Cadets spoil Spartans senior night

Prologue
No team counter, no location counter, no beverage counter.  That's a quiet night.  Then again maybe not, its off to St. Paul Academy for their senior night game against #6AAA St. Thomas Academy.  Small crowd early but we get plenty full by game time.  Mike Sjoberg still not coaching for St. Thomas due to health issues.  St. Mary's out and about working for players.  De La Salle, Minnehaha, and Concordia just a few of the head coaches in attendance.  Thanks to Dave Thorson for not completely tearing me apart for the MoKiller timeout reference in Saturday's game. 

Number of Teams I've Seen: 151 (62 courts)

Beverage Consumption Counter: 1437.8 ounces (89 days, 124 games, 2 scrimmages added on)

• Pepsi: 684 ounces
• Coke: 192 ounces
• Dr. Pepper: 48 ounces
• Sprite: 180 ounces
• Sierra Mist: 12 ounces
• Barq's Root Beer: 20 ounces
• A&W Root Beer: 48 ounces
• Red Powerade: 120 ounces
• 0 Calorie Fruit Punch Powerade: 20 ounces
• Red Gatorade: 96.9 ounces
• Water: 500 ml

Hot Dog Counter: 17

Song of the Day
Anything from today's Public Address.  Final Countdown (Europe), Money for Nothing (Dire Straits), Don't Stop Believing (Journey), Sweet Child O' Mine and Welcome to the Jungle (Guns N Roses)

Game Time:
St. Thomas Academy can't find their offense early.  Dalante Peyton can find his for a pair of 3s and then a nice backcut for a bunny at the 12:15 mark.  10-2 SPA in early control.  The Cadets finally settle down with Kai Endahl powering for a 3 point play, Andrew Mayleben on the drive and a pretty backcut for a 2 handed dunk from Ryan Jacobsen.  After an SPA timeout, its Endahl with back to back 3s to end a 16-4 Cadets run.  St Thomas takes the lead 17-14 thanks to that run.  SPA would regain the lead 20-19 but the Cadets would score the last 7 of the half.  26-20 St. Thomas Academy leading going to the half.  Peyton nothing after that quick start.

Jake Wright with a 3 and a 3 from Mayleben to stretch the lead to 35-26 with 12:18 left.  Cadets slow the pace by switching to a 2-3 zone.  Peyton cuts to the right corner and buries a 3 and Kent Hanson turns a turnover into points.  That cuts the lead to 4.  St.  Thomas responds with a 9-2 run out of a timeout.  Jake Wright with another 3 and Endahl scoring in the post during that run.  The Spartans still fighting back.  Peyton with a steal for a 3 point play and Abdul Osman scores in the post.  Lead down to 6.

Then a loose rebound, Peyton tips it away from the defender and towards his basket.  He runs it down and turns it into a hoop.  Then he's fouled on a 3 with 1:23 left and makes all 3.  50-47 St. Thomas Academy hanging on.  Spartans go run and jump and its a Peyton steal and Mayleben with the hard intentional foul with 1:08 left.  During Peyton's 1st free throw (a miss) an SPA fan screams about the foul being dirty.  Aye yai yai.  SPA gets the ball but Peyton can't convert a chance to tie.  Mayleben with 1 of 2 on the other end getting booed.  The teams trade turnovers.  SPA takes time with 22.5 down 3 going full court.  There's no good look so they'll take another timeout in the front court with 5.4 left.  Peyton's contested look is no good.  Kent Hanson's putback at the buzzer is meaningless.  St. Thomas Academy wins 51-50

Post Game
St. Paul Academy falls to 15-9 overall and breaks an 8 game winning streak.  They can be part of a 3 way tie for the 1st IMAC title with a win at Mounds Park Academy tomorrow to finish 8-2 in league play.  They end with a section contest at New Life on Friday.  Dalante Peyton with 13 of his 21 in the 2nd half.  Kent Hanson 11 of his 13 in the 2nd half.  Only 16 points from the rest of the roster and that will be a tournament problem if they can't find a consistent 3rd option.  SPA in a real battle with Minnehaha and Concordia for the 3-5 slots in section 4AA.   SPA and Minnehaha right next to each other in the CzarPI before tonight's games and Concordia not far behing.  Concordia and SPA with identical 15-9 records right now but Concordia has a 1 point home win over the Spartans.  SPA beat Minnehaha by 23 at home earlier this this month.

Andrew Mayleben leads St. Thomas Academy with 17 points.  Kai Endahl with 11.  Not a pretty win but they grind it out and hang on.  The Cadets are 16-8 overall.  With their strength of schedule and a win over Tartan (something Hill-Murray and Simley don't yet have), they should have the inside track on the 2 seed. But 2 Simley wins this week (Tartan, at Hill-Murray) combined with last Friday's win over the Cadets would give them a very compelling case for the 2 seed.  The loser of that Friday game at Hill-Murray is most likely the 4 seed, something these 3 teams want to avoid.  But the idea of Marshawn Wilson vs Johnson in the semis does get my attention.