Foraging at the Corral

Prologue
To the Mustangs Corral (Maranatha) where the food is always outstanding.  The previously class A ranked Mustangs take on newly ranked #9AAAA Minnetonka in a non-conference tilt.  Who would have thought that a year ago or even at the start of this season?  I was surprised that there wasn't a better crowd on hand at one of more advantageous home courts you'll find in the metro.  But the concession stand not only had its usual pizza but also added Walking Tacos.  YES!  I like the implementation of just giving the meat and Doritos with the cheese, salsa, lettuce and sour cream on a separate bar for you to make yourself.  Outstanding!  I didn't add quite enough sour cream but after having to crush the Doritos myself (grr!, that's rule 1 people and the 2nd time that's happen this season) it turned out to be well worth it.  Add in the reasonable price and the cut back to a 12 oz Gatorade, my dinner fully justified the $3.50 spent.

Game Time
No Josh Goldschmidt for Maranatha as he's still recovering from a football injury.  Minnetonka on the other hand gets Andrew Grosz and Tommy McDermott back.  Both came off the bench.  Minnetonka gets a 3 point play from Riley Dearring to take a 5-3 lead and Maranatha wants a quick timeout.  After the Mustangs tie it, Latrell Love comes off the bench (didn't start 1st half) for 8 points all in the paint.  That's all part of a 17-4 Minnetonka run over 4:50.  22-11 Skippers at the 7:40 mark of the first half.  A pretty zone possession as the ball goes top to middle to left wing to short corner to Turnblad for an easy layup.  Those are Tonka's only points against the zone in a 7-2 MCA run that cuts the lead to 24-16 at the 3:47 mark.  Tonka takes time to settle down.  MCA would get no closer.  A skip finds Joe Risinger for 3 out of the timeout.  After a Jamey Hammond 3, Tonka would get the last 4 of the half for a 31-19 lead.  They would pour it on in the 2nd half.  Risinger for 3.  Love and Dearring run out for layups.  McDermott to the rack for the lefty finish.  Love at the high post with the pretty dump down for a layup.  A pair of turnovers for Malcolm Moore layups.  49-21 Tonka leads with 9:39 left.  22-2 run over 10:16 and the only MCA points in the run are a pair of FTs from frosh Jeremiah Hanson (yes another member of the Hanson clan for the Mustangs).  Total FG drought is almost 12 minutes at that point.  That's all I can stand to watch.  The rest is garbage time.  Minnetonka wins 73-42.

Post Game
For Maranatha, Isaiah Hanson with 10 of his 14 in the first half.  Jamey Hammond 8 of his 9 in the first half.  The Mustangs fall to 2-3 but all 3 losses are to teams that were ranked at the time.  That's Duluth East, Minnetonka (both 4A) and currently ranked Dawson-Boyd last weekend.  MCA is off until playing Wadena-Deer Creek at the Fergus Falls holiday tournament on Dec 28th.  Then they jump head first into 12 straight MCAA games.

For Minnetonka, they end up with 4 players in double figures.  Latrell Love 15, Tommy McDermott 13, Joe Risinger 3 more 3s for 12, Riley Dearring 11.  Skippers just too physical with love inside and the guards too much pressure on the Maranatha guards.  Amazing to see how far Minnetonka has come on the defensive side of the ball from a year ago.  Minnetonka is now 5-0 with more wins than last year.  The next month's schedule is very tough though so that will give us a very good indication of where the Skippers truly rank.