Island Bird Watching

Prologue
Off to the island to see top ranked De La Salle take on Osseo in a high-profile non-conference matchup.  With a quiet night on the schedule, plenty of coaches scouting.  The Mr Basketball guys yucking it up with the JMOA and Lithgow too.  No concessions thanks to early Chipotle for dinner and I don't like fighting the lines.  But the crowd while almost full wasn't the arrive by JV tip, lineup on the walls type of crowd that the island can be known for.

Number of Teams I've Seen: 95 (27 courts).  14 out of state, 8 girls

Beverage Ticker: 522.7 ounces (5555 Calories)
44 days, 60 games, 2 scrimmages added on

• Pepsi: 220.9 ounces (2760 calories)
• Coke: 84 ounces (1000 calories)
• Dr. Pepper: 12 ounces (150 calories)
• Sprite: 20 ounces (240 calories)
• A&W Root Beer : 16.9 ounces (240 calories)
• Red Gatorade/Powerade: 168.9 ounces (1165 calories)

Hot Dog Ticker: 7
Pizza Ticker: 5
Walking Taco Ticker: 5

Game Time:
We're even early on after a sloppy start.  The Bezdicek twins with layups countered by a hoop and free throw from Christian Dickson.  11 all at 10:47.  Goanar Mar picks up his 2nd just after that and has to sit.  Osseo runs off 6 of the next 8 before Gabe Kalscheur also gets his 2nd at 7:12.  So both De La Salle stars have 2.  Kalscheur sits and it brings Mar back in.  Will Irvin off the Islanders bench for 3 plus a Dickson 3.  That's countered by Mar Mar Hughes with a 3 and lefty layup.  John Bezdicek knocks down 2 bombs.  33-23 Osseo at 3:43, 13-5 Orioles run.  De La Salle right back with Irvin banging home another 3.  Then a pair of Osseo turnovers for an Irvin layup and Dickson 3 point play.  37-35 Osseo at 1:01.  They score 8 of the last 10 as Zach Theisen beats the buzzer for 3.  45-37 Osseo at the break. 

Emmette Paige with great 2nd half minutes for Osseo.  He spins for 2, knocks down a 3 and makes both ends of the bonus.  60-51 Osseo with 10:16 left and DLS looks to be on the ropes.  Goanar Mar responds after only 1 FT in the book in the 1st half.  2 free throws and a dunk, then 1 triple followed by an up and down racehorse sequence that ends in another 3 for him.  10-0 Goanar Mar run puts DLS ahead for the 1st time, 61-60 with 8:16 left.  That last 3 also puts him over 1000 career points. Mar then counters a Matt Bezdicek 4 point play with 3-3 free throws after he was fouled on a 3 (John Bezdicek's 4th foul).  Then a nice assist to Kalscheur for a layup.  So 13 in a row + the assist in those 15 points.  68-66 Osseo 6:04 left. 

Mar then swipes an offensive board of a free throw and scores.  Paige coast to coast.  Mar in the post for a soft 5th on John Bezdicek with 3:08 left.  The 3 point play ties the game at 72.  Matt Bezdicek with 2 free throws countered by a Dominic Bledsoe layup.  Osseo gets it back with 1:30 left, 74 all.  They'll hold but its a charge on Hughes with 43.8 left.  De La Salle doesn't take time and its Kalscheur to the rack with 13.6 left for the lead.  Osseo decides to push and not take a timeout.  They gets in a mess and still playl.  Theisen's 3 at the buzzer is no good.  De La Salle wins 76-74.

Post Game
Osseo sees their 5 game winning streak snapped as they fall to 7-2 overall, 1-1 in the NW Suburban.  They get 5 guys in double figures.  John Bezdicek leads with 3 triples and 17 points, 15 in the 1st half.  Matt Bezdicek and Mar Mar Hughes with 11 each.  Good bench minutes from Maurice Nelson and Emmette Paige who scored 9 and 11 points respectively.   De La Salle's pressure bothered Osseo from getting into any kind of offense, especially early on.  They are at Spring Lake Park on Friday.  Then a big week next week as they host Armstrong (many of their guys plus HC Greg Miller were watching tonight) and #1AAAA Champlin Park.

Goanar Mar carries the Islanders to victory.  He scores 20 of his 21 in the 2nd half, most of those in the big run to get back to even after being 9 down.  He had a couple of 3s in the run but also did work inside taking advantage of his size.  Christian Dickson with 15 of his 19 to carry the Islander offense in the 1st half when Kalscheur and Mar only combined for 4 points.  Will Irvin added a spark in the 1st half with 8 of his 9 points.  Gabe Kalscheur 7 of his 10 in the 2nd half including the game winner.  De La Salle is also 7-2 overall, 2-0 in the Tri-Metro.  They host St. Anthony and visit Columbia Heights next week.  Then Brooklyn Center the following week.  All of those teams were in the house scouting tonight.