A battle of Spartans

Prologue
I am the greatest Spartan, no I am the greatest Spartan.  Its off to Richfield for a Classic Suburban matchup between Simley and Richfield.  Concordia-St. Paul assistant Ron Gates in the building.  Interesting twist to the walking taco tonight was smothering it in the cheese used for their nachos.  Absolutely brilliant!  Adds a great texture by binding everything together.  12 oz of Coke adds to the beverage tally.

Song of the Day
I Melt with You - Modern English

Total Beverage Consumption Counter: 412 ounces  (39 games, 29 days)

• 36 oz Dr Pepper
• 24 oz Sprite
• 80 oz Red Powerade
• 40 oz Red Gatorade
• 140 oz Pepsi
• 72 oz Coke
• 20 oz Barq's Root Beer

Game Time
Sam Stensgard scores the game's 1st 5 points for Simley.  A 14-2 Simley run then breaks the game open.  Soph Jack Stensgard with back to back steals for buckets to start the run and he buries a 3 during the run as well.  24-9 Simley lead at a 10:36 timeout for Richfield.  Center Mark Della Vedova then scores 11 straight Simley points with a jumper, a bucket and foul inside, a putback, 2 free throws and he buries a 3 to top it off.  Patrick Dembley countering those points with always classic 0123 on my stat sheet (that's 1-2 FTs, a bucket and a 3).  37-20 Simley at 4:30.  They take a 44-28 lead to the half.   Dembley injures a hand in the 2nd half and misses time but it doesn't matter.   The offensive balance for Simley continues and Richfield never contends.  Simley wins 84-60.

Post Game
For Richfield, soph guard Patrick Dembley leads the team with 12 points.  He scored all of those in the 1st half before the injury.  Lefty guard Raphael Bilal showing some quickness off the bounce for 8 2nd half points.  The Spartans fall to 0-7 on the season with all losses by double digits.  A long year ahead for coach Omar McMillan.  Next up is their own holiday tourney.

For Simley, great balance from their big 4.  Jack and Sam Stensgard lead with 16 apiece.  Jack knocks down 4 3s.  Ben Sheffley with 12 and Mark Della Vedova with 13.  I liked what senior guard KJ Holliday brought to the table as well.  Della Vedova gives them a guy inside and the guards all shoot it well.  Simley improves to 6-1 overall, 3-1 in the Classic Suburban after a tight home loss to Tartan earlier in the week.  They also have a quality road win at Mahtomedi.  They play next in the Hastings tournament where they could get a game against #10AAAA Farmington.