Metro West Bird Battle

Prologue
Its an important game in the Metro West as St. Louis Park visits Cooper.  Both teams sitting 1 game out of 1st.  But both visit league leader Chaska next week.  Always a tough choice between pizza and a walking taco.  I decide to go with the sausage pizza which wasn't bad.  To save the waistline no meal deal with chips.  Just a can of Coke for refreshment.
  
Number of Teams I've Seen: 149 (57 courts, 2 new, 2 TV games, 105 varsity games)

Beverage Ticker: 716 ounces (6030 calories) + 7.5 liters (1170 calories)

• Pepsi: 344 ounces (4050 Calories) + 2 liters (840 Calories)
• Coke: 36 ounces (420 Calories)+ 500 ml (200 Calories)
• Dr Pepper: 60 ounces (750 Calories) 
• Mug Root Beer: 20 ounces (260 Calories)
• Sprite: 36 ounces (420 Calories)
• Water: 4.5 Liters + 200 ounces (0 Calories)
• Gatorade: 500 ml (40 Calories) + 20 oz (130 calories)

Hot Dog Ticker: 14
Pizza Ticker: 11
Walking Taco Ticker: 8
Pork Sandwich Ticker: 5

Game Time:
Cooper forward Melvin Newbern starts strong.  2 putbacks and we're tied at 6.  St. Louis Park gets a teardrop and 3 from soph PG Cire Mayfield.  Newbern counters with a 3 point play and a reverse layup. 18-13 Cooper at the 12 minute mark.  Newburn 2 and the foul.  The FT is no good but he ends up getting it back for 2 more.  He'll then go coast to coast for 2.  After a no call by the bad officiating crew leads to a Cooper bucket and 23-22 lead, Orioles head coach David Breitenbucher is on the court and livid with the officials.  Can't blame him either as no calls are going the Orioles way.  Surprised the bad crew had the restraint to not T him up.  Newbern adds another 3 point play.  But a questionable charge call sends him to the bench at the 7:32 mark with 2 fouls and 18 points.  Ryan Domres then takes over the St. Louis Park offense.  He scores 9 out of 10 Orioles points with a variety.  A putback, jumper and nice post move all in there.  Rest of the half remains even.  38-37 St. Louis Park at the half.

Ray Whitlock stops and pops for 2 and then left alone for 3.  That's around a Damien Gordon 3.  48-44 Cooper with 15:50 left.  Melvin Newbern comes up huge in the game winning run.  Fake handoff and score off the BLOB, 2 free throws in the post, , a bucket and a 3 point play.  Then he takes a turnover for 2 and slashes off the diagonal screen to catch and finish for 2 more.  That's 13 points for Newbern in a 20-4 Cooper run.  68-48 Cooper with 5:30 left.  Its no closer than 13 after that.  Cooper wins 81-67.

Post Game:
For St. Louis Park, center Ryan Domres with 16 of his 18 in the 1st half.  Ray Whitlock with a quiet 16 before fouling out.  Mykal Howard was in foul trouble all night and fouled out with 7 minutes left.  St. Louis Park falls 2 back of Chaska in the Metro West at 8-4.  They fall to 17-7 overall.  They host Chanhassen and visit Chaska in the final week.  Big loss for St. Louis Park as there is still a battle for the 3 seed in 6AAAA with Armstrong.  Armstrong has a head-head win but power rankings are tight.  Not to mention falling behind Cooper in the Metro West standings.  Now they could up at 6 if they don't end up in front of Jefferson and Cooper.

For Cooper, too much Melvin Newbern with 39 points and some double figure number of rebounds.  He attacked full court off the bounce, slashed off screens to the post and crashed the offensive boards to get his points.  He was also used a bit to handle the ball outside and potentially exploit a favorable matchup.  Soph Beijan Newbern adds 14.  Cooper is now 16-5, 9-3 in the Metro West.  They stay 1 game behind Chaska in the Metro West standings but control their own destiny with a Tuesday trip to Chaska.  They'll end the season at home against Jefferson.