2014 Above the Rim Classic Day 1

Prologue
Minneapolis North hosting a 4 team event for coach Larry McKenzie's Above the Rim foundation.  North Lawndale Prep from Chicago and Columbia Heights in game 1 and then a game 2 ranked battle between #10 Fond Du Lac Ojibwe and the host Polars.  $2 can of Pepsi is steep and then a kid comes around with concessions.  He's working too hard not to reward him and I knew I'd run out so why not pay him too.  Tom Krosschell is off the hook though he claims he's now going to up the price to $3 to remain competitive.   We get The Reverend working both games and Pat Rock joins up for the late game.  I'm just happy those 2 didn't throw me out when I was coaching fall ball.

Number of Teams I've Seen: 29

Beverage Consumption Counter: 248 ounces (16 days, 15 games, 2 scrimmages added on)

Pepsi: 76 ounces
Coke: 80 ounces
Sprite: 32 ounces
Red Powerade: 40 ounces

Hot Dog Counter: 3

Song of the Day
REM - What's the Frequency Kenneth?

Game 1: North Lawndale Prep (IL) vs Columbia Heights
North Lawndale featuring a deep and athletic lineup.  They have a Anthony Davis like story in the middle with 6'9" Kenneth Perkins.  He shot up 4-5 inches in the last year.  Columbia Heights closes to within 9-8 on a Jarrett Baptiste jumper.  Then the Hylanders can't score and Perkins comes to life.  He scores on a BLOB, puts back a pair of misses and finds a teammate for a wide open layup to force a Heights timeout.  Another Perkins putback and the Phoenix add 2 more free throws to end a 19-1 run over 6 minutes.  North Lawndale keeps that lead going to halftime with a 32-15 advantage.  Perkins with a jumper and a block that leads to 2 more points.  Tack on another bucket and the margin is 53-26 with 9:54 left.  Columbia Heights does make a big run late to almost make it really interesting.  Montroy Scott and Khadeem Thomas start to light up the offense and North Lawndale gets sloppy.  An initial 15-2 run cuts the lead to 55-41 with 5:38 left.  The lead goes back to 18 with 3:43 left.  But Tak Anwey gets a kind bounce on a 3, Scott from deep on the right wing for 3 more and Thomas with a steal for 2 more with 1:45 left and the Hylanders force a turnover.  Heights down 10 with the ball but they turn it over and won't get any closer.  North Lawndale wins 66-54.  Jarrett Baptiste with a quiet night to just reach double figures.  Scott and Thomas with double figures.  Kenneth Perkins finishes with 12 points, 17 boards and 3 blocks on my sheet.  I also had him altering about 8 other shots. 

Game 2:  #10A Fond Du Lac Ojibwe at #1A Minneapolis North
This looks entertaining on paper but this one was out of hand from the start.  Jamil Jackson opens the game with a dunk and ends the 9-2 start with a 3.  Time out Larry McKenzie at 16:07 up 9-2.  Then a fight breaks out in the stands and like a bad fire it flares up a couple more times.  But after a lengthy delay we get settled and resume play.  North gets the next 6 to end the opening 15-2 spurt.  FDL jacking 3s left and right and running like crazy but getting run out of the building on the misses.  FDL closes to 19-10 but North runs away 29-9 to go up 48-19.  Jordan Diver picks up some FDL offense as they cut the margin to 58-36 at the break.  Then a strange occurrence for this game, the scoreboard only sees 1 score in the 1st 3:15 of the 2nd half.  North runs and guns their way to a 16-0 run to start the half to send us into running time territory 74-36 with 12:16 left.  North wins in big fashion 92-54.  North with 5 in double figures led by Tyler Johnson's 18.  A scary then almost funny moment with about 5 minutes to go.  A young kid was coming in from the concession stand and an errant FDL pass caught him right in the legs and took him out.  Thankfully he was just fine.  Wrong place wrong time wrong stance moment.  Lefty Jordan Diver with 17 to lead Fond Du Lac Ojibwe.  They're a classic section 7A team, run and gun and don't guard anybody.  But they have a ton of scorers at 2-3 guards who can handle, push it and distribute it to those guys.  They also have the eternally bright green light.  You just don't see that much in class A.  North is just a terrible matchup for them (and frankly for just about anybody in class A).  How fun is that Fond Du Lac Ojibwe vs Lakeview Christian game at the end of the year going to be?  1st one to 100 wins and Bjorn Broman could go for 60.