Hornets sting Skippers again

Prologue
Its the rematch between Minnetonka and Edina.  This time its at the Edina Community Center.  An even worse crowd than the 1st meeting at Minnetonka.  An absolutely dead atmosphere for a very important game for both sides.   A very good hot dog at the concession stand with 12 more ounces of beverage.   The Mr Basketball folks represented to see Dearring and Woodward.  Valley City State also looking on.

Game Time
Minnetonka comes out triangle and 2 on Graham Woodward and Ben Boone.  That keeps the pace slow   Woodward finally on the board at the 10:45 mark for a 10-7 Edina lead.  A Mark Handberg jumper opens the lead to 14-8 at the 8:37 mark.  Reggie Lynch, Graham Woodward and Riley Dearring all playing with 2 fouls.  Woodward since the 14:39 mark and not getting a breather.  16-15 Edina when Lynch stops a 3 on 1 by himself to the point where Minnetonka didn't even get a shot as nobody wanted to challenge him.  Its a turnover on the Skippers.  Edina will go on a 9-0 run with Woodward knocking down a pair of freebies and a 3 around a nice slip of a ball screen from Dane Tueteberg for 2.  That allows Edina to open a 27-18 lead at the half.

Dearring held down in the 1st half but he knocks down 3 of 4 threes to start the half and is fouled on a 5th from NBA range and makes all 3 free throws.  He scores the 1st 12 Tonka points of the half.  A turnover for a Malcolm Moore layup and that concludes a 17-4 Tonka run in 6 minutes across halftime.  32-29 Skippers as Edina takes a timeout with 13:54 to play.  Moore again with 11:13 to play and we're tied at 34.  Then the shooting takes over for Edina.  8th grader Walt McGrory knocks down a 3 off a 2nd pass from a Woodward drive, Woodward for 3 and Ben Boone for 3.  Its part of a 16-4 Edina run and Minnetonka needs a timeout.  45-36 Edina with 7:46 to play.  Dearring for 3 and a drive for a free throw.  He's guarding Woodward now but on a full court play not against Woodward he picks up his 4th with 6:24 left.  Woodward gets back to back fouls for his 4th 16 seconds later.  Then a critical moment as Carleno Gurley has Woodward on the right elbow.  Its a classic NBA flop as Woodward takes 1 bump and then the second one sends him flying like he was shot.  The official buys it for a bogus charge call.  After an Edina timeout, Lynch with a nice feed out of a double team for a layup and Woodward adds a pair of free throws to push the lead to 12.  Woodward would pick up a charge with 1:40 left to foul out but Edina is never in any real danger.  Their free throws put away a 68-54 win.

Post Game
Minnetonka gets 6 3s and 24 points from Riley Dearring.  20 of those points in the 2nd half on some tough shots but he also had some heat check moments in that.  The rest of the offense besides Malcolm Moore (more known for his defense) was invisible.  Moore with 15 but the rest of the team only had 15.  No real flow in their Euro ball screen offense and nothing inside at all and no real paint touches even.  Can't settle for jumpers.   Minnetonka falls to 17-6 overall, 3-3 in the Lake.  They host Wayzata on Friday as they try to recover from a 3 game losing streak. Next week isn't any easier with a trip to Hopkins and a home game to end the regular season against Park Center.  It also eliminates any valid chance of Minnetonka gaining the top seed in 6AAAA.  Unless the coaches have decided to throw the whole thing to the whims of the computer.

Edina improves to 16-7 and they stay in 1st place all alone at 4-1 in the Lake.  Its their 8th straight win over Minnetonka, 7th in the Dasovich era.  Graham Woodward 21 points and 9 turnovers on my sheet.  Minnetonka did a much better job and was much more focused on slowing him down in this one after he put up 41 in the 1st meeting.  One area that was still successful was the ball screen so keep an eye out for that if there's a 3rd meeting in the tournament.  Reggie Lynch with 11 points, 12 boards on the official sheet where I had 9 and I had 6 blocks.  A quiet offensive night but his defense totally showed up as Minnetonka wanted no part of the lane.  Ben Boone, Mark Handberg and Walt McGrory combine for 30 to provide much needed support.