet Prairie Seeds has this game and Four Directions tomorrow. You'd have to believe this would disqualify all 3 of the teams from section play. Not to mention Prairie Seeds has 29 or 30 games listed on their schedule. That's over the 26 game MSHSL limit.
Song of the Night
November Rain - Guns N Roses
Atmosphere
Simple concessions of water, candy and chips. Being bitter from a soaking in the rain, I didn't partake. Nice gym of 8 rows of bleachers on 1 side, cheerleaders on the stage on the other side. Scorekeepers were a little asleep. Of note, only 1 scoreboard so you better go that way in the 2nd half.
Game Time
As to the game, it was a mismatch from the start. 13-0 Lycans before St. Paul Prep makes a free throw. The 1st Falcons field goal comes at 9:14 but its 19-4 at that point. That stops a 7-0 run all by guard Trent Pollard. The lead is cut to 24-10 before Pollard nails 2 more bombs to extend the lead to 30-11. Then an assist for a dunk that sparks a 14-0 late in the first half. 55-24 at the break. Tack on 23-1 to start the 2nd half. Pollard nails a 3 with 12 minutes left to push the lead to 81-28 and that's all I can stand to watch.
Pollard with 17 points in the first half as he surprisingly came off the bench. 8th grade star Jarvis Johnson played through a bum knee. If Johnson is 5'9 and Pollard is 5'11, then I'm Santa because Johnson looks far bigger. Not the player I remember seeing in July at the Grassroots tournament. Both Pollard and Johnson did a nice job pushing the ball ahead with the pass instead of the dribble. And Pollard's passes were especially crisp. Prairie Seeds will have some success against section opponents because they do have athletes and good guard play. But as you expect from an opening game, there were plenty of things to work on. Transition defense, zone offense and too many fouls are things coach Williams will likely take a look at.
As to St. Paul Prep, they'll have a very very long season. Only 1 player of note as the rest of the talent pool is very bare.
So what is a Lycan
A Lycan is not to be confused with a werewolf. A werewolf is a permanent transformation. A lycan can transform between man and wolf at will. In January when they play MTS, I'd love to see the MTS wolf there. They both look nasty and I'd like to determine which one is more prone to mange.
Funny
ReplyDeleteWho were some of the other guys on Prairie Seeds roster, and who was the one with the dunk?
ReplyDeleteCharles Robinson is the kid who had the dunk. Ed'donte Copeland 20 pts, Chris Jones and Devin Buckley 16, Dominick Jackson 13. Pollard finished with 22. Final score was 106-39.
ReplyDeleteWow! Do you see them being a threat in their section and class? I've seen Robinson before, how'd he look other than his dunk?
ReplyDeleteWell if you read my opening paragraph, you'll see I don't think they should be allowed to play sections. But if they somehow get in, they'll be one of the better teams in section 4A. But that's more a reflection of how bad the section is. That said, they're still not ready for Minnesota Transitions or Maranatha.
ReplyDeleteI think that PSA is going the prep school route. I don't think they plan to compete in playoffs or state. I know next year they plan to play a national schedule or at least that's what I have been told.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that for next year but on this year's schedule its all local and they have sections listed on it on their very own website.
ReplyDeleteWell, I guess your not Santa because you really dont know how big jarvis is! One game yes with a bum knee( how you know I have no clue)!But he is the same kid you seen in July at the Grassroots Tournament! Just a little injury but Yea you did say he was in the 8th grade!!! Give me a break!!!Make a Kid dont Break One! Your article and comments will only make him BETTER!!!! THANKS
ReplyDeleteTanisha, you completely missed my point. The idea was that he looked much bigger than the 5'9 he was listed at. He's clearly looked bigger than Pollard who's listed 2 inches taller. So the comment was a joke about the heights listed on the roster.
ReplyDeleteThe comment about not being the same player was that he looked like a totally different person and player than what I remembered in July. Frankly as a player he looked better than I remember but that wasn't the point. I was just pointing out that my memory of him was bad (or more likely I was watching the wrong kid in July with no program). I see so many kids in so many places, its easy to mix them up. The only specific comments I made about his game were complementary. Any other conclusions you draw are your own.