Top Ranked Islanders Toppled

Prologue
An wonderful way to ring in the new year as #1AAA De La Salle visits #8AAAA Eden Prairie.  Very good crowd for the afternoon tilt.  Interesting announcement any "excessively boisterous" fans will be ejected.  What about excessively boisterous officials or coaches or administrators (or writers)?  Sit down you are cheering too positively for your team!  Always nice to see the JV game between these 2 as there's a ton of talent on both sides.  I skip the concessions to save up for New Year's Eve, but I did break down for the 24 oz Pepsi out of the vending machine.  Since we're ringing in a new year, we have to go back to an old classic tune.

Song of the Day
Auld Lang Syne - Traditional

Total Beverage Consumption Counter: 568 ounces  (54 games, 41 days)

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

Game Time
A good start for De La Salle with Geno Crandall knocking down a jumper on the screen and roll and then a triple.  Sacar Anim adds a bomb of his own to conclude the 8-0 run.  12-4 DLS at the 13:13 mark.  The lead teeters between 4 and 8 before Josh Collins ends the scoring with a 3 right before half.  35-26 De La Salle at the break.

Anim with 5 quick points for the Islanders and they lead 40-30 with 15:20 left.  The rest is all Eden Prairie.  Grantham Gillard for 3, Andre Wallace coast to coast for a pair of free throws and he finds Gillard for a layup.  Off another Islanders turnover its Gillard for 3 from the right corner to give the Eagles the lead.  42-40 EP with 11:35 left.  Blake Cashman adds a layup for 14 straight Eagles points.  Anim with 5 more points as he's the only offense in the half for De La Salle.  But Cashman and Wallace bury 3s.  Gillard adds a 3 point play, Wallace a tough jumper and he goes backdoor for 2 more.  Gillard runs for 2 more.  68-50 Eden Prairie with 3:41 left and this one is over.  The Eagles run is 38-10 in just over 10 minutes.  James Lawson and Jarvis Johnson each knock down a pair of 3s late to keep it somewhat close.  Eden Prairie wins 78-65.

Post Game
For De La Salle, Sacar Anim leads the way with 18 points.  He scored 12 of those in the 2nd half.  It took almost 10 minutes into the 2nd half for another Islander to score.  Jarvis Johnson adds 17 points. Coach Dave Thorson won't be happy with his team's transition defense as they gave up 52 points in the 2nd half, double what they gave up in the 1st.  De La Salle falls to 4-3 with the loss.  They play next in the Timberwolves Shootout on Saturday against Chicago St. Rita.

For Eden Prairie, Andre Wallace and Grantham Gillard with outstanding second halves to lead the Eagles to victory.  Wallace with 16 of his 26 in the 2nd half.  He also added a handful of rebounds and assists while making some tough but clutch shots.  Gillard struggled with 2 fouls in the 1st half and an early 2nd half airball but came back strong with 19 of his 23 points after that.  Eden Prairie improves to 6-2 and they've won 4 in a row since early losses to St. Paul Johnson and Champlin Park.   Those 4 wins have been at home.  This Eagles hit the road for games at Cooper and Prior Lake this weekend.