A furious rally and zone disection

A couple of good ones for the weekend portion of my viewing week after the polar vortex.  First its another trip to the Metro East, this time for 1st time viewings of Hastings and Simley.  Then a ranked showdown on Saturday with #4AAA Austin visting #1AA Minnehaha Academy.

Friday: Hastings 67 Simley 64
Freshman Ruot Jioklow getting to the rim at will in the 1st half.  Hastings goes 8 and a half minutes with just 1 field goal and nothing going right on the offensive end.  That allows Simley to open up a 29-11 lead late in the 1st half.  Simley tries to kill the clock to end the half but that doesn't work out and the margin is 31-17 at the break. 

Hastings goes to some thumbs up and thumbs down trapping to start the 2nd half and that doesn't seem to help.  Cole Tschida with a 3 point play vs the press and a turnover for 2 Simley free throws pushes the lead back to 18.  45-27 Simley with 14:45 to go.  But hold the phone as that trapping does have an impact and Hastings finally starts to see the ball go in the basket.  Star forward Matt Schlottman with 2 bombs.  Post Isaac Rabaey runs the floor to post early and gets 2 free throws.  He then puts back a miss for a 3 point play.  That cuts the lead to 8 with over 9 minutes left. 

The momentum has turned and Hastings keeps it going with 2 more Schlottman 3s.  Sully Levos inside out for another Raiders 3. That pulls Hastings to within 3 and they have the ball with under 6 minutes left.  But can they get over the hump after the big comeback.  Simley goes 2-3 and its Colby Zak getting behind the zone.  He turns that into a hoop and 2 free throws. 

After 2 missed Hastings free throws, Simley misses.  Rabaey makes 2 with 1:22 left and then Levos converts a steal into a layup.  Hastings takes the lead 64-63 with 1:06 left.  Jioklow fouls out on the next possession on a charge to give Hastings the ball back under a minute left.  Hastings misses 2 freebies and Tschida makes 1 to tie it.  Then its Rabaey in the post stepping thru and fouled.  He makes 2 free throws with 15.8 left.  Simley loses the ball on their possession and Hastings dives on it and gets the time out. Rabaey makes 1 of 2 so Simley gets 1 last chance.  Hastings zones the 3/4 court inbound and turns the final pass into a turnover.  They complete the improbable comeback from 18 down inside of 15 minutes left.  They put up 50 in the 2nd half after just 17 in the 1st half.  Isaac Rabaey with 21 points to lead the Raiders including 10 of 11 FTs in the 2nd half.  Matt Schlottman with 5 3s and 19 points as well.  Ruot Jioklow leads Simley with 21 points.  The win improves Hastings to 4-5 in the Metro East to keep pace with Sibley in the middle of the pack.  Simley falls 2 games back of Sibley with the loss.

Saturday: #1AA Minnehaha 81 #4AAA Austin 61
Minnehaha would turn the ball over a ton in this one.  But while Austin's nasty 1-2-2 zone is known to do that to people, many of the turnovers were of the unforced sloppy variety.  But Jalen Suggs with a couple of 3s and distributing too.  Chet Holmgren adds a 3 during the spurt and the Minnehaha lead is 27-12 just inside of the 8 minute mark.  But Austin would hold Minnehaha to 1 FG the rest of the half.  The Packers score the 1st 2 points of the 2nd half to conclude a 19-4 run.  That ties the game at 31.

All Minnehaha after that.  Suggs off the skip pass for 3 and he finishes after a Holmgren block plus adds 2 of 3 free throws being fouled on a 3.  That's a 9-0 run in 90 seconds.  Suggs and Holmgren doing all the damage early in the 2nd half.  Suggs another bomb and steal for 2.  Holmgren goes to the reverse to keep the lead at 10.  He'll add 1 dunk plus another dunk for a 3 point play.  Then a putback dunk for another 3 point play and all of a sudden the lead is 17.  Suggs 2 3s to sandwich a 3 point plus an assist for good measure.  70-51 Minnehaha with 6:20 left.  The outcome never really in doubt after all that. 

Jalen Suggs another terrific outing with 31 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists on my officially unofficial stat sheet.  Chet Holmgren 24 points and 4 blocks.  Prince Aligbe with 15 points.  Their 3 games next week are all on the round.  That includes the rescheduled game at #10AA Caledonia on Friday night.  Medi Obang leads Austin with 18 points including 3 triples.  Fun to see the 1-2-2 zone and the back guys X-ing to take the high post along with the usual wings dropping there.  Minnehaha had plenty of success for the moments when they decided to put Suggs in the middle of it and create.  But it was something they did sparingly.