2012 Edina Tourney Day 1

Prologue
A slow drive to day 1 of the 2012 Edina Holiday Tournament. That means Davanni's has to wait until halftime. Chewy so that was a major letdown, though a helpful dad (who shall remain anonymous for his own good) did warn me of that.  26 drinks puts me up and over the 400 ounce mark for the year at 408. 

Game 1 - Armstrong vs St. Thomas Academy
The opener had Armstrong down a couple of guards (JJ Morris and Cyrus Moore-Brown).  This game was a struggle for points all the way through.  Jalen Patterson with a drive for 2 and a Nick Waldvogel steal for 2 free throws ends a 7-1 Cadets run.  21-18 STA at the 5:34 mark of the 1st half.   Armstrong would close with 8 of the last 10.  A pair of drives along with a pair of Konner Goettsche FTs followed by Evan Nolan to the rack with the lefty finish.  28-25 Falcons at the half.

Klicky klackity clank clank clank was the story of the 2nd half.  Ben Fiers for 3 to put St. Thomas Academy up 31-29 at teh 13:20 mark.  Goettsche with a jumper to end a drought of 5:40.  Sean Burns with a layup at the 11:35 mark but that is the only points we'll see in a 5 minute stretch.  Patterson for 3 to break the spell for both teams.  He adds a drive at the 6:25 mark for a 37-33 Cadets lead.  Mitchell Biewen counters at the 6:15 mark to break another Falcons drought, this one 5:20.  A steal for 2 free throws and Goettsche in the post at the 4:45 mark for 6 in a row.  39-37 Falcons reclaim the lead.  Fiers with another bomb and Nick Griffin with a drive for 1 of 2 freebies.  41-39 Cadets with 3:21 left.  Biewen with an easy layup to tie the game.  The teams trade long possessions and misses.  St. Thomas gets a last shot but Patterson's step thru at the buzzer is long.  Not the type of free basketball we had in mind.

Goettsche with a tip in before the 1st minute is up.  St. Thomas gets a very long possession (over 2:30), only to miss a layup with 45 seconds left.  St. Thomas has 2 fouls to give but Armstrong turns it over before they can give one.  The Cadets get another chance but miss a short jumper.  Armstrong takes a couple of time outs to get the ball in.  Biewen makes 1 of 2 with 13.3 left.  The Cadets get 1 last chance.  Griffin has a good look at a long 3 to tie, its online but just short.  Armstrong holds on 44-41 in OT.  Ugly win for Armstrong but a W is a W.  Konner Goettsche 13 points and the only player on either side in double figures.  Armstrong now 4-3.  Jalen Patterson leads the Cadets with 9 points.  Cadets are now 0-6 but the last 5 losses are by a total of 21 points against quality opponents, worst of those was 6 points.

Game 2 - St. Louis Park at Edina
Thankfully the late game features 2 teams who like to get out and go.    Point guard matchup very interesting with former AAU teammates Kashif Hayes and Graham Woodward going at it.  So much for that.  Woodward flares for 3, a steal for 2, 2 free throws on a turnover, pull up in the lane for 2 and then knock down a 3.  16-4 Edina at the 13:03 mark and Woodward already with 12.  Reggie Lynch with a putback before picking up his 2nd foul and sitting at the 11:07 mark.  22-6 Hornets lead.  Woodward an inbounds 3, an assist to Ben Boone and Woodward coast to coast for 2 more.  33-14 Edina leading.  Woodward a steal for 2 free throws, a 3 point play and let's close the half with another 3 ball.  29 for Woodward, 45-28 Edina over St. Louis Park at the half.

DJ Pollard 2 quick Orioles buckets.  Woodward for 3 and then 3 free throws to keep the lead at 19.  Pollard with 4 and Mahki Moore with 5 in a 10-0 St. Louis Park run.  That cuts Edina's lead to 53-42 with 13:09 left.  Then they go box and 1 on Woodward (interesting time to pull it out), Woodward not getting touches but he does make 4 free throws in a row.  58-47 Edina with 11:46 to go.  Woodward with a deep jumper to tie the school's single game record of 42 with 9:17 left.  Ben Boone for 3 and the lead is back to 16.  Woodward makes 2 free throws with 7:53 to break the 25 year old school record held by Kraig Kluge vs Minnetonka.  Woodward to Lynch for 2. Lynch with a block that leads to 2 free throws on the other end.  75-53 with 7 to play and forget about after a 19-6 Hornets run.  Edina wins 95-64. 

Graham Woodward leaves with 2:57 left and finishes with a school record 46 points.  That's more points than we saw from either team in the earlier overtime game (absorb that fact for a minute).  I had him 13-23 shooting, 6 3s and a perfect 14-14 at the line with a handful of assists.  Easily could have had 50 if  not for a couple of layups that were down and came out.  Nick Boone quality minutes filling in for Lynch in the 1st half, Ben Boone 11 points.  8th grader Walt McGrory 8-8 FTs for all of his points.  Edina has now won 4 in a row after an 0-4 start.  Dennis Green asking "Are they who we thought they were?"  St. Louis Park did force some fouls in the 1st half but then got into foul trouble of their own and fell apart in the 2nd half.  DJ Pollard leads with 17 of his 21 in the 2nd half.  Jeffrey Bonds 8 of his 10 in the 1st half.  Kashif Hayes all 6 in the 1st half.  Orioles are now 6-3 on the season.