Johnson overwhelms Roseville

Prologue
I finish my pre-Christmas schedule with another look at 2 teams I've already seen this season.  Its also another trip to the east side of St. Paul as Roseville visits Johnson.  With 3 great wing athletes (Scott, Wells and Brown) and 3 of the top 10 2011 prospects in the state (Scott, Brown, Tyler), plenty to see.  A quality crowd on hand for a holiday week.  A respectable hot dog and Pepsi on the menu at the standard concession stand.  Longtime no see the Coolest Guy in the NSIC, he's in the building tonight continuing a metro scouting trip.  As to our song of the day, Roseville getting blown out means.

Song of the Day
I never promised you a rose garden - Lynn Anderson

Game Time
Emeche Wells with a layup for a 10-7 Roseville lead 4 minutes into the game.  Anthony Lee with a 3 for the first Johnson lead of the night.  That's countered by a Lucas Brown bucket that ties the game at 12 at the 12:40 mark.  Then Anthony Lee with a jumper, an assist to Shelby Ashford and Ashford with a steal dunk.  Another turnover leads to Marcus Marshall to Roosevelt Scott for a layup.  That 10-0 run (or 15-2) forces a Roseville timeout.  22-12 Govs at 9:28.  Roseville right back with the next 7.  Sam Peterson 2 FTs and a big block that leads to 8th grader Kobe Critchley nailing a 3.  Then a Johnson turnover gets the little guys playing at the rim.  David Stanley finishes over and through Estan Tyler up high.  22-19 outside of 8 minutes.  15-5 Johnson over the next 3:30 with Tyler scoring 5 points in the run.  Lucas Brown with 4 free throws to cut the lead to 9.  But Marcus Marshall with his 3rd 3 of the half and then a layup to conclude the half from Scott.  47-31 Johnson at the break.

Roseville comes out triangle and 2 in the second half guarding Tyler and Marshall and leaving Scott.  Tyler gets loose for 3 to push the lead to 54-33 at the 15:35 mark.  But Johnson settles for too many jumpers and Roseville makes a comeback.  Brown to Wells and Wells to Stanley for easy buckets.  Then Wells with a putback and Peterson 2 FTs on an offensive board.  Brown from the left corner for 3 to conclude a 12-0 Raiders run.  54-45 Johnson with 13:30 remaining.  The teams trade 3s before a Brown drive at 12:10 cuts the lead to 58-50.  But Roseville won't challenge the rest of the night.  Marshall 2 FTs, Scott with 3 layups, Marshall and Tyler layups.  That run was thanks to 3 quick threes from Roseville that didn't go and allowed Johnson to run.  Time Roseville as they're down 20, 70-50, with 9:09 left.  The rest is running back and forth.  Johnson wins 99-79.

Post Game
For Roseville, David Stanley 18 of his 25 in the 2nd half.  3 triples on the night.  Lucas Brown 19 points on 5-14 shooting on my sheet.  Another game where he had 1st half foul trouble.  8th grader Kobe Critchley now see minutes as the 9th man tonight.  Roseville falls to 3-1 and travels to the Owatonna holiday tournament next week.

For Johnson, Roosevelt Scott with an early triple and then hanging around the rim for 18 points on my sheet.  Lengthy Wayland Johnson with a very productive night of 6-6 FTs in the 1st half and 5 FGs in the 2nd half for 16 total points off the bench.  Shelby Ashford 10 points off the bench.  Estan Tyler 14 points after missing 5 of his 1st 6 shots.  He once again had the tough defensive task as he guarded Lucas Brown most of the night.  Marcus Marshall 11 of his 15 in the first half.  Once again the relentless Johnson pressure was just too much.  They did a terrific job of taking misses and running the other way, especially against the 3 quick 3s in the decisive second half run.  The Govs improve to 4-0 as they head into the Best Buy Holiday Classic next week at Augsburg .  There's a potential rematch with Hopkins in the title game next Thursday.