Shako and Apollo pick up big wins

Prologue
The finest day of The Czar's week is always Saturday as it means running around for multiple games.  Today's adventure takes me to Shakopee for the first time and then to Rogers for a pair of quality games.  Coaches vs Cancer day at Shakopee raising over $2500.  Pizza on both menus.  The Davanni's was a little stale at Shakopee but a 1st class facility.  Love the theater seating at Rogers though the big blank spot behind the basket should be stopped with the curtain.  Today's music comes from halftime at Rogers.  (Sorta) Live from Rogers its Saturday Night, bob your heads with me.

Song of the Day
What is Love? - Haddaway

Game 1: Owatonna at Shakopee
Owatonna somehow got to #3 in the state poll but the Huskies have fallen on rough times with a loss at the Target Center last Saturday and then a conference loss at Winona on Tuesday night.  Shakopee continues playing without Jason Perkins due to a knee injury.  They come in winning 8 of 11.  Owatonna opens a 22-17 lead but goes scoreless for the last 5:15 of the half.  Shakopee goes on a 9-0 run during that time to lead 26-22 at the half.

Owatonna comes out with 2 straight 3s to start the 2nd half as they regain the lead.  But the pace is slow.  Drew Osmundson scoops to the hoop at the 7:35 mark.  38-33 Owatonna with the lead as Shakopee takes a timeout.  Shakopee twice cuts the lead to 1 but Vaughn Thada drains a 3 and assists on another to keep Owatonna on top.  44-40 Huskies with 4:40 remaining.  Then Owatonna turns it over on 3 straight possessions.  Ben Foss with 2 steals and Ryan Ragan with a steal.  That results in a Foss layup, an Ethan Petrill 3 point play on the post and a Chris Dehne free throw.  46-44 Sabers with 3:17 left.  Mitch Hawkins drives for 2 with 2:10 left to tie the game.  Shakopee takes time with 1:55 left and sets up a nice backdoor set but they fumble it away.  Owatonna comes back and calls a nice set for a post layup but the basket is waved off via a 3 seconds call with 1:30 left.  Shakopee holds for the last shot and Ethan Petrill spins in the lane and nails a short jumper with 2.5 left.  Owatonna has 1 last chance but their full court pass is intercepted.  Shakopee wins 48-46.  Ethan Petrill leads the Sabers with 12 of his 18 in the second half.  Vaughn Thada leads Owatonna leads Owatonna with 16 points and 4 3s.  His shot is much improved from when he was a freshman.  Drew Osmundson 10 of his 13 in the first half.  Frosh Ty Sullivan looks like his successor at the point next season.  Shakopee frosh posts Tyler Weiss and Jake Maiers are worth noting as well.  Shakopee now 13-9, Owatonna falls to 19-4

Game 2: St. Cloud Apollo at Rogers
So after seeing hard nosed man to man in game 1, this game is mostly zone.  DeLaSalle and Orono in the building scouting.  After the opening Rogers basket, Apollo goes on a 10-0 run behind a pair of Simon Krych baskets.  Shortly after he picks up his 2nd foul and sits for the last 11 minutes of the half.  Blake Maslonkowski with a putback and Ibrahim Abukar scores after a minute long Rogers possession results in a turnover.  24-15 Apollo at the 4:43 mark.  Rogers hangs around to cut the Apollo lead to 32-27 at half. 

Krych comes out strong in the 2nd half.  He tip dunks a miss and scores on the post to push the lead to 9.  Krych 2 free throws off high low action against the zone countered by Michael Schreiber in the post.  44-40 Apollo with 10:25 left.  Then Apollo opens it up with Abukar for 3, Derek Steve for 3, Krych high low layup from Maslonkowski and Ryan Tesch for 3.  54-42 Apollo with 6:37 left and Rogers needs time.  Tesch on the post and Abukar scores with 3:15 left to push the lead to 13.  But Apollo doesn't close it out well.  RJ Dean with a 3 point play, a missed Apollo front end, Trevor Morlock a steal for a free throw and a layup on another turnover.  Another missed Apollo front end and Schreiber with a layup on the other end.  Rory Donovan gets a quick layup on an underneath inbounds to the backside.  64-61 Apollo with 1:35 left, hold the phone.  Apollo misses their 3rd straight front end of the bonus, but Rogers misses inside and a jump ball goes back to Apollo with 1 minute left.  Apollo makes 4 of 6 free throws the rest of the way to hang om 68-63.  Rogers no good answers vs the Apollo 2-3 zone.  Good balance for both teams.  Ibrahim Abukar 17 points, Simon Krych 12 of 16 in the second half, Blake Maslonkowski 15 points and 11 rebounds.  Derek Steve 10 points.  Michael Schreiber and Rory Donovan 16 points each for Rogers.  Schreiber 6 rebounds, Donovan 5 boards on my sheet.  RJ Dean 13 points, Trevor Morlock 10 points.  Rogers falls to 14-8 (9-4 Mississippi 8), Apollo improves to 18-4 (14-0 Central Lakes).