Hornets sting another giant

Prologue
Its an intriguing matchup of lower profile point guards on the schedule tonight.  That's Jordan Horn and #9AAAA Tartan visiting upstart Edina and Walt McGrory.  In a year loaded with point guards in Minnesota, these 2 tend to have a lower profile than they might otherwise.  Marist was in the building to watch the fast rising McGrory.  Its the usual sparse Edina student section and a sparse crowd overall.  The sausage pizza was so so and the rap music was beyond dreadful.  Somebody actually thought it was a good idea to rap the word suicidal over the bass riff to Stand By Me.  Easily the worst music selection I've heard all season.

Number of Teams I've Seen: 132 (45 courts + 2 online).  21 out of state, 9 girls

Beverage Ticker: 815.6 ounces (8985 Calories)
76 days, 98 games, 2 scrimmages added on

• Pepsi: 252.9 ounces (3160 calories)
• Coke: 176 ounces (2100 calories)
• Dr. Pepper: 24 ounces (300 calories)
• Sprite: 52 ounces (620 calories)
• A&W Root Beer : 28.9 ounces (410 calories)
• Mug Root Beer: 20 ounces (260 calories) 
• Barq's Root Beer: 32 ounces (430 calories)
• Red Gatorade/Powerade: 201.8 ounces (1425 calories)

Hot Dog Ticker: 13
Pizza Ticker: 9
Walking Taco Ticker: 6

Game Time:
Its Horn guarding McGrory to start the game.  That doesn't impact Horn's offense as knocks down 3 quick triples.  He finds Noah Whalen for a another bomb and Jordan Thompson hits from deep.  17-9 Tartan at the 11:29 mark thanks to those 5 treys.  Anders Nelson lights up for Edina scoring 11 points in a 19-6 Hornets run.  Damien Goergen comes in to play the post for Tartan and gives them good minutes.  Horn with a couple more 3s.  McGrory with a late transition jumper after a block plus a steal that he throws ahead to Nelson just before the buzzer.  36-34 Edina at the half.

Horn to Noah Whalen for 2 more Titans triples.  Joevon Walker with a tip in and layup after McGrory gets blocked on the other end.  Its a Tartan 14-3 run but coach Klingsporn wants the MoKiller timeout with 14:11 left.  Tartan up 48-41.  Edina counters with a 10-0 run thanks to McGrory with 5 points.  51-48 Hornets with 10:15 left.  Edina rotating defenders on Jordan Horn and Luke Glenna really getting into Jordan Horn and play starts to get a touch chippy.  Whalen another 3 from Horn.  Then an offensive rebound leads to a Nelson 3.  Horn counters with another triple and a layup.  Back and forth we go trading proverbial punches.  59-56 Tartan 7:53 left as Edina takes time.

Nelson scores and McGrory makes bonus free throws.  Then another offensive rebound and kickout for a Nelson 3.  McGrory 2 more bonus freebies but Horn continues to be hot from deep.  That trey ties the game at 65 with 3:41 left.  Kingston Myles with bonus free throws for a 69-68 Tartan lead with 2:07 left.  Edina misses but Tartan turns it over.  That results in a Nelson layup with 1:15 left and Edina is back on top.  Walker can't convert a lob and its back to Edina with 56.2 left.  Down 2 late, Tartan goes to the previously successful high double screen for Horn.  He misses Whalen on the pop.  Ultimately Whalen ends up with it and has to make a play.  His 3 banks around and just comes out.  McGrory rebounds and is fouled with 1.1 left.  He misses the 1st and Tartan takes their final timeout.  A questionable strategic move there. That means Edina can miss the 2nd FT intentionally which McGrory does.  Horn's long heave is no good.  Edina wins 71-69.

Post Game
Jordan Horn with a terrific game for Tartan with 32 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists on my sheet.  I had him 12-16 from the field with 7 triples. But Edina got after him with Luke Glenna and Michael Van Gorp and didn't make it easy.  Noah Whalen with 4 3s for 12 points.  Once again I liked what Damien Goergen did inside for the Titans.  He made a 1st half impact but saw limited 2nd half minutes.  I think more time and touches would made a difference.  Tartan falls to 17-2 overall and they are 8-1 in the Metro East.  They are at South St. Paul on Tuesday before the big rematch at home with Mahtomedi next Friday.  Mahtomedi came from 18 down to win the 1st meeting in mid January.

Anders Nelson leads Edina with 26 points with 3 triples.  He had a pair of back breaking triples off of offensive rebounds.  The offensive glass was a surprising advantage for Edina all night.  Walt McGrory adds 21 points and 10 rebounds.  He struggled early but had 14 points in the 2nd half and controlled the game down the stretch.  Luke Glenna didn't score but did a nice job harassing Jordan Horn on defense.  After a rough 4 game losing streak, the Hornets now have back to back wins over Wayzata and Tartan.  The Hornets are 11-6 overall, 2-3 in the Lake.  They host coach Berger's old school Holy Family before a rematch at Hopkins next Friday. Expect them to jump into next week's state poll.