Orioles Perfection

Prologue
To #4AAAA Maple Grove as they host #2AAAA Osseo in a huge rivalry game.  No seeds or conference standings on the line.  But it is rivalry bragging rights and an undefeated Osseo season at stake.  Osseo won the first meeting 78-75.  Almost a full house 30 minutes before tip off and we do end up with an official sell out.  Great atmosphere with most of a side and a baseline full of loud students.  A high intensity girls game starts the festivities.  Then the head honcho of the JMOA, Bad News Bob and The Nutty Professor take over the reins for the boys game.  No spin moves but some very strange travel calls in this game.  Sausage pizza and Sprite for concessions.  But there was some pasta and breadstick thing that I totally missed out on. 

Song of the Day:
Prince - 7
  
Number of Teams I've Seen: 155 (61 courts, 2 new, 2 TV games, 125 varsity games)

Beverage Ticker: 790 ounces (7060 calories) + 9 liters (1370 calories)

• Pepsi: 356 ounces (4200 Calories) + 2 liters (840 Calories)
• Coke: 68 ounces (800 Calories)+ 500 ml (200 Calories)
• Dr Pepper: 60 ounces (750 Calories) 
• Mug Root Beer: 40 ounces (520 Calories)
• Sprite: 56 ounces (660 Calories) + 500 ml (200 Calories)
• Water: 5.5 Liters + 200 ounces (0 Calories)
• Gatorade: 500 ml (40 Calories) + 20 oz (130 calories)

Hot Dog Ticker: 17
Pizza Ticker: 12
Walking Taco Ticker: 11
Pork Sandwich Ticker: 5

Game Time:
All Osseo early in the game.  Kameron Bettie attacks Reed Nikko for 2 hoops.  John Bezdicek with an NBA like up fake and jump in for 3 free throws.  Damario Armstrong with a 3 and a drive.  16-4 Osseo 5 minutes in and no Maple Grove timeout or field goals.  Maple Grove counters with a 15-0 run of their own with Osseo not taking a timeout.  Bubba Horton starts it with a 3.  Nikko with a dunk and 2 Brad Davison hoops in that run asserting himself.  19-16 Maple Grove at 9:15.  Davison to Nikko for a dunk and then 3 of 4 free throws.  28-26 Maple Grove with 4 minutes left in the half.  Osseo ends the half on a 10-2 spurt.  Armstrong 5 more points via another 3 and 2 free throws.  Bettie converts a sloppy turnover into points to conclude the scoring for the half.  36-30 Osseo at the break.

In the 2nd half, Osseo just keeps on rolling.  Dontae Jones 2 hoops and Bettie scores on a pretty pick and roll.  Jones buries a 3 after a turnover.  Allan Anderson converts another turnover.  The Bezdicek brothers add a bucket and 2 free throws.  51-33 Osseo with 10:18 left.  The total run is 25-5 across halftime.  Maple Grove only 1 field goal to this point in the half.  Davison would swipe one away for 2 free throws and add a jumper.  Then a 3 with 5:25 left for Davison to cut the lead to 56-41.  But Maple Grove gets a frustration technical right after that.  Anderson makes 3 of the 4 free throws (bonus foul).  Then he'll add 2 more freebies and a 3 point play running out.  That pushes the lead to 22 and the fans start to leave.  Osseo wins 67-49.

Post Game:
Brad Davison leads Maple Grove with 20 points and 9 rebounds on my sheet.  But he also had 9 turnovers.  Reed Nikko 8 first half points and then limited 2nd half minutes due to a bum foot.  Taron Pickford adds 9.  Offensively, the loss of Tywhon Pickford has turned this into a totally different team.  Its all Davison all the time and they aren't getting anything for their other guys.  Maple Grove had 4 2nd half field goals and Davison had 3 of them (7 of their 14 field goals for the game).  Basically they've totally regressed to last year on the offensive end.  Maple Grove finishes the regular season 22-4, 16-3 in the NW Suburban.  2 losses to Osseo and a loss to Apple Valley.  No shame in those.  They'll host the 1 vs 8 section 8AAAA game on Tuesday.

Osseo pulls off the improbable 26-0 regular season, 19-0 in the tough NW Suburban West after a 13-13 year last year.  Great balance again from the Orioles.  Allan Anderson and Damario Armstrong each score 14.  Dontae Jones and Kameron Bettie each with 12.  Defensively, they get after you and are very sound.  Offensively, lots of different options.  They take care of it and move the ball and themselves well.  Of note, leading scorer and top shooter Zach Theisen left the game in the 2nd half with what appeared to be a bad ankle injury.  It didn't hurt them tonight (he only had 2 free throws in this one) but if he misses major time, that definitely is a hole to fill in the playoffs.  Osseo will host the 1 vs 8 section 5AAAA game on Thursday.