Crimson comeback crusade

Prologue
The Bison of Buffalo rumble into Maple Grove to take on the Crimson in an annual non-conference showdown (and former section 8AAAA game).  If this were a mascot battle, it'd be a total mismatch as Bison tramples leaves or it could be leaves smother Bison like Rock Paper Scissors.  Elk River and Osseo head coaches in the building getting double scouting points since they both play Buffalo in December.  Cheese Pizza courtesy of Dominos is on tonight's menu and our 1st taste of Pepsi for the season.  We get 4 students dressed up as Gumby which is classic.  It also leads to a ridiculous song of the day for those of you who remember a famous Gumby reference on Saturday Night Live.

Song of the Day:
Party all the time - Eddie Murphy

Total Beverage Consumption Counter: 72 ounces

• 12 oz Dr Pepper
• 20 oz Red Powerade
• 20 oz Red Gatorade
• 20 oz Pepsi 

Game Time:
A pair of Buffalo 3s, an offensive board for a free throw and a lob for 2 easy points on the baseline inbounds are all part of a 10-3 Bison run.  24-11 Buffalo at the 8:37 mark.  Soph big Reed Nikko with back to back buckets for Maple Grove.  Zach Dahl for 3 for a 29-16 Bison lead.  Then frosh PG Brad Davison has a big finish to the half for Maple Grove.  He goes 9-10 from the line and adds a steal for a bucket.  He ends the half with 13.  Collin Olmscheid too much on the Buffalo side as he goes to the reverse layup, a post up and knocks down 4 free throws on his way to 19 first half points.  41-28 Buffalo at the half.

48-32 Buffalo leading after Levi Bean drills a 3 with 15 minutes left.  Maple Grove using their inside triangle set to get some post looks.  Jacob Sterling for 2, Kayode Awosika for 2 and the foul, Sterling an inside BLOB 2.  Guard Tyler Barker adds the outside offense with a drive, Davison scoops to the hoop and Barker with a bomb.  That 11-0 run cuts the Buffalo lead to 48-43 with 10 minutes left.  Buffalo hanging on to a close lead when Sam Ortmann picks up a tick tack 4th foul with 8 minutes left.  Matthew Lindgren for 3 and a pair of free throws as the Crimson are within 1.  Then Sterling back to back hoops inside and Davison goes off the window for 2 more.  61-60 Maple Grove on top with the ball and 2:30 to play.  Davison surprisingly misses a front end with 2:02 left.  Bean on the post for 1-2 freebies and we're tied at 61 with 1:45 left.

Maple Grove with a long possession and its Davison off the bounce again.  Ortmann appears to step in and draw the charge but Davison gets the call with 1:05 left and Ortmann is gone with 5 fouls.  That's a huge call that changes the entire way the final minute played out.  Davison drains both freebies.  Buffalo makes 1 of 2 on the other end.  After running clock and taking a timeout, Maple Grove gets an easy bucket against the trap as Davison finds Taylor Schott for an easy layup.  63-60 Crimson with 42 ticks left.  Buffalo with a quick 2.  Maple Grove takes a timeout in the backcourt after 10.1 had run off the clock so they avoid the 10 count.  22.2 left and Buffalo can't get a foul.  Finally Lindgren is fouled with 12 seconds left and makes both.  Olmscheid misses a forced 3 and there's a scramble.  Levi Bean grabs the board and is fouled but the clock ran out. However, no one heard the horn.  The refs conference and determine Bean will shoot 2 with 0.3 remaining down 3.  Bean makes the 1st and Buffalo takes time to draw up the intentional miss down 2.  Reed Nikko grabs that miss after sitting the last 6+ minutes or more.  Maple Grove comes back from 16 down in the 2nd half to win 67-65.

Post Game
For Buffalo, Collin Olmscheid leads the way with 26 points.  Levi Bean with 11 of his 18 in the second half.  But they couldn't find any other offense with only 24 second half points with Olmscheid being slowed down.  Buffalo was 7-16 from the foul line in the 2nd half (including the last intentional miss).   There were some looks on curls and post ups that were available that they'll do a better job of finding as the season goes on.  The Bison host Elk River on Tuesday and then visit Moorhead and Bemidji on back to back days next week.

Maple Grove gets their 1st win of the season against the opening loss to Park Center.  Frosh Brad Davison was outstanding with 21 points, 11-14 FTs.  He also added some important steals and assists in driving the offense, especially late in the 1st half when the game looked like it could get out of hand.  Big post Jacob Sterling with some limited but very good minutes to get his 11 points.  6 points and lots of 2nd half bench time for soph star Reed Nikko after a great debut against Park Center.  Frosh Tywhon Pickford also part of the talented young rotation for the Crimson.  They host Champlin Park next Tuesday.