Patriots take out Tigers

Prologue
Czar starts a round of the Minneapolis city area tonight.  Its a section 6AAA battle with #6AAA Delano visiting Minneapolis Patrick Henry.  Henry with the drum line in the house.  A reminder of the good old days at MTS.  That's appropriate since coach Jeremy Miller used to work and coach there.  I liked the 1 official tonight who could have given Why Ricky Why a lesson in bench management.  Very calm demeanor and took time to talk to both coaches.  The footlong hot dog out the bun and Sprite on the concessions menu.  Fun bit in the JV game where Henry got up 4-0 in the 1st 2 minutes and then held the ball against the Delano 2-3 zone.

Number of Teams I've Seen: 150 (50 courts + 5 online).  26 out of state, 11 girls

Beverage Ticker: 1087.6 ounces (12105 Calories)
92 days, 125 games (120 in person), 2 scrimmages added on

• Pepsi: 300.9 ounces (3760 calories)
• Coke: 280 ounces (3340 calories)
• Dr. Pepper: 48 ounces (600 calories)
• Sprite: 112 ounces (1340 calories)
• A&W Root Beer : 28.9 ounces (410 calories)
• Mug Root Beer: 40 ounces (520 calories) 
• Barq's Root Beer: 32 ounces (430 calories)
• Red Gatorade/Powerade: 241.8 ounces (1705 calories)

Hot Dog Ticker: 17
Pizza Ticker: 12
Walking Taco Ticker:8

Game Time:
Delano starts strong with Calvin Wishart making 2 3s around a Derek Techam 3.  9-4 Tigers at 14:20.  But the rest of the night is mostly Henry.  Soph Rashaud Rollins 2 bombs.  Jordan Lynn follows that with 2 hoops and 2 of 3 free throws.  Dimitri Sanner-Robinson comes off the Patriots bench to add 2 buckets near the end of the big run.  That run is 22-3 in about 4 minutes.  It puts Henry on top 26-12 inside the 10 minute mark.  Lefty Dylan Gilmer off the Delano bench with a 3 and a pair of free throws.  That bookends a 10-2 Delano run and they're down 28-22 at 7:24.  Devontaye Spates with 3 hoops off the Henry bench.  Henry would grow the lead back to 15 before a pair of Delano triples.  45-34 Patrick Henry at the half.

Delano doesn't cut into that lead until a Nick Cayler 3 and Wishart triple cut the margin to 10 with 11 minutes left.  But the quick guards for Henry were too much.  Terrell Smith for 2 then Lynn with 2 hoops around a critical pair of missed front ends by the Tigers.  That keeps the lead at 16 inside of 9 minutes left.  Wishart would pick up his offense late.  His 4 free throws and a triple combine with a Keegan O'Neill 3 to cut the lead to 70-61 with 4:20 left.  But Delano can't get any closer than that.  They can't convert on some chances.  Plus they have to extend which allowed Henry a couple of easy hoops.  Henry goes on to the 87-77 win. 

Post Game
Calvin Wishart leads Delano with 23 points.  He also added 7 rebounds on my sheet.  Dylan Gilmer with 13 off the bench.  Derek Techum all 12 of his points in the 1st half.  Keegan O'Neill with 10.  Delano was just dead all night.  They got outhustled for rebounds and loose balls, didn't get great shots and didn't have a fire to them.  They are at Orono on Thursday in a game that will likely determine who the 2 seed is in 6AAA.  That's not only means a much easier 1st round game but it also means hosting the section semifinal game.  Delano an interesting team to watch in that bracket as they allow the most PPG but also are far and away the highest scoring team in the section.

Jordan Lynn leads Henry with 24 points.  Lamar Wood adds 17.  Rashaud Rollins with 12 points as he fills the spot of Savion Scott.  Devontaye Spates adds 12 off the bench.  Terell Smith with 10.  Henry's guards much too quick for Delano to handle.  Big win for Henry to keep home court hopes alive in the 1st round.  The Patriots are now 17-7 overall and finished 12-2 in the Minneapolis City.  I think that this win should seal up the 4 seed.  I think they matchup favorably with either Waconia or Benilde-St. Margaret's in that game.  They host section rival Blake on Thursday before a trip to Moorhead on Saturday to end the regular season.