Trojans move on in 6AAAA

Prologue
Off to Wayzata for their home game vs St. Louis Park in the always entertaining 4 vs 5 section of the bracket.  Contrast of speed and brute force in this one.  Pepperoni pizza on the menu, nice variety.  Not the best crowd in the world but it did fill in some and Wayzata can put people just about anywhere in their big gym.  50 Cent's In Da Club gets us going during the introductions.

Game Time
Good start for St. Louis Park with point guard Kashif Hayes with back to back baskets.  DJ Pollard with a short jumper and a pair of free throws at the 12:53 mark.  12-6 Orioles with the early lead.  Makhi Moore with nice footwork pivoting for 2 and back to back hoops from Zach Gilbert-Burke for a 18-11 Orioles lead. Then Zach Robertson converts a 3 point play and scores on the post as Wayzata makes a comeback.  The lead is down to 4 before Moore drives and a Hayes FT at the 5:52 mark puts the Orioles up 27-18.  Those would be the last Orioles points of the half.  Robertson runs out off a missed 3 for a dunk.  Soph Kyle Kalivoda back to back layups off of turnovers.  Colin Nugent for 3 and adds a free throw late in the half.  16-0 Trojans in the last 5:30.  They take a 34-27 lead to the break. 

DJ Pollard drives at the 16:10 mark to break an 8 minute drought from the field and a 17-0 Wayzata run.  Kalivoda with a 3 point play to complete a 22-4 run over 9:30.  Hayes with 5 in a row and a Pollard coast to coast pull up from the foul line.  43-38 Wayzata with 11:10 left.  Orioles get no closer.  Robertson drives for 2 and splits a pair of free throws.  He adds another bucket on the post and then buries a 3.  53-39 Trojans open it up with 7:36 left.  St. Louis Park doesn't get another field goal until the 2:45 mark.  The lead is 18 by that point.  Wayzata wins 71-56.

Post Game
St. Louis Park gets 18 from DJ Pollard, 14 in the 2nd half.  Kashif Hayes with 17 but was held in check in the 2nd half.  The Orioles finish their season at 14-13 which I think has to be a disappointment considering all the talent they had coming back.  That was despite losing 2 talented transfers who would have competed for serious minutes.  They have a very nice core of Hayes, Pollard and Burke coming back for next season.  But will it be the North Suburban with all of the conference discussions going on?

Wayzata advances to face Hopkins on Friday night at Osseo.  Royals won by 60.  Trojans are now 19-7.  Zach Robertson with 24 points and 9 boards on my sheet despite shooting 9-21.  Colin Nugent with 15 of his 21 in the 2nd half.  He had a big 3 early in the half and a 3 point play that officially killed the last Orioles bit of momentum with 3:33 left.  The defense really clamped down with the 2 long stretches of no fields goals.