Terry Goes Off

Prologue
Thanks to Mother Nature, we get a swap of off days this week.  Monday is off but replaced with a small Wednesday night schedule of makeup games.  So it off to Fridley to see the Tigers host #1AAA De La Salle.  Its a boys and girls early doubleheader.  We get Lithgow and Lou Smith working both games.  Lithgow and Lou, sounds like an Odd Couple type sitcom.  Lithgow could be Abbott and Lou could be Lou Costello.  Hot dog and red gatorade for a back to back night (no report on Hastings at Hill-Murray last night).  Quality tunes with The Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, Billy Idol, Survivor (Burning Heart, not Eye of the Tiger ironically) all on the playlist.  But also from tonight's playlist we get a response to Mother Nature.

Song of the Day: Pat Benetar - Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Number of Teams I've Seen: 118 (100 games, 56 days, 37 buildings, 18 online)

Beverage Ticker: 717.4 ounces (7910 Calories)

• Pepsi: 226.7 ounces (2830 calories)
• Coke: 129.8 ounces (1540 calories) 
• Dr. Pepper: 36 ounces (450 calories)
• Sprite Zero: 20 ounces (0 calories) 
• Sprite: 136.9 ounces (1620 calories) 
• 7 Up: 12 ounces (140 calories)
• Red Gatorade: 1000 ounces (700 calories)  
• Red Powerade: 20 ounces (130 calories) 
• A&W Root Beer: 24 ounces (340 calories) 
• Mug Root Beer: 12 ounces (160 calories)

Food Ticker:

• Hot Dogs: 19
• Walking Tacos: 5
• Pizza: 16
• Chipotle: 1 (thanks to Bethel staff)

Game Time:
No Malik Lamin, Rayquan Moore or Gabe Kalscheur (foot injury) for De La Salle.  This one was the Tyrell Terry show for De La Salle, particularly in the 1st half.  He starts the game with a 3 point play.  Then a short jumper and 3 layups.  2 of those layups vs the matchup zone.  Then a triple on an extra pass vs the zone for 11 in a row.  Jamison Battle carrying the rest of the offense.  Its a 15-4 run for De La Salle for a 25-14 lead to break a 10-10 tie.  Terry and Battle with 23 of those 25.  But Terry is just getting started.  A layup, a triple and assist to Jalen Travis.  Let's go with another short jumper and triple.  Then 2 more hoops and a pullup after a turnover for 3 and the crowd loves it.  That's involvement in the last 19 points of the half, 17 of those scored by him.  That expands the lead to 48-25 in the last 2 minutes.  But Battle has 2 fouls and Terry charges for his 2nd.  Coach Bledsoe empties his bench and Fridley scores the last 6 to close within 48-31 at the half.

Terry also scores the 1st 2 hoops of the 2nd half for De La Salle before the streak ends.  But Fridley keeps the little momentum they had at the end of the 1st half.  They get 4 buckets from 4 guys, 3 of them easy.  The total run across the half is 14-4 and the lead is down to 13 just over 2 minutes into the half.  Jerome Cunningham with a couple of buckets and a Nate Soto triple and the lead is down to 12 with over 13 minutes left.  Battle for 3 countered by Cunningham going backdoor for 1-2 FTs and he scores another bucket.  Soto and soph Isaac Burns score and Fridley continues to chip away down 63-53 with 8:35 left.  De La Salle misses a layup but Fridley misses 2 free throws.

Jamison Battle then makes a living at the charity stripe as he makes 8-8 free throws over a 3 minute stretch.  That pushes the lead back to 16 with 4:26 left.  Evan Nelsen with a 3 point play, another Fridley hoop and then Nelsen has a 3 go in and out that would have cut it to 8.    A T on De La Salle with 2:06 left and Burns will drain a 3 to cut the lead to 8.  He adds a floater with a minute left to cut the margin to 7.  But Terry seals it with 6 of 6 free throws in the last 90 seconds.  De La Salle wins 89-76

Post Game
For Fridley, soph wing Isaac Burns leads with 17 points.  Seniors Jerome Cunningham and Nate Soto each with 16 before they fouled out.  8th grader Hassan Kamara with 11 off the bench.  Fridley with 5 of their 6 scorers in double figures.  They tried some matchup zone and some man to man but no answers.  Fouls were a problem all night as Cunningham missed a good chunk of the 1st half after 2 fouls in the 1st 2:20.  After a 10-1 start, Fridley has now lost back to back big games in conference play at home.  But no shame in that as both are ranked in the top 3 in class AAA.  Fridley is 10-3 overall and 1-2 in the Tri-Metro.  Next up is a 3 game road trip.  They continue league play at Holy Angels on Friday. Then a trip to #6AA Brooklyn Center next week and a non-conference game at Highland Park next Friday.

For De La Salle, Tyrell Terry makes something like his first 15 shots.  He scores 31 of his 47 in the 1st half.  All 4 of his triples were in the 1st half.  Great movement without the ball to get great looks vs the zone too.  Jamison Battle adds 24 points, 15 of those coming in the 2nd half.  He sat the last 7 minutes of the 1st half with 2 fouls.  He finishes 11-11 at the foul line.  But not much offense outside of that.  If Kalscheur is out for any length of time, you have to wonder if teams may try some triangle and 2.  Yes the bench was thin tonight but you would have liked to see De La Salle stomp on Fridley's throat and blow the game open when it got to 23 late in the 1st half.  De La Salle improves to 12-2 overall, 4-0 in the Tri-Metro.  The Islanders stay on the road at #4AAAA Eden Prairie on Friday and at St. Croix Lutheran to start February next Thursday.