Beacons zone blinds the Cougars

Prologue
Off to St. Paul Como Park to see their non-conference game against Concordia.  Former St. Bernard's star Jordair Jett in the house before he ventures off to Europe to play.  The Como Park gym very fitting for this time of year with red, green, blue, white and black lines on the court.  An early dinner means I manage with only a beverage.  Its a bottle of Pepsi to keep the beverage counter moving.

Number of Teams I've Seen: 62

Beverage Consumption Counter: 438 ounces (26 days, 37 games, 2 scrimmages added on)

Pepsi: 204 ounces
Coke: 80 ounces
Sprite: 32 ounces
Barq's Root Beer: 20 ounces
A&W Root Beer: 12 ounces
Red Powerade: 60 ounces
Red Gatorade: 20 ounces

Hot Dog Counter: 5

Song of the Day
Electric Avenue - Eddy Grant

Game Time
Sam Root with a layup and a steal for another hoop as Concordia jumps out to an 8-2 lead.  Lefty wing Demetric Peterson very active for Como Park.  He scores 8 points in a Cougars spurt that ties the game at 16 at the 10:43 mark.  Root with a layup from PG Roger Moore and Moore takes a turnover for a layup at 9:30.  22-16 Concordia leading.  Como Park goes on a 12-0 run in the next 4 minutes thanks to Markel Peterson off the bench.  A spin move and a drive off an offensive rebound bound net him 3-4 free throws.  Then he buries a 3 and then pulls out the McHale up and under for the old fashioned 3 point play.  35-33 Como Park at the half.  Concordia with a sloppy half of turnovers and not rebounding.

Root with a couple of easy post buckets off Fist, Concordia's High/Low action.  But that's all negated by Carlos Rucker who gave Como Park great bench minutes in the 2nd half.  Rucker's 2 putback and conversion of a turnover into an easy bucket.  47-41 Como Park inside of 15 minutes left.  Then Concordia goes 3-2 zone with Isaiah Maddox on top and that changes everything.  Concordia scores 6 in a row to tie. Rucker with yet another putback to keep Como Park up 5.  Maddox with a putback, Ben Vallin runs for a layup and then its Moore to Mark Stage for back to back transition 3s.  Its a 10-0 run for a 57-52 Concordia lead with 10:17 left.  Falk runs for a layup to extend the run.  Back to the High/Low set for another Root bucket.  Falk from Moore for another bunny and the lead is 8.  Peterson counters with a 3 point play for Como Park and they go 2-3 zone to stop the post action.  63-58 Concordia with 7:38 left.  Falk from the high post and then off a zone post set for another easy one to negate a Cougars 3.  Maddox coast to coast as Concordia is flying out off of Cougars misses.  Moore to Falk again and Moore on the run for 2 of his own.  Maddox with a tip and an assist to Falk.  Moore with back to back buckets and the lead is up to 18 after an 18-5 run.  Concordia wins 83-68

Post Game
Como Park falls to 0-6 with the loss.  Demetric Mitchell finishes with 19 points as he was very active inside.  Carlos Rucker with all 10 of his points off the bench in the 2nd half.  Markel Peterson adds 12.  They got destroyed in transition, particularly in the 2nd half when they didn't make shots.  They host #3A Maranatha on Friday before a trip to Minneapolis South on Saturday.

Concordia improves to 5-2 overall.  Jacob Falk with 21 off the bench.  Roger Moore with 20 and a handful of assists.  Sam Root also adds 14 inside.  In the 2nd half, everything was easy.  Layups on post sets or running out for easy buckets.   The zone was the difference maker as the entire game changed at that point.  The Beacons do get beat on the glass though so there is soemthing to work on.  They host section rival St. Paul Academy on Friday and Heritage next Monday.  Then they'll be in the St. Cloud Cathedral tourney.