Game of Zones

Its a quiet 1st Saturday of the new year.  That takes me to St. Paul for East Side/Frogtown doubleheader.  The early session was a matchup of AAA teams on the fringes of the state top 10 (if you believe that list).  The late session was a 4AA matchup.

Game 1: #17AAA Northfield 84 #13AAA St. Paul Johnson 54
I got the walking taco before the salsa was set out and no sour cream.  Not a terrible lunch (I did have Pepsi after all) but not up to the usually outstanding standard that has been set there.  Brian Sandifer trading in his camo for stripes as he officiated the JV game.  As to the varsity game, Northfield using an archrival version of THE WORLD'S WORST OFFENSE effectively.  Between that and their extended 1-2-2 zone, they controlled the game for the most part.  A 10 point halftime lead blew up in the 2nd half as Johnson couldn't find ways to score (only 22 2nd half points).  Soph guards Kit Schetnan (19 pts) and Karsten Clay (12 pts off the bench) lead the way and headline a nice group of soph guards for the future.  All of this with Mason Zick missing a lot of 2nd half time due to foul trouble.  The Raiders have to get thru Austin in section 1AAA but I like their guard play and they have a big front line that was active today.  Those guards largely took care of the ball and can hit shots.  The bigs hit the glass and were a factor on top of the zone .  Zick is the only real option to deal with big athletic wings though and Austin has a ton of those.

Game 2: St. Paul Academy 54 St. Agnes 34
The 1/4 lb hot dog never a bad option so that means dinner for me.  St. Agnes shorthanded without a couple of starters so they'll trot out a 1-3-1 zone.  St. Paul Academy counters with their own 1-2-2 zone.  Story here is simple.  SPA knocks down 8 3s in the 1st 14 minutes vs the zone and blows the game wide open.  The Aggies have to go man after that.  St. Agnes moved the ball well early vs the 1-2-2 zone but didn't have points to show for it.  Then the cracks in the zone sealed up.  Bruising SPA forward Ryan Moore missed most of the 1st half but he comes back with 15 minutes left and adds 10 second half points to keep the game out of reach.  He finishes with 13 points.  Andrew Johnson with 3 3s and 11 of his 13 in the 1st half also for SPA.  Ben Gansler 12 points for St. Agnes.