Raptors and Raiders in Roseville

Prologue
To Roseville for what seems to be an annual trip for their Suburban East game with East Ridge.  No concessions except a 20 oz bottle of water. Outstanding work from the Roseville pep band.  Have to like the fact that they perform all game and after the game.  That compares to the usual pregame and halftime only performances you see.

Song of the Day
Crazy Train - Ozzy Ozbourne (courtesy of Roseville Pep Band)

Number of Teams I've Seen: 103 (36 courts, 2 new, 1 TV game)

Tickers are on hold to update with holiday concessions.

Game Time: 
Aleksa Ognjanovic for 3 and a Terrell James hoop for a 5-2 Roseville lead at 14:40.  From there, this one is all East Ridge.  Nick Christensen a pull up and a triple in an 15-2 run.  17-7 Raptors at 9:26.  Zach Bennett off the bench with 2 jumpers in the run.  Roseville cuts it to 8 then the Raptors pull away with a 13-0 run.  Christensen with another bomb and a lefty finish off a turnover.  3 post ups from Kyle Junker including a pretty up and under.  Star frosh Courtney Brown takes another turnover for 2 to finish it.  32-11 East Ridge at 4:05.  Henry Bensen (recent Carleton signee) triggers an 8-2 Roseville spurt to end the half with a 3 point play.  34-19 East Ridge at the break.

The 2nd half is insomnia theater.  Alek Ognjanovic for 3 to start this half as well.  Roseville adds a free throw and they are within 11, 34-23 16:48 left.  But they score only 7 points the rest of the way.  Brown to the rack for 2 and a putback, Junker another post move and a Luke Coquyt adds 2 more.  42-23 East Ridge 11:50 left.  They go 5 out and kill the clock for most of the rest of the way.  East Ridge wins 52-30

Post Game
For Roseville, Henry Benson and Alexsa Ognjanovic with 8 each.  4 second half hoops for the Raiders.  They're playing a lot of guys for next year.  The cupboard is fairly bare though.  They have major problems generating offense.  Roseville falls to 4-10 overall and have lost 7 of their last 8.  In the Suburban East they are 2-5.  Next up is a trip to St. Paul Central on Saturday and then they host Eden Prairie and Forest Lake next week.

East Ridge ends up with 3 in double figures.  Junior SG Nick Christensen with all 12 of his points in the first half.  That included a pair of 3s.  Zach Bennett with 11 points off the Raptors bench knocking down shots as well.  Senior center Kyle Junker has definitely improved his game.  Great footwork inside from the big fella on his way to 10 points.  The Raptors aren't terribly athletic outside of Courtney Brown.  Roseville was able to get some dribble penetration.  The Raptors improve to 6-7 overall, 2-4 in the Suburban East.  They've now won 4 out of 5.  Next week they host White Bear Lake and travel to Park and Owatonna.