Its a first time trip to West Lutheran as the Warriors host Maranatha with the MCAA North Division still in flux. West Lutheran 1 game back and they won at MCA 68-67 As is typical of an MCAA gym, pack everybody on to 1 side. Loved the sausage and canadian bacon on the pizza. Good to talk to injured MCA star Josh Goldschmidt during the JV game. He hopes to be ready to go for the AAU season coming off a torn ACL during football. Really vocal West Lutheran student section who came out on to the sideline to greet the team out of the locker room.
Game Time
Maranatha jumps out to a 10-3 lead with a quick pace in the 1st 2:37. Ole... Ole Ole Ole.. as the West Lutheran kids are enjoying the night. Isaiah Hanson gets it going for MCA with a bucket on the post, 2 putbacks and a 3. 21-9 Mustangs at the 8:10 mark. The lead is 27-18 at the 6:01 mark when West Lutheran goes on a 9-2 run to get right back in it. Justin Anderson with a couple of big 3s in that run and MCA needs a timeout at the 3:48 mark. 29-26 Maranatha with the lead. MCA responds with a 13-0 run the rest of the half to break the game open. 42-26 Mustangs at half.
They add the 1st 4 of the 2nd half to stretch the lead to 20. West Lutheran gets 7 in a row with the last 5 from Dustin Barth to cut the lead to 52-39 with 10 minutes left. The Hansons put the game away. Isaiah to the basket for 2 and frosh Jeremiah for 3 followed by Isaiah with a layup. 59-39 with 8:25 left. West Lutheran wouldn't threaten again. Nice to see Isaiah playing hard even in a blowout. Late in the game, he kicks out to Jamie Hammond for 3 and then hustles after a turnover to pin a layup to the board. Maranatha wins 75-57.
Post Game
For West Lutheran, Justin Anderson with 13 of his 16 in the 1st half to lead the Warriors. Dustin Barth with 12 of his 15 in the 2nd half to try and keep them close. Just no answers for the MCA 1-3-1 zone and cold shooting. The Warriors fall to 9-3 in the MCAA (2nd in the North) and 16-5 overall. Still have to think they're a serious contender to be the 4 seed right behind MCA in section 4A. They'll get a check of status with a trip to one of the section favorites Prairie Seeds on Tuesday.
For Maranatha, Isaiah Hanson played very well and topped all scorers with 25 points. Garrison Gillard added 14. Mustangs gave up a couple of runs but nicely bounced back to put the game out of reach. They avenge their only loss in the last 3 years in league play. Their record improves to 14-6 and 11-1 in the MCAA. A pair of road games and then a very interesting home game with Blake on 2/21 before the MCAA tournament game.
I think Josh Goldschmidt will probably be the best player in the MCAA when he returns next year
ReplyDelete