Bombers trounce CHOF

Prologue
After failing to make a St. Paul trip on Monday, I tried again tonight and after 80 minutes between downtowns, I finally did make the #2AA Braham/CHOF game.  The simple Gatorade and candy concession stand works for me.  We get no national anthem as there was no American Flag in the building (there's not one on the wall for those not familiar with The SAL).  As to today's music, since we have Tyler Strandlund (CHOF) vs Tyler Vaughan (Braham), it seems only appropriate that I include something by a famous Tyler.  Since I'm here for the 1 appearance of a non-metro player in the metro, I figured this would make sense

Song of the Day
Aerosmith -I Don't Want to Miss a Thing

Game Time
No Kendall Strandlund for CHOF as he's out for about a month with a broken wrist.  Big loss as he's the 2nd scorer on a thin Lions roster.  CHOF coming out box and 1 against Braham star Tyler Vaughan.  He makes a nice cut for 2 and nails a 3 in transition for a 12-7 Braham lead.  Tyler Strandlund on the other hand has all 7 points and then finds Tate Piepkorn for a 3 point play out of a triangle offense baseline cut off the post.  Coach Vaughan not all happy with his defense not stepping up to take charges.  Then Braham starts to heat up from deep (no bad Bombers puns here).  Erik Vavra for 3, Ben Thiry with a jumper, Bret Cuda for 3 and Vaughan with an NBA 3.  25-14 Braham at the 7:40 mark.  And then the Braham radio guy makes it in from traffic to start doing the game.  Show up and start.  Gotta like that.  Cuda with another triple.  Vavra again with under a minute left in the half.  36-15 Braham at the half as they hit 7 threes and 7 deuces.  Vaughan only 3-10 in the half for 8 points.  It was a 22-3 Braham run over the last 12:20 of the half

Not much to talk about in the 2nd half.  Vaughan goes glass, 2 more off a steal and a free throw for 5 quick points.  Vaughan with a jumper and another steal for 2.  53-25 Braham with 11:30 left.  Vaughan with a floater to finish his scoring for the night.  64-38 Bombers with 7:05 left.  Strandlund does get in 1 last highlight with a great block and then chasing it down in the corner for the save to a teammate.  He has a big second half, but Braham is far too much in this one.  74-49 Bombers win.

Post Game
For CHOF, Tyler Strandlund with another big stat line of 22 points, 19 rebounds and 2 blocks on 10-19 shooting.  Tate Piepkorn added some late points to finish with 15.  Nice 1st half job with the box and 1, mainly thanks to the hounding defense of Darian Warneke.  They lose senior point guard Adam Rohlf but will have the rest of the roster back next season.  The Lions fall to 1-3 and host Legacy Christian on Tuesday.

For Braham, Tyler Vaughan leads the way with 24 points on 10-20 shooting on the official Braham stat sheet.  I also had him for 7 rebounds on my sheet.  A slow first half with only 8 points vs the box and 1 but he showed patience and let 3 teammates nail 5 3s in the half (he had the other 2) to punish that defense.  Had a couple of out of control moments on the break that resulted in misses.  In a more open second half he has more able to get going and get some penetration for a couple of easy looks.  Let's not overlook that supporting cast.  Ben Thiry 13 points and you almost need to go triangle and 2 instead of box and 1 with him on the floor.  6'4 Cameron Braund 12 points inside.  A post many AA schools would like to have.  Bret Cuda comes off the bench for 9 points with a pair of important 1st half triples to break it open.  Braham stays undefeated at 2-0 with a trip to Moose Lake-Willow River on Saturday (they knocked off previously ranked Virginia last weekend) and a home game against annual rival Grantsburg, WI next Tuesday.  Then they travel to the St. Cloud Cathedral tournament where they open with Concordia-Roseville on Dec 28.