The battle of 7th St

Prologue
Earlier in the week it was the battle for Dale Street.  Now let's move south for the battle of West 7th Street as CHOF makes the short trip down West 7th to section 4A rival Nova Classical Academy.  They host the EMAC championship at the end of the season and rightfully so.  Its a very nice small school facility.  It also checks off one of the few metro schools that I haven't seen a game at.  12 oz of Dr. Pepper on tonight's drink cart but a light concession stand means I go beverage only.

Number of Teams I've Seen: 66

Beverage Consumption Counter: 450 ounces (29 days, 39 games, 2 scrimmages added on)

Pepsi: 204 ounces
Coke: 80 ounces
Dr. Pepper: 12 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
Mickey - Toni Basil

Game Time
Its all Nova to start.  Frosh guard Cole Bothun for 3, puts back a miss, then another bomb.  Bakari Jackson and Nicolas LaFrombois also bury 3s.  18-4 Nova at the 10:13 mark as CHOF has to take their 2nd timeout to try and stop the bleeding.   CHOF goes 1-3-1 which turns Nova over.  Bothun sitting with 2 fouls as well.  Kit Piepkorn also gets hot for CHOF.  He goes for back to back 3 point plays as the lead drops to 10.  He adds 2 free throws and converts a turnover as the lead gets cut to 4.  39-36 Nova at the half.

Piepkorn with another bomb as CHOF quickly gains their 1st lead of the game since the 1st minute.  Jackson counters with a pair of free throws and a putback for a 3 point play.  Piepkorn for 3 but Bothun replies with a 3 point play and Piepkorn pulls up for 2 more.  49 all with 12 minutes left.  The pressure mounting from CHOF as they go on a 12-2 run with a pair of Dillon Alleman hoops and it finishes with another Piepkorn hoop.  61-51 CHOF with 7:46 left.  That's a 24 point swing from being down 14 in the 1st half.

Nova not going away as Bothun with another bomb and Jackson with a theft for 2 to end a 7-0 spurt.  Piepkorn and Alleman with bombs and the CHOF lead is 7 with 4 minutes left.  Nova misses 3 of 4 free throws and can't convert a blocked shot into points.  But CHOF can't take care of the ball down the stretch.  After a Jeremiah Rogers jumper with 2:25 left, CHOF turns it over and the extra pass inside out leads to another Bothun 3.  68-66 CHOF with 2 minutes left.  Piepkorn off the bounce and the nice assist for a layup with 1:35 left.  After a Nova turnover, Piepkorn makes 1 of 2 for a 5 point lead with 52.2 left.

Rogers with 2 free throws with 51.6 left . CHOF immediately turns it over.  Dominic Bumgarner put back a miss with 23 seconds left and Nova is within 1.  CHOF turns it over again and Bumgarner is fouled with 15 ticks left.  0-3 for the night to that point at the charity stripe and he misses both.  But Rogers cleans up the mess and Nova is back on top by 1.  CHOF gets the ball to half court and almost turns it over again before getting their last timeout with 7 seconds left.  The inbounds is clean but on the drive the pass is errant and CHOF turns it over again with 3.3 left (3 turnovers in the last 42.5 seconds).  Nova ball on the baseline.  The inbounds is a long pass to half court in front of the scorers table, its tipped away.  Tim Rohlf comes up with it for CHOF.  1 dribble, 2 dribbles.  Top of the key 3 is up, off the front iron and down it goes!  But wait, the official immediately and emphatically waves it off.   It did seem like a long 3.3 so I'd understand if that was the call, but to the fans, I think there's no doubt it was released in plenty of time.  Nova Classical Academy def CHOF 72-71

Post Game
CHOF falls to 4-2 overall with the loss.  The Lions are off until after the new year when the start a 3 game road swing.  Kit Piepkorn with 32 points, 16 in each half, to carry the Lions offense.  He took the offense into his own hands when they needed buckets.  4 turnovers , a missed free throw and giving up an offensive board on a free throw all in the last 2:18 is a killer.  This was a game that was in hand that they didn't finish in the last 2:30.  Jacob Bluhm chips in with 13 for the Lions.

Nova Classical Academy improves to 4-0 overall.  They already are 2-0 in EMAC play as well.  Freshman guard Cole Bothun leads the way scoring 20 points with 5 3s.  Senior Bakari Jackson scores 16 points to continue his run toward 1000 career points for the Knights.  The Knights will be tough in EMAC play with those 2 and the towering duo of the Tritabaugh's inside.  Anytime you can alternate a pair of 6'6" guys to fill the 36 minutes at the 5 spot, that's a good thing.  Both are very raw offensively but 6'6" is still a factor in the EMAC.  The Knights resume play vs Math and Science Academy in the Nova holiday tournament on December 29th