Another Islanders Tri-Metro Title

Prologue
A surprise that tonight's big AAA showdown in the Tri-Metro is my only appearance on the island of the season.  #1AAA De La Salle hosts #7AAA Columbia Heights in a matchup of the top 2 in the Tri-Metro West.  With De La Salle pretty locked into the top seed in 6AAA and the Hylanders already having the top spot in 3AAA, nothing really on the line here.  No Lithgow or JMOA which hasn't happened in forever in my viewings at DLS.  Small but quality hot dog and a full bottle of battery acid to go with it.  Late arriving crowd and upper deck not as full as anticipated.

Number of Teams I've Seen: 146 (144 games, 93 days, 51 buildings, 26 online)

Beverage Ticker: 1104.1 ounces (12110 Calories)

• Pepsi: 304.5 ounces (3800 calories)
• Coke: 229.8 ounces (2740 calories) 
• Dr. Pepper: 48 ounces (600 calories)
• Sprite Zero: 20 ounces (0 calories) 
• Sprite: 208.9 ounces (2480 calories) 
• 7 Up: 36 ounces (420 calories)
• Red Gatorade: 140 ounces (980 calories)  
• Red Powerade: 40 ounces (260 calories) 
• A&W Root Beer: 36 ounces (510 calories) 
• Mug Root Beer: 12 ounces (160 calories) 
• Barq's Root Beer: 12 ounces (160 calories)

Food Ticker:

• Hot Dogs: 28
• Walking Tacos: 7
• Pizza: 22
• Pulled Pork Sandwich: 1
• Chipotle: 1 (thanks to Bethel staff and Chipotle Gal)

Game Time:
Both teams very cold shooting to start the game.  Heights doesn't get their first hoop in the half court until the 14:40 mark.  De La Salle counters with a 12-2 run thanks to a couple of Heights turnovers that lead to layups.  But Deundra Roberson has his offense going for Heights.  A nice 5 out cut against the D pressure and beautiful anticipation of him being open on the pass for a layup.  Then he'll get out on the break and hammer home a dunk to pull Heights within 2.  Tyrell Terry sits at the 7:25 mark with 2 fouls and the score knotted at 20.  Roberson with a wicked swat of Kalscheur that leads to a Quentin Hardrict layup.  Then Matthews with 2 freebies off a post up and tips in a miss.  28-25 Heights after a 8-2 spurt.  Kalscheur for 3 and a lefty hammer dunk from Jamison Battle around a Matthews putback.  Kalscheur coast to coast but Roberson with another nice cut for a bucket and another turnover conversion.  Battle ends the half with a 3.  37-34 De La Salle at the half.

Roberson with his only 3 of the night and another bucket.  Matthews with a block on 1 end and layup on the other.  After a Terry cold blooded pull up 3 in transition.  He'll put back his own miss and get another block.  45-44 Heights at the 13 minute mark.  Then things get really interesting.  De La Salle with 5 in a row including a Battle 3.  Kid in the D student section gets tossed.  Then Hardrict sits with his 4th foul at 10:49.  The teams trade a couple of hoops but the D crowd getting into it.  Terry with a steal for a 3 point play.  Then a bad corner 3 and Heights doesn't get back.  Kalscheur runs the floor on it for another 3 point play.  Then Terry on the drive kicks it out to a wide open Kalscheur for a 3.  Roberson picks up his 4th as Kalscheur hits bonus free throws.  The Islanders run is 20-5 for a 64-50 lead with 7:41 left.  No Heights timeout in all of this.  Roberson stays in and Hardrict comes back into the game with the 4 fouls.  But it doesn't matter.  Heights clearly frustrated and don't get within 12 the rest of the way.  We had double technicals and Roberson gets run inside of 4 minutes left.  Lots of yapping going on.  De La Salle wins 82-67.


Post Game:
Columbia Heights finishes the regular season 17-6 overall, 9-3 in the Tri-Metro West.  Deundra Roberson with 28 points to lead the Hylanders.  But he'll have to sit out next Wednesday's 1 vs 8 4AAA tourney opener vs Hill-Murray due to the ejection.  Wendell Matthews with a very nice game of 18 points inside plus blocking shots.  Quentin Hardrict adds 12.  But the rest of the roster came up with no field goals until the outcome was already determined.  Lots of quick and ill-advised threes from that crew really hurt the Hylanders chances.  Was surprised coach Braziel didn't take a timeout during the big De La Salle run to try to calm his guys down.  Especially with the calming influence of Hardrict sitting on the bench with 4 fouls.  While Tyrell Terry sitting in the 1st half helped, the Hylanders played very well in that half and showed they can play with anybody.

De La Salle sweeps another Tri-Metro season at 12-0 and 21-4 overall.  Hopkins, CDH, Eden Prairie and Iowa City West are the 4 losses so no shame in that.  Gabe Kalscheur with 22 of his 30 points in the 2nd half to lead all scorers.  Only 2 3s on the night as he continues to add an attack the rim phase to his game.  Tyrell Terry with 14 of his 20 in the 2nd half.  Rest of the team with 9 in the 2nd half as those 2 came up big.  Another solid game for him.  Jamison Battle adds 3 3s and 13.  His chemistry with Terry is very apparent.  De La Salle likely the top seed in 6AAA vs Mound-Westonka in the 1st round.  Then the advantage of semifinal home court after that.  But with Wright County East champs Orono and Metro West champs Robbinsdale Cooper in the section, the top is really stacked.  Lots will depend on individual matches as there are a bunch of teams I'd want no part of in that section.